While preseason training camp serves a valuable purpose for football teams across the country, eventually it gets to a point where they're just ready to move on and get the games started.
That's where the University of Charleston and West Virginia State are as they count down the days to finally putting on pads and hitting somebody that doesn't play on the same team. This season, those first opponents will be each other. The Golden Eagles visit the Yellow Jackets at noon Saturday at Lakin Field.
As game week comes around, the coaches slowly start to shift the focus of practices from seeing where their team is to implementing the game plan to slow down an opponent.
"The players are definitely excited about it," UC coach Pat Kirkland said. "At some point you've done so much in preseason and you've gone up against your teammates every day, you just want to get out there and play already.
"These guys have worked so hard to get this opportunity and get the chance to play, they're ready to go and that's exciting for us as coaches too."
The Kanawha County rivals are taking slightly different approaches to this season opener.
For West Virginia State and first-year coach John Pennington, the focus has remained on controlling the things that the Yellow Jackets will do this weekend and making sure everyone knows the game plan versus the Golden Eagles.
"We tried to emphasize what we're looking to be as a team and develop our mindset the right way, first and foremost. That's been what we've spent the most time on in camp," Pennington said. "At the end of last week, we started implementing some UC stuff. We've played them and our new coaches have played against them, so I don't think we'll see too many surprises. Everyone always has some wrinkles and you have to be ready for anything they might throw at us, but right now our main goal has been getting our plan ready and trying to focus on us more than anything."
Charleston's game plan is a little different as well, considering all of the changes that have taken place in the West Virginia State program.
Of course, the Yellow Jackets' offense will stay mostly the same. Pennington will call plays for an offense that returns a bulk of its players from 2016. Yet, with a new coaching staff and WVSU running a new defensive scheme with new personnel, it has made things a little more difficult for the Golden Eagles. They don't have current film to watch, but Kirkland said the team is working on other ways to make sure that they're ready when the time comes.
"It's always a tough thing to balance in that opener because no one has seen how you play yet. You can go off what teams did before, but there's nothing that says what you did last year will be what you do this year," Kirkland said. "You just have to make sure your guys are ready and that they know how to stay disciplined and they can make the changes they need to make when we see things out there on Saturday."
As a season opener and a rivalry, there will be emotions when UC and State meet. And both the Yellow Jackets and Golden Eagles will have things to throw at their opponents to keep them on their toes. More than anything, the two teams are ready to sort out and implement their plans to begin what should be another exciting Mountain East Conference football season.
"We've put in some work and it's been a long road to get to this point. We just want to make it a great experience for our team and our fans," Pennington said. "It's the great thing about the fall when you get college football started and these teams finally get to see what their product looks like on the field."
Contact Michael Carvelli at 304-348-4810 or michael.carvelli@wvgazettemail.com. Follow him on Twitter @carvelli3.