LSC Roundup 8-7

ACU's newcomers make quick adjustments to college football
Cooper graduate Blake Spears was a bit wide-eyed on his first day of practice Thursday with the Abilene Christian University football team.

“It’s a lot different than what I expected,” Spears said. “The level is just so much higher than it was in high school. The competition has gone up tremendously. I don’t even know how to explain it. But it was fun to learn what’s going on and see just how everything’s done. I think I’ll catch up pretty quickly.”

Buffs get to work
West Texas A&M football coach Don Carthel opened his fifth season with the Buffs on Thursday afternoon in 95-degree heat at the WT practice field in Canyon.

Carthel said 142 players - freshmen and varsity combined - were on hand for the first workout in shorts and helmets. The Buffs will conduct an 18-day camp before classes open Aug. 24. They open their season Aug. 29 at home against highly regarded Grand Valley State.

"I'm pleased with what I saw for a first day," Carthel said. "You look for different things out there, and I saw a lot I liked."

For UIW, the only direction to go is up
This time last summer, Incarnate Word football seemed like little more than an idea. A project that, with scarce evidence to prove otherwise, was a tease, if not downright fiction. Sure, coaches and players had already begun migrating onto the campus off U.S. Highway 281, but the pads were stowed away and no games were in sight. When the players did begin practicing, their only target was an endless string of more workouts.

All that changed Thursday. Twenty-eight months after UIW president Louis Agnese and benefactor Tom Benson announced intentions to start football, coach Mike Santiago blew his whistle at 2 p.m. sharp to kick off the program's first training camp practice at Benson Stadium.

UIW notebook: Lyons practices day after car wreck
A day after walking away from a car accident in which he was trapped inside his upside-down vehicle, Incarnate Word safety Todd Lyons worked out with no limitations in the Cardinals' first training camp practice Thursday.

“I feel good,” he said. “I still think about (the accident) from time to time. I definitely was thinking about it last night. I prayed extra hard.”

The freshman from Humble said he woke up with a stiff neck and pain in his side and back, but that it all went away by the time practice began.

Start of a good thing
The Northeastern State football team kicked off its fall practices on Thursday with a pair of practices at Gable Field. The players practiced in helmets and shorts. Practices will full pads will not begin until next Monday.

“The numbers are great, the enthusiasm is great and the conditioning is good,” said RiverHawks head coach Kenny Evans.

Instead of having all of the 107 players on the team practice at the same time, Evans elected to hold two separate practices to give the players more individual teaching. As a result the first-year players practiced at 9 a.m. while the returning players took the field at 3 p.m.

“We did it this way so the players could get more individual attention,” said Evans. “We got a lot of teaching done.”

First Offer For Offensive Tackle
His coach bragged on him, and raved about his size. Everything we saw said the same thing, Chance Vernon was not only a talented offensive lineman but one of the biggest in the state. In May we invited him to our Austin combine to see him first hand and there was no exaggeration about his size.

Several things stand out about Chance Vernon, not only his huge frame but also how big his legs are. Simply put you do not find high school players with his natural size.

One other team is in the mix as he has gotten his first offer.

"Texas A&M- Kingsville offered me already."

From team websites and blogs...
SOSU: Football Signals Return of Athletic Season
ACU: #3, Part 2
ACU: Wildcats begin LSC title defense
ASU: Rams Report Back Friday
UCO: Bronchos Ready To Start Practice