SPEARS PLEASED WITH GRAMBLING'S PROGRESS ON THIRD DAY

GRAMBLING, La. - The Grambling State University Tiger football team hit the field for their third day of practice on Wednesday afternoon and showed signs of being in excellent physical condition as they gear up for their season opener in 24 days. "This was an excellent day for us," said head coach Melvin Spears. "The players did a great job in all phases of the game and we just have to work on taking care of the little things." With the season opener against Hampton televised nationally at 11 a.m. on Sept. 2 in Birmingham, Ala., the Tigers continued to focus on fine-tuning their offensive unit, which ranked as the nations best in 2005. All eyes were on the quarterback competition Wednesday afternoon as the battle to replace Bruce Eugene heated up with projected starter Brandon Landers and junior backup Larry Kerlegan taking most of the snaps. Landers appeared to hit his stride by connecting with several receivers during drills while Kerlegan crisply ran the teams two-minute offense towards the end of practice. Overall, Spears liked what he saw from his unit. "You can never have too much competition," said Spears. "The more competition we have the better because it brings out the best in your players everyday." The Tigers will report to the practice field again at 2:30 p.m. for a single practice on Thursday afternoon at the Robinson Stadium Support Facility practice field.