Clarksville, TN – The Austin Peay State University (APSU) football team held its first scrimmage of 2019 fall camp early Saturday morning, August 10th, 2019.
Closed to the public, head coach Mark Hudspeth got to see his program react under live game conditions for the first time since camp beginning camp on August 1st.
For the players, it offered an additional audition for playing time as camp continues and roles become more solidified leading up to the August 29th regular-season opener against North Carolina Central.
Head Coach Mark Hudspeth on the first scrimmage, “We pushed through the heat. It was one of the hottest days of the summer for us, and the guys pushed through. I thought practice got better as it went along, and that was a positive. We have a lot of things to clean up; it was very evident that it was the first scrimmage. We’ve got to come back, learn from the tape and clean things up.”
“You can evaluate [players] based on how they push through; sometimes you have to go more reps, and that’s just part of the game. We hope to get some guys back and get everybody out there and get a better look.”
“Offensively, we can’t self-inflict. We have to clean up the things we can control, execution. Getting guys back defensively will help us, and we have to continue getting some live work in the kicking game and continue tackling live in the next couple of weeks. Just keep improving.”
“I think we’re ahead in some areas and behind in some areas. Luckily, we don’t play next week and we’ve got a lot of prep time to go. The kids are very focused and have bought into what we’re doing. We just want to become a little more disciplined and a little more detailed, and the execution will come as we continue to practice and improve.”
Offensive Observations
“I think we were hurting ourselves in the beginning. People weren’t getting lined up, we weren’t doing our jobs. It was nothing the defense was making us do. We’ve got to lock in mentally. We have to come in prepared and focused and flip that switch when we hit the field.” – Quarterback Jeremiah Oatsvall
“I think we’re in a great place. We have a lot of room to grow, but the work we put in this summer gives us a great chance to be good. If we keep getting better each day, we’re going to have a great season.” – Quarterback Jeremiah Oatsvall
Defensive Decisions
“This was our first time really going live. We’ve had a lot of healthy competition every day, making plays on offense and defense, and that’s helping us grow.” – Defensive back Trent Taylor
“We’ve got speed in the back end and we can cover. We’re running hard to the ball. We’ve got to continue to improve tackling, and when you don’t tackle a lot [in practice] it can be hard to master. We’ll get a little more tackling work in to put them in a position to be more successful.” – Head Coach Mark Hudspeth
