The 2017 edition of Prairie View A&M University football held its first fall camp practice in a Thursday evening practice at Panther Stadium.
 
"I thought the guys competed well," said third-year head coach Willie Simmons. "The enthusiasm was high and the guys had great energy, which was good to see. You never want to have to teach that, and we hope it stays at that level. From an execution standpoint, it's the first day. Some players' heads are swimming right now. They've been through walk-throughs and 7-on-7s this summer, but when you get out here and it's 11-on-11 and coaches are yelling to get lined up, it can be overwhelming. Overall, they did a pretty good job of handling things and hopefully we can continue to make progress and get better tomorrow."
 
And while this version of the Panthers has been together since meetings and workouts in January, to spring practice and summer workouts, nothing says sense of urgency like August practice.
 
"Game time is a month away," said Simmons of the season opener at Texas Southern in the Labor Day Classic on September 2. "In the spring, you tend to have a hard time seeing the goal. Now in August, we have 29 practices to get ready to play the biggest game of the year. Hopefully our guys keep that fire and keep that energy and the desire to want to be the best every single day, as that's what it will take for us to achieve our goals."
 
The veteran experience with approximately 50 letterman and 14 starters returning helps to set the tone for the tempo of practice and ultimately the speed of the game Simmons wants his team to play at during the season.
 
"The older guys have been in there so they know how fast we want to practice," Simmons said. "They know how quickly we want to get lined up. They know how we want to spread the field. Hopefully they can set the tone for the younger players and new guys in their first year in the program who don't yet know how we want to practice and lead them in that manner as we overall develop leadership in other areas."
 
The Panthers return to practice Friday at 6 p.m., Saturday at 3:30 p.m., and Sunday at 3:30 p.m.

LABOR DAY CLASSIC XXXIII TICKETS ON SALE: Tickets for the Labor Day Classic XXXIII football game between Prairie View A&M and Texas Southern are on sale.  Tickets are currently available online at AXS.com and BBVA Compass Stadium.  Tickets will be available next week at the TSU Bookstore, PVAMU Bookstores (Main Campus, Northwest Houston Center and School of Nursing-Medical Center) and Wolf's Department Store (2701 Emancipation Ave.). 

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