Central Michigan University Athletics
Football Closes Second Week of Spring Practice
3/31/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
MOUNT PLEASANT – Central Michigan University wrapped up its second week of spring football practice with a situational scrimmage Saturday afternoon.
The coaching staff placed the Chippewas in long field, red zone, and goalline situations with varying downs and distances.
“Today was a big learning experience for our players because we played a lot of situational football,” said head coach Butch Jones. “I want to make sure we expose them to the different situations that they will face during the course of a game and a season. We backed the offense up the end zone, went short-yardage, put them in overtime, tied and down by eight points.
“This is the seventh practice of our program,” Jones added. “Our players are learning, and our coaches are learning as well, so that is why we’re putting ourselves in a lot of game-type situations.”
Jones and his staff directed the scrimmage at a high tempo, forcing the players to make adjustments on the fly and exhibit their level of knowledge of the systems being put in place by the coaching staff.
“We’re trying to put them in stressful situations, because when you’re in a stressful situation, your true leaders come out,” Jones said. “We had to find out as a staff who our leaders will be next year. It has been great to see who has stepped up to this point.”
“We made some costly mistakes, but those are all great teaching points,” he added. “Now, we have to learn from our mistakes and move on. In today’s world of college football, there is such a fine line between winning and losing. We’re training in stressful and chaotic situations so our kids can play well under pressure when they take the field this fall.”
The offense and defense played evenly throughout most of the controlled scrimmage. The CMU receivers made three key receptions during the red zone period to get the offense in the end zone twice. On a fourth-and-20 play, Dan LeFevour drew the defense offside before completing a pass in traffic to Kito Poblah down the sideline. Poblah out-jumped two defenders to make the catch and give the offense a first down.
Later, Justin Gardner made a catch in the flat and dove toward the pylon to score a touchdown. Jean Pitts also made a leaping touchdown catch during which he absorbed a hard hit and held on to the ball.
Players of the Day
The CMU coaching staff selected Justin Gardner (offense) and Bobby Seay (special teams) as its players of the day.
Coaching Staff Conducts Clinic
High school coaches from across the state converged on the Indoor Athletic Complex for the Frank Glazier Coaching Clinic hosted by the CMU staff. Many of the high school coaches took in Saturday afternoon’s scrimmage as well.
“I thought the clinic went very smoothly,” Jones said. “The Glazier Clinic staff did a great job, and I thought our coaches and players did a great job in their presentations and demonstrations. The clinic is an opportunity to give back, and it’s an opportunity for the high school coaches to be exposed to our program and what we are doing here.”
Spring Prospectus Online
CMU’s 2007 spring prospectus is now available online in .pdf format.
Upcoming Schedule
CMU will practice twice next week. The Chippewas will be on the practice field Tuesday and Thursday morning.
