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August 10, 2004
LIONS COMPLETE
FIRST DAY OF FOOTBALL WORKOUTS
FLORENCE -- The University of North Alabama football team
took to the field Tuesday for its first workouts Tuesday, with the
freshmen and newcomers going through a two-hour workout in the
morning and the veterans putting in a three-hour workout in the
afternoon. UNA coach Mark Hudspeth said the first day of practice
went well, although the team appeared to tire late in the day. "We
normally do not practice this long, but the changes the NCAA made
last year have forced us to cut back to one practice a day in the
first three days," Hudspeth said. "We have a lot to put in, so we
have to practice a little longer. It was a good day, but we sort of
got tired toward the end." Much of the first practice was spent
installing the offense and defense. The Lions also worked on the
kicking game. "We have so many holes to fill in the kicking game,"
Hudspeth said. "That is a part of our team that has always been
strong, and we want it to be a strength again this year. "We
shuffled a lot of guys around today. We have a lot of players in
camp, so we have to decide quickly what guys are going to be playing
and make sure they get plenty of reps." Although some players
struggled with the heat, most of the team appeared to be in good
condition. Hudspeth said he was pleased with the conditioning tests
Monday night, as well as the conditioning work at the end of
Tuesday's practice. Hudspeth singled out several players from
the morning practice that might push for playing time as freshmen.
"Maurice Calhoun and Trent Hetherington are a couple of freshmen
wide receivers that looked good," Hudspeth said. "They look as if
they might help us this fall. Samuel Hathorn is a freshmen center
that was also impressive in his first practice." The freshmen
will practice again today at 8 a.m. with the returning players
practicing at 2:30 p.m. The entire team will practice together for
the first time Thursday afternoon. |
