Samford
BIRMINGHAM, Ala.—The Samford football team continued fall camp with a two-hour practice in full pads Thursday afternoon at Seibert Stadium.
The practice was the sixth workout of fall camp for the Bulldogs. Senior running back Fabian Truss said he and his teammates are continuing to work hard to get ready for the 2013 season.
“It’s going really well,” Truss said. “We’re at the end of the sixth practice and the intensity is there. We just have to keep pushing through it. We’re getting to the part of camp where it’s getting hard, but we just really have to push the young guys.”
The squad went through a 25-period practice on the team’s second day in full pads. Truss talked about some areas in which the offense needs to improve.
“As an offense, we want to score more points and be more explosive,” Truss said. “We want to try to help the defense out and try to limit those three-and-outs.”
Running back is one of the deeper positions on the 2013 roster. Behind Truss, juniors Jeremiaha Gates and Stanley Robinson, sophomore D’Morrise Bledsoe and freshman Jake Wilks are all capable backups.
“It’s really great knowing that if I go out anytime during the game, any one of them can come in and do the same thing I can do,” Truss said. “They can keep the chains moving and that’s really what we need.”
The Bulldogs will practice again Friday in full pads. The practice is scheduled to begin at 3:50 p.m. at Seibert Stadium. The team will scrimmage for the first time in fall camp Saturday morning at 9:30 a.m. at Seibert Stadium.
Georgia Southern
STATESBORO, Ga. – When Coach Jeff Monken restarts the clock on a practice period, it’s a very deliberate way of getting the Eagles’ attention. In the second session of Thursday’s two-a-day practice of the 2013 preseason, Monken restarted the clock on period seven. The second trip through that five-minute period was better after some teaching moments and a few up-downs.
“I restarted the period, because, frankly, we weren’t practicing very well,” said Georgia Southern Head Coach Jeff Monken. “I thought our guys were going through the motions and I thought it stunk, so that’s why I started the period. It’s my job to make sure we get the most out of these guys every time we are out here. If we aren’t getting the effort we need, the intensity we are looking for, if the performance isn’t there because of a lack of concentration, focus or effort, I’m not going to let them get away with it, I’m going to start over.”
Georgia Southern started Thursday with a 16-period practice in full pads, following a routine that included individual and position drills, skelly and multiple periods of interaction. The Eagles hit the practice fields after team and position meetings at the Parrish Football Center earlier in the morning. After treatments in the athletic training room and lunch, it was time to get taped and dressed for team and position meetings to prepare for the second session at 4:45 p.m.
“Every day isn’t going to be perfect and there are going to be times we don’t practice as well as we hoped,” Monken said. “There’s going to be some frustration, and that’s part of it. These guys will learn and we’ll learn, and each time I learn more about this team. We have a good bunch of guys, they will work hard, they’ll be tough and play hard, it was just one of those little lapses in concentration and effort.”
Appalachian State
BOONE, N.C. — Appalachian State University football wrapped up its first full week of fall camp with a two-hour-and-fifteen-minute practice on Thursday afternoon at Kidd Brewer Stadium.
A day after Appalachian held its first two-a-day workouts, the seventh day of camp featured just one practice. The Mountaineer donned full pads for Thursday’s lone workout and closed the afternoon with 11-on-11 red-zone and two-minute drills.
Appalachian’s defense got the best of the final period of the afternoon, holding the offense out of the end zone on 3-of-4 red-zone series and not allowing a score in two two-minute possessions.
Timely tackles behind the line of scrimmage on each series led to defensive stops on the first three red-zone possessions. Redshirt freshman safety Alex Gray stalled the first series by stopping running back Ricky Fergerson for an eight-yard loss on third-and-goal from the two yard line. On the next series, eight-yard passes from Kameron Bryant to Bobo Beathard and Barrett Burns moved the offense to the one yard line before junior linebacker Brandon McGowan and sophomore safety Kevin Walton teamed up to stuff running back Paul Magloire for a three-yard loss. True freshman linebacker Kennan Gilchrist sacked Taylor Lamb for a five-yard loss to end the third series.
The offense finally found the end zone on its final red-zone possession when true freshman running back Marcus Cox broke free for a 13-yard touchdown scamper.
In the first of two two-minute-drill simulations to end the afternoon, the offense took over at its own 39 yard line and drove to the defense’s 35 before the series stalled, thanks in large part to a sack by Deuce Robinson and Chris Shaffer on first down from the 35. The second offensive possession ended after just two plays when McGowan picked off a Bryant pass to squelch the offense’s last scoring opportunity.
Despite reaching paydirt only once in six possessions during the final period of the day, the offense did have highlights during the red-zone and two-minute series. Starting quarterback Jamal Londry-Jackson completed five passes in two possessions, including 10-yard connections with Tony Washington and Malachi Jones and three catches for 17 yards by Fergerson. On the only scoring drive of the period, Cox’s 13-yard touchdown run was set up by a five-yard completion from Logan Hallock to.