ECU Conducts Final Two-A-Day
August 18, 2011 | Football
Aug. 18, 2011
GREENVILLE, N.C. - East Carolina completed its fall two-a-day schedule Thursday with a pair of workouts at the Cliff Moore Practice Complex. The Pirates opened the day with a two-plus hour session in full pads before the afternoon's 90-minute practice in shells.
"I saw a lot of guys on our team push through today," head coach Ruffin McNeill said. "It has been a grinding camp and we still have some work left to do. It was a big day for us because of how hard we worked. I was very proud of that."
ECU spent 30 minutes near the end of the morning period in near-scrimmage conditions on Hight Field. Junior transfer defensive end John Lattimore was cleared to practice and was taking snaps with the top two units, while the featured offensive line consisted of tackle Steven Baker, guard Will Simmons, center Hugh Parker, guard Adhem Elsawi and tackle Jordan Davis during the 11-on-11 work.
The final 10 minutes were dedicated to what the coaching staff termed "young guy skeleton," featuring mainly the team's true freshmen and scout-team members. Freshman Donte Sumpter highlighted the drill, making four catches including a 35-yard touchdown pass from classmate Cody Keith.
Following the afternoon session's warm-up and skill-enhancement segment, the offense and defense competed against each other in strategic team situations. Near the end of the workout, the defense spent time working against opponent-specific packages, such as the option and pro-set schemes.
"I feel great about camp," McNeill said of how the preseason has gone. "When I evaluate camp, I do it on if we've accomplished the goals we set. Our goals were to make sure we improve each day, get better fundamentally, execute on offense, defense and special teams, and develop productive depth at each position. We're on the verge of meeting all four of those goals."
ECU will practice Friday morning to finalize preparations for the team's second, and final, intra-squad scrimmage of the fall Saturday morning.
Note
The Pirates' closed-to-the-public scrimmage Saturday precedes the 17th annual Meet The Pirates Night, ECU's preseason football fan fest, which will begin at 5:00 p.m.
Friday’s Practice Time: 8:45 – 11:25 a.m.
Season Opener: Sept. 3 vs. South Carolina in Charlotte (7:00 p.m.)
