Football Finishes Four-Day Span of Practices
4/1/2014 9:56:00 PM | Football
Coach Fritz and Eagles to hold first scrimmage Saturday morning
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STATESBORO, Ga. – Georgia Southern Football finished up its fourth-straight practice and sixth overall on this warm Tuesday afternoon with 25 periods that included a mix of individual and position drills, pass skelly and team work. With a day off on Wednesday, Coach Willie Fritz mandated a post-practice stretching period before the Eagles left the field.
Both the offense and defense worked on absorbing and attempting to master the concepts and information presented to them so far. For the offense, more installations will occur this week prior to Saturday's scrimmage. Coach Fritz is quick to point out that while he's pleased with what he has seen so far, there's much work to be done.
"We're getting a lot of work done," Coach Willie Fritz said. "I see us getting a little better each day."
One of the position areas drawing a lot of attention, and not just because of the bright red jerseys, are the quarterbacks. Without counting, there's a strong likelihood that more passes will be thrown during these 15 days the NCAA allows for spring ball than in the recent past or future.
"Because of the offensive system, we're going to throw the ball more this spring, see the throws the quarterbacks can make, see which wide receivers we think are Division I wide receivers and go from there," Fritz said.
While some shuffling in positions has taken place, the wide receivers corps is benefitting from seniors Kentrellis Showers and Zach Walker, experienced players in B.J. Johnson and Montay Crockett, and the additions of senior Tray Butler, a former slot back, and transfer Derek Keaton.
All positions are being evaluated and the next two practices, and especially Saturday's scrimmage with provide more insight for the Eagle offensive coaching staff.
"We have to find our running backs," Fritz said. "Right now we're not sure who are running backs are going to be. We have seven or eight guys who are competing, (but) obviously you can't play with seven or eight guys. Hopefully over the next few days and in the scrimmage we're going to find out which guys can play at a high level."
Fritz has planned for the Eagles to have a regular practice in shells on Thursday and then dress in helmets and shorts on Friday to allow the Eagles to get as "fresh as they can." The coaching staff will grade and evaluate the scrimmage and compile a working depth chart with the Eagles split into two groups.
TWICE AS NICE: After practice, Director of Athletics Tom Kleinlein addressed the Eagle Football team and delivered the news about the selection of two Georgia Southern football games for national TV broadcasts. The Sun Belt announced the addition of six televised games today with Georgia Southern standing as the only program in the league to play host to two of the ESPNU games. "This is fantastic, this is exciting for everyone in the program, what makes it sweeter is that we'll be playing both these games at home," said Coach Willie Fritz.
ALMOST TO THE DATE: Georgia Southern's first Thursday night game in Paulson Stadium since the 1989 Hugo Bowl will be almost 25 years to the date of the nationally broadcast game played just 180 miles from the eye of Hurricane Hugo. The Eagles welcome longtime rival Appalachian State for the Sept. 25th game, the first Sun Belt Conference game on ESPNU this fall. The second Thursday night game, vs. Troy, is set for October 30th.
PRACTICE SCHEDULE: The Eagles are off on Wednesday and back on the practice field Thursday (shells) at 4:15 p.m. and 4:45 p.m. on Friday (shorts/helmets). Georgia Southern's first scrimmage will be held Saturday at Paulson Stadium with an approximate start time of 9:30 a.m.
Georgia Southern Athletics provides up-to-date information on all its sports through its official website, GSEagles.com, through social media channels facebook.com/GSAthletics, twitter.com/GSAthletics, iOS app Georgia Southern Eagles and Android app Eagles GATA. Eagle fans can follow Coach Willie Fritz's twitter account @CoachWEFritz.
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