Technik » and we didnt get off the field on third down

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- As a high school player in Peoria, big games and big runs were normal for Kendrick Foster. Thirteen times he topped 200 yards at Richwoods High School and 14 times he scored on runs of at least 50 yards.But after last Novembers season-ending loss to Northwestern, Foster was barely playing at Illinois and wanted out .Ten months later, Foster is still at Illinois, and hes the owner of a day like no other Illini running back has ever had.The redshirt junior touched the ball just four times in Saturdays 52-3 win over Murray State. But two of those runs were 56-yard touchdowns and he finished with 118 yards. Thats an average of 29.5 a carry, a school record.I felt like I was in high school again, I felt natural, having fun with my teammates, said Foster, who briefly took a knee and offered thanks after the second touchdown, before his offensive teammates surrounded him to celebrate.That moment was a long way from Nov. 30, the Monday after Illinois loss to Northwestern. Foster was a week removed from his best game at Illinois, an 11-carry, 57-yard performance in a loss to Minnesota. The primary back, KeShawn Vaughn, was out with an injury. But when Vaughn returned against Northwestern, Foster didnt touch the ball.So Foster announced on his Twitter account he planned to transfer. He says his family, and particularly his father, persuaded him to stay.James Foster was a high school running back in Peoria in the 1990s, and after playing in junior college transferred to Illinois but never saw the field because of an injury.I had a lot of choices in front of me on the table and I chose to stay, Kendrick Foster said. My dad had a big say in it.First-year Illinois coach Lovie Smith says he knew little about that history. But he said Foster has been a steady presence since Smith was hired in March.My first day here, he was one of the bright-eyed guys looking at me. Hes done everything weve asked him to do, Smith said.That included losing weight, about 10 pounds, according to Foster. At just 5-9 and 195 pounds, Foster still is not the top back at Illinois. Most of those teammates who swarmed him to celebrate late in the second quarter Saturday were at least a full head taller.The top job belongs to Vaughn, the 5-10, 210-pound sophomore whom both Smith and offensive coordinator Garrick McGee have made clear will get most of the carries in an Illinois offense that stresses the run.But the lighter Foster is the first back off the bench. Against Murray State, he was a faster, more elusive change of pace from Vaughn.On Fosters first touchdown, he burst through a huge hole and was too fast to be caught by the Racers. The second score required a little more finesse, with Foster heading right, then weaving left and right again before breaking up field. But again, once he hit his stride, there was no catching him.Smith called the pair of touchdowns dream runs, particularly for someone in Fosters position.All running backs dream of scoring, longer runs, you know, breaking it and not getting caught from behind, he said. And youre a backup running back, at that. And youre going to have limited reps. You need to make the most of it.After wanting to leave Illinois, Foster now says he is just happy he stayed and has earned a chance to play with North Carolina coming to Champaign this Saturday.I was just so thankful. Im just finally getting the opportunity to display my talent and show what Peoria, Illinois, produces, he said.---Follow David Mercer on Twitter: (at)davidmercerAP---Online: Associated Press college football coverage: http://www.collegefootball.ap.org/ Minnesota Twins Pro Shop . 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Harmon Killebrew Twins Jersey .Y. - New York City has been selected to host the NBA All-Star weekend in 2015, with the game played at Madison Square Garden and the slam dunk contest and other skills events held at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. LONDON -- Andrew Luck figured his own personal homecoming would spur him and the Indianapolis Colts out of their early-season funk.Now, Luck and the Colts return home together having lost three of their first four games for only the second time since they drafted Peyton Manning in 1998. They do so even after a number of coaching and roster changes were designed to get them back to the postseason.(Were) tired of almosts, Luck, who lived in London for three years as a child, said after the Colts lost 30-27 to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday. We want to win. Its a winning culture and the Colts expect wins, and it doesnt just happen when you trot out onto the field.It starts with practice and work hours, and we can go back and improve and make it happen.Indianapolis went 8-8 last season and missed the playoffs for the first time with Luck as its quarterback. Once Chuck Pagano returned for his fifth season as coach, he added former Miami Dolphins coach Joe Philbin as an assistant and hired Ted Monachino as defensive coordinator.What has perennially been one of the NFLs weakest divisions looked ripe for recapture, and yet the Colts (1-3) have done anything but. Consider Sundays loss: Not only did the Colts rack up 11 penalties, but Luck, who went 27 for 42 for 234 yards, two touchdowns and an interception, was sacked six times and had five of his first 11 passes dropped.Even tight end Dwayne Allen admitted after the game that an incompletion on fourth-and-1 from Jacksonvilles 49-yard line with 1:42 remaining was dropped, not broken up.Too little, too late, and again, you cant start the way that we started, Pagano said, acknowledging the Colts 17-6 halftime deficit. You cant spot any team in the National Football League what we spotted them.Indianapolis defense allowed 95 points over the first three games -- third highest in the league -- and entered 27th among all teams against the pass.ddddddddddddThus, the matchup against the Jaguars (1-3) seemed to arrive at the right time, especially with turnover-prone Blake Bortles quarterbacking one of the leagues most stagnant offenses.Instead, Bortles helped Jacksonville slice through the Colts defense in the first half, and after Indianapolis twice pulled within a field goal off a 21-point fourth quarter, both the offense and defense wilted.The biggest thing is that weve got to minimize the mistakes, said cornerback Antonio Cromartie, who was called for two penalties on the Jaguars final second-quarter drive, which led to a 22-yard field goal by Jason Myers.We had double-digit penalties and we didnt get off the field on third down. I think as a defense, thats something that youve got to look forward to. Youve got to come out and look forward to the following week and correct everything every week.In each of the previous 14 games at Wembley Stadium over the past decade, teams were granted a bye to recover from the exhausting travel. That wont hold true now for Indianapolis, which will be the first team to play the week after returning from the United Kingdom -- by Paganos preference.One fortunate matter could be that the Colts will host the Bears next week, though its not as if the previously winless Jaguars posed a major challenge to the Colts, either.Its the first quarter of our season and were 1-3, center Ryan Kelly said. We cant change where you are now or what happened in the past, but you can change where youre going. For us, theres never been a lack of compete, as coach says, or character or anything like that. We know we have great character in our locker room. We just have to start off faster.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP-NFL ' ' '