 The president's budget proposal eliminates public media funding. Learn how you can help at lptv.org slash action. It's been nearly four full months, 114 days to be exact, since the last time the BSU football team last hit the turf. And while their first game of 2017 is still five months away, the Beavers were back in action for the start of spring ball earlier this week. Coming off their first ever postseason victory, a win in the mineral water bowl last December, the Beavers say they are hungrier than ever. The bowl game was awesome, but we want playoffs. And I think the exciting part about this team is we've got a lot of young guys bring a lot of energy. There were a few plays away from doing unbelievable things in this last season. And like I said, it's the little things that we have to preach to be able to win those little games. BSU officially kicked off spring practices earlier this week, but preparation for the 2017 season has been well underway. It's just being in the weight room banging it out. It's like you see guys hit like high PR today, we're benching and stuff and it's like now we can see this relate to the field and be able to get on the field and get guys going. The team does have some holes to fill, especially on the offensive side of the ball. The Beavers lose three starting offensive linemen and will need some young players to step into new roles. We ain't going anywhere unless we have a good group up front. These guys are ready to get after it. And that's you know, push until the whistle's blown and that's the type of linemen you need to finish the plays and be real gritty and dirty down low. So I'm looking real promising for our own line. They also lose their top rusher, three of their top five receivers and their two starting safeties. We lost a lot of playmakers, a lot of big guys up front. So you know, we need to find guys who can step up and play. Defensively, they bring a lot of guys back. I mean, we lost a couple big kind players, but as a whole unit, the majority of them are back. So we just got to find ourselves. Spring's all about, you know, shaking off the rust and then improving each and every day. But with a month of spring practices to go, they're excited to see how things shake out. We're going to have a real physical spring. That's something that we've been really having to the guys. So we're going to get after it and see where the chips fall with these young guys and go on and get ready for the fall. If you've enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax deductible contribution to Lakeland Public Television.