Published: August 25, 2007 11:01 pm         

Sycamores trying to get healthy before Saturday opener at Indiana

TERRE HAUTE — Indiana State football coach Lou West originally wanted to conduct his final scrimmage of the preseason in front of a healthy crowd Saturday at Memorial Stadium.

But a large number of recent injuries caused him to think twice about his plans for the final Saturday before the Sycamores’ season opens Sept. 1 at Indiana University.

So West quietly changed the evening session to a regular practice.

“We’ve had a few more injuries than we would like to have had,” he explained. “Rather than bringing guys back too early or getting more guys injured, we figured we’d just go through a good dress rehearsal for Indiana. We did a lot of scripting, a lot of kicking game and a lot of things just to prepare us for game night.”

West pretty much liked what he saw.

“I think they did OK,” he said. “This was our first rehearsal and I think there were some things, obviously, that we need to work on. But a lot of things we were pretty sharp at and did a good job on. I thought the [assistant] coaches on the sidelines prepared the guys well.”

His son, senior running back Tony West, actually sounded tougher in his assessment of the practice than he did.

“I think we did good things and bad things,” the younger West said. “We need to pick up the intensity, definitely. Overall, I think we accomplished a few things that we wanted to.”

From the defensive perspective, sophomore outside linebacker Chris Mobley expressed a positive outlook.

“I think our defense is looking pretty good,” he said. “The new [coaching] staff we got in is great. They’re doing a lot of things with us and putting us in position to make plays.”

Mobley demonstrated his playmaking ability near the end of Saturday’s practice by intercepting a Reilly Murphy pass and returning it almost the entire length of the field.

“Coach had just put me in for that play,” he noted. “Coach made a good call and I was in the right position where I should have been. I just happened to make a play for my team.”

Asked about the injury situation, Lou West smiled when he mentioned that some of those players will be able to return to practice this week.

“Thank God that it’s getting better,” he said. “We’ll have 60-65 percent of the [injured] guys back on Monday and maybe get another two or three guys back by Thursday..”

“We’re looking forward to [quarterback/receiver] Charles Dowdell coming back and then Rafael Price at receiver,” Tony West added. “We know [starting center] Jack Byrne can’t play against IU [because of an injury], so we’re kinda short up front.”