Now that we're getting pretty much nothing but stories about fall practice, we're going to turn the Daily Bull-ogosphere into a Practice Roundup for the next few weeks. Same idea, just everything will be about football.
1. There was some concern on Wednesday night when Greg Auman tweeted about how Dontae Aycock had ballooned up to 253 pounds. Aycock's only 5'9" and it seemed like there was no way he would be effective as a running back at that size. Well, somehow Aycock lost 20 pounds yesterday to get down to 233. It might have been a really, really hard workout, or illicit fenfluramine/phentermine, or maybe it was just a typo. (Actually, it was a typo.) Still, that's a bit more than he should be checking in at, and Skip Holtz wants to see him lose a few pounds, along with some other players who came in heavier than the coaches expected:
"A lot of them who've been home since February, they look at the depth chart and say 'Wow, I've got to weigh 260 as a tight end. I've got to weigh 300 as an offensive lineman.' They try to put on those table muscles and they don't work real well out here on the practice field. There are some guys that have to get in shape, cut a little bit of weight."
2. Darrell Scott, on the other hand, is said to be doing well despite adding on a few pounds in the offseason and showing up at 239. Greg has another blog entry with a breakdown of this year's expansion and shrinkage.
3. USF's official site is chock-full of content as always. Training Camp Central has a photo gallery, interviews with Holtz, Sam Barrington, and B.J. Daniels, plus a short feature on the new dining hall, Champion's Choice.
4. Another story from the Tribune's Adam Adkins was about the incoming freshmen. Today they will practice on their own, since they have to finish summer classes and can't be on the field with the rest of the team. Holtz singled out Kenneth Durden and Zack Bullock (clocking in at a scary 194 pounds at linebacker) as freshmen he noticed doing good things in yesterday's practice.
5. If you're set up with a Scout subscription, Larry Weisbaum at USF Nation got an interview with offensive coordinator Todd Fitch after yesterday's practice.
6. Finally, USF announced game times for three of their seven home games this season. The Ball State game on September 10 and the Florida A&M game on September 17 will kick off at 7:00pm. Homecoming against Cincinnati on October 22 will be the dreaded Big East Game of the Week with a noon kickoff.
Since we know the West Virginia game on December 1 is an 8:00pm start, that means the only home games still TBD are UTEP on September 24, Miami on November 19, and Louisville on November 25. I'd be surprised if the UTEP game isn't at 7:00pm as well, since CBS College Sports already has C-USA games lined up for their 3:30pm and 8:00pm time slots. As for the others, they belong to ESPN so who knows when they will start.