Aug. 14, 2010
NORFOLK, Va. -- It was the ODU Football Monarchs first two-a-day practice on Saturday.
"Overall I was really excited with the tempo and the pace of our practice," said Monarch head football coach Bobby Wilder. "This was our first double-day and I purposely went with full pads in the afternoon thinking it would be hotter and guys would be little more tired in order to challenge them mentally. I feel like they answered. We had a really good workout this afternoon."
The Monarchs went about 40 plays of live scrimmage reps in the afternoon giving the coaching staff a great opportunity to see many of the freshmen and younger players on the roster competing for spots.
The good news for the offense was they were able to move the ball down field quickly and on large plays.
Starting at the offensive 35, quarterback Thomas DeMarco (Palm Desert, Calif.) had a 35-yard pass to tight end James Edwards (Va. Beach, Va.) and then Dominique Blackman (Los Angeles, Calif.) followed in the next set of reps by hitting Prentice Gill (Los Angeles, Calif.) caught the ball and ran the it all the way to the 12.
DeMarco had another set of reps which saw last year's leading receiver Reid Evans first with a 10-yard reception and then a diving catch on the defensive 32-yard line. Receiver Nick Mayers (Va. Beach, Va.) then brought the offense into the redzone at the 7-yard line on the next play.
"One thing we were very good at last year was converting touchdowns in the redzone," noted Wilder. "However, we did not do that today."
On the other hand however, Wilder noted "We had a couple of situations come up that happened last year where we would give up a 30- or 40-yard play to the opponent, let them in the redzone, and then the defense would step up, which is what they did today. We've got to be more aware of not giving up big plays though. That comes down to focus and concentration."
What was the bad news for the offense, was the good news for the defense in that they were able to stop the stop offense when play got inside 10 and thwarted touchdown opportunities.
Among some of the defensive highlights in the redzone drills was saftey Donald Smith (Chesapeake, Va.) nearly intercepting the ball in the endzone and cornerback Patrick Young (Va. Beach, Va.) stopping Edwards on the 1-yard line.
MONARCH MOMENTS:
COUNTDOWN CLOCK:
At the end of today's practice, Wilder noted that in three weeks and 20 minutes from that time, the Monarchs would be hitting the field for their season opener against Jacksonville on Saturday, September 4th.
AND ON THE SEVENTH DAY...THE MONARCHS RESTED:
The ODU Football Monarchs will enjoy a day off on Sunday. While they won't be on the field, there will still be team and position meetings.
SCRIMMAGE:
The Monarchs are gearing up for their first scrimmage of the preseason. Please note that all scrimmages are CLOSED to the public. If you want a preseason glance at your 2010 Monarchs, don't forget to sign up for the Big Blue Club Kickoff Party!