Cardinals' Football Diary Day 11
August 15, 2006 | Football
Aug. 15, 2006
Louisville, Ky. - Game day is one of the best days around for a football player. The excitement of finally getting to use your technique and skill to see who is the better football team.
While today wasn't an actual game day, you could tell things were turned up a notch because the team was going to scrimmage. It's exciting to see a lot of the upper classmen, especially the six seniors take on a larger leadership role.
Seniors Amobi Okoye and Will Gay can be heard shouting encouragement and instructions to their younger teammates. It's great to see some of the players step up. Coach Petrino is always stressing leadership and a lot of the players are finally taking Petrino's advice.
Today was the second scrimmage of the fall and I thought both sides of the ball looked solid. The offense was crisp and executed all morning. Mario Urrutia, Chris Vaughn and Scott Long made a number of plays (I can't tell you how long or what they did), but they were definitely standouts. Actually, everyone on offense made plays. The offensive line was solid, giving both quarterbacks time to throw.
Defensively, the guys competed and fought. They made a bunch of good plays stopping the run and were solid defending the passing game. It was good to see those guys intense and taking pride. The first team unit made a couple of key fourth down stops and were flying around, which makes coach Petrino proud.
It was a good competitive two-hour scrimmage and coach seemed very pleased when it was over.
The last of the two-a-days is tomorrow, which is great for the players. They've worked hard and are ready to get into a normal routine. Classes start Monday so you know things are starting to heat up, both on and off the field.
