Miami Holds Early Practice at Cobb Stadium Friday
Aug. 22, 2008
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Less than a week away from its season opener, the University of Miami football team held practice under the lights at Cobb Stadium early Friday morning, completing its second straight day of Charleston Southern game preparation.
With the start of UM’s fall semester just five days away, the Hurricanes began practice at 5:30 a.m. to allow players the opportunity to attend orientation and other academic meetings the remainder of the day on Friday.
“It was a fun practice,” head coach Randy Shannon said. “It wasn’t too hot, the players were enthused and they flew around. We got a lot of things done on Charleston Southern so we are going in the right direction.”
For the second time in as many days, the Hurricanes spent time on running and stopping the blitz in a number of different game situations. The team also continued working both offensively and defensively against opponent scout teams.
Not only did the early practice allow for cooler conditions, but it also gave the team another opportunity to work under the lights with a pair of night games on the Hurricanes’ schedule the first two weeks of the season. Temperatures remained in the mid-to-upper 70’s throughout most of practice, before reaching 82 degrees as the team wrapped up just after 8 a.m.
On next week’s opponent, Shannon noted, “They run a spread offense and they do a lot of zone blitzing and things like that, which most people around the country do. We can’t take them lightly. We have to make sure we are doing all of the things we need to do on defense and picking up the blitzes on offense.”
Fans can order tickets for the 2008 season, including season tickets starting at $99, by visiting www.hurricanesports.com or by calling the UM ticket office at (800) GO-CANES or (305) 284-CANE. The UM ticket office, located at the Hecht Athletic Center on UM’s campus, is open from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Friday.
UM’s season-opener is slated for Thursday, Aug. 28 against the Buccaneers at Dolphin Stadium. Kickoff for the opener is slated for 7:30 p.m. and all fans are encouraged to wear orange to the game against the Buccaneers.
Post-practice notes
Friday’s practice lasted just over two-and-a-half hours.
UM will return to practice Sunday night at 6 p.m.
The Hurricanes’ season-opener against Charleston Southern is six days away.
