Michigan State University Athletics
Spartans All Business in Orlando
12/21/1999 12:00:00 AM | Football
Dec. 21, 1999
ORLANDO, Fla. - Michigan State head football coach Bobby Williams conducted two practices Tuesday at the Florida Citrus Bowl Complex as the ninth-ranked Spartans (9-2) continue preparation for a Jan. 1, 2000, showdown with No. 10 Florida (9-3). The team practiced in full pads for two hours during the morning session and in shells for two hours during the afternoon workout.
?The players are working their tails off,? Coach Williams said. ?We?ve been lucky with the weather so far. It reached 81 degrees today but with partly cloudy skies, it felt cool. The heat hasn?t challenged us yet, but I?m sure it will in the next two weeks.
?The tempo has been excellent and the players have been giving their maximum effort despite being a little sore. The focus has been good because we?ve tried to stay on the clock. There was a lot of good hitting in the first practice. I told the guys I would keep score today because some guys were going to get knocked on their butts. I was pleased because we had several good collisions.?
Tuesday?s practices were dedicated to special situations. ?We worked on third down, short yardage, red area and goal line situations,? Williams said. ?We?ve scrimmaged the first-team offense against the first-team defense and the twos have worked against each other. We?ve had the opportunity to get a lot of the younger players extra work.
?We also spent some time working against the scout team to get some looks at Florida?s offense, defense and special teams. We?ll put a little more of the game plan in each day so we don?t have any cram sessions next week.?
A focus during Michigan State?s two-a-days is conditioning. ?It was important for the team to arrive early in Florida to get acclimated to the weather,? MSU head strength and conditioning coach Ken Mannie said. ?It is difficult for a team from a cold winter climate to come to a warm weather site like Orlando. You really do have to spend more than a week at the game site to get properly adjusted. We can?t simulate these weather conditions at home.
?The best conditioning is practice but we?ll get some extra work after practice and we?ll hit the weights as well. We had some weight equipment moved into the locker room so we can maintain our conditioning program. With the additional conditioning, we hope to simulate the effort it will take on the last drive of the game when the players are tired. We?ll work at a steady pace this week before backing off next week. We need to make sure the guys have a chance to get their legs back for the game.?
The Spartan players and coaches attended a dinner at The NFL Players Grill Tuesday night.
The Spartans have two practices scheduled for Wednesday at the Florida Citrus Bowl Complex (9:40 a.m. and 3:20 p.m.).
