April 6, 2007
Orlando, Fla. (www.ucfathletics.com) - For the first time this spring, the UCF football team moved inside as the Knights spent the two-hour session working out in the Nicholson Fieldhouse on Friday. Thursday evening rain showers in East Orlando forced the move inside, but that did not temper the enthusiasm from the first 10 practices that were held outside as the Knights had another high-energy practice.
"I thought we had another good day," Head coach George O'Leary said. "I am pleased with how both sides of the ball are performing, but we still have a lot of work to do. We'll have another scrimmage (Saturday). That will let the kids compete a little more and that's when you can really start to see progress."
There was a little more emphasis placed on special teams during the session as the team worked on field goals, punting and kickoff coverage drills. True freshman Darin Baldwin came off the edge and blocked one of the field goals during the drill.
With both offensive and defensive lines working on individual drills, back-up quarterback Marquel Neasman connected with junior Willie Thornton on a perfectly thrown deep pass when the skill units were going against each other.
For the second consecutive practice, the team closed out the session working on its redzone offense and defense. Tight end Mike Merritt caught a touchdown pass from Kyle Israel during the drills, but for the most part the defense did a nice job of keeping the offense from scoring.
The team will return to the practice fields on Saturday for the second scrimmage of spring. Saturday's scrimmage will begin at 1 p.m.
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