The Alabama State University football team practice for about 90 minutes late Thursday morning at Hornet Stadium.  Defense ruled the day at practice, stifling the Hornets' O for most of the day.
 
“We installed some new things today, and our guys were excited about it,” defensive coordinator Cedric Thornton said. “We were flying around today; the energy level was pretty high. We missed some assignments, but as long as everyone is running around and active, you can cover up a lot of things.”
 
As is the case, when one unit excels, one doesn't, but it could not dampen the spirit of Offensive Coordinator Fred Kaiss and his enthusiasm about his offense's progress this spring.
 
“I thought today was our worst day of spring practice,” Kaiss said. “The defense put some new things in we weren't prepared for, but I'm still very excited about our progress and our energy level. We're getting better. I'm really excited about how good we can be. We still only have about 65 percent of our offense in. However, what we have in, they're getting it.”
 
The defense has been sparked this week by its subpar performance in last Saturday's scrimmage, in which the offense scored seven touchdowns.
 
“It has fueled our performance a lot,” Thornton said. “I've been using time to get individual work in with the guys. I was disappointed Saturday with the technique part of it.  I believe that technique will outdo talent when fatigue sets in.  Guys have started to focus a lot more on technique during team periods and that has helped us.”
 
The Hornets will practice Friday at 3 p.m. and scrimmage Saturday at 9 a.m.
 

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