First Day Under Their Belt

First-day practice photo gallery

The ACU Wildcats wrapped up their first day of practice Friday at about 6 p.m. after a two-hour workout in 98-degree heat.  Twenty-three more practices before the Wildcats open their 2008 season with the highly anticipated matchup against Northwest Missouri State in Maryville, Mo.

Friday's heat and humidity in Abilene should be good preparation for what will await the Wildcats in America's Heartland on Aug. 30.  Overall the Wildcats handled it well, despite a couple of guys hitting the ground with cramps.  ACU head coach Chris Thomsen, though, was pleased with the first workout of the summer.

"Our guys showed up in really good shape," he said.  "You can tell they worked hard this summer to get themselves ready to have a great season.  They were very business-like in their approach today, and I thought we had a really good first day."

After back-to-back NCAA Division II playoff appearances, the Wildcats have become accustomed to putting together solid practices.

"We've got great leadership, and they're going to make sure we come out focused and ready to go every day," Thomsen said.  "We've got really good guys – guys at key positions – setting that tone for us and leading the way."

Senior quarterback Billy Malone was on target all day, and Bernard Scott, Johnny Knox and Jonathan Ferguson looked sharp running with and catching the ball.  New offensive tackles Tony Washington (6-7, 310) and Trevis Turner (6-8, 340) looked, well, huge.  The biggest key for the offense is how quickly those two players and new left guard Royland Tubbs mesh with returning starters Sam Collins (center) and Joseph Thompson (right guard).  

ACU has led the nation in fewest sacks allowed in each of the last two years (12 in 2006 and eight in 2007), and those five players up front – Collins, Thompson, Nathan Young, Matt Raesner and Cody Savage – were a huge part of why the Wildcats had the offensive success they enjoyed in 2007.  Watch this new group early in the season and you'll have a pretty good idea of how the offense will fare in 2008.

Defensively the Wildcats looked quicker in the secondary and more physical in the front seven.  Thomsen said the Wildcats have better athletes across the board and have more depth on the defense than at any time in his four years as head coach.  

Only 22 days left until the season opener ...