North Carolina State University Athletics
The Norris Notebook: Fourth Practice in the Books
8/9/2006 12:00:00 AM | Football
A nice cool breeze was a welcome change for the second half of practice, and the offense – in particular the offensive line – had a pretty good day during 11-on-11. The trim and nimble Curtis Crouch teamed up with Luke Lathan to spring Andre Brown for a nice gain up the middle, and the lineman completed an impressive, jumping chest bump after the play. A day after the defense was more vocal, the offense answered back as both sides completed a good practice that coach Amato was pleased with.
During positional drills, manager Matt Holt simulates the role of the quarterback in a throwing motion. The defensive lineman and linebackers take time blitzing from the back side and practice stripping the ball and securing the fumble. Well, Matt was a little unlucky today. Usually the freshman get a bit to zealous and knock into the managers or whack them a bit too hard, but this time it was a senior, John Amanchukwu, that went for the strip and accidentally punched Matt in the face. Good times.
With the team in shoulder pads for the second day, the hitting cranked up another notch. Ernest Jones always seems to pop his share of running backs at practice, and the defense as a whole seemed to move to the ball, especially out in the flats.
Justin Burke completed a nice deep pass to Jarvis Williams in 11-on-11, while for my money the play of the day involved the first team offense. Marcus Stone dropped back from center and waited for the play to develop. Lamart Barrett ran a nice corner route behind the zone for a great pitch-and-catch for a 25-yard gain.
Toney Baker had two plays today that stuck in my mind. On one play he picked up a blitzing LeRue Rumph and knocked him back, and then burst through a hole and cutback to the middle of the field a few plays later for a 50-yard touchdown, untouched.
After gassers, the wide receivers, tight ends and quarterbacks stay after practice like usual to catch a few extra balls. As I waited on Lamart Barrett and Darrell Blackman for interviews, I noticed a few of the offensive lineman running sprints and racing across the field. Jeraill McCuller, Michael Vassil and Curtis Crouch were neck and neck until the last 15 yards, as big (now slightly smaller) Curtis won the race with a late speed burst. Vassil claims he usually wins, but I'll have to wait to catch a few more races.
The guys will be in full pads tomorrow for the first time, so there should be a good bit of defensive news to report then.
I promised the hard working managers that I would dedicate a Norris Notebook to them, so I wanted to thank Alan for the cup of Gatorade, Matt Holt for getting punched in the face, Adam "Don't call me Pee-Wee" for giving me a hard time, Preston for the left handed greeting, Adam "Chewbacca" for puking during practice and all of the others for keeping practice running smooth. I tossed in a picture of Ben and Preston throwing the football for good measure.
Assistant media relations director Pat Norris will check in with his preseason football practice notebook during fall camp.
