CHARLESTON, Ill. - Eastern Illinois football returned to the field for a single practice on Tuesday afternoon as the Panthers are now 16 days away from the season opener against Southern Illinois. Following a two-a-day session on Monday the team seems ready to start lining up against a new opponent.
"It's the dog days of camp," said offensive lineman
Dominic Pagliara. "After a while you get kind of sick of hitting guys in blue and want to hit someone in a different color uniform."
Head coach Dino Babers, in his first season as the Panthers head coach, said part of the process to keep the team focused during fall camp is to mix it up.
"We try to keep it fresh," said Babers. "We have a lot of sudden change. We will move to open field sessions, then go to a red zone offense and then to a scrimmage situation. If we continue to move and change it up the players seem to stay more focused on what we are trying to accomplish."
Most of the talk through the spring and into the early portion of fall camp has been the Panthers installation of an up-tempo offense. Lost in the shuffle of the new offense installation is the toll it may or may not take on the offensive line, a key component to any successful team.
"We are the biggest guys out there," said Pagliara. "We are on the field more than anybody other than maybe the quarterback. We are enjoying the new offense. I know the offensive line is tired but we also know that the defenses we play against will be even more tired in games."
"Your talking about a different group there, a bunch of 300-pounders and its hard," said Babers. "They have to get used to moving at a high rate of speed and its something they are having to get used to. I think the line has done a good job."
EIU returns to the practice field for a two-a-day practice on Wednesday and a single practice on Thursday.
The Panthers open the season on August 30 hosting Southern Illinois at 6:30 p.m. at O'Brien Field. Season and single game tickets are on sale by calling 217-581-2106 or online at
www.eiupanthertickets.com
