ORANGEBURG, SC – South Carolina State continued spring football drills Thursday morning with an approximately two-hour practice conducted in a steady rain. Despite the rain, field conditions were good and the workout was productive, according to Bulldog head coach Buddy Pough.

During the drill, SC State continued installation of its offensive and defensive schemes and also devoted some attention to portions of the kicking game.

Pough, who is beginning his 14^th season at the helm, said despite Thursday's workout being only the second of 15 scheduled practices, his players appear to be ahead of last year's progress at a similar point.

"I think our kids are further along at this time than in previous years," said Pough, attributing the progress to the presence of a large number of Bulldog returnees.
"We have most of our players from last year back. Subsequently, they have retained a lot of information and we don't have to deal with a lot of memory loss because so many of them have been in workouts and have more experience than in past years."

At the quarterback position, redshirt junior Adrian Kollock, Jr. – the 2014 starter -- continued to receive most of the snaps, however, Pough noted that the staff was taking a look at a number of younger players on both sides of the football, including promising showings by several young offensive and defensive linemen who saw little on-the-field action last season.

"We are happy to see some solid efforts and enthusiasm from a lot of our young kids," Pough said. " A couple of offensive linemen and defensive linemen, who didn't do much last season or went through the season as spot players, are making progress and performing at a high level so far.

"You can tell that (Strength and Conditioning Coach) Big John and his staff have been during a good job with the off-season workouts as many of the younger players are stronger and more developed than last year."

SC State returns to the practice field on Saturday at 10:30 a.m. Sunday's scheduled practice has been moved to Monday morning at 6:30, according to Pough.
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