Preseason camp for the Ragin' Cajuns football team heated up on Tuesday as the UL players endured their first day of two-a-day practices. The Cajuns had a 140-minute full contact session in the morning and then came back to the practice field late in the afternoon for another two-hour session.
Prior to Tuesday, the UL players had practice just once each day with a short walk-through each evening.
"Full pads, full contact and two practices. Preseason camp is here," UL head coach Mark Hudspeth said.
"We got a lot accomplished in the first five days, but there is nothing like two-a-days to start seeing who is going to be their when the game is on the line. It showed today.
"You get to learn an awful lot about your players when you are in full pads and have full contact. Everybody can practice hard in partial uniforms, but contact tends to whittle the lineup down a bit.
"We have some guys who thrive when we put them in a competitive situation. Today was one of those days when it was very physical and our guys got after it. They absolutely loved it," Hudspeth added.
The practices marked the sixth day of the 23-day preseason and the tempo and physicality of the session showed that things are getting serious as the opener approaches.
The Cajuns opened the day with the Oklahoma drill, which pits one offensive player against one defender with a back carrying the ball. The goal is simple. . . the offensive player wants to keep the defender away from the ball while the defender wants to stop the play.
"The Oklahoma drill really sets the tone for the entire day," Hudspeth said. "Both sides get so juiced up to make the right play that it sets the tone for the entire practice."
After completing the morning session, the Cajuns broke for lunch and had an extra hour to head back to their rooms to rest. They returned to the football offices mid-afternoon for a series of meetings, starting with special teams at 2:30 p.m. and followed by individual positions at 2:50 p.m.
When the meetings were over, the complete team hit the practice field at 4:30.
Hudspeth singled out the effort of the offensive line again following the morning practice.