WMU Football Holds Final Saturday Practice

KALAMAZOO, Mich. - When head coach Bill Cubit called the team for the customary 'all up' to signal the end of practice, the first thing he did was check his watch.  It was 11:49 a.m.

There isn't much significance to that exact time of the morning but in two weeks there will be.  He told the team that at this time in two weeks, we will be 49 minutes into the 2012 season opener at Illinois (the game begins at 11 a.m. CDT).

The message was clear.  Time is of the essence to prepare for not only the opener against yet another Big Ten opponent (its 12th from the conference during Cubit's tenure), but also the entire 2012 campaign.

This was one of the last full contact practices of fall camp with the final session coming during Tuesday's second scrimmage.  That will be a time, as Cubit stated, to assess how the second and third team offenses and defenses are taking shape and which of the freshmen will be redshirted for the year.

Defensively, Garrett Smith came away with an interception during team drills and Terry Easmon had another in his hands but he was not able to haul it in.

During individual drills Paul Hazel used move after move to get by his offensive line counterparts from either side.

Alex Carder continued to look sharp in both 7-on-7 and team drills as did junior college transfer Justin Collins.

Western Michigan continues Monday with its last week of fall camp.  Monday and Wednesday will be the final two-a-days of camp, sandwiching Tuesday's scrimmage.  Thursday the team will hold its suite holders practice from 7:15-9:35 p.m., and then camp breaks after Friday's morning practice.