North Carolina State University Athletics
2005 Preseason Diary, Day Nine
8/10/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 10, 2005
With rain threatening on Wednesday afternoon, the coaches decided to hold their first day of practice in full pads in the morning. I have to admit that due to the late schedule change, I missed practice this morning because of a meeting, but my staff took the reigns and got the information for today's entry. Special thanks to Pat Norris, Brian Reinhardt and Brandon Yopp.
During position drills, Andre Brown and Toney Baker made some nice catches out of the backfield, earning praise from Coach Portee. During one-on-one drills with the wide receivers and defensive backs, Sterling Hicks continued to look sharp and had a few nice catches. Later in practice, Hicks got a big reaction after dominating a board drill. A.J. Davis also had some nice PBUs during one-on-ones.
During board drills, Coach Barry said that Curtis Crouch wanted to "challenge" John McCargo, so the two of them went at it. Crouch held his ground pretty well, but McCargo got off the ball quick and used his speed to push past. Tank Tyler also came off the ball fast and Ray Michel and Avery Vogt stood out for the linebackers (as did Oliver Hoyte, but that almost doesn't need mentioning since he's always doing well - he recovered a fumble during inside drill).
During inside drill, Kalani Heppe and Anthony Hill looked good on the offensive side of the ball. DaJuan Morgan returned a fumble for a score during inside drill as well.
When the offensive and defensive lines went against each other on one-on-one, Leroy Harris dominated.
Darrell Blackman had a nice one-handed catch downfield that was pretty sweet during seven-on-seven drills and T.J. Williams had an impressive 20-yarder over his shoulder (Willie Mays style according to assistant media relations director Brian Reinhardt).
During 11 on 11, Ernest Jones looked good, once on a blitz and batting down a pass, then broke up a pass later on in coverage. Hoyte (are you getting tired of his name yet?) had another fumble recovery. Lamart Barrett probably had the most receptions of any wideout in 11 v. 11, while Geron James made a nice catch and run across the middle. Garland Heath intercepted a pass and Blackman had a very nice 25 yard run up the middle before bouncing it outside, with Heppe pulling for a nice block on the play.
Even though the guys were in full pads, they still went "THUD," so there was no tackling to the ground. Tomorrow will be the first day of two-a-days and the first day of full contact. The morning practice, which will be the tough one, will be rush-oriented, while the evening practice will be pass oriented.
