The FIU Football team went through a pair
of practices Tuesday that were as different
as rain and shine--literally.
For most of the two-hour morning workout
in full pads, rain, sometimes heavy in nature,
pelted the team. Couple that with sloppy play
on defense and head coach Don Strock
was left in a cloudy mood.
“The defense didn’t play well
this morning. The secondary had too many holding
penalties or they were sitting on routes and
wide receivers were going right by them. We
can’t have that, especially when we
start getting into our game plan against Jacksonville,”
Strock said.
The beneficiaries of that rough defense were
the quarterbacks, especially freshman Tavares Kendrick (Florida City/Homestead
H.S.) who, during red-zone offense work, found
sophomore receiver Chandler Williams
(Miami) alone in the back of the
end zone and then hit junior Cory McKinney (DeLand) in full stride
down the left sideline.
The afternoon practice in shorts and shoulder
pads was conducted under partly cloudy skies,
but the results left Strock with a sunnier
disposition.
“We looked much sharper this afternoon,”
he said. “Overall, the secondary was
sharper, offensive line played better and
the receivers ran crisper routes. I believe
as a team we’re making steady progress.”
For the first time since the team opened
fall practice, all five quarterbacks greeted
Strock as freshman Mike Chapman
(Orange Park, Fla.) returned after almost
a week absence with a stomach virus. Strock,
who has mentioned several times that he would
seriously consider redshirting Chapman, insinuated
that again saying, “right now, we want
to take things slow as far as Mike is concerned
and predominantly work with the other four
guys.”
Among those on the injury list Tuesday were
tight end James Williams (groin),
defensive lineman Jonathan Betencourt
(left knee) and wide receiver Lloyd
Moss (left hip flexor strain). All
were listed as day to day.
The team returns to practice Wednesday for
a morning workout beginning at 9:15 a.m.
The Golden Panthers open the 2004 campaign
on Thursday, September 2 against the Jacksonville
University Dolphins. Tickets are now on sale
for the entire season and can be purchased
from the FIU Ticket Office toll free at (866)
FIU-GAME, in Miami-Dade County at (305) 348-4263
or on line at www.FIUsports.com.
