HURRICANES CONDUCT FIRST TWO-A-DAY
Aug. 11, 2007
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The University of Miami Hurricanes held their first of three two-a-day practices of summer training camp on Saturday at the Greentree Practice Fields. The two nearly two-hour sessions were both under intense heat in Coral Gagles.
“We got some things accomplished as far as four-minute offense,” Shannon said after the morning session. “The offense and defense did a good job on both sides of the ball. The receivers came out better today. They really played hard and did a lot of good things for us. The last couple of days, they were a little down; but now, they picked it up and impressed. I was happy with what they were doing today.”
Miami worked in full pads during the morning session before reconvening for an afternoon session in shells. It was the first time in preseason that the Hurricanes conducted an afternoon session.
The team will practice once on Sunday, beginning at 7:50 a.m.
Notes:
Miami Receivers Working Hard
Shannon emphasized how happy he was with the receiving corps after the morning session. The unit has shown the potential to make big plays thus far throughout camp, particularly Lance Leggett and Darnell Jenkins. “No one stood out. As a unit, they were great. If one falters, all of them falter,” Shannon said. “Today, all of them looked pretty good. They came out excited. They caught a lot of balls and did a good job blocking down the field.”
Scouts are Visiting
Over the last few days of practice, Miami has received visits from a number of National Football League scouts. Scouts from the Jacksonville Jaguars, New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts attended Saturday’s practices. Besides meeting with position coaches, they talked with Andreu Swasey, UM’s strength and conditioning coach.
Special Teams the Key
Miami continues to spend a lot of time working on special teams. A few long kicks from UM placekickers highlighted the early work in the morning session. “I believe with special teams you can win most games,” Shannon said. “If you look at the past at Miami, we’ve won games on blocked punts and blocked field goals. A couple of punt returns have been big for us. We have to emphasize these things.”
Sharpe Out for a Day, But Sharpton Returns
Senior cornerback Glenn Sharpe missed practice on Saturday due to soreness. Shannon said he expects Sharpe to return Sunday. Sophomore linebacker Darryl Sharpton returned to practice Saturday morning. He had missed the last six days.
Depth Chart Just Fine for Shannon
Several players have missed the early days of preseason camp, but Shannon said he’s not concerned with depth at any position. “I’m always thinking about game time,” he said. “You’re going to have injuries, you’re going to have nicks, you’re going to have busted chin-straps. You have to put guys in situations where guys are going to work with different guys. We always do that in practice. If you do it in games, you may get shocked. You don’t want any surprises.”
Three Weeks Until First Game
Hurricanes fans can purchase single-game tickets, a four-game Mega-Plan or season tickets through the month of August. Single-game tickets are $47 each, while the Mega-Plan, which includes a reserved ticket to the Texas A&M game and three other home games of choice, is $160 per pack ($7 savings per ticket ). Season tickets start as low as $190, which is only $27 per game. Tickets can be purchased at www.hurricanesports.com or by calling (305) 284-CANES in Miami-Dade or (800) GO-CANES outside of Miami-Dade. The Hurricanes open the season on September 1 against Marshall in the Orange Bowl.
