The Road to the season is a long one. And it starts early.

Storrs is a sleepy place in August...especially at daybreak. Two a days are on the Huskies horizon.

It's 7 o'clock and time to wake-up. One by one, they make their way out of their rooms. Usually, it's a slow and sluggish start.

Pierson: "When that horn goes off how do you feel?"
Keith Gray, a UConn football player: "The first instance is miserable, cause you feel like you just went to sleep."

A short walk to the football complex helps some rise and shine. Pre-season camp doesn't take a break, no matter what.

Pierson walks with the players to get their breakfast.

"They teach us that breakfast is the most important meal," Will Beatty, a UConn football player, said. "Cause that's the meal that starts you out right."

Breakfast is scheduled and it's not an option. In fact, nothing is. Everything has a time, a place and a purpose.

The training room is the next stop in a jam-packed day. "It's still a little early, it's about 8:30," Running back Donald Brown said. "At home I wouldn't be getting up till like noon."

Ready or not, the day's first practice is around the corner.

Players are taped up, suited up and pumped up. It's time for business.

For some, the morning practice is the day's biggest hurdle.

There's alot to do in two plus hours. Like the day, the practice is full of structure and plenty of competition.

If things goes well, they run. If not, they run even more.
 
At noon time, it's time to re-fuel with some lunch. The faster you eat, the more free time you have.

After they become rested, it's back to business around 3 PM. The banged-up players get treated before it's off to team meetings. Games can be won or lost here.

Broken up into units, a plan is put in place and focus is a must. The playbook is not an easy read.

"We study this just like any other test," Darius Butler, a UConn football player, said. "A game is like a test. To get an edge, you've got to get it mentally and that's what you get in the film room."

Over an hour of film is digested while they eat. It's 5 o'clock and it's dinner time.

"We have to keep up the calories because you're burning alot out there," Butler said.

While the food settles, two more miles of tape are applied. Wrapping close to 100 guys can get tricky. Fortunately, they can dress themselves and it's back on the field.

Seven and a half hours after the first practice ended,
the second session begins.

"It's basically like playing two games with a three hour nap in between, it really does take a lot out of you," one player said. "I think it also helps to build character, mental toughness to get thru an entire season."

Fourteen hours after they made their way from the dorms, the football players make their way back.

A snack awaits their return. And, after that, there's only a couple things left to do.

"Probably call the family, then right to bed," Andre Dixon, a UConn football player, said.

By 11 PM, it's lights out.