McLean County Times

The Redbirds worked through a nearly two-hour session in helmets as they began preparations for the season opener at Iowa on August 31.

Practice Highlights:

- Practice commenced with a team stretch and a special teams circuit. Following the individual position group period, the action moved to the first of two 7-on-7 sessions.

- Quarterbacks Jake Rubley and Tommy Rittenhouse controlled the first huddle, while quarterbacks Jimmy Makuh and Beckham Pellant operated out of the second huddle. Rubley completed 5-for-5 passes in the first session, including two completions to Tommy Donovan. Rittenhouse went 4-for-6 with two connections to Eddie Kasper. Makuh finished 6-for-6 with a pair of completions to freshman Dylan Lord, and Pellant concluded his session going 3-for-4, finding freshman wideout Brett Kasper twice.

- The blitz drill saw Mark Cannon Jr. make the first defensive play by knocking down a pass at the line of scrimmage from a corner blitz. The offense regained momentum as Rittenhouse completed passes to Mitch Bartol and Mason King out of the backfield. Later, Cannon knocked down another pass in coverage, and Jake Anderson deflected a pass at the line of scrimmage for the final stop.

- A second special teams circuit focused on punt returns, with Ian Wagner, Hayden Futch, and Dylan Ritchie each taking turns kicking to Xavier Loyd, Daniel Sobkowicz, Eddie Kasper, Chris Taylor, and Braden Contreras returning punts.

- During a quick perimeter drill highlight, linebacker Patrick Bauer intercepted a pass by leaping over the middle of the field.

- In the second 7-on-7 session, Rittenhouse went 4-for-6 with connections to Rylan Crawford and Valient Walsh. Rubley was 3-for-6 while finding Jalen Carr and Seth Glatz. Makuh finished solidly at 3-for-5 with another connection to Lord and one to Luke Mailander.

- The final drill featured first and second down play situations on defense's side of the field. The offense started well with three completions before Garret Steffen broke free for a sack for defense. The first touchdown came from Rubley's 29-yard pass to Contreras in the endzone's back corner. The second touchdown was delivered by Rittenhouse’s 33-yard strike over the middle to Loyd.

Up Next:

The Redbirds will continue practice on Friday morning at 8:30 a.m., marking their second practice of fall training camp.

For updates, photos, and videos from Redbird Football Spring Camp follow @RedbirdFB on X (formerly Twitter) or Instagram (isuredbirdfb), or visit GoRedbirds.com.

GoRedbirds.com and Illinois State Redbirds App are your sources for Illinois State tickets, Weisbecker Athletic Fund gifts, multimedia content, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.

###