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Football (2004): UNI to Scrimmage Saturday
CEDAR FALLS—The University of Northern Iowa football team enters its second week of spring drills today looking forward to its first formal scrimmage that is scheduled for 9:15 a.m. Saturday (Apr. 10) in the UNI-Dome.
The Panthers practiced Monday, Wednesday and Thursday last week with just one day allowed in pads. The rest of the month, the team will hit the field on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, with scrimmages set for each Saturday morning. Pre-season drills conclude April 24 with the annual Spring Game at 1 p.m. in the Dome.
Fourth-year head coach Mark Farley, who just signed a contract extension taking him through the 2008 campaign, said without much contact to date, there isn’t a lot to be gleaned competition-wise until the consistent hitting can begin.
Farley did make note of several players who have risen to the top in the early going, starting first in the offensive line. Heading the group is returning starter, senior tackle Luke Stigler (Ames, IA/Ames/Iowa Central CC).
"Chad Rinehart (Boone, IA/Boone) and Barrett Anderson (Rochester, MN/Mayo), two freshmen offensive linemen, have done a very nice job. Chad still needs to put some weight on, but he’s playing very well and he has good feet," Farley said.
Farley also said returning starter, junior tailback Terrance Freeney (Cedar Falls, IA/Cedar Falls/North Dakota State School of Science), has dropped some weight "and looks like much the way he did prior to his injury at Stephen F. Austin (9-18-03). That’s the first time I’ve seen that burst since that game. (Fullback) Reggie Brown (Patterson, NJ/Catholic/Iowa Central CC) also looks good. Both these guys are looking very good athletically and they came into camp in great shape."
Freeney rushed for over 1,000 yards despite battling an ankle injury last year. An illness earlier this spring helped him lose weight, but he also worked with track coach Chris Bucknam in the off season to make sure he picked up his speed.
Farley made mention of two other relatively unknown names in senior tight end Beau Gibbs (Dike, IA/Dike-New Hartford), who has been playing primarily on special teams, and sophomore receiver James Lindgren (Odebolt, IA/Odebolt-Arthur).
"Beau has made some tough catches," Farley said. "Only Beau can make the catches he’s made and he’s about 250 pounds right now. He’s finally built himself up into that tight end position.
"James Lindgren is a guy who runs by and makes a catch, and you’ll ask ‘who’s that’," Farley said.
Perhaps the most secure position is at quarterback where three-year starter Tom Petrie (Plymouth, MN/Wayzata) returns. Behind him are several redshirt freshmen.
"Tom didn’t get a lot of reps this week because of a sore back, but Eric Sanders (Oelwein, IA/Oelwein) has done a nice job," Farley said. "He’s been real competitive, he’s put in his time, and he and Chris Parsons (Moore, OK/Moore), who also got hurt this past week in the weight room, are in the running for that reserve role. But after three days, I’d have to put Sanders in that second-team spot."
Farley isn’t concerned about naming a definite no. 2 quarterback by the end of spring training.
"I don’t think (a backup) needs to be secured," he explained. "I’d just like to know the direction and where we’re at so we need to know what we need to do during the summer months and what we need to do within our system to help those young players. There’s such a separation between Tom Petrie and an Eric Sanders or whoever it’s going to be. I think we can do some things with Tom that we wouldn’t even dream of doing with a younger quarterback. If something would happen, you have to have plan B. We just need to find out what kind of talent that second player has."
Defensively, junior tackle Michael Mathes (Williamsburg, IA/South Dakota), who started one of 11 games last year, has made his presence known, Farley said. At linebacker, Farley was non-commital at a position where the Panthers lose two starters.
"That’s still a question," he explained. "We couldn’t really hit anybody, so we’ll find out today how good our linebackers and secondary are, because this will be the first day we actually tackle and take anybody to the ground. I still say (safety) James Idleburgh (Lakeland, FL/Tampa Bay Tech/Iowa Central CC), the way he can close and do some things, once he totally understands our system, and this is his second year in it, he’ll be a guy that will catch your eye, the way he can run down plays."
The Panthers planned on going live today in an effort to evaluate the receivers and the defensive backs, and also to determine how the quarterbacks handle the pressure.
"We’ll do that with our younger quarterbacks," Farley said. "We won’t come after Tom as much as we’ll come after the young freshmen to see if they can step up and throw."
Farley said coaches always worry about injuries in scrimmages, but "we have to hit them. We put on the board today who’s going to go against who, and we’re going to him them. There are times when everyone will be live, from a Freeney to a (Jason) Breeland. How much will be determined in the conscious effort of trying to do the right things. We tried to be cautious in years past, and I don’t think we got the toughness out of spring ball. Spring ball is designed to create the chemistry, but it’s also to create the toughness, and the drive and the energy you need to go into fall. You can’t do those things in the fall because you’re always getting ready for the next Saturday. This is the one time where we can hit and bang around and still have time to heal. We’ll get after it."
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