Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboys Go Through Pair Of Practices
August 09, 2006 | Cowboy Football
“They did a nice job,” OSU head coach Mike Gundy said. “I wanted to push them at the end (Tuesday evening) so we went an extra 15 minutes and went live to see how they would hold up. You have to do that because there are times in the fourth quarter when you get extended. We had some cloud cover and it was a little bit cooler so it was a good night to do it.”
Running back Dantrell Savage, a transfer from Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, had several impressive runs during Tuesday night's session. Gundy compared the new Cowboy tailback to former OSU star Vernand Morency.
“(Savage) runs a little like Vernand, maybe with a little bit more of a burst,” Gundy said. “Dantrell may be a little faster. He has the ability to make people miss, and he's showed in practice that he's pretty durable.”
Savage also benefitted from some strong blocking by his offensive linemen, and Gundy sized up the Cowboys' strong crop of freshmen up front.
“If they're on the two-deep, then there's a chance we'll play them, but if not we'll redshirt them,” Gundy said. “We'd like to get to where we start redshirting all of our linemen.
“All of our young guys are good prospects. Russell (Okung), (Michael) Booker, (Trent) Perkins and (Jacob) Secrest — we like them all. But they're just kids, they're not yet ready to play.”
One youngster that is ready to play is sophomore cornerback Jacob Lacey, who has proven to be a consistent playmaker in the Cowboy secondary.
“I've tried to be a leader since the summer,” Lacey said. “I knew we had some good freshmen coming in, and they're gonna have to help us a lot. I've got to show them how to do it.
“I'm trying to maintain as well as help those guys as much as possible because in the end, even though we're all competing for positions, we're also gonna have to play together.”
