COLORARDO SPRINGS, Colo. -- Last time quarterback Cleveland McCoy practiced in long sleeves was during spring practice.

On Thursday, he and his South Carolina State teammates were greeted in Colorado Springs by temperatures more cooler and comfortable than the ones they left behind in Orangeburg. With The Rocky Mountains serving as the background, the Bulldogs held a light two-hour workout at Air Academy High School located on the grounds of the United States Air Force Academy. Much of the workout on the thick grass was spent on special teams. At times, the Bulldog players found themselves having to avoid automatic sprinklers which kept popping out of the ground at random.

Overall, the Bulldogs seemed to be effected little by the altitude and the lower temperatures. In fact, McCoy came away even more optimistic about the Bulldogs ability to perform in the altitude.

"I wasn’t expecting it to be this cool," he said. "The main thing, it seems like an even swap. We came from Orangeburg where it was hot. We got a little tired. We come up here, it’s cool, the air is a little thin, but it’s not as bad as Orangeburg."

Thursday’s practice capped a long and somewhat frenetic day for the Bulldogs. The team arrived at Eagle Aviation at around 11:20 a.m. Before boarding the plane, SCSU head football coach Oliver "Buddy" Pough talked about the historic matchup for SCSU in facing a Football Bowl Subdivision team for the first time.

"We are going out there to compete," Pough said. "If we go out and win, that’s great. But, more importantly what we have to do is go up and play the best that we can and if we do let the chips fall where they may."

The flight took just under three hours, much to the relief of SCSU offensive lineman Jake Johnson who was making his first trip on a plane.

"It went alright," said Johnson, who chewed gum for most of the trip. "It went a lot better than I thought. After we got into the air I was good."

The trip to the practice field took longer than expected due to a traffic accident on Woodman Road which leads to Air Force Academy. With no lights on the soccer field where practice was scheduled to be held, SCSU spent the final 15 minutes of the workout in near darkness.

The Bulldogs are scheduled to work out again today, this time at Falcon Stadium, site of Saturday’s contest with Air Force Academy. Prior to the practice, the Bulldogs will receive a tour of the Academy and also visit some of Colorado’s famous sites such as the Garden of the Gods and the US Olympic Facility.

 

-- T&D Senior Sports Writer Thomas Grant can be contacted via e-mail at tgrant@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5547. Check out his blog, Following the Bulldogs, at www.thetandd.com. --

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