Having hung out at practice today I can safely say that we would be lucky to have such beautiful weather come September 6th. 77 degrees with a few clouds around is nearly perfect for football.

On the field, the Deacs once again practiced in shells for about two hours. That's two days in a row without full pads; I'm curious to see if they'll wear them again before Thursday's game - possibly on Monday, but I don't know. I don't think it makes a big difference at this point, just sort of interesting to see how they manage that type of thing.

Based solely on the coaches' attitudes on the field today I'm confident they were more pleased with today's practice than yesterday's. Just about everyone was doing his job and I only saw the coaches get animated once. I think that's a good indication that the problems yesterday were just a concentration lapse. The guys just need to make sure not to have another one of those next Thursday.

Practice followed a pretty typical schedule, including individual and special teams periods to start, some first string vs. second string time, and then plenty of work running scout offense and defense of Baylor. They're also working on some situational stuff - 3rd and short situations in 11 on 11, or quarterbacks and receivers practicing what they need to do in scramble situations.

The coaches are constantly warning guys to avoid contact, but sometimes it's unavoidable. Junior Petit-Jean gave TE Ben Wooster a pretty good pop, meeting him at the exact second Wooster caught the ball. Stanley Arnoux also put a pretty good hit on a scout offense player (missed who it was). Everyone got up just fine, so it was nice to see a couple of good hits.

Several plays and players stood out today. Marshall Williams had a handful of really good catches along the sidelines. On one screen pass to D.J. Boldin it looked like there was nowhere to go, but Boldin made one quick juke to get past and managed to get a decent chunk of yards.

Brandon Pendergrass had a particularly good day, bouncing one run outside and beating the defense (I don't think he was ever touched) for what would have been a long touchdown run. A short while later Riley Skinner hit Pendergrass with a 50 yard touchdown pass on a beautiful throw and a great catch.

Defensively I was impressed by CB Michael Willliams' effort against the first team. He broke up a couple of passes and did a good job staying with receivers. On the defensive line I saw Michael Carter make a good move to get past a linemen for what would have been a sack.

The offense spent one period working on third and short situations and I was impressed by the offensive line's ability to pick up blitzes; I'm getting more and more confident about the first string. The second string still struggled however, including a couple of issues with snap counts that had the coaches pretty unhappy. That was really the only time I saw coaches upset today, a pretty good indication of a good practice.

Tomorrow is a day off for the team so there won't be any practice report. I have had the chance to talk to Jim Grobe and Riley Skinner and I'll post those interviews tomorrow.

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Tonight the team had another full practice in preparation for tomorrow's 7:30 pm scrimmage at BB&T Field. The team is of course still practicing in full pads, and went through its usual individual periods as well as 7-on-7, 11-on-11 and special teams sessions.

Readers had recently been asking questions about receiver Marshall Williams and I didn't have a whole lot to say at the time, so he decided to change that for me. During the 7-on-7 period Williams made a great one-handed grab in the back of the endzone. It definitely stuck out as one of the best plays of practice.

Other highlights from 7-on-7 included a nice catch by Devon "Y'lou" Brown, good play from freshman tight end Andrew Parker, and an interception of Skylar Jones by freshman cornerback Kenny Okoro. It's great to see these young guys really stepping up early on, particularly Parker considering the team's current depth issues at tight end.

Highlights from 11-on-11 included a deep catch by D.J. Boldin, a nice run by fullback Mike Rinfrette, good runs by C.J. Washington, and a pass deflection by defensive end Anthony Davis.

Speical teams work included a blocked field goal, although I'm not sure who blocked it (not Alphonso Smith, though).

Apparently there are some new injuries, as Scott Betros, Josh Bush, Terence Davis, and Kyle Jarett all sat out today, as well as the guys who've been out for a few days like Chip Brinkman and Cameron Ford. There doesn't appear to be any serious issues for these new guys, probably just small stuff and they're day-to-day. Jordan Williams tried running a few routes but then stopped, so it appears he's not quite ready to come back yet.

Thats it for today. Check back late tomorrow night for a report from the scrimmage.

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It was practice as usual again on Wednesday night, with the Demon Deacons taking the field in full pads once again. As reported by the official site, the most notable thing to happen was probably the institution of the new 40 second play clock.

Other than that, there isn't a whole lot to report from the practice. Plans for Saturday's scrimmage have been finalized; the Deacons will scrimmage at 7:30 on BB&T Field.

Yesterday I had a couple of reader requests for reports on specific players. I can't always promise to be able to provide substantial information, but I'll do my best. The two requests yesterday were for Marshall Williams and Rich Belton.

Williams has looked pretty good catching the ball, making some nice grabs. He is definitely in position to have opportunities this season, but hasn't made a strong impression one way or the other. If that changes, I'll be sure to let you know.

It's more difficult to get a read on Belton. The team hasn't been working much (if at all) on handoffs to fullbacks, so we haven't been able to see him run the ball yet. Most of what he and the other fullbacks have been working on is running routes, which he seems to do fairly well, but he's dropped some passes and may need to work on his hands. There aren't any indications that he's being significantly hampered by the previous injury, so ultimately it's just going to come down to how he performs compared to the other fullbacks.

One new injury note today, Jordan Williams did not practice due to a groin injury and will probably be out for about a week.

Let me know if you have any other questions and I'll do my best to provide answers. I'm on the west coast this week so time zones are making things a bit weird, but I'll do my best to continue staying on top of things.

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