Aug. 3, 2012

AMHERST, Mass. - The first 20 minutes resembled a traditional start to preseason camp - stretching, unit drills, special teams and get a feel for being back on the field after being off since Spring camp. After that, however, the Minutemen turned up the tempo picking up where they left off following the Spring Game.

Despite battling hot and muggy temperatures, UMass kicked off the FBS era with a high-energy, fast-paced Day One of training camp.

Reps came fast and furious for the offensive and defensive units. Several highlights from the day included an Iric Harris interception for the defense and a couple of nice passes from redshirt freshman Mike Wegzyn to Deion Walker and Tajae Sharpe.

"We were excited to be out here after working hard over a long summer," said senior free safety Darren Thellen. "The practices were very similar to the spring. The intensity was up and everything was quick with an emphasis on reps."

"We want our guys to be competitve," said head coach Charley Molnar referencing the tug-of-war competition in the opening periods of the day.

"What we wanted to drill into the players was to finish everything they did as hard as they could," said Molnar. "I think our guys did that for the most part."