Following Saturday’s narrow 24-23 loss to Florida A&M in the MEAC/SWAC Challenge, Norfolk State head coach Dawson Odums said the Spartans’ two-point conversion attempt was motivated by the win and concerns that his players were running out of gas.
During Monday’s MEAC coaches’ conference, Odums added more context as to what went into that decision.
“When you play that first game, nothing you’ve done in practice is going to simulate that game speed,” he said. “You can try to practice it all you want, but we know what full game speed is like.”
Odums added that practices are naturally less intense than game situations for one important reason – keeping your team healthy.
“You’re going against your teammates in practice, so you’ve got to pull up. You’ve got to protect each other,” he said. “All the teams that played Week 0 experienced the same thing; you saw cramping. It’s a lot of things that go into it; conditioning is one, but I told our guys that you have to play to experience it. I think our guys were able to push through.”
He also said that weather restrictions force teams to stop practice for player safety.
“When the temperatures get so hot, they’re going to pull you off the field,” Odums explained. “I struggle with that rule because our players never get to be in those conditions that they need to be in, in order to get that atmosphere of what game day feels like. I understand it’s for the safety of the players, but there’s nobody on game day coming out on the field telling you it’s too hot to play.”
The Spartans return to action on Saturday when they visit East Carolina. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. EST.