Elon Football Practice Report: Phoenix Holds Media Day
ELON, N.C. ? Following the fall’s fourth practice, this time in cooler, wetter weather on Wednesday morning, the Elon Phoenix football squad held its annual media day in the Woods Center at Rhodes Stadium. The practice session lasted for a little more than two and a half hours on the Hunt and Tucker practice fields with the Phoenix work out in helmets and shoulder pads for the first time this preseason.
Numerous local media outlets in attendance for interviews with coach Pete Lembo, defensive back Walker White, linebacker Joshua Jones, offensive lineman David Harrison, wide receiver Terrell Hudgins and quarterback Scott Riddle.
During his interviews, Lembo talked a little about keeping a balance in practice between the veterans and the newcomers. “We’re trying to continue to push our veterans, but at the same time, not to leave the younger players behind. You don’t want to move too far ahead too fast. The veteran guys can still get a little more detail from what we’re doing.”
When asked about his veteran squad Lembo added, “We have a lot of familiar faces on both sides of the ball. The challenge is for them to raise their level of play to an all-conference level.”
One of the most open battles in camp this fall will be for the punting and placekicking duties. Elon has to replace two standouts at those positions and is turning to unproven talent at those spots. So far, though, Lembo has been pleased with what he’s seen.
“We’ve gotten a really good effort from Adam Shreiner, Andy Leffler and Eric Carstens. Freshman Kenton Beal has also come in and performed well. We’ve got healthy competition and the guys are giving us everything they’ve got.”
As for the day’s practice session, the team went for three very balanced periods on Wednesday. The team went through two-person skeleton drills, one-on-one routes with the wide receivers and defensive backs and held a special teams period which consisted of punt protection, punt return, PAT and field goal work.
Some younger players who may not be household names have pleased the coaching staff with their play so far this fall.
“I’m very pleased about some of our younger guys who have been in the program for a year or two who are starting to make their presence felt,” stated Lembo.
The head coach specifically mentioned quarterback Thomas Wilson, nose guard Khirey Walker, outside linebacker Dale Riley and defensive back Jonathan Conner.
Lembo has also been pleased with the play of running back Jamal Shuman, saying that he is “catching the ball better than he did last fall or last spring.”
The Phoenix returns to the Hunt and Tucker practice fields for practice number five at 2:15 p.m. on Thursday afternoon. All practice sessions are open to the public.
Coach Lembo on the preseason
Coach Lembo on coaches
David Harrison on the offense
Terrell Hudgins on capping career
Josh Jones on team goals
Josh Jones on the defense
Scott Riddle on finishing
Walker White on leadership
Defense Shines In Wednesday Furman Practice
Anderson, Steed Gain Notice
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Furman's defense grabbed the spotlight in Wednesday afternoon's practice session, the final workout for the Paladins in shorts, shoulder pads, and helmets prior to Thursday's move into full gear.
"There were a lot of big plays out there, particularly on defense," commented head coach Bobby Lamb following the two and a half hour practice session. "Probably the biggest was a 40-yard interception return for a touchdown by Kadarron Anderson, and Ryan Steed had about four pass breakups. Our cornerbacks continue to look really good."
Anderson, a rising sophomore from Greenwood, is projected to move into the starting role at middle linebacker this year after totaling 18 tackles and a pair of sacks as a backup a year ago. Steed, who last year was named to the SoCon All-Freshman Team, is expected to take over the starting job at field cornerback. The Mt. Pleasant product, delivered 10 tackles, two interceptions, and a pair of blocked punts as a true freshman in 2008.
Another player earning mention was senior nose tackle Justin Brown, who collected a pair of sacks.
Wednesday's practice, which got underway only a few minutes late following a steady rain that moved into the Greenville area at mid-morning, included 25 plays of 7-on-7 work with emphasis on red zone strategy and 20 snaps of 11-on-11 that featured work on first down situations. The Paladins also installed their kickoff team.
"Our practice fields are incredible," added Lamb. "We had rain for five hours, which stopped right at 2:30, when we were scheduled to start. I think we got underway 15 minutes later, and the fields were dry and in fantastic shape. On days like today we're reminded yet again just how fortunate we are to have a group like the Furman Football Players Association behind us. Their contributions, along with the Atlanta Falcons, helped us re-do these fields (in 2003).
"Overall the tempo was very good today, which is a positive heading into our first practice in full gear tomorrow."
Thursday's session, scheduled to get underway at 2:30 p.m. will include an 11-on-11 scrimmage for approximately 35 plays near the end of practice.
"The guys are tired of playing touch football. They are ready to do some hitting."
GSU Fall Camp #10
STATESBORO, Ga. - For the second straight day, weather affected Georgia Southern's fall football camp.
Wednesday's (Aug. 12) two and a half hour morning session went on as scheduled, but late afternoon/early evening rain and lightning in the area forced the day's second practice to just under two hours.
Head coach Chris Hatcher said his team has been able to work through the delays and should be able to make up the little bit of lost work over the remainder of fall camp.
"We've been fine with it. We missed out on a few scrimmage opportunities, but we have gotten all our drill work and team work in. We will end up making that up as we go. I counted and we are 36 plays shy on our scrimmage work. Over the next few days we'll try to incorporate more scrimmage in as we go," said Hatcher.
The Eagles return to the practice fields Thursday afternoon (Aug. 13), at 1:30 p.m.
DEFENSE MAKING PROGRESS: Not only was Georgia Southern's offense coming off a record-setting performance in the 17-10 win over #14 Furman to close out the 2008 season, the Eagles' defense also had a stellar outing.
The 10 points allowed were the fewest since the defense held Western Carolina to a touchdown in October 2005. Defensive coordinator Ashley Anders has six starters back and seen his unit making progress.
"It's kind of like chopping a big tree, we're slowly but surely getting better. The effort is there. We're a little tired at times, but I see the kids fighting through it so that's a big plus," stated Anders.
Despite only 14 takeaways last year, the defense was able to come up with a key turnover when needed - namely the fumble recovery late in the Northeastern game which led to the game-tying touchdown, and interception late in the Furman game to seal the victory.
SECONDARY RETURNS FOUR STARTERS: The Eagles' secondary returns four starters off last year's club, including Southern Conference All-Freshmen members Derek Heyden and K.R. Snipes... Senior cornerbacks Darrell Pasco and Ronnie Wiggins not only are known as hard-hitters, they are two of the fastest players on the team.
Wiggins' 39 tackles last year led all defensive backs and his three interceptions paced the team. Pasco was close behind with 36 stops and broke up eight passes. Heyden matched Pasco with 36 tackles. Over his final four games played, Snipes recorded 23 of his 25 tackles. He recorded two tackles for a loss but his interception at Furman was the biggest play of the year, sealing the Eagles' 17-10 win over the 14th-ranked Paladins.
Juniors E.J. Webb (20 tackles) and Evan Mattingly (16) along with true-freshman Darius Eubanks will see time at rover. Sophomore A.J. McCray has been working out at cornerback and could contend for a starting role. Fellow sophomores Hudson Presume (sat out 2008), Brett Layson, and Laron Scott (transfer) along with true-freshman Kyle Oehlbeck will challenge for playing time.
"We feel Darrell Pasco is doing a great job. He's filling in one of those leader roles for the back guys. Newcomer Laron Scott we've been real impressed with his athleticism and feet. Those two along with Ronnie Wiggins - as far as the corners - we've been real pleased with their production so far," said Anders. "You have two great role players as far as running the whole operation on the back end in Derek Heyden and K.R. Snipes. We've been real pleased with their production."
MORE YOUTH AT LINEBACKER: Dion DuBose might only be a sophomore, but he ended last year as the starting middle linebacker and is looking to add to his SoCon All-Freshmen Team and SoCon 'Defensive Player of the Week' honors. He recorded a season-high 10 tackles (nine solo stops) and two sacks in the finale win at Furman, finishing the year with 32 tackles.
"I've been real impressed with Dion DuBose. He's matured at a real rapid rate, going from a true-freshman season to a true-sophomore season. I think that Furman game really was a plus for him. Right now he picked up where he left off," said Anders.
Sophomores Tavaris Williams (seven tackles), SoCon All-Freshman performer J.B. Shippy (41 tackles, 5.5 TFL), Brent Gordon (sat out 2008 with injury) join seniors Terrione Benefield (109 career tackles) and David Lewis (47 tackles) as experienced returners. Newcomers Calvin West (JUCO transfer) and Josh Rowe (true-freshman) could challenge for playing time, putting the linebacker corps as one of the deepest positions on the team.
FALL CAMP PRACTICE TIMES
Thursday, August 13: 1:30-4 p.m.
Friday, August 14: 8-10 a.m.; 2:15-4:15 p.m.; 7:15-8:15 p.m.
Saturday, August 15: 1:30-4 p.m.
Sunday, August 16: Off
Monday, August 17: Off (First day of classes)
All sessions are tentatively scheduled to take place at the practice field complex and Herring Pavilion. Only media members are allowed to take pictures during any practice session. Day/time subject to change.
Sullivan Not Pleased With Wednesday's Full-Pad Practice
The Bulldogs practiced for about two hours Wednesday morning.
Practice Photo Gallery
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford football team practiced for about two hours in full pads Wednesday morning at Seibert Stadium. The practice was the eighth workout of the fall for the Bulldogs.
Samford head Coach Pat Sullivan said team, for the most part, struggled through Wednesday's practice.
"We didn't have a very good practice today," Sullivan said. "Today was the worst day we've had. They were tired and they didn't push themselves through it."
Sullivan did point out one of the newcomers to the team who showed some positive signs on Wednesday.
"I did see (freshman linebacker) Durell Hill make some nice plays," Sullivan said. "It was good to see a young guy come out and make some plays."
The team will hold its first scrimmage of the fall on Saturday. Sullivan said the scrimmage will allow the coaching staff to get a better look at who could step up and fill some of holes left from last year's team.
"We'll have to wait until the scrimmage on Saturday to see who might be able to step up," Sullivan said. "We have to get some competitiveness this year. We had that last year, they came to work every day."
The Bulldogs will practice twice on Thursday, with practices scheduled for 8:30 a.m. in full pads and 4 p.m. in shorts and helmets in Seibert Stadium. Saturday's scrimmage is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. at Seibert Stadium.
Wofford Wednesday Football Practice Report
SPARTANBURG, SC ? The Wofford College football team completed the third day of practice on a rainy Wednesday afternoon. The practice was the first of the season in shoulder pads and lasted approximately two hours.
“We did alright in pads but it was a sloppy day with a lot of rain early,” said head coach Mike Ayers. “The balls got heavy as practice went on and we did not throw it as well as we needed to, but I saw some good things. We are still putting in a lot of stuff and installation always gives us some problems with the thinking process. It is just a matter of repetition and time. We really need to stress the fundamentals. Hopefully the more we work the better we will get.”
The practice began with a short team segment in which Tommy Irvin intercepted a pass. After thirty minutes of individual work, the team worked on the inside game with the lines, linebackers and running backs participating.
In the skelly session, Sean Lees made a 25-yard catch despite being well covered by Trey Diller. The special teams work focused on the kickoff cover unit before moving to separate offense and defense drills.
With the offense running plays during the team session, Cody Burris and Austin Palmer had nice runs, while Mike Rucker tossed a perfect pass to Justice Joslin down the sideline. C.J. Turner came up with an interception. While running plays for the defense, Robert Williams, Tommy Irvin, Trey Diller and James Lane all had interceptions.
Practice ended with PATs as Landon Bennett, Chris Tommie, Grant Cody and Christian Reed took turns with the attempts.
Players who were limited in practice due to injury included DE Mitch Clark, HB Lavadrick Farrar, DB Michael Roulhac, LB Mark Flott, HB Brad Nocek, TE Kenny Barnes, DB Mychael Johnson, and DL T.J. White.
The team will return to the field on Thursday at 3:30 pm. The first full pads practice will be Friday at 3:30 pm and the first two-a-day will be Saturday, August 15. Practice will be held on the intramural field next to Gibbs Stadium until the end of Carolina Panthers training camp. All practices are open to the public; however keep in mind that the schedule can change without notice.
ASU Football Fall Camp Report: Wednesday, August 12
BOONE, N.C. ? Appalachian State University football held its first day of two-a-day practices on Wednesday at Kidd Brewer Stadium.
The morning session was conducted with the Mountaineers wearing helmets, shoulder pads and shorts in a steady drizzle. The Apps donned full pads for the afternoon session, which was held under mostly sunny skies.
The afternoon practice featured the most prolonged 11-on-11 work of the fall to this point. After the ASU offense seemed to get the better of its defensive counterparts on Tuesday in the first 11-on-11 sessions conducted in full pads, the defense rebounded to generate the majority of the highlights on Wednesday.
In the final eight series of the mini-scrimmage, the defense limited the offense to six first downs and one score. Leading the way was junior defensive end Jabari Fletcher, who notched three tackles behind the line of scrimmage in the first four series. Other top performers included:
? junior linebacker D.J. Smith, who was in on a pair of tackles for loss and forced a fumble that was recovered by freshman ?backer Justin Lloyd.
? Lloyd, who added a pass break-up to go along with the fumble recovery.
? sophomore linebacker/defensive lineman Demery Brewer, who notched two solo tackles for loss.
? defensive linemen Anthony Williams, Lanston Tanyi and John Rizor, as well as true freshman linebacker Michael Frazier, who all recorded sacks.
? junior defensive backs Jared Reine and Mark LeGree, who added a tackle for loss and pass break-up, respectively.
Sophomore running back Cedric Baker turned in the top offensive highlight of the final eight series when he broke free on a fourth-and-one run up the middle and used his speed to pull away from the pursuing defenders for a 61-yard touchdown.
Sophomore quarterback Travaris Cadet was also impressive in leading the second team, running five times for 41 yards. He also displayed skills as a thrower when he drew the defense offsides and found true freshman Jamill Lott streaking up the left hash for a long gain.
In accordance with NCAA regulations, Appalachian will practice just once on Thursday.
The Citadel Football Fall Camp Report: Day 5
Charleston, S.C. - The Citadel Football returned to the field for day five and the first day of full pads in fall camp on Wednesday at the Maybank Triplets Practice Facility at Willson Field. The Bulldogs worked out for three-hours-and-thirty minutes for a total of 40 periods. There were no injuries reported.
The Bulldogs had a split practice again on Wednesday with a live blitz period towards the end of practice between the ones and twos. According to Bulldog Head Coach Kevin Higgins, protection was not bad for the first time around. The defense did a nice job getting to the quarterback a few times and the offense was able to complete two long balls during that period.
"We're much further ahead than we were last year," said Higgins. "When you go through segments of thud, one big difference is that guys are able to stay off the ground, which just means they understand the nature of the drill and there's more athleticism, which means they can stay up."
The team did a live four-on-four special teams drill which Higgins said was a good session because it typically reveals a lot about guys being able to make plays. The staff will evaluate who was able to make plays and those individuals will be given the opportunity to help more on special teams.
The Citadel will return to the practice field on Thursday for the first two-a-day of fall camp. The first practice will take place from 8-10:15 and they will return to the field for the second practice at 3:15-5:15 p.m. Both practices will take place at the Maybank Triplets Practice Facility.