University of Connecticut Athletics
August 10 Football Practice Update
8/10/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
STORRS, Conn. (August 10, 2007) -- The University of Connecticut football team held the fifth practice of its 2007 preseason training camp on Friday afternoon in Storrs. Due to the sometimes heavy rains that fell in Storrs throughout the day, the session was held indoors in the Mark R. Shenkman Training Center.
The practice was UConn's first of the fall in full pads. The day opened with punt return work followed by a half an hour of individual position group drills. The first half of the remainder of the session encompassed full-team work on first-and-ten and second-and-long situations. After a period of kickoff work, the Huskies worked on a variety of third-and-long and third-and-medium plays before working heavily on its short yardage and goal line packages along with two point conversion plays. The offense enjoyed a good deal of success in the third-and-short situations and a tremendous amount of success in the goal line situations. UConn produced a touchdown on every possession (all of which started with first-and-goal at the five yard line) except for one where an illegal procedure penalty forced the Huskies to settle for a field goal. Amongst the more notable scoring plays was a powerful inside run by Lou Allen and a sliding catch by tight end Steve Brouse.
“It's great to have this indoor facility with all of the rain we got today,” UConn head coach Randy Edsall said. “I thought today was pretty good. It was the first day in pads and we handled it very well. We got a lot of good work in and it was also good to have officials here today. We could work on things in terms of the mechanics of how they will handle the timing rules on kickoffs this year. It also gives us a chance to work with certified officials watching them for penalties.
"For the most part it was very crisp. The short yardage and goal line play was good. In those situations the offense should have a bit of an upper hand and it was good to see them convert often. I thought we were enthusiastic and really got after it. Now, we have to put good days back-to-back tomorrow with our first double session. There was good hitting. I think Cody Brown has played hard. I was impressed with Kendall Reyes and Marcus Campbell coming off the edges. The timing in the passing game is starting to come. Defensively, I can see that we're learning our assignments. All-in-all, I'm very pleased with what took place today."
In addition, the Hard Hat of the Day awards for Thursday's practice were presented to D.J. Hernandez (Bristol, Conn.) and Tyvon Branch (Cicero, N.Y.).
The Huskies return to the practice field on Saturday with the team's first two-a-day session. UConn will practice first at 8:30 a.m. with the second session, one open to the general public, being held at 4:15 p.m. in Memorial Stadium. Though the open practice is weather permitting, the forecast is for warm and sunny conditions. Fans will be able to get autographs from their favorite Huskies afterwards as well.
