Receiver Tommy Donovan commits to Illinois State football.

Redshirt freshman Tommy Donovan appears ready to turn the duo into a trio for the upcoming football season.

Donovan caught 12 passes for 75 yards and a touchdown in a situational scrimmage Saturday at Hancock Stadium.

Donovan, who is 5-foot-11 and weighs 185 pounds, missed nearly the entire 2023 season due to knee surgery. He returned at the end of the year and was on the field for one play.

“This is my first year on the field,” Donovan said. “I'm just trying to make a name for myself, show what I'm capable of, play my role and be a good teammate.”

Donovan's older sister, Caitlin, a gymnast at ISU, suffered a torn knee ligament, but not the anterior cruciate ligament, which takes time to heal and rehabilitate.

“I tore the ligament behind my PCL (posterior cruciate ligament),” he said. “I continued to work on re-strengthening my strength in the weight room so I could feel confident for spring ball.”

“He's had a really good spring. He's been feeling good,” ISU coach Brock Spack said. “I'm very impressed with him. He'll definitely help us next fall.”

Donovan said both Kasper and Carr helped him adjust to college football.

“Jalen and Eddie have done a great job with me personally,” Donovan said. “They always have their arms around me and tell me what's going on. I think I could definitely be a dangerous No. 3 in this slot.”

ISU received good news regarding Carr's knee injury. Kerr will miss the remainder of his spring practice and undergo arthroscopic surgery, but his recovery time will be minimal.

“Jalen will be fine. When he comes back in late May, he'll be back training again,” Spack said.

Kasper caught five passes for 63 yards in Saturday's scrimmage, and Ryan Lyden covered 43 yards on five receptions.

In the battle for the starting quarterback spot, Kansas State transfer Jake Rubley completed 13 of 18 passes for 101 yards and two scores. Tommy Rittenhouse was 14-of-19 for 80 yards and a touchdown.

Yardage was subdued after making slight contact with the quarterback as officials whistled a dead play.

“I thought Rubley threw the ball well. Tommy ran the football well when he needed to and made some great pitches,” Spack said. “The Bucs hung on the ball, the receivers hung on the ball.”

Josh Robinson led the Redbird rushers with 57 yards on 16 carries. Trazon Timms had 44 yards on nine carries and Seth Gratz had 36 yards on 10 attempts.

Defensively, lineman Greg Galloway led the way with seven tackles. Linebackers Darius Walker and Patrick Bauer each had six stops.

“We seemed to tackle pretty well for the most part,” Spack said. “But we didn’t force any turnovers.”

Linebacker Ty Niekamp had five tackles and two sacks.

“I think it was a really good day, just putting everything together,” Niekamp said. “Last year, we were a young team. We played 11 games together and when we came back, our chemistry with each other got even better.

“Last year, I think we were an average defense. I think we were probably above average considering the conference we play. But I feel like we have a chance to play really, really good defense. .”

ISU's two-minute drill began with a clock of 2:27. College football, like the NFL, uses a two-minute warning at the end of each half.

“We're just trying to get a feel for what that feels like. There's extra timeouts on both sides of the football. We're just adjusting to that,” Spack said. “It was a good thing for the officials. They said we need to solve this problem too.”