{{tncms-inline account=”TylerAmPress” html=”<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Darion Dunn solid in one-on-one drills against Trevor Begue today. A pass break-up then this pick in the end zone. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/McNeese?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#McNeese</a> <a href="https://t.co/WiET23j6FI">pic.twitter.com/WiET23j6FI</a></p>— Tyler Nunez (@TylerAmPress) <a href="https://twitter.com/TylerAmPress/status/1027214373323001857?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 8, 2018</a></blockquote>” id=”1027214373323001857″ type=”twitter”}}

The second day of football practice in full pads proved as physical as McNeese State head coach Lance Guidry promised Wednesday morning with 20 players performing in pit-bull drills and even more snaps.

The pit-bull drill is simple. Two athletes square off across from each other, and once the whistle blows they hit each other at full force trying to get the upper hand on their opponent, similar to sumo wrestling.

Guidry said he likes to use the drill early in practice to set the tone for a physical practice before running through position drills.

“We had certain matchups that were better than others, but we got things started with a good mentality from the get-go,” Guidry said.

The high intensity didn’t stop there as he put the defense through scripted drives for the first time in fall camp.

The offense went 12 plays, forcing the defense to stay on the field longer than it had through the first week of practices.

“I wanted them to play tired,” Guidry said. “A lot of times in scrimmages you don’t get a lot of 12-play drives.”

While the first-team defense performed up to par and gave the offense trouble, Guidry said the second- and third-team offenses got the upper hand for most of the practice.

Second-string quarterback Cody Orgeron threw a pair of touchdown passes during scripted drives, and the third-string offense also moved the ball well, even during live, full-speed drills.

“The second- and third-string offense outplayed the defense’s second and third string,” Guidry said. “You have to tip your hat to the offense today, especially the second team. The first defense was also really good today.”

The Cowboys’ top returing receiver Parker Orgeron said he is almost as excited about the receiving corps as he is to start hitting for the first time.

The junior wide reciever will spend the entirety of fall camp in a yellow non-contact jersey as the coaching staff wants to protect him from unnecessary injury because of a history of multiple concussions.

While he appreciates the effort the team is taking to keep him safe and healthy, Orgeron said he’s looking forward to the day he can let loose and play full speed.

“I’m still trying to get used to it,” Orgeron said. “But I have to protect myself a little bit and be smart. I’m just thankful to be out here playing and healthy. I’m going to try to stay healthy all season this year.”

Orgeron said he changed his diet and put in extra time during workouts to make sure his body is as healthy as possible going into the season.

The team will be back on A.I. Ratcliff practice fields once again today before returning to Cowboy Stadium on Friday to get work in on the new turf before their first scrimmage scheduled for 6 p.m. Sunday.