Northwestern University Athletics
Spring Drills: Practice 10 Report
4/13/2010 12:00:00 AM | Football
April 13, 2010
EVANSTON, Ill. -- On a cool, windy Tuesday morning at Northwestern's FieldTurf practice field, the Wildcats held their "most intense practice of the spring" as they conducted a 20-period, full-pad session.
"We really pushed the tempo today and our guys responded," said head coach Pat Fitzgerald. "It wasn't a perfect practice, but I thought we took another important step today. We have five more practices to go, so it's critical that our players take advantage of the next 10 days."
One long period of the board drill, which was supported with blaring music from the sideline, helped "amp up" the practice. Following the board drill, the Wildcats' spent a couple periods working on their interior running game. Healthy running backs Arby Fields (Alto Loma, Calif./Los Osos), Stephen Simmons (St. Louis, Mo./SLUH), Jacob Schmidt (Rhinelander, Wis./Rhinelander) and walk-on Tyris Jones (Fort Wayne, Ind./Concordia Lutheran), today's NUsports.com's "10 Questions With ..." interview, all took turns trying to gain ground through the heart of the defense.
The 'Cats also spent a period working on a drill designed to improve their blocking on kickoffs. Walk-on linebacker Timmy Vernon (Ft. Washington, Pa./Germantown Academy) delivered the most impressive hit of the day during that drill.
The final six periods of practice were spent with seven-on-seven and 11-on-11 exercises.
PRACTICE NOTES:
• The Wildcat spring practices continue to be a popular destination for area high school coaches. Nearly 150 coaches have visited the Northwestern practices thus far this spring. The Wildcats are hosting their annual coaches' clinic this Friday and Saturday, and that event will bring more than 100 additional coaches to campus.
• Northwestern will hold a full-pad practice on Thursday morning and then scrimmage Saturday afternoon (2:30 p.m.).
• For additional spring football coverage, visit nufootballfamily.com for videos and a spring practice blog.
