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Golden Hurricane Football Team Turns Attention to Minnesota
8/20/2003 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 20, 2003
Tulsa, Oklahoma - The Tulsa football team practiced twice on Wednesday in preparation for next Saturday's season opener against the Minnesota Golden Gophers. The Hurricane worked out for two hours at Skelly Stadium in the morning and in the evening at Harwell Field.
Head Coach Steve Kragthorpe has been pleased after two days of putting in the game plan for the opener at Minnesota.
"We started work last night on Minnesota, 10 days out from the first game," said Kragthorpe. "Our effort has been good and our scout teams are doing a great job. They're showing us the looks we need to get. We have a lot of excellent players who have come in here as walk-ons and are doing a great job for us. They'll make themselves into solid players if they keep working the way there are now."
The Tulsa team has been able to keep fresh throughout the two-a-day schedule.
"The two-a-day schedule has helped. We weren't going to have consecutive days of two-a-days any way. This is the exact way our camp was going to be when I took the job. The only change the NCAA made is that we had the first five days of single practices," said Kragthorpe.
The head coach also cited practice times in helping players stay upbeat and fresh. "We're trying to beat the heat. We go early in the morning, and late at night. Our first five games are at night, so we don't have to play in the heat this year. The first time we have to play in the mid-afternoon is October 18," added Kragthorpe. "Our guys had a great summer. They were prepared to practice. We haven't had to spend a lot of time getting them in shape. We've been able to spend our time working on fundamentals, techniques and football."
As far as surprises at camp, Kragthorpe is excited in the fact that there haven't been any surprises.
"The best part of two-a-days this year is we haven't had any surprises. I think we were well-prepared coming in. The players have worked their tail off, but that doesn't surprise me. This team has a lot of character. They're hard workers and I think they've done a great job in getting themselves in a position to compete on Saturdays."
Kragthorpe will introduce his football team to the public on Thursday at the Annual Tulsa Chamber of Commerce Kickoff Luncheon at the Adam's Mark Hotel in downtown Tulsa. The Hurricane will be back on the field Thursday night.
