Defensive Line

[Aclone]

A lot of people were concerned about the defensive interior, but the noise I had heard in the last week or so was that Michael Tate had stepped up, Austin Alburtis looked good, Nate Frere was providing leadership, and Bailey Johnson, Chris Weir and Jerrod Black were all in the fight. Listening to the first "half" of the scrimmage (had to stay home because of an illness), I'd add Kyle Slifka to the list.

The good news would seem to be that Ruempolhamer will probably be able to redshirt this fall...and Haughton can help out on offense.

Any other impressions from those of you were were/are able to attend?

[Clones85']

I just got back from the scrimmage. Not a lot that was seen but I thought Alburtis looked good. D line did a ton better than I thought they would. Actually beat up on the O line for a lot of it

[Aclone]

Thanks! I was really encouraged when the announcers were talking about Alburtis showing a lot of athleticism.

[CYKOFAN]

I thought Alburtis looked good too, and he's up to 287 lbs. He was the qb of his Dallas H.S. team so there's plenty of athletic ability to become a solid interior d-lineman, maybe even a great one.

[Aclone]

When Alburtis signed, I was hugely impressed by the video of him running to the ball from his linebacker spot...and that was from his junior season.

[The_Architect]

Umm, Jerrod Black was dominating today.

[ISUAlum2002]

Yeah, the D-line looked a lot better than I thought they would today. But then that makes me a bit concerned about the O-line as well.

[isuno1fan]

D Line owned the O Line today. I view that as a good thing.

[isucyclone4]

as long as we are under Gene Chizik, I expect our D and especially D-line to do some work in intrasquad scrimmages or games...

[PolkCityClone]

Black had a great game. The QBs were lucky to have the no contact rule.