College Football: Observations from Friday's practice

• It was the first day of full pads during spring practice. Texas State wanted to go in full pads Thursday, but lost a day due to inclement weather and were forced to shuffle plans.
• If there are any questions about the strength of Bobcats defensive back Drenard Williams' shoulder, he's slowly laying them to rest. Williams had two vicious hits Friday afternoon — the first on Darius Bolden and the second on Cody Matthews.
• Speaking of Matthews, I'd look for him to be a red-zone target for the Bobcats. He's bulked up and can definitely go up and get the ball.
• Redshirt freshman Roger Martinez, of Kyle, doesn't look like the same guy. Martinez put on about 20 pounds of muscle and is tossing around offensive lineman like rag dolls (see the video).
• Both Eric Soza and Tim Hawkins are getting reps with the first team.
• Soza is still throwing the best ball and has an unreal spiral, but Hawkins has straightened out his passes.
• Hawkins had trouble with a few quarterback-center exchanges (also known as snaps) but as practice wore on, got better. He also needs to quit his happy feet in the pocket. There are times on both the 1st-and-10 and 3rd-and-long drills where coaches had to tell him to settle down and read the field before taking off running.
• Quarterbacks aren't wearing the green, no-hit jerseys any longer. They're fair game like the rest of the team.
• Want to know why? Check out my interview with new co-offensive coordinator Slade Nagle when I post it either tonight or tomorrow.