Aug. 5, 2008
OCEANSIDE, Calif. -
Photo Gallery - Day 1 - Camp Pendleton
The San Diego State football team opened its 2008 fall camp Tuesday afternoon with a two and a half hour workout at the Semper Fit Fieldhouse at the Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton in Oceanside, Calif. The Aztecs went without pads for their first of 29 scheduled practices over the next 25 days leading up to the Aug. 30 opener against Cal Poly at Qualcomm Stadium.
"It was our best spirit for an opening day that we've had," said Aztec head coach Chuck Long following practice. "There was great enthusiasm and I loved the energy. It's going to be a taxing camp mentally and physically and we'll see if we can sustain that (energy)."
The team traveled to Camp Pendleton Monday evening and stayed overnight in Quanza Huts in a part of the base known as Area 62. SDSU was treated to a leadership talk by Marines after dinner, before being woken up at 6 a.m. on Tuesday morning for breakfast. After practice, the Aztecs watched a military K-9 unit demonstration before returning to the barracks.
"It's been a great experience thus far, although it's also been a little reality check (staying in the barracks), but everyone's having a lot of fun," said SDSU redshirt freshman quarterback Ryan Lindley. "We looked outside coming to practice today and saw (Marines) up at six in the morning running a couple of miles just to get to where they're going to workout. The work ethic out here pushes you to try and be at their level. I think that's part of the reason why we came out here."
The Aztecs will continue their stay at Camp Pendleton on Wednesday with another afternoon practice. The team returns to SDSU Thursday morning and will log it first workout on campus later in the day.
Check out 2008 fall football central on the official website of SDSU Athletics, www.goaztecs.com, for updates throughout camp.