The Illinois State Redbirds football team resumed fall camp Thursday at Hancock Stadium after a break for Media/Photo Day. The team trained in full pads for two hours as the intensity of camp increased with temperatures.
During practice, individual position drills were followed by passing under pressure and blitz exercises. In the PUP drill, quarterback Tommy Rittenhouse completed three consecutive passes to Wenkers Wright and Daniel Sobkowicz before the defense responded with a sack from Kayode Amusan, a pass breakup by Cam Wilson, and another sack by Nick Kessler.
In the blitz drill, the offense initially avoided pressure for four plays until Cal Martine broke free for a 35-yard touchdown run. The defense then answered with Kessler’s second sack of the day and a tackle for loss by Valentino Garcia.
Perimeter period highlights included Anthony Corona making a tackle for loss and Rittenhouse connecting with Max Ziebarth for a first down. Beckham Pellant also completed two sideline passes to Brett Kasper during this segment.
Both quarterbacks were perfect in the 7-on-7 session, each going 6-for-6. Rittenhouse found Victor Dawson twice out of the backfield and finished with a 35-yard touchdown to Rylan Crawford. Pellant connected with Seth Glatz twice and tight ends Nick True and Brady Probst.
In red zone drills, the first-team defense forced a three-and-out capped by Tye Niekamp breaking up a third-down pass. The second-team offense converted on fourth-and-one but was stopped on a tackle for loss by Ben Harman. Preseason All-American Jake Anderson recorded consecutive tackles for loss before Martine scored from four yards out. The second-team group also reached the end zone after Pellant ran for seven yards and passed to Gavin Camp for a 12-yard touchdown.
The Redbirds will return Friday morning for their eighth practice of fall camp ahead of Saturday’s first intrasquad scrimmage. Updates are available on social media accounts (@RedbirdFB on X, isuredbirdfb on Instagram, @redbirdfb on TikTok) and at GoRedbirds.com.
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