Temple University Athletics
SPRING FOOTBALL PRACTICE UPDATE
3.29.05 | Football
PHILADELPHIA-- The
Head coach Bobby Wallace, in his eighth season at the helm, answered some questions for owlsports.com on the progress of the spring season thus far.
On his thoughts on practice thus far:
"We've had two days in shorts and one day in pads. I thought our day in pads was one of the better practices we've had in a long time. It was very crisp and very enthusiastic. Seems like the players are really in to what we are doing. We had a few injuries early that were disappointing. Umar Ferguson pulled a groin in a tackling drill and Josh Bundy hurt his elbow, which limited him."
"Overall, I was very pleased. A guy that has jumped-out at us has been Rick Costa at linebacker. He really showed that he can cover a lot of territory and can really deliver a good blow when he tackles. Justin Johnson has also had some outstanding days at strong safety. I feel real good about the first three days."
On the practice schedule:
"Depending on the weather, more than likely, this coming Sunday afternoon (April 3) will be scheduled for mostly scrimmage time...If we can go Wednesday afternoon, Friday afternoon, Saturday morning and then come back Sunday afternoon with a scrimmage...That would be our plans at this point in time."
On new coaches Dennis Goldman (wide receivers) and Paul Lounsberry (offensive line):
"They are doing a good job. They have a lot of experience and fit in real well with what we're doing and our personality on offense. I'm very excited about having both of them. They possess an unbelievable amount of experience between the two of them."
On quarterback Mike McGann:
"He looks really good. It's a new system with a lot of the same plays but a little different terminology. Mike's got a good command of what we are doing. We haven't done enough to grade him yet on how he's done this spring. The first three days he has been throwing the ball pretty well."
On the difference between this spring season and his prior seven springs at
"It's absolutely indescribable how much better it is to be able to walk out the door and be able to practice, instead of getting on buses and traveling. This is the first spring since I have been here that we have been able to have meetings, get dressed and walk-out to practice. From that standpoint, it's not even comparable to any other spring practices. It takes a lot out of kids from an intensity standpoint to have to get to meetings and then walk across campus or load a bus and drive to practice in their pads...The new practice field was tremendous in the fall because we didn't have a single sprained ankle or knee injury in practice the whole season. I said last year that we would really not see the true benefit of having this practice field here until we go through a spring and summer with it. Having this new field has made our first three practices head and shoulders better than any spring practices we had before."
On how senior defensive tackle Antwon Burton, who missed the 2004 season with injury, looks thus far:
"He's looked great, playing like a wild man out there. He's got tremendous talent, tremendous strength and explosion. He can be as good as he wants to be. He wants to be good right now. I look at him as one of the premier defensive tackles in the country. Hopefully he can stay healthy. He's very healthy right now."
On the center position:
"Alex Derenthal is doing a good job so far. We're working Joe Johnsonbaugh and Leigh Denman there as well. John Gross is also going to take snaps. We do not want to move John, we would like to leave him at tackle. From all indications at this point in time, we feel like Alex is going to be able to do the job."
On the linebacker position:
"Ryan Gore missed Friday's practice, so he's only been out in shorts. We feel like he's got a lot of speed and brings a lot to the table at linebacker. Manuel Tapia has had a few good plays and Costa shows a lot of promise. Yasenchak will be there and Christian Dunbar is working there as well. It's way too early to say anything about the linebackers, except that Rick (Costa) has showed some good individual skills."
On the kicking game:
"(Jake) Hendy has punted the ball fairly well. He's a little ahead of Mike (McLaughlin) right now. The kickers have kicked well too, but we haven't done anything competitively there."
