Buddy Pough Praises SC State Linebackers After Practice Tuesday
ORANGEBURG, SC (SCSU) — South Carolina State continued its preseason football preparations Tuesday, conducting its fifth session of 2016. The morning workout, in full pads, essentially completed acclimation and installation of the Bulldog offensive and defensive schemes, according to head coach Buddy Pough.
“Day five is in the books,” Pough said. “We are done with our acclimation and installation and are ready to go with real live contact. We will now have a chance for some one-on-one and we should be able to see what we can do at the point.”
The Bulldogs will hold their first two-a-day sessions on Wednesday, with the morning session beginning at 9 o’clock and the evening drill at 7. The morning practice will be live and in full gear, while the evening session will be conducted in shells (shorts and shoulder pads), according to Pough.
Following Tuesday’s workout, Pough noted that quite a few of the Bulldog veterans have stepped up and were showing leadership in bringing some of the younger players along, a fact he welcomed.
“It’s always good to see your older players step up and offer some leadership to the younger guys,” Pough said. “This gives us a glimmer of hope that we can put together a decent group. We just have to work hard to improve, to get better each day, to continuously work together to get to where we want to be as a team.”
Pough said it was still early in his team’s preparation and that he was reluctant to point out the performance of any of his players, however, he did note that experience appeared to be pretty solid at linebacker, led by MEAC preseason Defensive Player of the Year Darius Leonard, and at quarterback, where redshirt senior Adrian Kollock and sophomore Caleb York were in a close battle for the signal-calling duties.
One other area that drew praise from Pough was at running back, where senior Dondre Brown, redshirt junior Trey Samuel and redshirt freshman Bishop Ford were leading the pack to spearhead the rushing attack.
SC State will hold its Media/Picture Day, Saturday, Aug. 13, beginning at 9 a.m. The annual “Meet the Players Day,” hosted by The S.T.A.T.E Club, is set for Saturday, Aug. 20 at 12 p.m. More details on these events will be released later.
Season tickets and single-game tickets for SC State’s four home games are on sale now. Tickets may be purchased at the Ticket Office on campus. For more information on how you can purchase your season tickets visit www.scsuathletics.com or call (803) 536-8579 or 1-800-298-9157.
For more information on Bulldog football or to schedule player or coaches interviews during the season, contact the Office of Athletic Media Relations at (803)536-7060 or by email at KLewis19@scsu.edu.
SC State Preseason Camp Practice Schedule
(Dates, times, locations are subject to change).
Wednesday, Aug. 10 (double session) 9:30 a.m./7:10 p.m.
Thursday, Aug. 11: 9:30 a.m.
Friday, Aug. 12(double session) 9:30 a.m./7:10 p.m.
Saturday, Aug. 13: Media /Picture Day 9 a.m.
Scrimmage # 1-3:10 p.m.
Monday, Aug.15: (double session) 9:30 a.m./7:10 p.m.
Tuesday, Aug. 16: 9:30 a.m.
Wednesday, Aug.18: Classes begin
Saturday, Aug. 20: Scrimmage # 2 (10 a.m.); Meet The Players Day (12 noon)
Saturday, Sept 3: Season opener at Central Florida (Orlando, Fla.), 7 p.m.
