Blane Morgan’s Lamar University football team can finally “see the light at the end of the tunnel.”
After almost a year of waiting and wondering if their season would in fact take place, the Cardinals held their first practice Friday afternoon at Provost Umphrey Stadium. The anxious group of Lamar players seemed relieved to take the field, Morgan said, even if it was just a helmets-only workout.
It marks the first of 24 practice sessions set to take place for the Cardinals’ season opener Feb. 20 against Northwestern State in Beaumont.
“It’s been over a year and we haven’t played a game,” Lamar’s first-year head coach said after Friday’s workout. “We’re just anxious to get out here and practice, and I think you can see that with the energy of our guys.”
Lamar was last together as a team during the fall semester, when the Cardinals held 13 workouts over the span of a month. With the fall season pushed back by coronavirus restrictions, the sessions served as Lamar’s offseason camp and concluded with a Red and Black scrimmage on Oct. 24.
Morgan said he expected his team would have to “completely start over” this spring, but was pleasantly surprised by what his players were able to retain. The Cardinals will enter the spring season with one of the youngest rosters in the nation, including 51 freshman and just 11 seniors.
Friday’s practice consisted of position drills and a few offense vs. defense scenarios. Morgan gave the upper hand to the defense, which he said did well to take the ball away multiple times. Morgan said it will likely take “five to 10” practices before either sides starts finding a rhythm.
The Cardinals will play a six-game Southland Conference schedule, starting with the opener against Northwestern State. The conference winner will earn an automatic bid into the 16-team FCS playoffs.
“It’s very clear that we have a long way to go, but that is a part of camp,” Morgan said. “Getting the first day under your belt, and then a couple of days with helmets is important, but you really don’t find out what your team is made of until you start putting on pads, hitting, blocking and tackling.”
Matt Faye is a Sports Reporter and Columnist for the Beaumont Enterprise. Contact him at MFaye@BeaumontEnterprise.com or on Twitter by clicking here.
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