Northwestern University Athletics
Camp Kenosha: Day 12
8/22/2004 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 22, 2004
KENOSHA, Wis. -- One day removed from its annual preseason scrimmage, the Northwestern football team had a single Sunday afternoon practice on Day 12 of Camp Kenosha.
With the sun shining and wind howling on the practice fields of UW-Parkside in Kenosha, Wis., the Wildcat offense seemed to be in sync as quarterbacks hit receivers and the offensive line opened holes for running backs.
NUsports.com caught up with offensive coordinator Mike Dunbar after practice to see how the offensive side of the ball was progressing.
NUsports.com: With two days remaining at Camp Kenosha, how has the offense progressed?
Coach Dunbar: I think everything has gone relatively well. Our biggest problem is lack of consistency, but I think that's normal for this time of year. We had a couple of linemen playing out of position for various reasons, which caused some of the inconsistency. But, as of late we're starting to play more as a unit.
NUsports.com: Talk a little about the skill positions, is anyone standing out?
Coach Dunbar: We have a great group of young receivers; they've made excellent progress and get better every day. Mark Philmore and Ashton Aikens are the leaders of that group, but I think we really have six/seven guys who have a lot of talent at that position.
The hardest position to run in our offense is running back, because not only do they have to learn all the running plays and carry the ball, but also they need to learn (blocking) protections and pass patterns. Noah Herron is back, along with Terrell Jordan, but our three freshmen (Brandon Roberson, Akeem Hunter and Gerard Hamlett) have made great progress in camp. They get better every day.
NUsports.com: Have you started to prepare for TCU?
Coach Dunbar: Now that we've run a few reps through what I call "the bank" of our plays and introduced our various packages, we'll start to narrow it down to game specifics for TCU in the next week.
On offense in 2003, Northwestern averaged 20.2 points and 375.4 yards per game, including 212.2 yards on the ground.
