The Alabama State football team had an early morning practice Tuesday to begin its first bye week of the season. 

“It was a bit of a change of pace for us,” head coach Reggie Barlow said of the 6 a.m. practice. “We wanted to get out here early, and give the guys an opportunity to take care of their class work. It was a good day of practice.”

While the bye week will provide the Hornets an opportunity to allow the bodies to heal after the wear and tear of seven games, there are specific areas of improvement the team will hone in on.

“Defensively, we're going to focus on tackling and playing our responsibilities better,” Barlow said. “Offensively we want to take care of the ball better and continue to play faster while creating more opportunities to get our playmakers the ball.”

Coming off of Saturday's tough 37-34 loss to Jackson State is not the optimum way to go into a bye week. However, with the week in, week out grind of the season, Barlow said the break is timely.

“I think the bye comes at a good point,” Barlow said of the first of two bye weeks this season. “The guys haven't had a lot of time off, so it's an opportunity to change the mindset and step back a little bit midseason. You don't like to go into it off a loss, because you have to sit on that for a while, but we'll get through it.”

The Hornets return to practice Wednesday at 3 p.m. and Thursday at 11 a.m.

GO HORNETS