North Carolina State University Athletics
Annabelle Vaughan's Preseason Diary: Practice 6
8/12/2004 12:00:00 AM | Football
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Aug. 12, 2004
Finally! Full contact. And two-a-days. As I told you yesterday, you could tell the guys were itching for it. The noise level goes up unbelievably once they start hitting, not only because of the sound of pads hitting pads, but because the players amp it up a notch in their enthusiasm. This morning's practice was a run-oriented session and tonight's will focus on the pass. They'll probably be back in shells (shorts and shoulder pads for tonight's drills). The first six periods of practice were kicking game and I have to admit, I was in the office answering e-mail at that point, so I can't really comment on it. I arrived at the field not too long before the Mario drills began. (I know, I promised I wouldn't mention Mario Williams when I wrote about board drills today and I really did watch the defensive backs and wide receivers on the boards, but still managed to watch Mr. Williams have his way with a couple of offensive linemen). Boards ended with a meleé between the receivers and DBs. The wideouts were all rallying around Richard Washington during his turn and the defense was yelling back and finally they just all ended up in a big pile. Most of them were smiling while they extricated themselves from the group, so I don't think there were any angry feelings involved. I did see Garland Heath make a big stick during boards today. Today I noticed Andre Maddox really taking charge of the defense during 11-on-11 drills and urging his teammates to go harder. My new friend Bob Field, a Pack fan in Kansas City, e-mailed and asked about who was stepping up and showing leadership, so I'm trying to really pay attention to that every day. Feel free to e-mail and ask me questions if there is something you want me to include in these reports (don't forget that there are a bunch of things I CAN'T report, but I'll do what I can). Following boards, the linebackers and running backs had a couple of periods of tackling. Those two groups are always interesting to watch. Freddie Aughtry-Lindsay and T.A. McLendon had some pretty good hits (with some of these pairs, when they hit, you can't tell who is hitting who!). Richard Washington was really feeling feisty today. Not too long after his antics on the boards, he caught a beautiful pass in the corner of the endzone from Marcus Stone. Both quarterbacks had some nice throws today. The defense made some big plays in 11-on-11 today. Ernest Jones had an interception and I saw Dovonte Edwards and Lamont Reid both break up a couple other throws. T.A. and Darrell Blackman both had some good runs as well - I saw Darrell (pronounced DUH rell) make a nice run during inside drill as well. Practiced ended with goalline and the defense made some big stops. Richard Washington, Lamart Barrett and Tramain Hall (who obviously aren't participating in goalline) positioned themselves right at the one-yardline and talked junk to the defense the whole time. Richard has been the offensive spokesman, to put it nicely, during goalline drills since he came to State. As you know, he's not the biggest guy in the world, but he certainly talks like it during goalline. Sounds like the weather might make the schedule get changed around some in the next couple of days, but since school hasn't started yet, it shouldn't make too much difference. It might make a difference in what kind of diary entries I write though, so if you don't hear from me for a couple of days, don't worry.
