When asked about the 15 practices he participated in during spring, all Marcellas Dial can do is laugh.

Like most newcomers, the junior college defensive back from Georgia Military was drinking water through a fire hose then, hoping for something good to happen sooner rather than later.

Well, on Thursday night's Carolina Calls Shane Beamer said that redshirt sophomore defensive back Marcellas Dial was one of the two players who have made the biggest jump during training camp.

"In the fall something just clicked," Dial said, "I started playing better and I started taking it all in and learning all the plays and learn how to let the game come to me, the game came slower to me and the game slowed down."

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It didn't click right away though, in the spring Dial said he had a tough time adjusting to the speed of SEC football.

"The game was fast to me," Dial said. "I was just coming in here trying to learn everything, learning the playbook and everything was coming at me fast and I wasn't taking it in well."

A foot injury to Cam Smith and the exit of Karon Prunty were the catalysts for Dial to really ramp up his game, thrusting Dial to the top of the depth chart.

After Prunty left Dial said that everyone in the defensive back room started stepping up and coming in to practice, "doing their best at what they do."

With Smith's status unclear for the opener, defensive backs coach Torrian Gray had effectively lost two starting corners, Dial—who had been working with the second stringers in the spring—decided to step up.

"First day of camp, with Cam out I didn't want Coach Gray to feel like he didn't have a person in the secondary at the corner position that he can trust," Dial said. "So I wanted to step up and be that person that he can trust in while Cam is out."

Since then Dial has been on top of his game.

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"It's been going really good," Dial said on how he's progressed during training camp. "I've been getting most of the reps with first team at corner so I've been learning a lot."

The game is finally slowing down for Dial and since then he's established himself as one of the presumed starting corners. "I would say I earned that spot," Dial said. "I've been playing like I want it...I plan to keep it."

The self described "physical, fast, big," corner said that wide receivers like Jalen Brooks, Rico Powers and Josh Vann are giving him good competition in practice and getting him "prepared for what I'm going to see in the real games."

"What I love about Marcellas Dial, there was one practice where Jalen Brooks had a day. That kid ran back up to the line the very next play and pressed bump and run the next receiver on the very next play. That shows me right there his toughness," defensive coordinator Clayton White said.

"Playing corner the ball’s going to get caught on you. You have to have the next play mentality, and I think that’s in him as a man. That’s a good trait to be a corner and he’s going to be a good one.”

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With the kick off against Eastern Illinois right around the corner and Cam Smith's status for the game still up in the air Dial said that "every day counts" for the secondary.

"It's been a great group," Dial said. "We've been communicating well, we've got a lot of chemistry back there. We're not having a lot of balls go over our heads and we're playing fast and playing strong."

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