Football Gets Rare Work Outside
4/17/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
April 16, 2009
By Ted Bryant, Media Relations Student Assistant -
The sun decided to come out for the final Tiger spring football practice of 2009, allowing the team to run through drills outside on Faurot Field. Practicing outdoors has been a rare occurrence this spring, due to the schizophrenic mid-Missouri weather. Thursday's practice was no pads, and was more of an opportunity to go over assignments and get a quick workout in before the spring game on Saturday.
The quarterbacks and skill players warmed up with some half-speed fade routes. It has become increasingly obvious that former Tiger quarterback Chase Daniel - who was on hand Thursday to help teach his successors once again - is relishing his opportunity to work with the current batch of signal callers. He seems perfectly comfortable giving constructive criticism, yet is the first to run up and let someone know when they do something right. After some light stretching, the team ran through the usual speed drills – back pedals, strafes, and high steps. The defense worked mostly on reacting to the ball, as the lineman went over watching the snap and the defensive backs rehearsed the correct body positioning for when the ball goes left or right.
Two sessions of one-on-one routes between the WRs/DBs and some non-contact inside run followed the initial position drills. Today's practice focused more on the cerebral aspect of the game, such as picking up one's assignment and running through the whistle. There weren't any huge revelations from today's practice, as it was primarily non-contact. Practiced ended with a brief seven-on-seven session between the first team offense and defense.
The team should be fresh for the finale of the spring practice session, the 2009 Black & Gold Game this Saturday at Faurot Field. The game will begin at 1:08 p.m., and will be a true black-and-gold game for the first time. The defense will be wearing their gold jerseys, a reward for victory at Tuesday's practice, while the offense will wear black. This team appears to be more than ready to see some real, hard-hitting action, and Saturday's game promises to bring with it the excitement that Tiger faithful have come to expect from Gary Pinkel's system.
Admission to the game is only $3, or three canned food items, which go to benefit the Central Missouri Food Bank. Come out and see the 2009 Tigers, and support a worthy cause at the same time on Saturday! We'll see you at the stadium!
