With 10 practices down and the calendar flipped to August the SMU football team is entering the second phase of fall camp this week.

One thing has been clear, the Mustangs aren't afraid to get after it.

"We've been really physical. It's been physical," SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee said following Saturday's scrimmage. "We've done a ton of team reps. (Saturday)  was our first full day going a lot of just move the ball, live tackle football. I think we have a team that will be physical. We have a team that plays hard. I like our team unity. I think there's a perfect balance of chippy competitiveness with the offense and defense, at the same time they're making each other better and we're not crossing the line."

The number of reps with a full 22 players on the field was similar Saturday to a normal practice. What was different is how plays ended. In a normal practice, when the defender closes in on the ball-carrier, the play is blown dead.

The play ended the way it would in a game on Saturday.

"I think the thing you see today is, you find out who can tackle, who can make people miss. A lot of times it gets blown dead when the defender's close when it's not live," Lashlee said. "Then today, did you tackle or did you not? Could the guy get the extra yards on his own or is he getting tapped? Those things you learn. I mean look, it's hard to tackle in space in college football and so the more situations we can put our defense in, the better. And then also the more situations we can put our offensive playmakers in, the better. So that's probably the biggest difference on a day like today is it's not, 'Well, did he get it? Did he not?' We know. It's real football and that helps."

It's still not something that can be a regular occurrence throughout camp. There are certainly benefits from live periods, but there has to be a balance. Don't go live enough, the team isn't ready come Saturdays. Go live too much, it could lead to injuries.

That's the challenge of coaching.

"We've got about another week from now to next Saturday," Lashlee said. "(Defensive coordinator) coach (Scott) Symons and I will get together, we'll probably find creative ways throughout the week to do enough of live tackling, whether it's through drills or some team periods. And then, again, next Saturday as much as we feel like we need to try to get us ready because when you start getting two weeks out, you'd prefer not to go live any more than you have to."

Those live periods also help determine who will play on Saturdays.

Sometimes the position battles are less about finding a starter and more about who can do all the little things right every time. Someone has to be the first one on the field, but most positions will have plenty of rotations throughout the course of the game. 

"I think sometimes it's a difference between starter or a guy who playing a lot. You may know, this guy is probably going start at D end, but there's two guys behind that are playing really well," Lashlee said. "They're competing to see who gets 20-30 plays a game and then who's that third guy. There's different levels to that competition. Also it's been a week and a half. There's some consistency shown there, but who can do it now Week 2? Camp's not new anymore, we're still two to three weeks away from playing. So who has the mental toughness to push through and prove consistency the of performance is there. That's what you're looking for. A lot of guys can flash, who can be the most consistent."

There are also things to clean up. SMU brought out an ACC officiating crew for Saturday and there was too much yellow on the field.

"Way too many penalties on offense, defense, and even I think three on our special teams," Lashlee said. "So we've got to clean up the discipline aspect of it. We can be physical, we can be edgy, we can be aggressive and then we've got to kind of rein that in though and keep it between the lines so we don't beat ourselves with turnovers and penalties."

The discipline is something that will be under the microscope in Week 2. There are other things Lashlee and his staff will be looking for as camp continues and the season gets even closer to beginning.

"Going into Week 2, the install shouldn't be as much. You can maybe get more situational," Lashlee said. "So we've got to be great in the situations. And then we've just got to tighten up the execution on both sides. It's not like it's the first or second day this defensive call or offensive call is coming in. Now can we get the consistency of the execution to tighten up. I think that's what the second week will be really big for us."