SPARTANBURG, S.C. –Over the past three days, the Terriers have practiced five times as they continue to prepare for the season opener on September 4 at Ohio University.
On Monday, the team practiced in the morning in full pads on the intramural fields. In the afternoon, they were on the Gibbs Stadium field. They returned to Gibbs Stadium on Tuesday late in the afternoon, however practice was cut short due to lightning.
Wednesday began with a walk-thru in Benjamin Johnson Arena before returning to the practice fields in full pads in the afternoon. During the afternoon practice’s team segment in the final fifteen minutes, Mitch Allen and Alex Dunmire both had long runs, but the defense also came up with strong performances by James Zotto at linebacker and Andrew Gehring in the secondary with a pass break-up.
“It is great to be back on our practice fields,” said head coach Mike Ayers. “We feel they are the best in the country and it really helps with the attitude of the kids. We have done a lot of work, but it has been tough when you have the weather like we have had. All of that being said, we have made progress but we just have to keep on keeping on. Tomorrow will put us at fourteen practice days from opening the season at Ohio. We are excited about it. I think the kids are a little leg-weary right now, but we have put them through the grind and given them a ton of reps. We feel good about where we are at and we are going to keep working and see if we can get better.”
Overall, a number of players have missed time in practice due to injuries that are listed as day-to-day. Players with injuries that will require them to miss several weeks include S Coleman Hornaday (concussion), fullback Cody Burris (knee) and safety Hunter Hobson (sports hernia). Fullback Michael Scott, who was not among the 90 to report to camp, has a medical condition that will not allow him to play this season.
The team will practice once on Thursday and twice on Friday before the next scrimmage on Saturday, August 21 at 6:15 pm in Gibbs Stadium. The 2010 season begins with a road trip on September 4 to face Ohio University.
