ALBANY, Ga. — Albany State head football coach David Bowser said the Golden Rams’ first day of fall camp revealed areas that need improvement, including heat conditioning, mental focus and defensive line depth, while a four-man quarterback competition remains unresolved.

Conditioning and focus

Bowser said the team’s numbers at camp were encouraging, but players need to adjust to practicing in afternoon heat.

“You don’t play games at 6:30 in the morning. You play games between 1 and 4,” Bowser said. “So we definitely got to get better and get conditioned better.”

Bowser also pointed to mental focus as a concern after the first practice, saying coaches observed breakdowns in assignments covered during the previous two nights of installation meetings.

“The things that we’ve gone over the last two nights as far as installs, I saw some mental busts today,” Bowser said. “So it’s just a matter of focus.”

Attention to detail ahead of opener

Bowser said cleaning up mental errors before late August is a priority, noting the team’s opening opponent will not allow for mistakes.

“You don’t open up with FAMU and John C. Smith and not pay attention to detail. It’ll get ugly fast,” Bowser said. “The coaches are doing a great job today of correcting early and often.”

Bowser said the team will also review film from the first practice to address mistakes.

Interior defensive line

Bowser said Albany State brought in four transfers to address depth along the interior defensive line, all of whom he said have game experience.

“Once we get that fixed, I think the interior D-line is going to be pretty good because those guys all have game experience,” Bowser said.

He said returning players on the defensive line will see reduced snap counts as a result, projecting 15 to 20 snaps and special teams work for returners, while transfers are expected to handle 35 to 40 snaps per game.

Quarterback competition

Bowser said all four quarterbacks competing for the starting job performed as expected on day one and each improved in areas the staff had identified.

“Every single one of them improved in the areas that we asked them to,” Bowser said. “I think right now on air, all four of them are comparable.”

Bowser said the competition will sharpen once the team moves into crossover work with the defense applying pressure. He said his primary concern at this stage is ensuring each quarterback receives equal reps with the first-team offense.

“Each of them get a chance to go with the ones — that’s going to be important,” Bowser said.

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