August 16, 2000

GREENVILLE -- After three days of two-a-day practices in shorts and helmets, the Furman Paladins switch to full pads and contact work beginning Thursday morning and will scrimmage for the first time during the afternoon session.

"Now it's time to go full speed with contact," said head coach Bobby Johnson following Wednesday afternoon's practice session.

"In terms of installing our offense and defense and in other areas, the first three days have probably been as productive as we've had here in long time, but now we'll begin to focus on what we want to do this season and in certain situations and take a look at how our players react at full speed."

Thursday morning's practice will include one-one-one work, but in the afternoon the Paladins will scrimmage for the first time, according to Johnson.

"We won't go (scrimmage) for more than 40 minutes and we'll work everybody, including all the young players who we are looking forward to getting on film. Nobody will get a lot or reps, but it will be interesting to see how everybody handles it. We'll learn a lot and everybody will get a chance to show what they can do."

Furman's Thursday and Friday practices will begin at 6:20 a.m. and 3:20 p.m. All Furman practices are open to the public.

Fan Day is scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 19, at 1:30 p.m. at Paladin Stadium. Players and coaches will be on the field for autographs for approximately 30 minutes prior to the annual Purple-White scrimmage.

Furman, which returns 17 starters off its 9-3, 1999 Southern Conference championship, NCAA playoff squad, opens its 2000 season on Sept. 2 against Elon in Paladin Stadium.