First-year head coach Dan Mullen couldn’t contain his smile Saturday afternoon as his team wrapped up its first full-contact practice of the spring. For Mullen, the prospect of watching practice again, this time on film, is a thrilling one.
“It’s like Christmas morning right now,” he said. “We get to go in and see what type of hand we’ve been dealt. We’ll see who can play and who likes contact and who’s physical.”
The scrimmage portion of practice ended with junior Christian Ducre finding pay dirt on a reverse pitch to the left side. The maroon-clad portion of the team responded by celebrating, as that score propelled the offense past the defense on the coaches’ practice score tally. The offense then lounged while the defense proceeded to run the practice-ending sprints.
Senior quarterback Tyson Lee said the opportunity to rest was a great reward for a good practice, even if it didn’t start off well.
“It kinda started off for the offense that we weren’t executing as well but toward the end of practice the intensity got going and we started moving the ball really well and I had some fun out there,” Lee said.
Mullen said he was glad to see the offense recover from the slow start and execute when it counted most.
“They really toughened up when we got down to the goal line and punched the ball in a whole bunch,” he said. “Playing upfield on first down is a big part of it, but when you get down on the goal line, that’s crunch time, and the offense made a bunch of plays there at the end.”
The full-speed practice caused a surplus of minor injuries, but Mullen said he wasn’t overly concerned.
“To me, that’s just guys not preparing to come in to practice. They’ve got to hydrate more and stretch and then get in the cold tank after practice,” he said. “Maybe there are certain guys that held back a little bit in the offseason, and now they’re on the field trying to go full speed. If they’d been doing that for the last six weeks, they wouldn’t be having any tweaks.”
Lee said he relished the opportunity to play in full pads, even though the quarterbacks are protected from contact.
“It’s just another level of playing,” he said. “When you go in shorts and a T-shirt it’s hard to get a real picture without being able to have contact. Once you get pads on, you get a feel for the speed of the game and that can always make you better.”
Sophomore safety Zach Smith was also glad to strap on the pads and hit for the first time this year.
“It’s good to get the pads back on and get a little contact,” he said. “We’ve had some guys give great effort in the weight room in the offseason but you don’t know if a guy’s going to come up and fill a hole. He may be able to bench 600 pounds but you don’t know if he’ll fill the hole. It’s good to get an idea of who’s going to hit and who’s going to run you over.”
Smith and fellow sophomore Charles Mitchell look to be the favorites to start at the safety spots. Smith said the Mitchell and Smith have a great relationship.
“[Mitchell’s] as strong as an ox and we communicate well,” Smith said. “It’s just about getting the defense down and really communicating, trying to be the quarterback of the defense back there.”
New to spring practice this year, in addition to the new coaching staff, are the fans milling about the sidelines. Smith said he and his teammates draw inspiration from the presence of the crowd, which adds to the overall air of excitement in the program.
“It’s like a little bit of a new life out here,” he said. “One, it makes you feel good because you know they’re supporting you but two, you’ve got to put on a show for them. If you get run over, people are going to see it but, if you lay somebody out people are going to see that.”
The Bulldogs practice each Tuesday and Thursday at 3:30 p.m. and Saturday at 10 a.m. as well as selected Fridays. The spring practice period culminates in the Spring Game, part of Super Bulldog Weekend , on April 18 at 5:30 p.m.