Team came a long way during a tough, physical camp

Fall camp comes to an end with a scrimmage today and now we are officially setting our sights on our Sept. 4 season opener against 12th-ranked Wisconsin at Sam Boyd Stadium.

I think fall camp, much of which was spent in the cooler mountains up north, was a good one for us. I'm impressed with our team's improved work ethic.

Training camp was tough, both physically and mentally as it was meant to be, and I think we came a long way. We got into the spirit of being improvers rather than being survivors.

I liked the veteran leadership on our team. Our young guys also got better both technically and in the understanding of the game. Generally speaking, we improved as a football team.

I thought it was very beneficial for our team to spend much of fall camp off campus and in the mountains (Editor's Note: The Rebels spent 10 days practicing in Ely). There were no distractions up there and getting out of the heat allows us to practice longer and harder. The town we stayed in was perfect in terms of training camp and what we hoped to accomplish. I think it was the best thing we could do for our football team.

After grinding through the past two weeks, our team returned to Las Vegas last Saturday afternoon. The players had some time to move into their dorms and get ready for the first day of classes on Monday.

This week has been another week of training camp for us. Even though school started we still have had some long and physical practices. We are going to have another scrimmage today and then we will start backing off to get freshened up for our first game against the Badgers.

We will give our team the Wisconsin scouting report on Friday and get a couple of extra days of preparation in for them. The Badgers are obviously a tall order for us. I've seen them ranked anywhere from eighth to 12th in the preseason and we aren't ranked anywhere near that.

However, I know our guys will be excited to play and it should be a lot of fun to test ourselves against a highly ranked opponent. It will be great to be able to play in front of our fans and to be able to give them their first look at our team.

I look forward to writing a weekly column this season for RebelNation.Net and appreciate your continued support.