Wideouts revealed

Norfolk State has just two practices to go before kickoff on Thursday. I spoke to head coach Pete Adrian and offensive lineman Markeece Preston today. The Spartans are upbeat and at least talking the talk of a team that thinks it can win.

There’s nothing remarkable to report from the NSU side. Adrian said the Spartans will go into the opener using Jeremy Wicker, Nigel McCowan and Victor Hairston as their starting wide receivers, but Derrick Demps, Josh Reamon, Kelvin Lewis and Joe Hawkins are all likely to see time.

I’ve written about Wicker, and he’s done well all camp, so it’s hard to see him budging. The Spartans should look to keep him on the field as often as possible. Hairston doesn’t quite look the part – he’s a converted running back – but he’s looked good in practices. All he’s done is produce and that’s enough to get a shot at the job.

McCowan knows the offense, but it’s not hard to see him getting pushed aside as some of the more athletic players figure things out. He’s not fast (4.7 in the 40-yard dash) so he’s probably ideally a slot receiver focusing on short routes. Unfortunately, that’s also the best place for Hairston at this point.

That will keep the coaches looking at some of the other guys in an effort to find a downfield threat. Hawkins will stay in the mix simply because, at 6-foot-3, he has size that no other receiver can offer. It’ll make him a target in the red zone if nothing else.

The quarterback situation might be solved, but there are still plenty of issues under center. The Spartans were originally scheduled to practice tonight but Adrian was forced to move the practice to the afternoon after starting quarterback Chris Walley told him he wouldn’t be able to make it because he had a class from 5 to 8.

Adrian wisely decided his starter – making his first college start against a defense that may be one of the best in the country – should probably attend, so he bumped the time up.

“Maybe if it was a tackle or something that had been here a while,” Adrian said. “But not your quarterback going into the first start of his career. You can’t have that.”

He joked about wishing he worked somewhere where classes didn’t interfere with football and mentioned that smaller schools like NSU don’t have a choice but to be different from big schools, which can offer multiple time slots for the same class. Not to worry NSU fans, the school’s excellent APR is a point of pride to Adrian.

Fellow quarterback Jake Strickler did not attend practice because of a stomach bug. Defensive tackle Josh Turner was also ill. The Spartans have one more practice locally tomorrow, then head off to New Jersey on Wednesday morning.

I’ll have a bunch of Rutgers stuff for you to read tomorrow, including anything NSU related from head coach Greg Schiano’s press conference this morning. Then on Wednesday, we’ll use the blog to post predictions, and I’ll offer my thoughts on how the opener will play out (hint: I’ll be picking Rutgers).

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