Offensive coordinator Greg Breitbach walked off the Memorial Stadium practice field on Wednesday and quipped that zero to 16 went pretty fast. The players may have a different assessment of how fast (or slow) fall camp is going, but one thing is certain and that is progress is being made.
Of the four two-a-days that the North Dakota football team has endured this fall, the sessions on Wednesday were designed to ease off a little bit with the season opener just two weeks away from tomorrow. The morning session was trimmed by a good half hour, while the evening workout went just over an hour.
"We're changing things up a little bit this year," UND head coach Chris Mussman said. "We're starting to ease off earlier, so we can keep some live action for later in camp. In year's past, we would 10 days to two weeks without much live work going into the opener and that is something we wanted to change for this year."
The team will be back in full pads on Thursday after going in just helmets and shorts for Wednesday's second session.
There was a lot of mental work done or as the coaches call it "self-serving" towards the end of the day. The last 10 minutes were basically spent as a walk through for the players as new plays and schemes were being installed on both sides of the ball.
Running backs coach Danny Freund knows that the mental part of the game is just as important as the physical part. The former UND quarterback has been impressed with his unit, especially from what he has seen over the last two days.
"We're starting to come together pretty good," Freund said. "These last two days have been our best. We had at least four to five 'explosion' plays that have gone for more than 12 to 15 yards. We still have some work to do on pass protection, but I like where we are at right now."
Practice Notebook
Of the four two-a-days that the North Dakota football team has endured this fall, the sessions on Wednesday were designed to ease off a little bit with the season opener just two weeks away from tomorrow. The morning session was trimmed by a good half hour, while the evening workout went just over an hour.
"We're changing things up a little bit this year," UND head coach Chris Mussman said. "We're starting to ease off earlier, so we can keep some live action for later in camp. In year's past, we would 10 days to two weeks without much live work going into the opener and that is something we wanted to change for this year."
The team will be back in full pads on Thursday after going in just helmets and shorts for Wednesday's second session.
There was a lot of mental work done or as the coaches call it "self-serving" towards the end of the day. The last 10 minutes were basically spent as a walk through for the players as new plays and schemes were being installed on both sides of the ball.
Running backs coach Danny Freund knows that the mental part of the game is just as important as the physical part. The former UND quarterback has been impressed with his unit, especially from what he has seen over the last two days.
"We're starting to come together pretty good," Freund said. "These last two days have been our best. We had at least four to five 'explosion' plays that have gone for more than 12 to 15 yards. We still have some work to do on pass protection, but I like where we are at right now."
Practice Notebook
- Single-game tickets went on sale Wednesday and more than 200 were sold for the Montana game on Oct. 20 when the rivalry with the Griz will be officially renewed. Also, close to 800 group tickets have already been sold for that contest. The teams played a non-conference game in 2010, but have not played as conference foes since 1973.
- The second edition of "Opening Drive" was released today. Director of New Media Matt Schill did another fantastic job of giving fans an inside glimpse of the day-in and day-out grind of fall camp.
- Midco Sports is putting together a pair of features for its debut episode (Tuesday, Aug. 28 at 7 p.m.) that should provide a nice look at UND's new quarterback Braden Hanson (Charlotte, N.C.) and this year's captain duet of Ross Brenneman (Omaha, Neb.) and Ian McGurran (Fargo, N.D.).
- KVLY reporter Josh Coan was on hand to get a few stories for the hopper. He'll be taking next week off to get married. Congratulations Josh.
- Herald writer Tom Miller will have a story on freshman wide receiver Kenny Golladay (Chicago, Ill.) for the paper in the next day or two. Golladay has probably created more buzz around fall camp than any other true freshman.
