Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
Raiders hold last full pad practice at home
12/16/2016 4:38:00 PM | Football
Depart for Hawaii on Monday
PRACTICE PHOTO GALLERY
MURFREESBORO – After an off day on Thursday, the Middle Tennessee football team returned to the practice field on Friday to continue preparation for next Saturday's Hawaii Bowl. The Blue Raiders and Rainbow Warriors of Hawaii will kick-off at 7:05 PM CT on ESPN.
The Blue Raiders had their final home practice in full pads Friday as the team went 22 periods inside breezy and cool Floyd Stadium.
"I thought we practiced faster, our tempo was better and we had a lot of energy," said Stockstill. "We have competed well all week and the entire team is in a good frame of mind. I want us to finish it off with another strong practice tomorrow then go get on that big bird Monday for Hawaii."
The game plan for the Murfreesboro practices was to install everything for the players on offense and defense and then just get reps and work on fundamentals in Hawaii. Coach Stockstill is pleased with the approach of his team this past week.
"We had our seventh practice today and I feel we are in a good position with what we have implemented offensively, defensively and on special teams," added Stockstill. "I think we hit and tackled enough during our seven practices that we will not have to do as much when we get to Hawaii. We will fine tune everything once we arrive and make sure our guys are fresh and fast for Saturday."
Record-setting quarterback Brent Stockstill, who missed the final three games of the regular season with a broken collarbone, continued to practice and take first team snaps.
"Brent has had a good week of practice and we are very optimistic he will play," said Stockstill. "He has had a couple of positive checkups and we are preparing like he will be under center for us come Saturday."
Middle Tennessee is set for its sixth bowl game under Stockstill against the hometown Rainbow Warriors. Along with ESPN, the game will also be available on ESPN Deportes and ESPN Radio. The team will fly out on Monday at 7 AM with expected arrival time of 1 PM Hawaii Time.
ADDITIONAL PLAYER QUOTES
DE CHRIS HALE
On practice…
Practice has been good. I think it's going really well, even with it being so cold out here. Guys are flying around, getting the job done and getting prepared to go win the game.
On preparing for Hawaii's offense…
We have been working a lot on all their inside zone reads. They do it kind of differently than other teams. We've really been preparing to stop that and slow down their run game.
On maintaining focus once in Hawaii…
I feel like that's where the leadership takes its role. We make sure the guys know that when we practice we are practicing with a purpose. When it's time to enjoy each other's' company at the events, that's when it's time to have fun.
On the flight…
I'll probably sleep, wake up and watch a movie, then probably go back to sleep. I'm going to try and sleep as long as I can. I'm going to stay up real late the night before.
On non-football activities…
I'm definitely looking forward to snorkeling. I've never done that before or really any of the things we'll be doing out there. Snorkeling will be No. 1 though.
OL CHANDLER BREWER
On practice…
It's good. We came out here today in our last day in full pads. We had a good practice overall.
On game plan…
Right now we are going over everything we think they are going to bring at us and practicing over and over. We're getting consistent with everything and picking everything up so far.
On Hawaii's defense…
They like to run through a lot. They get to the ball pretty fast. We just have to keep our eyes in the right places and we should be able to take care of it.
On looking forward to warmer weather…
I kind of love this. Everybody else hates it. It'll be a fun experience. The weather change will be a bit of a challenge to get back to practicing when it's a little bit hotter, but we'll be all right.
On the flight…
I'm going to try and download some movies and listen to music. I'm going to try and sleep at least half of the way.
On non-football activities…
Probably seeing Pearl Harbor. They said we'll get to go see it Thursday. I'm really excited to see that and see what happened in the past. That's something I've always wanted to do.
MURFREESBORO – After an off day on Thursday, the Middle Tennessee football team returned to the practice field on Friday to continue preparation for next Saturday's Hawaii Bowl. The Blue Raiders and Rainbow Warriors of Hawaii will kick-off at 7:05 PM CT on ESPN.
The Blue Raiders had their final home practice in full pads Friday as the team went 22 periods inside breezy and cool Floyd Stadium.
"I thought we practiced faster, our tempo was better and we had a lot of energy," said Stockstill. "We have competed well all week and the entire team is in a good frame of mind. I want us to finish it off with another strong practice tomorrow then go get on that big bird Monday for Hawaii."
The game plan for the Murfreesboro practices was to install everything for the players on offense and defense and then just get reps and work on fundamentals in Hawaii. Coach Stockstill is pleased with the approach of his team this past week.
"We had our seventh practice today and I feel we are in a good position with what we have implemented offensively, defensively and on special teams," added Stockstill. "I think we hit and tackled enough during our seven practices that we will not have to do as much when we get to Hawaii. We will fine tune everything once we arrive and make sure our guys are fresh and fast for Saturday."
Record-setting quarterback Brent Stockstill, who missed the final three games of the regular season with a broken collarbone, continued to practice and take first team snaps.
"Brent has had a good week of practice and we are very optimistic he will play," said Stockstill. "He has had a couple of positive checkups and we are preparing like he will be under center for us come Saturday."
Middle Tennessee is set for its sixth bowl game under Stockstill against the hometown Rainbow Warriors. Along with ESPN, the game will also be available on ESPN Deportes and ESPN Radio. The team will fly out on Monday at 7 AM with expected arrival time of 1 PM Hawaii Time.
ADDITIONAL PLAYER QUOTES
DE CHRIS HALE
On practice…
Practice has been good. I think it's going really well, even with it being so cold out here. Guys are flying around, getting the job done and getting prepared to go win the game.
On preparing for Hawaii's offense…
We have been working a lot on all their inside zone reads. They do it kind of differently than other teams. We've really been preparing to stop that and slow down their run game.
On maintaining focus once in Hawaii…
I feel like that's where the leadership takes its role. We make sure the guys know that when we practice we are practicing with a purpose. When it's time to enjoy each other's' company at the events, that's when it's time to have fun.
On the flight…
I'll probably sleep, wake up and watch a movie, then probably go back to sleep. I'm going to try and sleep as long as I can. I'm going to stay up real late the night before.
On non-football activities…
I'm definitely looking forward to snorkeling. I've never done that before or really any of the things we'll be doing out there. Snorkeling will be No. 1 though.
OL CHANDLER BREWER
On practice…
It's good. We came out here today in our last day in full pads. We had a good practice overall.
On game plan…
Right now we are going over everything we think they are going to bring at us and practicing over and over. We're getting consistent with everything and picking everything up so far.
On Hawaii's defense…
They like to run through a lot. They get to the ball pretty fast. We just have to keep our eyes in the right places and we should be able to take care of it.
On looking forward to warmer weather…
I kind of love this. Everybody else hates it. It'll be a fun experience. The weather change will be a bit of a challenge to get back to practicing when it's a little bit hotter, but we'll be all right.
On the flight…
I'm going to try and download some movies and listen to music. I'm going to try and sleep at least half of the way.
On non-football activities…
Probably seeing Pearl Harbor. They said we'll get to go see it Thursday. I'm really excited to see that and see what happened in the past. That's something I've always wanted to do.
Players Mentioned
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