Central Michigan University Athletics
Football Concludes First Week of Spring Practice with Scrimmage
3/24/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
MOUNT PLEASANT The Central Michigan University football program wrapped up its first week of spring practice with a competitive situational scrimmage Saturday afternoon in Kelly/Shorts Stadium.
The coaching staff pitted the Chippewas against one another in individual, group and 11-on-11 situations. Each of the drills stemmed from a one-on-one competitive situation. Offensive linemen, for example, progressed from one-on-drills, to a half-line situation, to the full team period. Wide receivers went one-on-one against defensive backs and competed in a skeleton passing situation against the secondary before the team session.
“Our kids did a great job of competing all day,” said first-year head coach Butch Jones. “We still have a lot of corrections that need to be made, but that is to be expected since this is the first time we’ve really gone situational and played live. We came away with a lot of great teaching tools and things we need to work on.”
Jones said he was impressed with some of the throws Dan LeFevour was able to make, but the offense turned the ball over too many times for Jones’ liking.
“One of the marks of a good quarterback is the ability to defeat tight coverage, and Dan made a couple of throws today where he was able to defeat pretty tight coverage,” Jones said. “He was very accurate and ran our offense well.
“We had too many turnovers, though,” Jones continued. “It’s a good thing that our defense was able to generate those turnovers, but as an offense we cannot turn the ball over.”
Still, Jones has seen a steady improvement in his squad and expects that to continue throughout the rest of the spring.
“This week has been difficult because we’ve thrown a lot at them mentally,” Jones said. “We’re asking them to play fast and that requires a lot of mental toughness. We are a work in progress and each day we’re going to continue to get better.
“I told our kids to pick one aspect of their game to improve on each day, and our coaches to pick one aspect for their position group to improve on,” he added. “If we do that, by the end of the spring we will have improved quite a bit.”
The players will not return to the practice field until Tuesday morning. That time off will give the coaching staff time to further evaluate what it has seen thus far in camp.
“We’ll grade the film from today and take a look at not only technique, but also what we call loafs’ and softs,’” Jones said.
The Chippewas have used four of their allotted 15 spring practice dates. CMU will practice four more times next week. The annual spring football game is set for April 21 at 7 p.m. in Kelly/Shorts Stadium.
Players of the Day
The coaching staff named Justin Gardner and Dan LeFevour as co-offensive player of the day, Curtis Cutts as defensive player of the day and Steven Friend as special teams player of the day.
