March 27, 2004
The Aggie football team ended the first week of spring drills with a great deal of enthusiasm and a lot of "thudding" Saturday afternoon at the grass practice fields.
"Defensively we have 'tag,' which is just what it sounds like and a lot of times when we are in shorts," Coach Dennis Franchione said. "In pads we have 'thud,' which is blocking at full speed and instead of taking the runner to the ground, you hear contact and a thud. We also have 'scrimmage,' where the defenders take the ball carrier to the ground. Today we scrimmaged for about 20 plays and the rest was thud."
One moment in "thud" that took the breath away from most everyone on the field was defensive lineman Jason Jack taking down quarterback Reggie McNeal.
At the end of practice, placekicker Todd Pegram was put on the spot with the entire team yelling and screaming and even coaches blowing whistles to try and distract him. Pegram was a perfect 2-of-2 in field goals.
"Placekickers have to erase the mistakes made by the offense," Coach Fran said. "If we get down into the red zone and can't score a touchdown, we call on the placekicker to erase our mistakes and get us points. We put Todd on the spot and the whole team is a part of it. When he makes it, the team embraces him."
A&M will take the day off on Sunday but return to the practice field on Monday at 3:30 p.m.
Most of the Aggie football team participated in the Big Event Saturday morning, an annual student-run community service project in the Bryan/College Station area.
"I am pleased that our players took time to participate with fellow student-athletes and other Aggies in our community," Fran said. "Our community supports us so well that is important to give back."