Football

September 1, 1998

CORAL GABLES, FL — The University of Miami Hurricanes began game-weekpreparations for this Saturday’s season opener vs. East Tennessee Statewith a two-hour, full pad workout at the Greentree Practice Field.

As is customary for the Hurricanes’ game-week routine, the team returnedto practice today after a Monday off-day. Head coach Butch Daviswas pleased with his team’s enthusiasm as it heads into the opener, butcautions that the squad must continue to improve.

“Practice was pretty good today,” said Davis. “Everybody practicedwith the exception of Nick Ward. The guys were excited aboutstarting practice this week. There was a lot of enthusiasm.As we zero in and put in the game plan there seems to be a lot of discussionand a lot of thought about identifying different formations and fronts.The enthusiasm and focus were good, but the crispness you need to playa game wasn’t there today. Hopefully, that will get better as theweek goes on.”

Several players returned to practice after missing time due to injury.Defensive end Derrick Ham (ankle), linebacker Michael Smith (ankle), anddefensive tackle Clint Hurtt (knee) participated in drills. Hurttpracticed for the first time after undergoing arthroscopic surgery priorto the start of training camp. Defensive back Nick Ward was heldout today after having wisdom teeth removed.

The Hurricanes return to practice tomorrow afternoon at 3:30 p.m. inpads at Greentree. The session is closed to the public.

Miami opens a season at home for the first time since 1994. Kickoffis at 7:30 p.m. at the Orange Bowl. The game will be tape delayedon SportsChannel at 11:30 p.m. Saturday.
Season and single-game tickets are available at the UM ticket office,all TicketMaster locations, or can be ordered by phone at 1-800-GO-CANES.

Injury Report: There were no new injuries reported. Wide receiverSantana Moss continues to be withheld from contact with a cracked jaw.He did workout in shells, participating in non-contact drills.