GSU Fall Camp #13
Eagles work through final two-a-day practice
STATESBORO, Ga. ? Once again weather delayed Georgia Southern’s morning session but the Eagles were still able to get the full amount of practice time in Friday (Aug. 14), the last official two-a-day practice day during fall football camp.
Head coach Chris Hatcher and his team worked for more than two hours in the morning and then in the evening another two and a half hours, finishing with a scrimmage session.
“I thought we had a good day. I thought we pushed through, again we’ve got a great attitude. We have got a lot of guys getting better; it’s the same old thing we are not anywhere where we need to be but we’re progressing at the pace we need to progress at. This morning we fought through some bad weather. We changed some things around, doing more individual group work then we took all the scrimmage work and did it this evening,” said Hatcher. “We’re getting ?camp legs’ a little bit but tomorrow I expect us to come out and have a good one, and that will signify the end of camp. We’ll take two days off then we have four days of preseason, and after that we’ll have two weeks getting ready for the first game.”
Following 10 straight days of practice, Hatcher noted it’s common to battle fatigue at this point of fall camp.
“You ought to be tired this time of camp. Number one I think we are in pretty good shape but your legs start to get a little heavy and you have to be mentally tough to push through those type of things. That’s what you want to see, all good football players are mentally tough,” said the third-year head coach.
During the end of the evening practice: Dion DuBose recorded a sack on 3rd-and-long... Tavaris Williams recovered a fumble on third down and A.J. McCray nearly came up with an interception... Kyle Collins connected with Nico Hickey on a 30-yard completion... James Arowoselu and Josh Rowe each recorded a sack... The defense also recorded two pass break-ups on third down.
GSU Fall Camp Wraps Up
Inclement weather forces Eagles to finish indoors
STATESBORO, Ga. - Georgia Southern Football officially closed out fall football camp Saturday afternoon (Aug. 15), but inclement weather again forced the Eagles to make adjustments.
The Eagles worked out at the practice fields for roughly 80 minutes then storm clouds rolled into the area. Head coach Chris Hatcher cleared his team off the field and they loaded up the two yellow buses and drove to Hanner Fieldhouse before heavy rains fell in the area. GS worked out the final hour in the old gym at Hanner to close out camp.
"You only worry about things you can control, and the weather is one of those things I have no control over. We got the work we needed to get done in camp, it's not as big how many times you're out there but if you get all the reps you wanted to get in and we got that accomplished throughout the course of the week," said Hatcher.
The third-year head coach was encouraged following the first two weeks of practice.
"I think we improved in a lot of areas. Our team speed on defense is probably better than it has been in quite some time. Offensively at times we've look really good and other times we're very close to looking good, and our special teams are coming along nicely," stated Hatcher. "I think we came out where we need to be, of course we have a lot to work on between now and September 5th but we have four practices next week we consider preseason and that leaves us with two weeks to prepare for Albany."
Georgia Southern will take off Sunday and Monday (first day of classes) before returning to practice on Tuesday afternoon. According to Hatcher another 35 student-athletes (redshirts and walk-ons) will join the team and begin practice on Tuesday.
FALL TRYOUTS ANNOUNCED: Students who are interested in trying out for the Georgia Southern football team can pick up information at the Parrish Football Center on Monday, August 17th. All paperwork must be filled out prior to the tryouts on Friday, August 21. For more information contact the football office at (912) 478-5522.
SPECIAL TEAMS IMPROVING: Last year Georgia Southern had three redshirt-freshmen as key players on special teams, arguably the youngest kicking game in the Southern Conference and all the Football Championship Subdivision. All three return and should give the Eagles an edge again in 2009.
Carter Jones handled all the long snapping duties for punts and field goals/PAT. Charlie Edwards, who also served as the holder on kicks, ranked among the SoCon punting leaders for most of the season. He finished with a 40.0 yard average on 41 punts, good for seventh among the GS season 'Top 10' leaders. A SoCon All-Freshman team representative, Edwards launched eight punts of 50-plus yards and placed 14 inside the 20-yard line. Adrian Mora took over the place kicking duties in week four. He went on to earn Second Team All-SoCon and All-Freshman team honors, and this year was named preseason First Team All-Conference honors. Mora nailed all 31 extra point attempts and converted a field goal in every game played, 10-of-12 including a long of 42 yards in the finale at Furman. He led the team in scoring with 61 points.
Sophomore Christopher Rogers and true-freshmen Tyler Rhodes and Graden Bozeman are challenging Mora for the starting job and kickoff duties. Chris Williamson signed with the Eagles in February and has battled Edwards in fall camp for the punting duties. Brett Moore and Justin Wilson joined Jones in camp as long snapper.
SPECIAL TREAT FOR END OF CAMP: The Georgia Southern players enjoyed a special treat to close out fall camp. Several members of the EFAA (Eagle Football Assistance Association) were in town to serve a catered meal to the players and staff on Saturday night.
Samford Football Preps For First Scrimmage
The Bulldogs practiced for about two hours Friday morning
Practice Photo Gallery
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford football team practiced for about two hours in full pads Friday morning at Seibert Stadium. The practice was the 11th of the fall for the Bulldogs, and it was the final preparation for the first scrimmage of the fall, which will take place Saturday morning.
Samford head coach Pat Sullivan said he thought the team made some progress during Friday morning's workout.
"I thought we had a little better practice today," Sullivan said. "(Junior receiver) DeMarcus Covington made some nice plays, and I thought he had a good day.
"We cut a couple of things out today to get ready for our scrimmage tomorrow," Sullivan said. "Hopefully they can get some rest. I know they are tired and beat up. If they can get their rest tonight, hopefully we will have a good scrimmage tomorrow."
Sullivan said the team would go through real game-type situations during Saturday's scrimmage.
"You just want to get them back into game situations," Sullivan said. "We will be doing all of the little things that take place during a game. We will have officials here as well."
Sullivan added that the scrimmage will consist of about 70 plays, and it is scheduled to start at 9 a.m. at Seibert Stadium.
Samford Defense Shines In First Football Scrimmage
The Bulldogs scrimmaged for about an hour and a half Saturday morning
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford defense had an impressive showing in the Bulldog football team's first scrimmage of fall practice Saturday morning at Seibert Stadium.
"I thought we saw some good things today," Samford head coach Pat Sullivan said. "I think the defense is a little ahead of the offense right now. The offense had a couple of key players out in Riley Hawkins and Brock Johnson, but don't take anything away from the defense, they played well."
In the first half of the scrimmage, the defense had three sacks, with Jeremy Towns, Patrick Hatcher and Erik Peterson each producing a sack. In the second half, Seth Harkness and Mason Wald had an interception each. For the entire scrimmage, the defense kept the offense out of the end zone.
"The defense ran to the ball and really did some nice things," Sullivan said. "It's never as good as you think or as bad as you think, but I am looking forward to watching the film."
Both of Samford's quarterbacks saw extensive action during the scrimmage. Sophomore starter Dustin Taliaferro completed 11-of-17 passes for 81 yards. Redshirt freshman backup Connor Lowery completed 10-of-19 passes for 60 yards and two interceptions.
Junior running back Chris Evans rushed four times for 22 yards in the scrimmage. Junior Alex Barnett had seven rushes for 22 yards, while senior Harris Johnson rushed four times for 13 yards.
"I thought our running backs ran the ball well today," Sullivan said. "Alex and Chris both did a nice job."
Junior wide receiver DeMarcus Covington caught three passes for 30 yards on Saturday. Senior Jonathan Lowery had three catches for 24 yards, while freshman Marquel Franklin caught four passes for 15 yards. Sophomore Jacobi Rodriguez had three catches for 16 yards during the scrimmage.
Freshman place-kicker Cameron Yaw had a strong showing in his first Samford scrimmage. Yaw made 4-of-5 field goals on the day. He made kicks from 47, 41, 25 and 22 yards out, with his only miss of the day coming on a 49-yard try.
"It's obvious our field goal kicker did well," Sullivan said. "I thought Cameron had a good scrimmage."
Samford will take Sunday off from practice. The Bulldogs will practice again Monday at 9 a.m. in full pads.
SCRIMMAGE STATISTICAL LEADERS
PASSING
Dustin Taliaferro: 11-of-17, 81 yards
Connor Lowery: 10-of-19, 60 yards, 2 interceptions
RUSHING
Chris Evans: 4 rushes, 22 yards
Alex Barnett: 7 rushes, 22 yards
Harris Johnson: 4 rushes, 13 yards
RECEIVING
DeMarcus Covington: 3 receptions, 30 yards
Jonathan Lowery: 3 receptions, 24 yards
Marquel Franklin: 4 receptions, 15 yards
Jacobi Rodriguez: 3 receptions, 16 yards
INTERCEPTIONS
Seth Harkness (1), Mason Wald (1)
SACKS
Jeremy Towns (1), Patrick Hatcher (1), Erik Peterson (1)
FIELD GOALS
Cameron Yaw: 4-of-5 (made-47, 41, 25, 22; missed-49)
Scrimmage Report from the First Tennessee Meet the Mocs
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football team took part in its second scrimmage of the season in the First Tennessee Meet the Mocs at Finley Stadium today.
A huge crowd of 1,029 fans made their way to Davenport Field on a near-perfect afternoon to watch the Mocs in action. Sophomore quarterback B.J. Coleman led the offense by connecting on 17 of 24 pass attempts for 169 yards and one touchdown.
Coleman and the Mocs' starting offense began the afternoon on their own 20-yard line. They marched down the field in 13 plays, scoring on a 10-yard run by senior Bryan Fitzgerald. Coleman was 6-7 passing during the drive for 52 yards. The Mocs seemed to stall on the defense's 36-yard line. On third and 11, Coleman hooked up with junior Chris Pitchford for a 22-yard reception to keep the ball moving.
After two-straight three-and-outs by the defense, a pair of freshmen ignited the crowd with a long pass connection. Graham Nichols hit Marlon Anthony over the top for a 63-yard touchdown strike. Nichols finished the day 4-4 for 79 yards and the one score. Both of Anthony's receptions were touchdowns, including a 4-yard strike from senior QB Jare Gault later in the scrimmage.
The defense had plenty of bright spots on the afternoon, including a goal-line stop when the offense had first-and-goal from the three. Senior linebackers Joseph Thornton and Doug Faatiliga both picked off Coleman in the hurry-up drills late in the scrimmage.
Junior DB Buster Skrine led the team with eight tackles while sophomore Pete Evans and freshman Michael Carter both added a pair of sacks.
Senior WR Blue Cooper led the way with five catches for 68 yards and one touchdown. Pitchford added four catches for 35 yards. Fitzgerald had five carries for 26 yards and one score.
On special teams, senior Craig Camay was 3-3 on PATs and 1-2 on field goal attempts. He hit the crossbar on a 54-yard attempt in his only miss of the day. Sophomore punter Mike Hammons averaged 50 yards per kick in his punt drills today.
"I thought we had a good day today," stated head coach Russ Huesman. "I thought the offense started out strong, but the defense settled in and did some good things later in the practice."
Fall Practice Report #5: Catamount Football Holds Saturday Two-a-Day, Scrimmage Session
Pair of two-hour practice sessions culminated with a 55-play intrasquad scrimmage
Cullowhee, N.C. ? Western Carolina held its second football two-a-day practice on Saturday, working through a 19-period, two-hour session in the morning before reconvening for a 15-session practice and a 50-play scrimmage in the afternoon on the turf at E.J. Whitmire Stadium / Bob Waters Field.
The morning session was in half pads with the team wearing helmets, shoulder pads, and thigh pads under shorts, with the afternoon practice going in full pads.
“Our morning practice was real crisp and I thought we got a lot out of it. We covered our special teams, the guys flew around well and the weather was great,” said head coach Dennis Wagner following the second practice on Saturday evening. “In our scrimmage, I thought the defense played really hard and on offense, we did not play well at all, and in particular, along the offensive line. We have got to get a lot better; have got to give Zack (Jaynes) and our quarterback’s time and have to be able to run the football.
Wagner continued, “We decided to have the 15-period practice prior to the scrimmage essentially because we are limited in numbers in depth at a couple of positions right now.”
One of those positions mentioned by Wagner was the running back slot where sophomore Nate Harris and redshirt freshman Dion Wilson split the majority of the snaps. Senior Jayson Williams continues to be held out of contact as he recovers from the off-season knee surgery. Another position alluded to by Wagner is at defensive back where he stated the squad does not have two totally healthy sets of DB’s with which to hold a full-on scrimmage.
Saturday afternoon’s scrimmage session opened auspiciously enough for the defensive unit. With the offense starting first and 10 from its own 35 yard line, sophomore linebacker Ricky Schwarz scooped up a fumbled exchange in the backfield and rumbled 32 yards for a touchdown for the defensive unit.
Senior DB Chris Collins continued the offense’s woes on the next two plays from scrimmage, blowing up a hand-off to Harris and dropping the converted tailback in the backfield for a three-yard loss and then batting down a would-be Zack Jaynes pass at the line of scrimmage to force third and long. On the third-down conversion play, senior defenders Adrian McLeod and Gene Singletary converged to corral Jaynes in the backfield for a blown-dead sack.
Collins, playing defensive coordinator Matt Pawlowski’s hybrid back position, finished with three tackles for loss unofficially, while classmates Antoine George and Chaz Jackson, junior C.J. Johnson and freshman Tanner Hidrogo each tallied a TFL.
The offense mounted its best drive of the scrimmage midway through, but was unable to come away with points despite a nine-play drive. After obtaining a first and goal from the nine, Collins and George combined to stop Wilson behind the line for a second and goal from the 10-yard line. Jaynes scampered to the five where Schwarz prevented the score on second down, while his third down pass was batted at the line of scrimmage. On fourth down, Wilson could not cleanly handle the pitch from Jaynes on a toss sweep and was met by a host of defenders, led by McLeod, at the goal line preventing the score.
The offensive unit did have a couple highlights, both coming on two big plays. First, Harris broke a 32-yard inside-to-outside run into the secondary before Mitchell Bell was able to pull him down to save a touchdown. The rush was a part of the nine-play offensive drive. Harris led all rushers unofficially with 65 yards on 11 carries, while Wilson rushed six times for 32 yards.
The other play accounted for the offensive unit’s lone touchdown of the session. Redshirt freshman quarterback Jonathan Efird found rookie wideout D.J. McLendon on the right sideline for a 65-yard pass-and-catch. Efird rolled right after a play-fake left and found McLendon on a come-back route. The Thomasville, N.C., native did the rest as McLendon turned and raced up the far sideline for the score. He added two end-around reverse rushes for 13 yards on the day.
Jaynes took all the snaps with the first team, completing a pair of passes for 16 yards, while Pressley and Efird split second team reps and McCoy was under center with the third unit. Pressley was unofficially 2-for-3 for eight yards passing, while Efird (3-for-3, 83 yards, 1 TD) and McCoy (2-for-2, 8 yards) were both perfect on the day.
After a full week of practice, the squad will take Sunday off from the field, while the coaches will stay busy in the offices, according to Wagner.
“With the players having Sunday as an off day, I want them to rest up, relax, get off their feet, eat well and take care of their bodies. For the coaches, we will catch up on our film and make sure we are prepared for Monday’s practice as we continue to get better,” Wagner concluded.
WCU will resume practice on Monday morning with one session before taking on two-a-day practices on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, with the latter including an 80-90 play intrasquad scrimmage while also representing the final two-a-day session.
Personnel Notes:
* True freshman quarterback Ryan World, who has been held out of practice as he recovered from a bout of pneumonia, saw his first collegiate practice action on Saturday, working through both sessions, although limited in the afternoon workout;
* Senior RB Jayson Williams (knee) and redshirt junior WR Marquel Pittman (hamstring) continued to be sidelined ? Pittman did spend most of the practice running the sidelines, however ? both were out for precautionary purposes;
* New additions to the “red-cross jersey” list on Saturday were DB Curtis McGill (groin); DB Brandon Vaught (concussion); RB Michael Johnson (concussion); OL Nathan Postelle (foot); and WR George Richardson (concussion) ? all were restricted in practice for precautionary purposes;
* WR Josh Cockrell suffered a mild concussion during the scrimmage session ... the WCU athletic training staff re-evaluated him following the scrimmage;
Wofford Football Friday Practice Report
SPARTANBURG, SC ? The Wofford College football team practiced in full pads for the first time on Friday afternoon, the fifth day of practice. The two-hour practice was conducted in hot and muggy conditions, which did not slow down the Terriers.
“It was a good first day in pads,” said head coach Mike Ayers. “The kids came out and worked hard. It was warm, but they came out focused and stayed focused for all 24 periods. I think we see that the young kids are starting to pick it up and they able to think a little bit less and just play football. Chris Tommie punted today and punted the ball very well. I am real pleased with the way he has come off surgery. We think maybe overall it is the best day we have had so far. Tomorrow is our first two-a-day. We will go in the morning early and will have an evening practice. During the evening practice, we will work on the kicking game, we will do skelly and a good bit of eleven-on-eleven scrimmage situations.”
The practice began with the offense and defense each getting six plays in the “off on the ball” drill. After nearly 30 minutes of individual position drills, the offense and defense both worked in skelly against a script. With the offense on the field, Mike Rucker caught a long pass from Stev Davitte, Eric Breitenstein had a long run and Andrew Young had a nice catch from Mitch Allen. With the defense up, C.J. Turner came away with an interception.
After working on punt return, in which Christian Reed, Chris Tommie and Landon Bennett all punted, the offense and defense worked separately for several periods. To end practice, each unit worked 15 plays as a full team. The offense kept the ball on the ground, with Arsenio Parks, Stev Davitte, Derek Boyce and Bryan Youman making plays. On defense, the highlights were provided by the defensive line, which made several big stops.
The injury bug has not been kind to the Terriers so far this season. Freshman running back Cody Burris suffered a broken clavicle and freshman tight end Kenny Barnes suffered a knee injury. Both injuries will require surgery and it is expected that they will miss the season.
Players who were limited in practice due to injury included DE Mitch Clark, DB Michael Roulhac, LB Mark Flott, HB Brad Nocek, DB Mychael Johnson, S Hunter Hobson and WR Devin Reed.
The team will return to the field on Saturday for the first two-a-day. The morning practice will begin at 9:00 am on the intramural fields, followed by a 6:15 pm scrimmage at Gibbs Stadium. All practices are open to the public; however keep in mind that the schedule can change without notice.
Wofford Football Completes First Two-a-Day Practice and Scrimmage
SPARTANBURG, SC ? The Wofford College football team practiced twice on Saturday, with the second practice a short scrimmage at Gibbs Stadium. Highlights of the 80-play scrimmage included a touchdown run by Arsenio Parks, an interception return by Blake Wylie and a 52-yard field goal from Chris Tommie.
“I think it was eighty good plays,” said head coach Mike Ayers. “It was an opportunity to have eighty snaps that we can evaluate and start to put together a first, second and third team. I saw some good things, saw some playmakers, and saw some bad things. We need to get better fundamentally and we need to do a better job of practicing smart. It was a good day for Arsenio and I think he has gained a lot of confidence. I thought Austin Palmer did some good things as well. The quarterbacks all had their moments. I was pleased with the pass protection on the offensive line and our receivers when they had the opportunity for the most part made the catch.”
In the morning, the team practiced in shorts and shoulder pads for approximately an hour and 40 minutes. During the skelly period, Mitch Allen completed a long pass to Brenton Bersin and Blake Wylie came up with an interception. Gary Blount and Coleman Hornaday also added interceptions. Special teams focused on blocking during kickoff coverage and punting, with Chris Tommie getting off several booming punts. For the final twenty minutes of team, the offense and defense worked separately. Practice ended with Grant Cody, Christian Reed, Chris Tommie, Carter Stinman and Landon Bennett taking field goal attempts.
For the evening practice, the team moved from the intramural fields to Gibbs Stadium. The practice began with a kickoff and kickoff coverage segment before moving into the scrimmage. The offense and defense rotated every ten plays, with each unit running a total of 40 plays.
Highlights with the offense on the field included a 45-yard reception by Clark Gaston from Chris White, a 20-yard reverse from Justice Joslin, and a ten-yard touchdown run by Arsenio Parks. On defense, Blake Wylie intercepted a pass and returned it for a touchdown. Cody Van Der Linden added an interception, while Alvin Scioneaux had a fumble recovery.
The kicking game was a major aspect of the scrimmage, as Grant Cody, Christian Reed, Chris Tommie, Carter Stinman and Landon Bennett each had two tries from 38-yards, two tries from 47-yards, two PATs, and one try each from 37-yards, 42-yards and 52-yards for a total of nine attempts per player. Landon Bennett led the way with seven made attempts, but Chris Tommie was the only one to hit from the 52-yard mark.
Players who were held out of the scrimmage due to injury included DE Mitch Clark, DB Michael Roulhac, LB Mark Flott, HB Brad Nocek, DB Mychael Johnson, S Hunter Hobson, WR Devin Reed, HB Alex Dunmire and LB Sam Johnson.
On Sunday, the players will have the morning off and meetings in the late afternoon. On Monday, the team returns to the field with practices at 9 am and 6:15 pm. All practices are open to the public; however keep in mind that the schedule can change without notice.
ASU Football Fall Camp Report: Friday, August 14
BOONE, N.C. ? For the second day in a row, Appalachian State University’s football practices focused more on brains than brawn on Friday.
Appalachian practiced in the morning and afternoon, but both sessions were conducted in helmets, shoulder pads and shorts and contact was limited, especially outside of the offensive and defensive lines. In the absence of all-out hitting, the Mountaineers concentrated on a lot of situational work during Friday’s workouts, particulary in the afternoon.
Thursday’s and Friday’s less-physical practices were also in anticipation of Saturday, when ASU will hold its first intrasquad scrimmage since reporting for fall camp a week ago.
ASU Football Camp Report: Saturday, August 15
BOONE, N.C. - Following position drills and a few situational plays, Appalachian State University football settled in for its first long scrimmage of the camp.
The defense stymied the offense early and often on many of the first several series. The first teamers were unable to sustain a drive more than six plays before sophomore quarterback DeAndre Presley ran 34 yards for the day's first touchdown.
Working with the second team offense, freshman Travaris Cadet ran a first down draw play up the middle 70 yards for a TD of his own. A third score came on yet another long play as Brian Quick ran a third-and-10 out route and broke free for a 70-yard score of his own a few plays later.
On the other side of the ball, Ed Gainey and Brandon Lloyd had some of the day's hardest hits, but end Lanston Tanyi was constantly making stops in the backfield while freshman Michael Frazier also made several stops.
Before the team wrapped up the three-hour practice, CoCo Hillary made a spectacular grab for a 26-yard touchdown, and Cadet completed a 40-yard bomb to tight end Brandon Thompson for a score.
Next Saturday, August 22, fans will have the opportunity to witness the Apps’ final intrasquad scrimmage before the season opener at East Carolina when ASU holds its annual Fan Fest at Kidd Brewer Stadium. For details, click HERE.
The Citadel Football Fall Camp Report: Day 7
Charleston, S.C. - The Citadel Football returned to the field for day seven and the third day in full pads of fall camp on Friday morning at the Maybank Triplets Practice Facility at Willson Field. The Bulldogs worked out for three-hours in wet conditions; however no injuries reported.
Higgins was impressed again with the defensive effort, mentioning that the team is much stronger and faster than they were last year this time. However, the running backs need to improve on goal line situations. On special teams, Higgins said they worked on their kickoff return schemes.
The Citadel will return to the practice field on Saturday for their second of four two-a-days starting at 8 a.m. and then again at 3:15 p.m. Both practices will take place at the Maybank Triplets Practice Facility.
The Citadel Football Fall Camp Report: Day 8
Charleston, S.C. - The Bulldog Football team returned to action this morning for day eight of fall camp and the second installment of two-a-day practices at the Maybank Triplets Practice Facility at Willson Field. The Bulldogs worked out for two and half hours in cooler temperatures and will practice again this afternoon at 3:15 p.m.
Following a day where the defense dominated practice, today it was the offense that impressed at camp. "Coming back from yesterday's practice, the offense looked much better this morning. We worked on our screen and perimeter passing game and also instituted a live third down scrimmage, offense vs. defense," said Bulldog Head Coach Kevin Higgins. "We also worked on installing our kickoff return game and will continue to work on that this afternoon along with our red zone sequences between the 25 and 15 yard lines."
Following this afternoon's practice, The Citadel will return to the practice field on Monday at 8 a.m. at the Maybank Triplets Practice Facility.
Elon Football Practice Report: Straight From the Coach
ELON, N.C. ? We had another very good session tonight under the lights on Hunt Field. A handful of players returned to duty tonight after missing a few practices, which was a big help to the continuity and flow of the session. The players' morale remains very high even though we are at the point of preseason camp where soreness and long days can take their toll.
We went in uppers again tonight because the players have shown me that they can go hard and stay off the ground in team periods where we dictate "thud" tempo - full speed and contact up front, but no live tackling or cut blocks. We had three team periods tonight - one featuring base down and distances, one in the red zone and the last one where we moved the ball. All three segments were in "thud" mode.
A number of players on both sides of the ball made impressive plays tonight in the team periods. Red-shirt freshman Aaron Mellette continues to impress with his physical ability, but also his work ethic and drive to improve. His teammates are clearly gaining confidence in him, as is the coaching staff. Freshman receiver Jeremy Peterson is also picking up the system quickly and is making plays under pressure. Jeremy has a super attitude and a great motor. Tight end Andre Labinowicz had one of his best practices tonight.
On defense, tackle David Hunt stood out tonight. He made some plays stopping the run and was effective rushing the passer. Andre Campbell also had some pressures on our QB's tonight. Linebackers Joshua Jones, Brandon Wiggins and freshman Jordan Jones made plays to stop drives by the offense in the final team period. Jordan Jones took the ball away from receiver Darrius McQueen for an impressive interception to end the period.
In addition to the team periods, we had two pass skeletons and ample time for individual work by position. Special teams worked on punt protection and coverage, kick off return and PAT/field goal tonight. Red-shirt freshman kicker Adam Shreiner hit a 40-yard field goal to finish the practice session.
The staff will be in early Sunday morning to review the video before meetings begin with the players shortly thereafter. We will be back out on the practice field on Sunday afternoon in full pads.
Pete Lembo
Head Football Coach
Two Furman Friday Practices Yield Positive Results
Webb, Forcier Connect For Two Touchdown Strikes
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Furman wrapped up its first day of two-a-day practices Friday with an evening session under the lights of Paladin Stadium.
"Our first night practice elevated the enthusiam a bit, and I was pleased with what I saw," said head coach Bobby Lamb. "We've got a long way to go, but today was productive in many respects. The challenge will be how we come back out tomorrow."
The two-hour evening session opened with work on the field goal and field goal block teams followed by a 7-on-7 session and punt and punt block squads.
"Chas Short kicked the ball well and also punted well," added Lamb. "He's really improved."
The Paladins concluded with a 40-play 11-on-11 scrimmage that featured some solid play on both sides of the football.
"I thought the defense looked pretty good. Nathan Wade and Matthew Gordon had a couple of big hits, and Dustin Gourdin had an interception. I also can't say enough our three freshmen defensive ends, Ricky Lang, Rashaun Phillips, and Josh Lynn. Those guys have gotten all the reps since the start of camp. I don't ever remember that happening here."
Furman's two projected starting defensive ends, seniors Shaun van Rensburg and Kyle McKinney have yet to practice due to injury.
The session was capped off by an 11-yard touchdown pass from Chris Forcier to R.J. Webb. The scoring strike was set up by Forcier's 15-yard sprint around left end.
Friday morning's practice included goal line offensive and defensive work, 7-on-7 drills, and a special teams circuit drill. It wrapped up with an 11-on-11, down and distance session that included a 75-yard touchdown strike from Forcier to Webb.
The Paladins will scrimmage for 50-55 plays in Saturday's practice, scheduled to get underway at 2:30 p.m. on the practice fields before moving into Paladin Stadium.
Saturday Scrimmage Concludes First Week Of Furman Preseason
Sunday Off Day For Paladins
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Furman head coach Bobby Lamb put his squad through a 47-play scrimmage in Paladin Stadium Saturday afternoon to cap the Paladins' first full week of preseason camp.
"We looked a little dead-legged and slow out there today, but I thought the effort was pretty good after seven straight days of work," said Lamb following the nearly two-hour practice. "I think we will benefit from the off day (Sunday) and come back strong to start next week."
The scrimmage featured a mix of solid and sloppy play on both sides of the football. The offense accounted for three touchdowns but turned the ball over three times with two fumbles and an interception. A number of defensive starters sat out the scrimmage, including defensive ends Shaun van Rensburg (foot) and Kyle McKinney (knee), rover Max Lerner (concussion), and bandit Julian Hicks, who was attending a funeral. Offensively tailback Mike Brown (ankle) was held out of action after being sidelined in Friday evening's practice.
Despite the absence of several veterans, a number of players stepped up with fine play, including tight end Chris Truss, who caught three passes, including a 50-yard reception from quarterback Jordan Sorrells that set up a 2-yard touchdown run by Tersoo Uhaa.
"I thought Chris had a good day, and Tersoo Uhaa looked good with the ball under his arm."
Fullback Cardenal Coleman capped another possesion with a 2-yard scoring run off right guard.
Among the players earning mention were free safeties Nathan Wade and Matthew Gordon, and lineabckers Rick Furman and Matt Solomon.
Wade and Gordon are battling for the starting job vacated by the graduation of All-Southern Conference performer Thomas Twitty.
The Paladins return to the field on Monday for two practices, scheduled for 8:15 a.m. and 7:00 p.m.