April 19, 2008

By Tom Weber
www.SIUSalukis.com

Stats -- Photo Gallery

CARBONDALE, Ill. - The Saluki defense dominated early in the team's annual football spring scrimmage, but the offense eventually caught up, thanks to running back Larry Warner, who carried for 101 yards and three touchdowns.

Saturday's scrimmage at McAndrew Stadium was the culmination of four weeks of practice under new head coach Dale Lennon.

"What you want as a head coach in a spring game is some give and take," Lennon said. "You really don't want one side of the ball to dominate over the other. I thought there was some good give and take."

The defense has had the upper hand through much of the spring and was practically impenetrable during the first six offensive possessions today. The closest the offense came to scoring was on the initial drive, when quarterback Chris Dieker converted two third-down pass plays to put the team in position for a field goal attempt. Kicker Kyle Dougherty missed the 45-yarder, however.

Each quarterback on the roster -- Dieker, Joe Allaria and Bobby Brenneisen -- was given two series starting at the 35-yardline. Not until Dieker returned on the seventh possession for the two-minute drill did the offense finally come to life. Dieker moved the first team into field goal position with short passes to Jeff Evans, Stephen Morse and Warner.

The drive stalled out inside the 10-yardline, though, as linebacker Brandin Jordan sacked Dieker, forcing a 36-yard field goal for Dougherty.

Allaria also led the offense to a field goal in his series during the two-minute drill. The key plays were a 15-yard bootleg and a pair of completions to Bryce Morris.

An interesting battle is developing at quarterback. Allaria began the spring as the starter, based on his experience as a back-up to Nick Hill last season. Dieker, however, has impressed the coaches and took more reps with the first team toward the end of camp.

On the day, Dieker completed 9-of-13 passes for 101 yards and a touchdown pass to Marc Cheatham.

"I've been waiting around for a couple of years behind Nick Hill," Dieker said afterward. "He taught me a lot of good things. I'm really excited for the fall to come, and hopefully, it will be my turn to lead the Salukis."

Allaria was 7-of-11 passing for 66 yards and rushed six times for 66 yards. He also threw two interceptions, however, including one that was returned 65 yards for a touchdown by Demarcus Wilson. Justin Smith had the other interception of an Allaria pass.

Lennon said he's not ready to pick a starter.

The most exciting player on the field was Warner. Most of his yard came in the second half of the 80-play scrimmage. On one play, he used a cut-back move to bounce outside the defense and run for a 65-yard touchdown. Later, he added two more short TD runs.

"He's an exciting player," Lennon said. "It's tough to defend him, because he's all over the field. He's a guy we need to have special packages and special plays for him to get certain matchups, because he's a play-maker."