Aug. 6, 2007
Orlando, Fla. (www.ucfathletics.com) - The UCF football team practiced in full pads for the first time this fall as the Knights worked out in the morning after a pair of afternoon sessions during the weekend. The team went through individual drills and the installation of some special teams' packages before the first real hitting of the fall took place. The practice ended with about a 15-minute live scrimmage.
Following a few periods of skelly work, Head Coach George O'Leary called his team in to take part in a long-time favorite of many coaches - Oklahoma drills. The offense and defense lined up against each other in full contact, three-on-three situations.
"I wanted to see some contact work and I was not seeing enough of it in some the stuff I was looking at," O'Leary said. "I just wanted to separate them and we have it in on tape, so we can get a look at who some of your guys are going to be. Some of the young guys stepped up to the plate a little bit."
The team then installed some short-yardage packages before taking part in the first scrimmage session of the fall camp. Free safety Jason Venson had an interception for the second straight day and back-up tailback Phillip Smith had a couple of nice runs against the Knights' defense.
"There was some decent team play and stuff, but for the most part there were too many guys standing around watching instead of reacting," O'Leary added. "That usually happens the first day. Overall, we spent a good amount of time in the heat. We got a lot of installation in and that is what we are looking to get done."
The Knights will return to the practice fields for a stretch of three consecutive afternoon sessions. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday's practices are all scheduled to begin at 3:20 p.m.
For the latest news and information on the Knights, tickets or apparel log on to www.ucfathletics.com - the official site for UCF athletics.
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