Aug. 15, 2003
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -
BIRMINGHAM, Ala.-The Samford University football team practiced twice on Friday, in final preparation for the team's first full scrimmage on Saturday.
"This morning we had good work," head coach Bill Gray said. "It was hot out there, but they fought through it. We worked on some blitz-pick-up things on both sides of the ball. Obviously, on defense, we've got to put pressure on people. And on offense, if you don't show you can pick the blitz up, then people are going to do it to you on every snap. So, we worked on that part of the game and got some good film to watch.
"This afternoon, the main object was to get a mental practice in," Gray said. "We worked on a few special things, late in the game, two-minute stuff and things like that. But the biggest thing was to get their legs under them, so they can come out tomorrow for the scrimmage and not have any excuse to not put in a good day's work."
The Bulldogs will hold their first full scrimmage of the 2003 season on Saturday at 9:00 a.m., at Seibert Stadium. Gray said the session would be a controlled scrimmage.
"I'd love to be able to roll the ball out there and run about 150 snaps, but I don't know if we're going to be able to do that with the numbers we have up front," Gray said. "But at the same time, there are some guys that we've seen enough of and we know what they can do. It's going to be a day for those second-teamers and the guys on the bubble to hopefully try to earn a spot on that bus on the 28th (for the season-opener at Chattanooga). But I hope the ones come out and are sharp in what they do, and I hope the twos come out and show us that they need to be considered for a spot on that bus. But we are going to try to stay healthy, but try to put them in as much of a game-type situation as we can."
Samford opens the 2003 season on Thursday, August 28, at Chattanooga. Kick-off for the game is set for 7:00 p.m. central time and will be televised by The Football Network
