FOOTAGE
Week two of training camp kicked off on Monday morning as the Prairie View A&M Panthers went through their first set of two-a-day drills. One area that will receive an extended look from head coach Heishma Northern during two-a-days is the offensive line.
Despite having only two returning starters to the offensive line entering last season, the Panthers ended up leading the SWAC in rushing last season as they averaged 174.4 yards per contest while also accounting for 17 rushing touchdowns. Even though three of the five linemen return from last season, the two open spots on the line formerly belonged to a pair of fifth-year seniors who've earned some type of All-American and All-SWAC honor over their tenure in Tim Tusey and James Dekle.
“I think right now the offensive line is probably practicing around a B-level,” said Northern. “Alot of our guys that play on the line have some experience even though they may not have been starters but they did get a chance to play in a lot of games last year.”
Returning starters include redshirt sophomore center Dillon Bonnet, redshirt sophomore tackle Tre Glover and redshirt senior guard Langston Patterson. As of now, the staff is focused on finding quality replacements at tackle and guard.
“Those guys bring a lot of intangibles such as game experience,” Northern stated. “We're looking forward to plugging in a couple of new guys and let them battle it out for the other spots. We led the conference in rushing last year and I think we'll be one of the better rushing teams in the SWAC once again this year but we have a ways to go in our pass protection.”
At the helm of the line is assistant head coach Prince Pearson. A nine-year veteran at Prairie View A&M, Pearson has proven to get the best out of his line despite the circumstances on a yearly basis in addition to being a great motivator on-and-off the gridiron.
“We're still at the emphasis stage of being a good group,” he said. “We have to practice with a purpose daily in addition to practicing harder and meaner if we want to be victorious against TSU.”
As of right now, Pearson said his group has a long way to go during their daily battles against the defensive line.
“Being aggressive at the point of attack and knowing where to go is what we're working on and we didn't get that done today,” he said. “The defensive line had the upper hand on us so we have to get better.”
