FEATURE
5
"I've always been in pretty good football shape." Springer says.
He adds that he looks forward to the latter half of the season when he can be 100 percent, meaning, for him, that he can finally execute plays at full speed and change direction effectively.
Freshman wide receiver Bradley McDougald didn't feel that bad after his first collegiate game. That said, his 25 snaps against Northern Colorado weren't as taxing as playing each down of every quarter as he did in high school at Scioto High School in Dublin, Ohio.
"I was a little dinged up. I'd probably say it was worse in high school because just the toll on your body after a game is different," McDougald says. "When you play each play in every four quarters your body's going to take a little longer to recover."
McDougald should expect to see his snaps increase as the four-star recruit lined up to return the opening kickoff of the season and finds himself among the second-team wide receivers. When those postgame bruises multiply, McDougald says he knows he can count on being in good hands with the coaching and strength and conditioning staff.
Typically players will report the day after a game for light lifting, reconditioning and stretching while also rehabilitating any necessary injuries sustained the night before. Film, more film and a little more film after that are what McDougald says precedes a walkthrough of mistakes that need correcting and light conditioning before heading home for the day.
After his first game, McDougald critiqued himself, saying that he needs to work on holding onto his blocks to extend running plays. He says that he also has picked up on the speed and physicality of playing at the college level, all aspects he'll need to be acquainted with before the first four games are through.
"I'm just making sure I'm ready to help my team when the actual Big 12 Conference does start," McDougald says. "Because when it starts it's serious from there."
Weston White/KANSAN
Senior quarterback Todd Reesing, above, and senior safety Darrell Stuckey, right, use nonconference games to get back into the groove of regular football games. Stuckey calls the feeling of relearning the game "the first game jitters."
Weston White/KANSAN
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THE WAVE SEPTEMBER 18,2009