by Josh Goff

Posted 3-31-05, 3:30 a.m.

Wednesday’s weather made for a beautiful day for watching spring football practice, but evidently prior days’ weather made the field considerably less-than-perfect for spring football practice.

There was a lot of slipping going on, and receivers and DBs found themselves sitting down unintentionally way too often for anybody’s liking. With the footing problems, it was hard for anybody to get an awful lot going.

With Chris Reil sitting the spring out due to eligibility constraints, only Nathan Brown of Russellville and Lance Parker (a Vanderbilt transfer) of Bryant are available at the QB slot here in the spring.

They both took several snaps and there didn’t appear to be a whole lot of difference in the two in what little work they got in today. Both made some good throws, both made some very bad ones.

Aaron Fairooz, who has hit both the weights and the tanning bed since the end of last season, had a nice touchdown grab that led to the highlight of the day’s ongoings – a nice little rumble.

While attention was turned toward the end zone and Fairooz’s grab, some sort of fracas broke out back near the line of scrimmage, and within seconds about half the squad was rolling around in a big mass, trying to get things separated (including necks from bodies). There didn’t appear to be any injuries from the ruckus, and everybody seemed to settle down soon thereafter. Not much more than some good intensity. The most noticeable thing resulting from the fight was running back Bernard Scott, the most fired up of the group, having to be restrained by coaches and eventually getting out of his pads and not going through any more drills until the conditioning work at the end.

In Scott’s absence, Kentrel Rogers and Ross Brown took the snaps at the halfback spot. Both had some decent runs, but there was also some tentativeness and problems with dancing in the backfield, at least in the eyes of the coaches.

The coaching staff has several new faces in their first stint at UCA with the departures of offensive line coach Chris Thomsen, receivers coach Perry Eliano, quarterbacks coach Ken Collums and defensive tackles coach Eugene Garner.

The only returners are head coach Clint Conque, defensive coordinator Denzil Cox, defensive ends coach Brian Early, running backs coach Brooks Hollingsworth, and special teams/secondary coach Ricky Matt.

Practice picks back up today (March 31) and continues tomorrow evening with a scrimmage.

Practices will also run on April 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9 and 10, with the last major scrimmage set for April 9.





		Spring Practice report 3/30/05

		by Josh Goff Posted 3-31-05, 3:30 a.m. Wednesday’s weather made for a beautiful day for watching spring football practice, but evidently prior days’ weather made the field considerably less-than-perfect for spring football practice. There was a lot of slipping going on, and receivers and DBs found themselves sitting down unintentionally way too often for anybody’s liking. With the footing problems, it was hard for anybody to get an awful lot going. With Chris Reil sitting the spring out due to eligibility constraints, only Nathan Brown of Russellville and Lance Parker (a Vanderbilt transfer) of Bryant are available at the QB slot here in the spring. They both took several snaps and there didn’t appear to be a whole lot of difference in the two in what little work they got in today. Both made some good throws, both made some very bad ones. Aaron Fairooz, who has hit both the weights and the tanning bed since the end of last season, had a nice touchdown grab that led to the highlight of the day’s ongoings – a nice little rumble. While attention was turned toward the end zone and Fairooz’s grab, some sort of fracas broke out back near the line of scrimmage, and within seconds about half the squad was rolling around in a big mass, trying to get things separated (including necks from bodies). There didn’t appear to be any injuries from the ruckus, and everybody seemed to settle down soon thereafter. Not much more than some good intensity. The most noticeable thing resulting from the fight was running back Bernard Scott, the most fired up of the group, having to be restrained by coaches and eventually getting out of his pads and not going through any more drills until the conditioning work at the end. In Scott’s absence, Kentrel Rogers and Ross Brown took the snaps at the halfback spot. Both had some decent runs, but there was also some tentativeness and problems with dancing in the backfield, at least in the eyes of the coaches. The coaching staff has several new faces in their first stint at UCA with the departures of offensive line coach Chris Thomsen, receivers coach Perry Eliano, quarterbacks coach Ken Collums and defensive tackles coach Eugene Garner. The only returners are head coach Clint Conque, defensive coordinator Denzil Cox, defensive ends coach Brian Early, running backs coach Brooks Hollingsworth, and special teams/secondary coach Ricky Matt. Practice picks back up today (March 31) and continues tomorrow evening with a scrimmage. Practices will also run on April 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9 and 10, with the last major scrimmage set for April 9.