Northwestern University Athletics
Spring Drills: Practice Seven Report
4/8/2010 12:00:00 AM | Football
April 8, 2010
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern remained indoors on Thursday, holding a full-pad, 20-period practice in Trienens Hall. The Wildcats are nearly halfway through their spring season now after completing their seventh practice session.
On Saturday, the Wildcats will scrimmage for the first time this spring. Northwestern is expected to hold that session outside with temperatures in the 60's and sunny skies forecasted. NU is expected to run approximately 70 to 80 plays during its scrimmage.
Northwestern spent a good part of Thursday's practice working on full-pad individual drills, as well as seven-on-seven and 11-on-11 periods. Northwestern spent two of its team periods working on red-zone offense and defense. The Wildcats also did the board drill for one period, midway through practice.
Some individual/team highlights from Thursday's session:
• During seven-on-seven sessions, both the offense and defense made some big plays. Defensively, safety Hunter Bates (Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla./Nease) broke up a perfectly thrown deep ball from Dan Persa (Bethlehem, Pa./Liberty) that was intended for Jeremy Ebert (Hilliard, Ohio/Hilliard Darby). Cornerback Jordan Mabin (Northfield Center, Ohio/Nordonia) also turned in a big pass deflection during seven-on-seven drills.
• Senior linebacker Quentin Davie (St. Louis, Mo./Cardinal Ritter) returned to practice today after missing the first six spring sessions with a foot injury.
• Sophomore linebacker Roderick Goodlow (Dallas, Texas/W.H. Adamson) turned in a pair of interceptions during 11-on-11 play.
Following practice, NUsports.com chatted with offensive lineman Neal Deiters (Elmhurst, Ill./York) for its ongoing "10 Questions With ..." segment. Deiters, who broke into the starting lineup last year at tackle, is playing right guard this spring. Find out what Deiters had to say about the position change, the play of the offensive line and how he spends his free time when he's not in class or practicing football.
PRACTICE NOTES:
• NUsports.com special contributor Skip Myslenski, who was inducted into the U.S. Basketball Writers Association Hall of Fame on Monday morning in Indianapolis, will have a full recap of the Wildcats' Saturday scrimmage later that day.
• Northwestern is holding a special football event at 11:30 a.m. on Monday, April 19 at the Union League Club of Chicago (65 West Jackson Blvd.). WGN's Dave Eanet, the voice of the Wildcats, will moderate a panel discussion that features Wildcat stars Pat Fitzgerald, Mike Kafka and Corey Wootton. They will share some behind-the-scene stories about the Wildcats' 2009 season and a look ahead to the 2010 season. Kafka and Wootton will also provide some insight to their preparations for the upcoming NFL Draft and some commentary on the NFL Combine and the scouting process. Seats are priced at $40 and business attire is required. Contact Jean Yale (847-491-3694 or j-yale@northwestern.edu) to make a reservation or for information.
