Off week... Here and Gone

     The off week for the whole year is here and now gone.  A lot of people wonder what happens during the off week and how it affects the team and players.  Off week is what you make of it.  We can either come in focused on getting better each day and compete or come in unfocused and not get anything done.  It is up to the seniors and upperclassmen to lead by example and to have the right mind set on off week.  With it being so early this year, it is bitter sweet.  We are not as fatigued and beat up at this time of year, so the practices are harder than they would be on a later off week.  Harder when it comes to length, physicality, and extra conditioning.  We also get less time off comparatively speaking.  I wonder what statistics say about having an off week earlier or later, whether records show a correlation... Random thought, but if I had to guess I would say it doesn't matter.  The season is going to be a long hard journey either way.  You just have to adjust how you use the off week and it is always what you make of it.  But as student-athletes on a nonstop schedule and to do list, we will take a break any way we can get it!

     Practices were good and we focused on fundamentals, went against the offense more than a usual game week, and briefly introduced Iowa State.  It is good to get to go against the offense more and get a better feel of the true game speed we will face.  When going against scout team, it is easy to go through the motions and let your technique and fundamentals get rusty.  Also, this brings more competition and makes the practices more fun.  We are playing football for fun...right?!  Lol.  It was great to have a day or two off and spend time by ourselves and getting caught up in school.  Now that we are into another game week, we are headed into a nine week grind of Big 12 Conference play.  Everybody in this league is good, and as shown in these first few weeks there is little that separates us.  This means that it will come down to the details and the will to win if you want to conquer this schedule.  But, the only focus we have now is one game at a time... and our challenge for this week is Iowa State.  Both teams are rested and hungry.  We are looking to right the wrongs, and they are looking to make a statement.  Time to get to work...

-Student of the Game

#TTUChainGang

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