Gopher Football Spring Practice #4

from Chip Scoggins

The Gophers put on full pads for the first time this spring Thursday, and judging by the commotion during practice and Tim Brewster’s mood afterward, they liked the results.

Brewster began his post-practice update with this: “If you didn’t like that practice, you don’t love football because that was a great practice,” he said. “Hard-nosed, physical. I feel really good about what we accomplished today.”

Brewster called it one of the best practices the team has had since he took the job.

Here are some highlights:

– The team finished practice with goal line. They did four snaps (two from the 2-yard line and two from the 1-yard line). The defense won the competition 3-1.

– The team will have two live scrimmages and the spring game.

– The team is thin at wide receiver right now without Eric Decker and the incoming freshmen (Brandon Green, Brodrick Smith) who will play a lot. Brewster said Marcus Sherels and Ralph Spry have performed well so far. He also said Jimmy Thompson made a long catch-and-run Thursday.

– Brewster really likes the competition at center. Jeff Tow-Arnett is slightly ahead because he has more experience, but Trey Davis and Ryan Wynn are pushing him hard.

– We were talking about how the secondary could change completely from last season and Brewster said he will go out on a limb and predict that safety Tramaine Brock will be one of the four starters. I think it’s safe to write that one in ink.

– Brewster reiterated that juco safety Simoni Lawrence could move up to SAM linebacker.

– I talked to Tony Mortensen about long snapping and he said he’s getting better at it. He joked that he could use a 7-foot punter though.

– Steve Davis had a nice gash on his nose after practice. He said the coaching staff now makes each defensive position do five up-downs every time they don’t pursue to the ball. The linebackers, he noted, did 45 on Thursday. “They’re trying to eliminate loafing,” he said.

– We don’t have access to the team again until Tuesday so we’ll check back then. Have a great weekend.

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from GopherSports

The Minnesota football team came out hitting and battled through its most intense practice of the spring as the Golden Gophers drilled for just over two hours in full pads indoors at the Gibson-Nagurski football complex Thursday afternoon.

It was the first practice of the spring in full gear for the Gophers, and according to head coach Tim Brewster it was one of the program’s best workouts of his tenure at Minnesota.

“If you didn’t like that practice, then you don’t love football because that was a great practice,” Brewster said during his post-practice media session. “It was hard-nosed and physical. I feel really good about what we accomplished. Today was an outstanding day.”

Minnesota came out and again focused on fundamentals early in the workout before turning its focus to team drills, taking plenty of reps in both 7-on-9 and 11-on-11 situations from all over the field.

Both sides of the ball experienced their fair share of bright spots, with quarterback Adam Weber making several completions over the middle from midfield during the 7-on-9 portion of the workout.

Two of his favorite targets were wide receivers Marcus Sherels and Ralph Spry, who both made nice grabs in the center of the field to keep the chains moving.

The Gopher defense, though, stiffened in the red zone and with less room to defend held its own. Linebacker Nathan Triplett came up big for the defenders, snagging a pair of interceptions on the goal line.

Minnesota closed out the practice with an exciting session on the goal line that saw the defense turn away the offense on three of four snaps from the one- and two-yard-lines.

“It was a competitive practices and that’s what it’s going to take for us to get better as a football team,” Brewster said. “The kids competed from the time they got out on the practice field to the end. I think they all left the field with a sense of accomplishment.”

The Gophers will be back at it on Friday afternoon, when Minnesota returns to the parctice fields for its fifth spring workout.