University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Eagles Get A Practice Break; Will Scrimmage Saturday
8/15/2003 12:00:00 AM | Football
Eagles Get A Practice Break; Will Scrimmage Saturday
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Heading into Saturday's major scrimmage, Southern Miss players got a break from the rigors of fall practice today when Head Coach Jeff Bower called an early halt to the second session of the final day of two-a-days.
"We wanted to give them a break," Bower said. "They've worked hard, and we've got a big scrimmage coming up tomorrow, and I thought their legs were a little heavy for the morning practice.
"We went out and rehearsed our pregame warm-ups, got that out of the way, then polished up some of our kicking phases, primarily PAT and field goals."
The early break was well received by the players. "It was pretty obvious the way they left the field," Bower said. "Their legs got a lot fresher, the way they sprinted off the field. But, we've had a good preseason, they've worked hard and need some rest prior to the Saturday scrimmage."
Bower says the scrimmage is an important one, with a lot of questions that still need to be answered. "We need execution and performance from everyone tomorrow," he said. "That's especially true of some of the younger players that we've been looking at. That includes Myron Powe and Neal Mead at left tackle, where we have good competition going on.
"We'll also get in a lot of work in the kicking game, just in an effort to see how much progress we've made in that phase of the game."
The final workout prior to the start of classes starts at 3:30 p.m., in Roberts Stadium and, like the scrimmage earlier in the week, is closed to the general public.
Golden Eagle players, along with the general student body, start fall semester classes Monday, practices revert to one-a-day, and everyone then starts the countdown for the Aug. 30 opener at Cal.
