Central Michigan University Athletics
Chippewa Football Enters Final Week of Preseason Camp
8/22/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 22, 2005
MOUNT PLEASANT - Central Michigan University's football team began its final week of preseason camp on Monday, returning to the practice field for the first time since Saturday's intrasquad scrimmage.
After reviewing the film of Saturday's 70-play session, second-year head coach Brian Kelly was able to pinpoint positives on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball.
"I was happy with our offense's ability to move the football," Kelly said. "We need to be more efficient in the short field, and we're going to target the red zone in practice this week. But, I feel good about how we played between the 20's.
"Defensively, I like our conditioning," he added. "We had a 15-play drive, and during a timeout near the end our defensive players were not hunched over. They were physically and mentally tough when defending a short field. Our defense just has a demeanor about it that I like."
The best illustration of that demeanor came on the first drive of Saturday's scrimmage. The Chippewas' first offensive unit, keyed by a 30-yard completion from Kent Smith to Damien Linson, lined up with a first-and-goal from the eight against the first defensive unit. The defense held on four plays, but a personal foul penalty on fourth down gave the offense new life at the three-yard line. From there, it still took the offense three plays to crack paydirt, and only then when freshman Ontario Sneed spun off a hit at the one and lunged into the end zone.
"Our defense has a better level of confidence than it did a year ago," Kelly said. "They know that they just have to keep grinding and good things will happen. We have some strong-willed kids on the defensive side and they have developed a toughness that you need to be successful."
CMU will repeat last week's practice schedule this week, alternating between single and double practice sessions. The Chippewas will take Sunday off before beginning game week preparations for Indiana on Monday.
CAMP NEWS AND NOTES
SATURDAY SCRIMMAGE MUSINGS: Head coach Brian Kelly's thoughts on a number of topics from Saturday's intrasquad scrimmage session:
On the steady rain that fell throughout the day:
I thought the wet conditions were good for us. It's the first time we've really been out in the rain during camp, and being in the Midwest you better ready to play in all conditions.
On his team's understanding of the playbook:
Across the board we showed a good knowledge of everything we've installed. We didn't have a lot of assignment mistakes out there.
On senior quarterback Kent Smith:
I thought Kent was pretty clean. He's obviously very elusive and he creates a lot of problems for defenses. We had a couple of drops out there, but we made plays when we needed to and Kent was putting the ball in the money, even in the wet conditions.
WHO NEEDS TICKETS? Central Michigan University ticket manager James Martin reports a high demand for tickets to the opener with Indiana. As of last week, roughly 5,000 tickets had been sold to the general public alone, well ahead of ticket sales for season openers in recent years.
QUICK HITTERS: Kelly will give his players and staff a respite from football on Tuesday afternoon. Instead of pulling on the pads, the Chippewas will suit up in swimsuits and tube down the Chippewa River as part of a team-building activity ... Preseason camp reports will continue through the end of this week on www.cmuchippewas.com ... The season-opener with Indiana is just 11 days away.
