Practice Report - Day 9
8/14/2010 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 14, 2010
Tulsa, Oklahoma - The University of Tulsa football team took to the field for Day 9 of training camp Saturday morning at H.A. Chapman Stadium. The first of two sessions scheduled for the day lasted about three hours and ended with the team working on two-minute drills.
On the defensive side of the ball, the cornerbacks and safeties enjoyed success at practice and are getting plenty of guys ready to play for the 2010 campaign.
"Practice was real good for us today. Everybody was flying around and communicating well," senior Charles Davis said. "We have some freshmen looking good like James Roberson and Brion (James), and some of our veteran guys like (junior) John Flanders and (sophomores) Justin Skillens and Dexter McCoil are really stepping up right now."
Davis played in only three games last year due to injury and was awarded a medical redshirt. As one of the leaders on the team, Davis wears the "C" on his jersey to denote his captain status.
Flanders played in all 12 games last year, making four starts and recording 24 tackles and one fumble recovery. McCoil made seven starts and was third on the team with 85 tackles. Skillens played in 11 games and made three starts.
"We probably have more talent and speed in the secondary this year than we've had over the past couple years, and we're excited about that," defensive secondary coach and recruiting coordinator Van Malone said. "One of the things you can't do as a secondary player is give up big plays because offenses today are always trying to strike downfield.
"We want our guys to be able to prevent opposing offenses from making big plays and forcing them to drive the ball down the field, because the odds say that they're not going to be patient and we can hopefully get them to make a mistake."
Another newcomer who is expected to make big contributions to the secondary this season is sophomore cornerback Lowell Rose. Rose comes to Tulsa after spending the first two years of his collegiate career at UCLA.
The Los Angeles native not only has to learn a new defensive scheme, but he also has to adjust to a much different climate. The temperatures at practice routinely reach triple digits, and he said the temperatures in California this time of year are about 75 degrees.
"The biggest thing for me is the change in weather and the conditioning," Rose said. "It's a struggle so far and I find myself getting winded at times during practice, but it's picking up little by little each day. I'm still working on picking up the system and I make a few mental errors here and there, but everything is starting to slow down for me."
Rose also said he's working hard on his technique and trying to become a more consistent player in hopes to find a spot in the rotation once the season begins.
Tulsa opens the 2010 season at defending Conference USA Champion East Carolina on Sunday, September 5th on ESPN 2. Tulsa will open the home season against Bowling Green on Sept. 11th. Season tickets are available at www.TulsaHurricane.com or by calling 918.631.GoTU (4688).
WEATHER REPORT (Saturday, August 14)
Starting: Temperature - 87˚, Humidity - 58%
Ending: Temperature - 102˚, Humidity - 34%
