As Middle Tennessee prepares to make the trek to Hawaii on Christmas Eve for the Aloha Bowl, practices are heating up in Murfreesboro.
After having some time away from the practice field after beating Florida Atlantic in the Blue Raiders’ final game of the regular season, players and coaches are back preparing to take on Hawaii.
“Our first three days were in shorts, and that was kind of just getting back into it after a week and a half off after our last game,” Head Coach Rick Stockstill said. “Today we were in pads, and I liked what I saw out there.”
Monday’s practice was the first time since the FAU contest the players were back in full pads. It was a welcomed day for many.
“It feels great because we weren’t hitting pretty good today,” redshirt senior cornerback Jeremy Cutrer said. “To get back in pads and practice hard is a great feeling. You’ve been kind of holding it in all week, and now we can get back on the field and let loose and compete with each other. That was pretty great.”
While they weren’t in pads or going through normal practice routines until Monday, the players didn’t totally block out football.
Around studying for final exams and preparing for Saturday’s graduation ceremony, in which 10 Blue Raider football players were among the 26 MTSU student-athletes graduating, the players had plenty to keep them busy.
“We stayed in the weight room and stayed running,” junior defensive back Charvarious Ward said. “We just stayed in shape, really, and ate well and stayed hydrated. It’s really just back to business.”
Practices leading up to bowl games can serve a bigger purpose than just preparing for the bowl opponent, also. They serve as the perfect opportunity for Stockstill and the coaching staff to get a better look at younger players and those who redshirted this season.
At the end of every practice before Middle Tennessee makes trip to Honolulu on Monday, Dec. 19, the younger and redshirt players will get the chance to take the reins off and treat practice as an actual game.
The drills are filled with hard hits and plenty of chatter between the offense and defense.
“We’ll try to do that as much as we can,” Stockstill said. “That’s one of the beauties of going to a bowl – you get some younger guys, some redshirt guys who didn’t get a lot of reps during the season, in a live situation.
“You can see the enthusiasm of our older players encouraging them and getting them excited about playing. That’s really good, and we’ll continue to do that the rest of the way.”
Tickets to the Aloha Bowl, which is scheduled to kick off at 7 p.m. (CT), are on sale now for $45 and include a complimentary Hawai’i Bowl t-shirt and a ticket to a Conference USA home game at Floyd Stadium in the 2017 season. Buys can even donate their tickets if they aren’t making the trip to Hawaii, which will then be given to military families stationed on the island.
To purchase tickets, go to goblueraiders.com/tickets or call the Blue Raider ticket office at 615-898-5261 on Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
