April 3, 2007
Orlando, Fla. (www.ucfathletics.com) - Two days following the first scrimmage of the spring, the UCF football team returned to the practice fields next to the Wayne Densch Center donning full pads for its ninth session of the spring.
Both of the Knights' coordinators, Tim Salem on offense and John Skladany on defense, got an idea of what they have to work with following Saturday's scrimmage, but know these last handful of practices are going to be the most important ones moving towards the fall.
"There are a number of things we are looking for in the spring," Offensive coordinator Tim Salem said. "We are looking for contact speed, who likes to run, move forward and hit defenders. We want guys who will make catches, split defenders and make people miss too."
On offense, redshirt freshman Jevaughn Reams is one of the players that has made nice strides through the first nine practices. Reams had another good day on Tuesday catching several passes over the middle in team drills and also hauling in a long pass from second-string quarterback Marquel Neasman.
The Knights spent a majority of their time on Tuesday installing more packages on both sides of the ball, utilizing half-line skelly drills and 11-on-11 situations to help with the learning process.
The team also spent some time working on special teams' situations during the middle of the practice. Senior Michael Torres and junior Jake Howard both worked on kickoffs with an emphasis being put on the placement of their kicks.
In team drills, junior cornerback Johnell Neal continued his strong play this spring. The Baton Rouge, La., native had a nice one-handed interception off a deflection during team drills and also batted down several other passes.
The team will practice again at 9:20 a.m. on Wednesday and Friday of this week. Saturday's practice is schedule for a 1 p.m. start time.
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