Northwestern University Athletics
Zeke Speaks Blog - August 19
8/19/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 19, 2009
Blog Entry #4
August 19; 4 p.m.
We were up bright and early today before the sun rose to get ready for another intense two-a-day. A lot of people ask us about the morning practice regimen we have. They want to know how hard it is to get up early and get rolling out on the practice field before a lot of people get out of bed. It's not bad at all, it took some getting used to but it feels great to get out there work hard and have the majority of the day left to learn from our mistakes on film and prepare for the next practice. For us, today we got out there early, had a good practice and are now preparing for the second practice of the day.
This morning's practice was a good go on both sides of the ball. The coaches really pushed the tempo of practice Tuesday which payed off today. We were still going fast on offense and defense but it seemed much easier because we pushed so hard yesterday. Coach Fitz always says it's "by design" that we practice as fast as we do because when we get in the game it will be much slower and allow us to have a finer focus.
Tonight we are headed to Tremper High School to have our second practice of the day. Apparently Tremper High just put in a new artificial grass field and are nice enough to let us come use it. The ride over should be fun. Anytime you get 100 plus football players packed into a few buses there is bound to be some joking around. As upperclassmen we jokingly tell the freshmen to pack their towels and sandals because we're going to hangout on the beach :) I wouldn't be surprised if we had some guys start singing on the bus and before you know it the entire bus will be chiming in. If it happens I'll let you know what song it was.
Go 'Cats!
Blog Entry #3
August 19; 12:30 p.m.
Tuesday was a great day to go out and enjoy practicing the game of football. It was football weather: sunny and 70 with a cool breeze off the lake. After a quick turnaround from our second practice Monday evening we buckled it up and headed onto the field again this morning. The offense started off strong with an impressive showing in our "Team Heat" drill which pits the offense against a blitzing defense. The offense did a good job of picking up the blitz and getting rid of the ball for positive yards. One guy who stuck out to me was freshman running back Arby Fields. He caught a vertical route and exploded away from the defense for an eventual touchdown. Arby has picked up the nickname "Beef and Cheddar" from our team due to the fact he shares the same name as the popular fast food chain with that classic sandwich. Speaking of beef and cheddar, that's what we had for lunch today: beef and cheddar sandwiches with brussel sprouts, salad, deli sandwiches and tuna casserole, mmmmmm..... I told you they feed us good up here :)
Towards the end of practice the coaches put us into some situational scrimmaging. The offense was required to put a drive together to win the game and of course the defense was out there to try to stop us. On offense the tempo was great; good speed from the skill positions and great blocking up front from the guys in the trenches. I will say the defense seemed to have the upper hand today. Our defensive coordinator, Mike Hankwitz, must have pulled out one of his special coverages for today and the defensive guys did a good job executing it. But don't worry, our offensive guys will study the film, put a plan together, then go out there tomorrow and try to get after the defense for some big plays--that's just what we do :)
Wednesday is another busy day of double sessions but I'll try to keep everyone filled in on how it's going. Thanks for reading.
-Zeke
