Offense Shows Improvement In Friday's Spring Football Practice
April 8, 2011
LAWRENCE, Kan. –
Postpractice Interviews:Coach Gill | McDougald | Patterson
Under perfect weather conditions for the second-straight practice, the Kansas football team went through its fifth spring football practice here Friday afternoon at the practice fields adjacent to Memorial Stadium.
After watching the defense control in situational drills in Wednesday’s practice session, the KU offense made strides Friday.
“The offense had a very good day today, and the defense was not far behind,” said Kansas head coach Turner Gill. “I’m happy with the way we performed. Tomorrow, we will have a full scrimmage and we’ll see where things go from there. Overall, I thought today was a good day.”
The Jayhawks showed a strong effort all over the field as they prepared for a scrimmage Saturday morning.
“We are just going to work with everyone tomorrow,” said Gill, of the scrimmage. “We are going to get a feel for where everybody is at. Once we scrimmage, we will make the adjustments and move on from there. Tomorrow is our first opportunity to see what they can do, and I’m very excited about that.”
Kansas is one third of the way through its 15 spring practice sessions. The team will workout again Saturday morning, with the scrimmage taking place on Kivisto Field in Memorial Stadium. The annual Kansas Spring Game will be held Saturday, April 30 at 1 p.m.
Head Coach Turner Gill Quotes
Spring Practice
April 8, 2011
Opening Statement:
“The offense had a very good day today, and the defense was not far behind – I’m happy with the way we performed. Tomorrow, we will have a full scrimmage and we’ll see where things go from there. Overall, I thought today was a good day.”
On how they will run the scrimmage:
“We are just going to work with everyone tomorrow, and get a feel for where everybody is at. Once we scrimmage, we will make the adjustments and move on from there. Tomorrow is our first opportunity to see what they can do, and I’m very excited about that.”
On who has stood out on offense:
“Tim Biere has stood out from a consistency standpoint; he has a good time blocking and catching the football. He is playing with a passion, and that is really what I like to see.”
On the leadership being shown:
“We will still need some time to see where we are on that – leadership is something that is shown over a length of time.”
On how long it takes to become comfortable with an entirely new kicking team:
“Probably after the first game. It usually takes one game for the coaches and the players to be ready for all the change that has happened. Everyone has had great practices, and once we get to the first game, we will be happy with everything that has gone on.”
Player Quotes
Wide Receiver Chris Omigie
On the competition at WR:“There’es always competition at the wirde receiver spot because there are so many of us. Everybody wants to be the go to guy so we’re always out here working hard competing against each other doing our best. We’re all out here going hard against the defense to show coach that we can be the guy. So the competition is really intense right now.”
On the team’s progress compared to last spring:“We’ve already been in the system. We haven’t had any new receivers come in yet and we’ve been studying our plays for about a year now. There hasn’t been a whole lot of change in the offense, so we’ve pretty much got it down. Right now it’s just execution and being sure to make plays when the ball comes your way.”
On who has been impressive in the practices:“Isiah Barfield had a pretty nice interception today, but you expect that out of him. I had a pretty nice touchdown catch today, but we expect that out of me. I’d like to look at the offensive line and what they do. Most people don’t really respect what they do. I like to see the linemen going downfield and knocking a linebacker on their back. We’ve had some linemen that really get after it and I like to give props to them because not many people appreciate how difficult it is to play on the offensive line.”
Safety Keeston Terry
On the potential to have a strong defensive backfield:“I think we’ve got a lot of chemistry right now. It’s going to take time to get better and get used to playing with each other. But I definitely think we can be a solid group for the next couple of years.”
On having confidence at the safety position:“You have to be confident. If you’re not confident back there, nobody else on the defense is going to be confident.”
On his best quality:“I feel like I’m pretty decent when it comes to making tackles. I definitely still need to work on my cover skills, but I think my strong suit right now is my tackling skills. Hopefully I can have a knack for interceptions since that’s the position I play. I definitely think I can get it done back there.
