The Tigers reported for their first day of fall practice on Tuesday, Aug. 4.
Coach Gus Malzahn, entering his third season on the Plains, said it was exciting to be back on campus after a long summer.
“It’s great to be back out on the practice field with our players and our coaches,” Malzahn said. “Our focus today was more about our standard, how to practice, with everything, as far as effort, body language, execution.”
Malzahn said young players will have an opportunity to watch practice for most of the first week to learn from the older members of the team.
“We feel like we’ve got some young guys that will have a chance to help us this year,” Malzahn said. “We want to make sure to give them a good foundation early in fall camp so they can really retain it better because things are going to get going really quick.”
Offensive tackle Avery Young said he was impressed by the ability of the underclassmen.
“[They have] a lot of potential,” Young said. “If they listen to the coaches, which I believe they will, and learn from the older guys and just stay focused like they’ve been doing so far, they [could be] real good guys.”
Malzahn said the veterans on the team play an important role in getting the younger players to the point where they can contribute to the team early in the year.
“We’ve got a pretty mature team that kind of gets it,” Malzahn said. “They want to help them. They’ll spend a little extra time on their own to try to show them the details.”
Malzahn especially stressed the importance of fall camp for the younger players on the offensive side of the ball.
“Offensively, we don’t have a lot of guys back,” Malzahn said. “We’ve got some inexperienced guys who will have a chance to get better and we’ve got some young guys that I think will help us also.”
Quarterback Jeremy Johnson will be tasked with leading the offense in 2015 after the departure of two-year starter Nick Marshall.
Malzahn said he was pleased with how Johnson stepped up to lead the offense on the first day.
“He’s one of our team leaders,” Malzahn said. “He’s got to lead us in the right way. We’ve got a lot of confidence in him right now.”
Wide receiver Melvin Ray said the receivers are excited to have a quarterback who can make plays in the passing game.
“We’ve got a quarterback who can throw the ball all over the place,” Ray said. “As long as I’m in the right position, he’s going to find the open guy. It makes the job a lot easier. … Once you’re open, you know he’s got the ability to find you.”
Young said Johnson has taken on a noticeable leadership role in the offense.
“We follow him, he’s our quarterback,” Young said. “Being an O-lineman, we make sure everybody listens too … Everybody respects him.”
Malzahn said it will require hard work to live up to the high expectations set by fans and media this year, including being ranked in the top 10 of the preseason Amway Coaches Poll.
“We have to earn everything we get,” Malzahn said. “Preseason hype and all that means absolutely nothing.”
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