Before storms drove them off the field earlier than expected, the Hilltoppers put in roughly two hours of practice time on their sixth day of fall training camp Thursday inside Smith Stadium.

Afterwards, head coach Jeff Brohm was available for interviews.  

“I think the first week is going well,” Brohm said. “A lot of guys are getting repetitions, a lot of guys are getting work. We’re developing depth. At the same time we’re getting our guys ready to go, but I feel good about the effort, I feel good about the attitude. I think we’re making strides.”

WKU will hold its seventh practice from 4:30-6:30 p.m. on Friday before the first scheduled scrimmage of fall training camp on Saturday from 11 a.m.-1 p.m.

“The scrimmage is really the first true live setting where it’s true game conditions,” Brohm said. “Everyone is off the field. People are having to make decisions quickly after they get the calls. We really can’t help them, so you really see what they know, how fast they can react and who’s really going to make plays.”

The Hilltoppers ranked 117^th last season in turnovers lost with 31. Brohm said limiting those takeaways on offense and forcing more on defense have been points of emphasis thus far.

“When you’re playing good teams every week, if you win the turnover battle then you have a chance,” Brohm said. “If you turn it over a lot there’s only so many possessions that you’re going to get, so you can’t give them anymore opportunities than they have. It’s important for us to, as a quarterback and as skill guys, to protect the football. We make cut-ups of all the turnovers and we have those ready for them to watch to make sure we don’t repeat the same mistakes and on defense, it’s about creating turnovers, and that’s playing fast, hitting people and flying to the ball.”

With nine returning starters, Brohm said he believes the offense has a firm grasp on the system. He also added that the defense will benefit from its depth.

“I think guys understand what we’re doing,” Brohm said. “I think they have a good grasp. They feel good about it. I think we have some playmakers if they continue to work hard and play well and we can spread the ball around. On defense, we have a good system. We have a lot of guys there that are fresh, that can keep each other fresh. We don’t have quite the star power on defense, but I like the 22-plus guys we have and I think we can rotate them in and keep them fresh.”