The Gophers put on full pads for the first time this spring Thursday, and judging by the commotion during practice and Tim Brewster’s mood afterward, they liked the results.

Brewster began his post-practice update with this: “If you didn’t like that practice, you don’t love football because that was a great practice,” he said. “Hard-nosed, physical. I feel really good about what we accomplished today.”

Brewster called it one of the best practices the team has had since he took the job.

Here are some highlights:

– The team finished practice with goal line. They did four snaps (two from the 2-yard line and two from the 1-yard line). The defense won the competition 3-1.

– The team will have two live scrimmages and the spring game.

– The team is thin at wide receiver right now without Eric Decker and the incoming freshmen (Brandon Green, Brodrick Smith) who will play a lot. Brewster said Marcus Sherels and Ralph Spry have performed well so far. He also said Jimmy Thompson made a long catch-and-run Thursday.

– Brewster really likes the competition at center. Jeff Tow-Arnett is slightly ahead because he has more experience, but Trey Davis and Ryan Wynn are pushing him hard.

– We were talking about how the secondary could change completely from last season and Brewster said he will go out on a limb and predict that safety Tramaine Brock will be one of the four starters. I think it’s safe to write that one in ink.

– Brewster reiterated that juco safety Simoni Lawrence could move up to SAM linebacker.

– I talked to Tony Mortensen about long snapping and he said he’s getting better at it. He joked that he could use a 7-foot punter though.

– Steve Davis had a nice gash on his nose after practice. He said the coaching staff now makes each defensive position do five up-downs every time they don’t pursue to the ball. The linebackers, he noted, did 45 on Thursday. “They’re trying to eliminate loafing,” he said.

– We don’t have access to the team again until Tuesday so we’ll check back then. Have a great weekend.

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 3rd, 2008 at 7:13 pm and is filed under All, Gophers football. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.