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Football Caps Week of Practice with Semi-Scrimmage on Sunday
April 30, 2006 ORONO, Maine - The University of Maine football team has one more week of spring practice remaining and it will be an important one as the Black Bears prepare for the upcoming 2006 season in the fall. The final week of practice will conclude next Saturday when Maine hosts the Second Annual Jeff Cole Scrimmage at 9 a.m., at Alfond Stadium. On Sunday, the Black Bears capped the past week of practice with a partial scrimmage at Alfond Stadium. The defense turned in a solid performance and made several big plays. "We didn't finish some things on the offensive side of the ball," head coach Jack Cosgrove said. "We gave up a couple of sacks, dropped some passes, and we didn't really respond the right way after those mistakes." The secondary broke up several pass attempts by the offense. The plays helped to nullify drives, but the dropped passes by the secondary were part of a day where Cosgrove felt that both sides of the ball didn't finish plays. "I thought they tackled well on defense," Cosgrove said. "They're upset they didn't finish some things. They had a chance at some interceptions, but couldn't complete them. But on the whole, they played well." Cosgrove was pleased with the week of practice. Intense sessions on Wednesday and Friday had the 14th year head coach excited about Sunday's scrimmage. "We practiced well on Wednesday and Friday and I felt we got better as a team," Cosgrove added. "Both sides of the ball made some things happen throughout the practices this week. I was excited for today's practice, but I didn't feel it from them today. They lacked some of that intensity that they showed throughout the week." Progress is one of the key words of the spring and that is what Cosgrove and the entire coaching staff will be looking for in the final week of the spring season.
"We want to continue to make progress and learn from each practice," he said. "The final week will be key because this will be the last time that we work with these guys until preseason camp in August."
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