Spring Practice Report #3
3/13/2008 4:09:00 AM | Football
STATESBORO, Ga. ? Georgia Southern University football coach Chris Hatcher was pleased with his team's performance Thursday morning (March 13), the first practice with shoulder pads on. The Eagles worked through the third of 15 scheduled spring practices.
Friday morning will be the first day in full pads and final practice session before Spring Break. The team will resume drills on Tuesday, March 25th.
“I though we had good tempo pretty much all day today. I was real pleased, we were a lot smoother in certain areas because we had learned through the first two practices how to do things,” said the second-year head coach. “We are pretty much full-go anyway. Tomorrow, though, we will actually go all the way to the ground with our tackling. Whether we are in full gear or not we get to see what we need to see. Tomorrow will be a little more game type atmosphere for the guys. We will see which quarterbacks can lead the best, which guys can break tackles, how well we tackle on defense and how we cover in a live situation. So we will step it up a notch as far as intensity goes.”
The Eagles return 43 letterwinners and Hatcher thinks the new players are benefitting by watching and learning from them.
“They (the returners) are doing a good job coaching them on the sidelines. They have a good base understanding of what we want to accomplish and you learn a lot by watching,” said Hatcher. “The newcomers for the most part are picking things up, but there are still a couple of guys that are swimming. Defensively they have a pretty good grasp of what is going on. Offensively this was our third day and last day of install so everything is starting to run together for some of those new guys, over time that will sharpen up a bit.”
MORE NEW FACES IN THE BACKFIELD: Not only will Georgia Southern have to find a new quarterback, there will be new names running the ball. The departure of quarterback Jayson Foster and running backs Lamar Lewis, Mike Hamilton, Dusty Reddick and Sean Gray leaves a big hole to fill.
All the returning running backs and quarterbacks from last year accounted for 326 total rushing yards. Chris Teal accounted for 214 yards, but he could likely move back to wide receiver. Zeke Rozier rushed for 101 yards in his first two games before suffering a season-ending knee injury. He will return with four years of eligibility remaining. Both are recovering from injuries and will be able to participate some but cannot go through contact drills.
The Eagles picked up transfers Ricky Ponton and Darell Norman from South Florida and UAB, respectively. Ponton totaled 679 yards and four touchdowns during his two years at USF. Norman was ranked as the No. 41 overall prospect in the state of Georgia by rivals.com. He redshirted last fall at UAB and will have four years remaining. Terence Hall also joined at the semester after playing two years at Highland CC.
Juniors Lionel McGriff and Ri'Chard Davis moved from defense to help the depleted group. McGriff started his Georgia Southern career as a slotback while Davis was recruited as a quarterback but eventually moved to linebacker.
According to Hatcher...
“Zeke will be able to do a little bit at practice. Ricky Ponton has had a good off-season. Darell Norman is a transfer from UAB that we feel good about. We don't really have a traditional fullback anymore like we did with Dusty Reddick and Sean Gray but we'll have more of a running back/receiver type and right now that is Hall. We moved McGriff back from defense to offense to fill that position. Davis also moved to running back to give us some depth. Of course we have a few new guys. Arthur Morris and some others who walked on the team (who we feel really good about) will get in there and battle. Zeke Rozier and Chris Teal are out with an injury so all those guys will be brand new.”
BLUE-WHITE GAME TO BE SPONSORED: This year's annual Blue-White game will be presented by the Georgia Neighborhood Ford Dealers. The game is scheduled for Saturday, April 12th at Paulson Stadium. Play-by-play voice Chris Blair and color analyst Terry Harvin will broadcast the game on Eagle 102.9 FM and via the internet at www.GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com. The radio show will begin 30 minutes before the 1 p.m. kickoff.
SPRING PRACTICE SCHEDULE
(dates/times subject to change... all times at 8 a.m. unless otherwise noted)
Friday, March 14 (full pads)
Tuesday, March 25 (shells)
Thursday, March 27 (full)
Friday, March 28 (full, 2:30 p.m.)
Monday, March 31 (shells)
Tuesday, April 1 (full)
Thursday, April 3 (shells)
Friday, April 4 (full)
Tuesday, April 8 (full)
Thursday, April 10 (full)
Friday, April 11 (shorts)
Saturday, April 12: Blue-White game presented by the Georgia Neighborhood Ford Dealers (1 p.m.)
