Northwestern University Athletics
Camp Kenosha Report -- August 21
8/21/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 21, 2002
EVANSTON, Ill. - With just one day left before they head back to Evanston, the NU football players can be excused for being a little off mentally Wednesday.
Of course, Head Coach Randy Walker wasn't excusing them.
Wednesday was a fairly typical day of practice, as the 'Cats went with two sessions. The morning saw the team in full pads, while they went with helmets and shoulder pads in the afternoon.
"I think the guys are ready to get back home," said Walker after the second session. "I know I am. It's great for us to be up here, but we're basically creatures of habit -- I miss sleeping in my own bed, I miss walking my dog. It'll be nice for all of us to get back to the things we know."
While Walker -- and other coaches -- got after some players every now and then for mental lapses, Walker was upbeat at the end of the day.
"Like most days, there was good and bad," he said. "We are still trying to do things the right way and learn things. Some of the things we as coaches see out there excite us, and then other things...not so much. But we're still trying to find our way.
"What I have seen during these two weeks is the guys coming together and embracing what Northwestern football is all about. And that excites me the most."
One change that has occured during the last few days is the implementation of some Air Force material.
"We're definitely not fully concentrating on Air Force at this point," said Walker. "We still have a lot to accomplish ourselves, and so we're still running the ones against each other quite a bit. Hey, but the Air Force game is just 10 days away, and so we've got to start getting ready. So we're running scout team against our first teams about half and half right now in our practice sessions."
The end of the day proved to be the most exciting part, as Walker cut sprints short at the end of the afternoon session and challenged the team to face a coaching representative in a watermelon-eating contest. Each position was allowed to choose one of their own to square off against graduate assistant Josh Buis. If Buis won, the team would finish out their sprints, but if a player won they were done.
In a narrow decision, true freshman Loren Howard added to his on-field legacy by cleaning off his watermelon first.
"That was an impressive performance by Loren," said Walker. "That kid can flat-out eat. But Pat Durr wasn't too far behind him.
"As for Coach Buis, he was spilling all over himself and didn't represent us so well -- we as a staff will have to get after him a little bit more in meetings now."
The Wildcats will conclude Camp Kenosha Thursday morning with an 8:40 session, before returning to Evanston in the afternoon.
