The rain forced the Syracuse Orange football team to move into the Carrier Dome for FanFest, but that didn't stop over a thousand fans from taking in Friday's first practice in Pads. The team took part in full contact drills for the first time in August, and Coach Marrone is looking forward to seeing where that could take them in practice this weekend.
"I think its a little tougher transition the first time you put pads on," said Marrone after practice, "we're just concentrating on the progress. We have a tough day tomorrow, a practice on Sunday and then we pack and get up to Fort Drum. That week is going to be very tough. The telling tale is probably after that week to see how we are."
And it wasn't just the pads that were getting the players geared up. Marrone noticed the players feeding of the die hard Orange fans who showed up to take in the practice, and to get pictures and autographs afterwards. "They were in tune. They were enthusiastic. It was great for our players. They get excited from that. We practiced hard, but obviously there's a lot of work to do."
According to SUAthletics.com, the Orange are slated to check in at the Fort Drum's 10th Mountain Division facility on Sunday afternoon and organize the barracks. On Monday, part of the team will participate in PT while the rest will take part in small unit leadership activities. Practice will be held in the late afternoon and will be followed by leadership sessions taught by 2-87 soldiers.
