University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Football Practice Report: August 15
8/15/2016 12:00:00 AM | Football
Venue: Joe P. Park Practice Facility/M.M. Roberts Stadium
Format: Full Pads
Upcoming: Practice (8 a.m. Tuesday)
Report: The Golden Eagles took part in their first two-a-day of the camp. Rain during the 2:30 p.m. session moved practice to the stadium, and both practices were in full pads. The squad took the field at 7:10 a.m. Monday marked the first of four two-a-days for Southern Miss before classes begin on Aug. 24.
Head coach Jay Hopson
On how the first two-a-day went
"I thought Nick [Mullens] had a real good day and George [Payne] did some real good things. They were pretty solid and had some good fundamental football going on. Certainly, we were much better in our tackles fundamentally and we will carry that in to next Saturday. I thought it was a pretty good day. I thought there was some back-and-forth. The defense and offense played pretty well."
On the transition of going morning to afternoon
"I thought they came out and battled. I thought this morning was a really good practice and I thought this one was the same too, but you always have one or two things you miss on the practice field. It was a great day today and we will see it on film."
On the position battles going forward
"I think Wil has done well at offensive tackle. We still have battles at receiver, but inside and at guard there's some competition. We like to mix and match pieces at times. Our corners are having really good camps too and we will see how it goes."
Special teams coordinator/wide receivers coach John Wozniak
On young guys cracking the starting lineup
"It's a good thing. We had 16 true freshman play in 2013 so Nick and King and some of these guys, T-Man and Marquese, they were all in that group so it's a lot better now that we don't have to rely on that. It's a much better situation for us. We still want those guys to compete like they may play but it's good to not have to play them."
On how Quez Watkins and others have performed
"They're doing fine. They're learning what to do and learning how to play fast. They hit the freshman wall here the last couple of days but I think they'll break through that and be fine. They're good kids and they're working hard."
On the return game
"We've got a lot of candidates. We lost our top three guys at both (position) last year so right now, both of those jobs, punt return and kick return are anybody's battle. We've got a lot of good suspects but there all suspects still."
Defensive end Jacques Turner
On the transition from high school to college
"I'm adjusting right now, it is way different than high school; a lot faster, high tempo."
On handling those obstacles going from high school to college
"Just have to come to work every day, teammates are going to push you so you can't come out slacking."
On the depth on the Defensive Line
"I'm just learning from the older guys, they teach me stuff every day. If I don't play this year, I'm just going to take it as an advantage to learn for next year."
How the freshman lean on each other in camp
"We push each other each and every day. The coaches put us together this summer; we didn't work out with the older guys so we have a good bond together."
