The football team has been practicing for weeks in preparation for what is becoming the annual spring game, which takes place tomorrow at 6 p.m. at Rhodes Stadium.

Spring practice is coming to an end in what will soon become the annual spring game on Saturday. The spring game serves as a jumping off point for the team as it heads into the fall season.

“It will show some of the building blocks that end up in the finished product in 11 Saturdays in the fall,” head coach Pete Lembo said.

The NCAA allows all college football programs to complete 15 practices during a one-month span in the spring. This allows coaches to evaluate talent and find holes in the roster. One stipulation from the NCAA is that three of those practices have to be non-contact to prevent injury.

This month-long time is a perfect opportunity for players who are lower on the depth chart to prove themselves after the seniors graduate and before the highly recruited freshmen come to campus.

“There are a lot of guys who may have been reserve players, or red-shirt in the fall, that have had outstanding winters in the weight room and now have gone through a productive spring,” Lembo said. “And this is a chance for the fans to see some of the guys who will be out there playing for us in the fall.”

Players like Brandon Newsome will have a chance to prove themselves to Lembo and the rest of the staff. Newsome spent last year as a red-shirt freshman behind tailbacks T.J. Clegg and Reggie Hall, but is now splitting time with Clegg as the starting tailback, thanks to a successful spring. All 14 practices lead up to the spring game.

“It’s an exciting culmination to a month of spring practice,” Lembo said. “We’ll have a nice crowd on hand and a big part of what our players do is performing under pressure. And anytime you can put the lights on, get a crowd in the stands and challenge them to execute with their families and friends in the stands I think that’s an opportunity to get better.”

While it is called a spring game it is more of a glorified practice. There will be officials present, but the game will still be in stages, including special teams’ sessions, passing drills without offensive linemen and a full contact practice.

“The spring game itself is more of a combination practice and scrimmage,” Lembo said. “There’s no doubt that we will build in opportunities for various players to showcase their talents.”

In Elon’s first heavily publicized spring practice session there are expectations of the team stemming from last season’s success. Quarterback Wes Pope and wide receivers Michael Mayers and Terrell Hudgins will have a chance to build on last season’s records and the defense will have a chance to continue to improve.

“This is division one football and this is what division one football programs do,” Lembo said.