(04-10-2021 08:02 PM)Teamduh Wrote:  Let me start at the end with Hammock's most important quote of the day when he spoke to the crowd after practice.

Roughly:
Our teams have been practicing together for several weeks now and the defense knows the offensive plays.

Now taking that into consideration might, maybe, perhaps, may explain the lack of execution for the offense. The defense was ahead of the offense most of the day.

But having your key QB get picked off by the LBer or safety for 3 pickoffs in 2 practices has me disappointed if not concerned. (He did have 4 INTs today by my count.)

Both LB intercepts were trying to thread a pass over the LB and the LB backed up and snagged it.

So onto my thoughts...


Today was a little more formal as there were refs and chain gang but there was also scoreboard music to keep the atmosphere festive but not overpowering. Announcers was interviewing during practice also. For instance Crawford gave an update on his NFL aspirations.

In heavy rain early there were issues handling the ball. Wind nowhere close to previous Saturday practice. Cloudy and grey overall with rain most of the time.

Crowd size was good considering 100% chance of rain forecast.

My buddy and I talked about the Juiced concept and he commented on the excitement the team exhibited. Looked to be having fun. This is 1 change you can see from the previous regime.

Started with individual practices then onto the big guys catching punts. Some of those guys made 1 handed catches and showed off their athleticism.

1st play from scrimmage Waylee ran wide and burst for about 50. They blew whistle dead when last defender got close.

Drucker saw a bunch of action and looked good. Collins looked like he slightly tweaked something halfway thru practice. Offense had plenty of big plays early before D adjusted or woke up. Not sure which.

McCray looks poised to breakout as he is a deep threat. Messiah Travis was getting reps and deep balls again. The WRs look deep. Stop me if you have heard this before. The 12 to 3 connection is real and they had another TD today.

An abundance of deep passes today.

Devin Lafayette had 2 INTs. He looked solid.

There were a few trick plays and I won't describe them too much to keep the competitive advantage but one non-QB player threw a bullet of a TD pass. The defender was on the TE's back so there was little room to throw. If this was thrown by a QB he would be proud.

Ratakowski is versatile and effective. He will be used to get 3rd and 1s and other short type plays. Last week he was effective in passing game.

1 TE, not Tewes but I forgot number, caught a simple out route about 6 yards, turned upfield and abused a smaller defender.

Rocky throws balls away to avoid sacks. Same as last week. He also made some darts on the run that I'm not sure I can recall another NIU QB has made recently. Promising.

QB Thompson was OK in drills and scrimmage.

Fletcher seems confident. He does throw high above his head at about 12 or 1 o'clock but sometimes the release is off target.

All QBs can run.

I think I saw Rudolph with green jersey. Anyone know the meaning of green? He was playing.

Refs threw flags about 8 times. Mostly on O.

Practice ended with a deep endzone pass first touched by wr and wrestled away by defender.

Players had Huskie fight song rendition for fans and Hammock answered some questions.

Mentioned that there is plenty of practice time for this group to improve. Getting ready for Georgia Tech etc...

Some players had their names on jerseys and some did not. Can anyone solve that little mystery?

Side note: I love the communication from the leaders on the team. We all know the coaches shout out instructions from sidelines but Marcus Cox was on sidelines after plays helping his replacement to remember to move his feet in protection etc... just an example of leaders stepping up and caring about their teammates improving.

Proud to be a Huskie.

That is all I can remember now.