The Jaguar offense lining up in the wishbone set in the first quarter against Henderson State.

South Alabama Head Coach Joey Jones recapped Saturday’s win over Henderson State and a preview of the Jaguars game against Mississippi Valley State on Thursday night. Joining Coach Jones was defensive end Anthony Taylor and freshman running back J.J. Keels.

Coach Jones spoke about Saturday’s win after coming off a loss to Georgia State. “We were challenged by that loss, and we needed to respond not only as a team but as men. I thought we did that. The kids came out and played hard again, which they always do, and got after and played passionate football. The challenge this week is that we have to do it again. We’ve talked about winning the game during the week – at practice. And they have continued to work hard and it has been a good deal.”

Quote on Coach Jones comments about the team’s defensive performance. “We had seven takeaways and I think we just got after them early and they just never got going. I thought we played extremely well defensively in the first half. It ended up being 28-0 at halftime, and I think it just took them out of the game.”

Coach Jones comments on Mississippi Valley State. “They are athletic on both sides of the ball, and got their first win of the season last week. They have a quarterback who is a tall, rangy guy who can run and throw. He is the key to their offense. Defensively, they run a lot of different fronts and multiple blitzes so it’s making us simplify our game plan even more – the fact that we have a short week and they run a lot of things defensively. The biggest challenge for us is the multiplicity of what they do defensively.”

Coach Jones speaking about Thursday’s game and how it affect the team. “It is a short week, and it changes your schedule somewhat. There isn’t a lot of preparation time. We’re used to getting a lot of preparation time in for a team, but it’s something we have to deal with and fortunately the other team does as well and they have to travel. We feel good about it, and the coaches have done a good job simplifying the game plan. What you have to do is execute in a game like this. You don’t want to put too much in and then the kids don’t get it and don’t perform well on Thursday night. Sometimes change is just good. As coaches, we are about routine. We have our routine and everything is planned, but sometimes a change is good not only for the staff but for the players. The great thing is that after this game on Thursday, we have a short week. They are going to get some time off, and that could really help us for that last ball game.”

A follow up on how the quick turnaround affects the Jaguar game plan. “We had to have it ready by Monday morning. Not only did we have to speed things up, but we also had to simplify a little bit to make sure we can execute. The biggest thing I stress is we have to be able to execute. We can’t put in too many things, and we just have to be smart about what we do.”

In the game against Henderson State, Anthony Taylor recorded his first career interception. This is what he had to say about it at the press conference. “The interception really turned it around, because they were moving the ball on us. We had a zone blitz called, and I dropped back into the right coverage and made the first pick of my career. It was a big moment for me and my team. I’m just happy I’m out there making plays for them. I got a newfound respect for what running backs do on that play. There is a lot going on and a lot of colors running together. The first thing I did was get out of bounds. But it was a big play and was really exciting.”

Taylor also spoke about the defense’s preparation for the Henderson State game coming off of the Georgia State loss. “Coming off the loss to Georgia State, our coaches really emphasized running to the ball. We really got back to that last week, and I think that showed. We got seven takeaways, that was a record-setting performance. I think getting back to the little things really helped us, just being an all-around swarming defense.”

Running back J.J. Keels spoke about his first career start against Henderson State. “I was happy and excited and tried to do my best to show everyone why I was recruited. Hopefully I can show that for the rest of this year and next year. I didn’t know I was going to start until our walkthrough before Saturday. It kind of took me by surprise, but it was the position I wanted to be in.”

Keels spoke about Saturday’s win as well. “I think the turnaround started at practice. Coming into the game off of a loss to Georgia State, everyone felt like we had to do better. During the week at practice, everyone knew that it was our week. These last three weeks will be the last games we will ever play with some of these people. This side of the ball, everyone came off with fire and so much passion that coach Jones was excited and he was happy with that.”

Keels also spoke about playing on a Thursday night. “It’s been a while since we played on Thursday. The last time was against West Alabama. The practice week is very short and we practice on days we normally do not practice. The times are stricter, but we have more fans on a Thursday. I think this game is big on Thursday. Everyone can come for entertainment, but it’s just another day at work.”

South Alabama and Mississippi Valley State kick off at 6:30pm on Thursday, November 3 at Ladd-Peebles Stadium. The Jags will be wearing their all white uniform and are asking the fans to wear white as well.

Go Jags!

South Alabama had their first two-a-day practice on Tuesday. In their morning practice, they had a very physical and vigorous workout that might have been a preview for the Fan Day scrimmage coming up on Saturday, August 13.

Practice began with special teams work with roughly the first 10 minutes were devoted to work with the punt team. After that, the offense worked on individual and group work which featured screen drills along with routes for tight ends, receivers and running backs.

The next session had the offense and defense working on the running game, both inside and outside, along with play-action passing. The offense then went to skeleton passing drills against the their defensive counterparts. While the skeleton drills were going on, the offensive line worked on pass protection against the defensive line.

The team then took a 10 minute break from the heat before resuming practice. After a stretching session, the offense took the field against the scout team working primarily on reverses.

The offense and defense then took the field against each other. The first 12 plays from scrimmage were snapped from the offense’s 20-yard line. Demetre Baker took the first ball for no gain. Then Myles Gibbon recovered a fumbled from a low snap which resulted in a loss of yards for the offense. Kendall Houston then rushed for 15 yards on the third play which was followed by a six-yard run by Devin Robinson. Baker kept the momentum with a 10-yard rush on fifth play.

C.J. Bennett was pressured into an incomplete pass by Anthony Taylor then Taylor would get a tackle-for-loss on the next play. But the Jaguar Backfield would respond when Baker reeled off a 20-yard run on the next play. However, the defense would make a stand and only allow three yards in three plays after that.

The team then moved onto redzone drills where the offense would find the endzone after a few plays when C.J. Bennett found Lamontis Gardner on a 17-yard play-action pass. The defense would counter the touchdown with a forced fumble and recovery on the 11-yard line by Logan Bennett on the next play.

The special teams came on to attempt a short field goal, but Will Thompson blocked it. Later Jordan Means would make a 32 yard attempt and Lawson McGlon would make a 22-yard attempt.

The next situation had the ball placed at the 10-yard line and the defense stepped up to the challenge. Devin Robinson was held to four yards on the first two plays then Damond Smith would sack C.J. Bennett off of the edge. The next play saw another negative play when J.J. Keels was brought down for a three yard loss by Ben Giles. Freshman Trey Fetner would be sacked on the next play by Cori Barnett. The coaches sent on the special teams unit to attempt a 34-yard field goal, but it went wide left ending the session.

Practice then ended with more work on special teams with punt returns while the quarterbacks went through drills for ball security.

The second practice of the two-a-day was in shells and was focused on special teams with the punt teams.

Demetre Baker lead the running backs with 34 yards on four carries. Robinson added 21 yards on six carries, Houston added 15 yards on one attempt, J.J. Keels had five yards on three carries and Santuan McGee had five yards on two carries.

Defensively the Jags had two sacks, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery in addition to a blocked field goal. In 18 of the offensive plays, the defense held them to three yards or less while allowing five yards or more on eight plays.

Coach Jones liked Tuesday’s practice saying, “Today was a good, physical practice. I thought the defense had a good day today – they played with a lot of intensity. Offensively, we’re playing hard. It just takes a while for an offense to gel. Our goal right now is to find some depth. We have to find some kids who want to step up and play. We have six guys who can play on the offensive line right now. If we can find two more that can really play, that’s what we’re looking for. Those guys have a great opportunity to step up in that spot and get some playing time.”

“We’re going to back off tomorrow,” Coach Jones continued. “We will practice for the same amount of time, there just won’t be as much hitting. We’ll come back and hit a little more on Thursday, then back off Friday before Saturday’s scrimmage.”

Wednesday’s Coverage

As Coach Jones said, the team eased off contact on Wednesday’s practice following a very physical practice the day before by hitting the practice field in shells.

Practice began with more special teams work by the punting team.

The Jags went 11-on-11 splitting time between 3rd and long situations and two-minute drills. C.J. Bennett opened with a 15-yard pass to Jereme Jones, however the defense would fight back by forcing four straight incomplete passes. Trey Fetner would then scramble for a first down. Bennett would follow this with antoher first down pass to Corey Waldon. Fetner would connect with another freshman J.J. Keels for yet another first down. The defense would post two sacks during the session as well.

The two-minute drills wouldn’t go as well for the offense. The defense was able to stop both the first and the second team offensive units during this session. Bennett would connect with Waldon on second down for four yards but two consecutive incompletions would end that drive. The offense would take the second drive and move into field goal range, but would miss the attempt wide left.

The second team would take a sack on their first snap, but then Myles Gibbon would scramble for nine yards and follow it up with an 11-yard pass to Corey Besteda to pick up a first down. Another completion to Taylor Noon followed by a rush for a yard would get them another first down. But their drive would end with a sack by Will Thompson.

The teams would split into skeleton passing drills and linemen work. Then the offense would work on play-action passing drills while offensive linemen worked against the scout team for inside drills.

Practice closed out with punt return work by the special teams.

“We backed off them physically and tried to teach a lot on the offensive and defensive sides of the ball. I thought that was really good,” Coach Jones said after practice.

“It was the first time we introduced the two-minute drill this fall,” Coach Jones continued. “We’ll learn from the film and get better from there. I told the guys today that we have to know situations in the game. That’s why we put them in all these positions, so when they get in the game it is second nature to them. We’re not running these things just to run them, but to learn the situations and carry them forward.”

Coach Jones voiced pleasure in his first-team unit, but also voiced some concerns about depth. “I feel real good about our first-team units on both sides of the ball,” he stated. “I worry a little bit about our depth on the offensive side of the ball — on the line, we have to get kids to step up there, we can’t play with six or seven guys. We’ve got to have more than that. I thought today we made some strides, especially in pass protection. The linemen picked blitzes up better, so we need to continue to work and get those young guys ready.”

Coach Jones said in the previous two years, that they didn’t have experience and that once guys gained experience, they would feed back into the incoming class of players. After a weekd of practice, he had praise for the upperclassmen for their efforts. “The upperclassmen have done a tremendous job, they understand what we are doing,” observed Jones.

Coach Jones also pointed out that he has suggested to his staff that they slow down on it’s installation of any new game plan. “One thing I talked to the coaches about today — especially on offense — is to not put any more in. We’ve thrown a lot at them to this point, let’s allow things to filter for a few days and see if they can get better at what they are doing. That’s what we are focusing on as a staff.”

The Jags will start practice at 6:15am at the Jaguar Practice Facility in full pads on Thursday. This will be their last full contact drills prior to their first scrimmage on Saturday.

South Alabama Head Coach Joey Jones talks with Courtney Smith during a stoppage in play against Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas.

South Alabama’s game against UC-Davis really lived up to its billing. It had excitement, adversity, tough play, heart and a little luck. This recipe came out in favor of the Jaguars, 24-21. But most of all it answered some lingering questions that Coach Jones wanted answers to. The Jags were behind against Nicholls State early in the game, but pulled away in the second half. However, the Jags needed some fourth quarter heroics and a little luck to pull out the win in California.

The Jags had to overcome four turnovers, two interceptions thrown by Brennan Sim and two fumbles, one from Sim and another by Bennett late in the game and frankly nearly disastrous, for the win. However, the defense continued to step up and make plays when necessary. Anthony Taylor made two crucial sacks on the final Aggie drive to set up the attempted field goal to send the game into overtime.

Coach Jones wanted to see what his team could do if they were down in the fourth quarter. He wanted to see how his kids would respond having to play a full four quarters of football. Well, he got his answer alright.

“We came through at the end, the defense did a great job,” said head Coach Joey Jones. “We fumbled the ball on the 30, but we sacked them and made them kick a field goal that was fortunately wide right.”

“I have to tell you, UC-Davis is a great, first-class football team,” Jones continued. “We came out to California and beat an extremely good football team tonight. They have great players and are very well-coached team. We had so many setbacks during the game, whether it was penalties or turnovers, but never had the feeling we were out of the game. Our kids kept playing hard. It’s just a great statement for our program. People have been asking me all year long, and I know where we are now; we beat a great I-AA program that won its conference last year, is probably going to win it this year, and beat San Jose State this season. We’re up there. Are we Division I-A yet? No, but we’re probably close.”

The Jags will return to Ladd-Peebles stadium to round out their season with three consecutive home games. The first of which will have Georgia State, in their first season of football, coming to Mobile coached by former University of Alabama head coach Bill Curry on Saturday, October 30th. Kickoff is scheduled for 4:00pm.

Continue for a more detailed breakdown of the game.

South Alabama took the opening kickoff on 26 yard line after Freshman TJ Glover returned the kick 22 yards. Brennan Sim opened the game with a six yard completion to Courtney Smith. Back to back runs by Kendall Houston went for nine and six yards. Then the Jags had to burn their first time out with 13:18 left in the first quarter.

After the time out, Sim connected with Kevin Helms for 13 more yards to the Aggie 40 yard line and a Jaguar first down. Houston rushed for two yards, followed by Santuan McGee’s two yard run for 3rd and 6 at the Aggie 36. Corey Waldon would come us just short of the first down after gaining five yards on a Sim completion. On 4th and 1 from the Aggie 31, Coach Jones opted to go for the first down. Houston would take the handoff and gain a crucial two yards to keep the Jags drive alive.

After an incomplete pass by Sim, he would scramble for four yards to the Aggie 25. Sim’s next pass to Jeremy Jones would go for 8 yards down to the 17. Another complete pass from Sim to TJ Glover would put the Jags at the Davis 10 yard line. Kendall Houston would cap off the drive with a 10 yard touchdown run. A false start on the point after wouldn’t matter to McGlon. The 13 play drive covering 74 yards in six minutes for a touchdown is the Jags longest scoring drive of the season.

UC-Davis would start at their own 7 yard line after an error on the return. The Jags defense would come out strong, forcing a three and out on the first series. The Aggie punt would go 34 yards but Glover would get it all back on the return.

Sim would run for a yard on first down but would find Courtney Smith in the back of the end zone on the next play for a 13 yard touchdown pass. A false start on Kevin Helms on the PAT would back the attempt try to the 8 yard line. McGlon would miss the attempt, however a personal foul on the Aggies would give McGlon another try at the four yard line. This attempt would be good and the Jags would lead the Aggies 14-0 with 6:32 left in the first quarter.

The ensuing UC-Davis possession would start with a 27 yard kickoff return to the 35 yard line. On 3rd and 8 from their own 37, Aggie quarterback Randy Wright would complete a 14 yard strike to just across the midfield stripe. After a three yard rush, Wright would complete another pass for 10 more yards, down to the Jaguar 36. A seven yard rush to would lead to a 26 yard pass from Wright to Sean Creadick down to the three yard line before being forced out of bounds. Then a three yard run by running back Corbin Cutshaw would put the Aggies on the board, 14-7 with 2:49 left in the first quarter.

Glover would return the Aggie kickoff 28 yards to the USA 37 to start their next possession. The drive would begin with a seven yard run by Sim, then a 17 yard pass completion to Courtney Smith would put the Jags at the Davis 39 yard line. But a holding call on center Trey Clark would back the Jags up 10 yard for a 1st and 20 from the 49 yard line. Sim would fumble the ball after a two yard run and the Aggies would recover, ending the Jags drive.

After a short completion and a short run, Wright would connect with Creadick for 19 yards to the Jaguar 31 as time expired in the first quarter. An incomplete pass followed by a rush for no gain would have the Aggies facing 3rd and 10. An 8 yard completion to Josh Reese would spot the ball at the Jaguar 23 facing a 4th and 2. The Sean Kelley field goal attempt would sail wide right and give the Jags the football.

The first play would see Houston rush for five yards. Then Brennan Sim would find Corey Waldon for 19 yards out to the Jaguar 47 yard line. The Jags would cross mid-field with a pass completion to Glover for four yards. Then Glover would rush for three more yards to set up a 3rd and 3 at the Aggie 46. Then Brennan Sim would throw the first interception by a Jaguar quarterback this season at the UC-Davis 38 yard line.

The Jag defense would step up again. Holding the next two run plays to 2 and 1 yard respectively before Logan Bennett would sack Randy Wright for seven yards forcing a punt on 4th and 14 at the Davis 34 yard line.

After back-to-back turnovers by Sim, it was CJ Bennett’s turn to run the offense starting at the Jaguar 36 yard line. Houston would open the series with a two yard rush. Then back to back completions for Bennett, first to Lemontis Gardner for six yard followed by Bryant Lavender for seven to cross mid-field to the Aggie 49. After another two yard run by Houston, Bennett would get sacked for a nine yard loss back to the USA 44. The Jags would have to use their second time out of the half with 6:15 left in the second quarter. After the timeout Bennett would get sacked again, this time for only one yard. Scott Garber’s punt would be downed at the Aggie 10 yard line with 5:25 left until halftime.

Wright’s first pass would go for 12 yards and a first down, but the would only gain one yard in the next three plays before punting it away again.

Glover would fair catch the punt at the USA 45, giving the Jags great field position to start their next drive. Back to back incomplete passes would have the Jaguars facing 3rd and 10. Bennett would find Jereme Jones, but he would come up two yards short. Garber’s punt would go 41 yards to be downed at the Aggie 6 this time.

Randy Wright would go deep for Sean Creadick, but would be intercepted by Jonathan Cameron at the Aggie 41 yard line. Houston would run for four yards to the Davis 37, but back-to-back incomplete passes by Bennett would bring up 4th down. The Jags would then use their final timeout of the half as some indecision occurred as to whether the Jags were going to attempt a long field goal or punt the ball. Garber would come out and punt the ball. Davis would return the punt seven yards to the Davis 15 yard line.

With 1:53 the Aggies went into a hurry-up offense, completing pass after pass. The first two were to Creadick for 22 yard and five yards respectively. Then a completion to Josh Reese for six yard would put the Aggies at their own 49 yard line. A substitution infraction against the Jags would be declined.

Wright would then complete a pass to Creadick again for a loss of one yard. Then the Aggies would find forward gear again with completions of five yards to Tom Hemmingsen, 10 to Creadick and Troy Yudin for 22 yards put the Aggies at the Jaguar 15 yard line. Then quarterback Wright would run for eight yards before going out of bounds at the Jaguar 7 yard line. Wright would cap off the drive with a touchdown pass to Creadick with 15 seconds left until halftime, tying the game at 14. Davis’ drive would cover 84 yards in nine plays using only 1:38 seconds off the clock.

McGlon would kick off to begin the second half. The kickoff was fielded at the 21 yard line then returned 17 to the Davis 38 yard line. The Aggies could only muster one first down going 12 yards in six plays before punting the ball out of bounds at the Jaguar 15 yard line.

Sim would complete his first pass of the second half to Houston for three yards. Then Houston would rush for four more out to the Jaguar 22 yard line. Sim would then complete a five yard pass to Jereme Jones for a first down on 3rd and 3. Houston would then get stopped for a one yard loss on his next rushing attempt. Sim would try to hit Courtney Smith, but the Aggies would get flagged for pass interference giving the Jags another 1st and 10 at their own 41 yard line. Houston would then run for four yards out to the 45 yard line. Sim’s next throw towards Courtney Smith would be complete for 11 yards to the Aggie 44 yard line. However, Sim would throw his second pick of the game at the Davis 34 yard line and stalling another prospective South Alabama drive.

The Jaguar defense stepped up again, forcing a three and out by the Aggie offense. The Davis punt went out of bounds at the South Alabama 29 as they tried to keep the ball out of Glover’s hands.

Sim would return to the game with an incomplete pass on first down. Sim would hit Ralph Turner for five yards on second down but would throw another incomplete pass to bring up 4th down. A false start on Michael Wilson would back the Jags up five extra yards to the Jaguar 29 yard line. Garber’s punt would go 46 yards then fumbled but recovered by the Aggies at their own 21 yard line.

Two consecutive rushes by the Aggies would go for six yards by Josh Reese and 10 yards by Nick Aprile. On the first down play, the Jags would be caught on another substitution infraction as they tried to get player onto and off of the field. On 1st and 5 from the Aggie 42, Cutshaw would run for no gain, but Charlie Higgenbotham would be flagged for a face mask, moving the ball across mid-field to the Jaguar 43. After an incomplete pass, two consecutive Aggie rushes would go for 7 yards and 19 yards respectively putting the Aggies at the Jaguar 17 yard line. Coach Jones would be forced to call a time out with 4:17 left in the third quarter. Coming off of the time out, Randy Wright would complete a strike to Tom Hemmingsen for a 17 yard touchdown to give the Aggies the first lead of the game at 21-14.

TJ Glover would give the offense a spark when he returned the kickoff 43 yards to the mid-field stripe to start their next possession. Trying to spark some life in the offense, South Alabama put Myles Gibbon into the game. Gibbon’s first pass went to Waldon for eight yards to the Davis 42 yard line. Santuan McGee would then rush for 13 yards, but it would come back when Kevin Helms was flagged for a hold. The ten yard penalty would put the Jags back at their own 48 yard line.

Gibbon’s next attempt was incomplete to Waldon again, but UC-Davis would be flagged for pass interference to put the ball at the Davis 37 yard line. Gibbon would be sacked on the next play for a loss of three, but he would make up for it by running for 13 yards and a Jaguar first down at the Aggies 27. Kevin Helms would be flagged for a falst start, backing the Jags up five more yards for a 1st and 15.

Gibbon would hit McGee for nine yards to the Davis 23 yard line. Then McGee would rush for two more yards setting up a 3rd and 4 at the Aggie 21. Coach Jones would call a time out with 37 seconds left in quarter. Houston would get the carry after the time out, but the Aggie defense sniffed it out and dropped him for a one yard loss. Coach Jones sent in Jordan Mean for the field goal attempt, which was good from 39 yards to cut the Aggie lead to four points at 21-17.

Jordan Means kickoff would sail to the one yard line, but Corbin Cutshaw would return it 40 yards to the Aggie 41 as he was forced out of bounds by Means. Cutshaw’s spark would dwindle as the South Alabama defense would step up, with a little help by a false start on 3rd and 1, to force a three and out.

The Aggie punt would go out of bounds at the Jaguar 13 yard line with Bennett returning under center to lead the offense. His first pass would be complete to Lemontis Gardner for 12 yards. This would be followed up with consecutive rushes by Santuan McGee for six and 21 yards respectively. With 1st and 10 at the Davis 48 yard line, Bennett would find Courtney Smith open for 13 yards to the Davis 35 yard line. A run by Bennett would pick up eight more yards to get to the Davis 27 yard line.

The Aggie defense would stiffen on the Jags by stopping McGee for no gain then dropping Houston for a one yard loss. Then on 4th and 3 at the Aggie 28, the Jags rolled the dice and went for it. However Bennett’s pass would fall incomplete turning the ball over on downs.

Nick Aprile would open the Aggie drive with a 17 yard run out to the 45 yard line. After an incomplete pass, Wright would complete his pass to Creadick for nine yards to the USA 46 yard line. Higgenbotham would stop Aprile for no gain bringing up 4th down. After a delay of game penalty the Aggies would punt. TJ Glover would field the punt at the 16 yard line and return it nine yards to the Jaguar 25 yard line.

Starting the drive with 6:55 left in the game, it was gut check time for the Jags. Bennett would open the drive with a completion to Jereme Jones for 14 yards. Then Santaun McGee would rush for 16 more yards to cross mid-field to the Davis 45 yard line. McGee’s next run would be stopped for no gain. Then CJ Bennett would find Courtney Smith open down the sideline for a 45 yard touchdown pass as the Jags retake the lead at 24-21 with 5:29 left in the game.

After an 11 yard return on the kickoff, the Aggies started at their own 15 yard line. Wright would run for seven yards on first down, then he would connect with Aprile for five more and a first down. Wright would then hit Creadick for 11 more yards and another first down at the Davis 43 yard line.

The Jags would then force three consecutive incomplete passes to bring up a 4th and 10 at the Davis 43 yard line. Randy Wright would scamper for the first down, gaining 11 yards to keep the Aggie drive alive at the Jaguar 46 yard line. After an incomplete pass, Wright was sacked for eight yards by Jake Johnson to bring up a 3rd and 18 at the Aggie 46 yard line. South Alabama would call its final time out of the game with just 2:21 remaining.

Wright’s passing attempt would fall incomplete bringing up 4th and 18. The UC-Davis coaches decided that they would trust their defense to get a stop and sent on the punting unit. The 31 yard punt was downed at the Jaguar 23 yard line with 2:06 left in the game.

The Jaguars, needing only a first down or two, send CJ Bennett back into the game. On first down he would run for three yards with the Aggies using a time out to stop the clock with 2:01 left to play. Santuan McGee would run for six more yards on second down, coming up just a half-yard shy of the first down. The Aggies would call their second time out of the half with 1:53 left to play. Then with 3rd and 1 at the USA 32 yard line and going on a hard count, a mix-up between the center, Trey Clark, and Bennett resulted in a fumble that was recovered by the Aggies at the South Alabama 33 yard line with 1:52 left in the game.

On first down the Jaguars Anthony Taylor sacked Wright for a six yard loss back at the USA 39 yard line with the clock still running. Wright would then find Creadick open for a 22 yard gain down to the jaguar 17 yard line, still with the clock running. Then on 1st and 10 at the 17 yard line, the Aggies stop the clock on an incomplete pass. Anthony Taylor would get a huge sack on the quarterback for a loss of eight yards back to the Jaguar 25 yard line. Then a Davis fumble at the 27 was recovered at the 22 by Josh Reese and advanced five yards back to the Jaguar 17 yard line. The Aggies let the clock run down to 3 seconds before using their third and final time out of the game to set up a potential game-tying field goal.

As time ran out Davis’ kicker, Sean Kelley, sailed the 34 yard kick wide right right preserving the win for the Jaguars, 24-21.

On the ground the Jags were led by Santuan McGee on the ground with 53 yards on eight carries. Kendall Houston had 14 carries for 47 yards and a touchdown.

Courtney Smith caught six passes for 105 yard, including the game winning 45 yard touchdown score in the 4th quarter. Jereme Jones added four catches for 35 yards, Corey Waldon had three catches for 32 yards and Gardner and Glover both added two catches for 18 and 11 yards respectively. Five other Jags caught passes as well.

Brennan Sim went 13-for-18 for 116 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. CJ Bennett was 7-for-13 for 105 yard with a touchdown and two sacks. Myles Gibbon completed both passing attempts for 17 yards and a sack.

TJ Glover ended the game with 150 all-purpose yards, 11 receiving, 93 on kick returns and 43 more on punt returns.

Scott Garber punted four times for an average of 40 yards with three kicks being downed inside the 20.

For UC-Davis, Nick Aprile lead their rushers with 44 yards on seven carries. Josh Reese had eight carries for 26 yards. While Sean Creadick had a game high 12 receptions for 147 yards and a touchdown. Tom Himmingsen added three catches for 36 yards and a touchdown.

Coulton Schmidt punted eight times for an average of just over 34 yards per punt with only two of them being downed inside the 20 yard line. Sean Kelley attempted two field goals, missing both from 41 and 34 yards.

The Jags committed four turnovers, two interceptions and two fumbles. UC-Davis threw one interceptions and fumbled twice, losing none. The Jags would run for 131 yards for the game while passing for 238 for a total of 369 offensive yards. The defense would allow 109 yards on the ground and 238 through the air for a total of 347 yards against the Aggies.

South Alabama would be flagged nine times for 65 yards while Davis was flagged only five times for 43 yards.

Myles Gibbon, running the first series with the first-team offense, scores the first touchdown of the scrimmage.

The second scrimmage of the preseason was a bit more even than the first one last week. Less touchdowns but also less turnovers. Which pleased Coach Jones when it was all said and done.

Several players were out due to injury on the defense. None severe, just nagging injuries which the coaching staff decided to sideline for the scrimmage. Randon Carnathan, Justin Dunn, Tim Harvey, Jake Johnson, Romelle Jones and Alex Page all sat out the scrimmage.

The Jags ran about 93 plays, close to their goal of 100. Overall the offense gained 251 yards with the first team defense only allowing 48 in their seven series on the field. The only two turnovers of the day were recovered by Jarred Williams and Montavious Williams, but both were committed by Ellis Hill, but one was a bad exchange from Brennan Sim. Anthony Taylor made back-to-back sacks for the first-team defense while Kendell Bagnerise added one right after Taylor to back the offense up 18 yards in one possession.

With so many playmakers out on defense, Jonathan Cameron and Bryson James led the defense each with four tackles. Zach Rone lead the second team defense with five tackles.

Myles Gibbon led the first team offense 80 yards in seven plays on their first possession to score the first touchdown. Brandon Ross made the big gain on the series with a 39 yard run, including knocking a defensive back flat on his tail, to set up the touchdown. After two runs by Santuan McGee, Gibbon ran to the left and made the corner of the end zone for the score.

C.J. Bennett led the first team offense the second time they were on the field. He would lead the offense down the field but could not get into the end zone and they settled for a 37 yard Michel Chapuseaux field goal.

The second first-team touchdown would be from a combination of Gibbon and Bennett under center. With the offense facing fourth down from the defense’s 43 yard line, Myles would hit Bryant Lavender for a 14 yard gain on the left sideline. Then Bennett would enter the game who would fine Ralph Turner open on the right side of the field for a 29 yard touchdown. The series covered 60 yards in six plays.

The second-team offense would have it’s best drive of the day on their first possession of the game with Bennett at quarterback. He would start the series off with a 14 yard completion to Lamontis Gardner. Then after a handoff for a short gain, he complete a pass to Gardner for eight more yards and a second first down of the series. But the series would come to an end after a fumbled handoff on third down was recovered by the offense and forced them to punt.

Bennett went 5 of 8 passing for 65 yards and a touchdown, Brennan Sim completed three for 27 yards and Gibbon completed one for 14 yards. Corey Besteda, Gardner and Lavender each caught two passes while Ralph Turner led the receivers with a touchdown and 29 yards on one reception.

Coach Jones had the following to say after the scrimmage: “We changed things up, but I thought we looked a little sharper. There were a few penalties out there, which we have to get corrected in the next couple of weeks, but I thought it was a good day. It was more like a game, we called all the special teams out there so they had to be alert on the sidelines. My overall feeling is that the offense and defense got better, and special teams were pretty consistent.”

He continued, “We will evaluate this film and go into next week with an idea of who our ones and twos will be. Of course, it’s not over because these kids compete for jobs every day, but we have to find a starting point when we begin next week.”

Chapuseaux began the scrimmage with a kickoff to the 10 yard line with Donte Rome and Jeremy Roberts back to return. Starting at the 20 yard line, C.J. Bennett came out with the second-team offense. His first pass was completed to Lamontis Gardner for 14 yards and a first down. A handoff went for about four yards then Bennett found Gardner again for seven more yards and another first down.

Bennett then completed a pass to Corey Besteda for about 6 yards. A rush by Ellis Hill wen for a short gain which was followed by another rush by Johnny Lockett that went for about seven yards and a first down. Bennett would find Besteda again for another eight yards. A rush by Johnny Lockett would lose about two or three yards then a fumble on the handoff from Bennett would bring up fourth down. Scott Garber would punt with T.J. Glover letting it go into the end zone for a touchback.

Then came out the first team offense with Myles Gibbon going to work from the 20 yard line. The first play from scrimmage, Gibbon threw to Ralph Turner who was running a slant route, but the defender was flagged for pass interference. After a 15 yard penalty, Gibbon handed off to Brandon Ross for a short gain of about two or three yards.

Gibbon then went back to Ross and he found a hole for about eight more yards and a first down. Gibbon handed off again to the right side for a short gain if any. Once more Gibbon handed off to Ross who went for 39 yards while knocking over a defense back in the secondary and another first down.

Santuan McGee came in for Ross and was tackled for a four yard loss by Jaleel Atkins. Another rush by McGee got back what he lost and about two more yards. Myles then took the snap and took off around the left side of the line, scampering for nine yards and a touchdown. Michel Chapuseaux added the extra point.

Jordan Means had the kickoff duty this time and booted it just inside the ten yard line. Donte Rome and Jeremy Roberts were deep for the return. Raymond Cotton came out to run the offense and was wearing a blue number 17 jersey, unlike the rest of the other quarterbacks who were wearing white, no-contact jersey’s. His first play was a handoff to Ryan Scott who gained three yards. On second and seven, Cotton dropped back and was sacked, giving back the three yards from the previous play.

On third and ten, a bad snap caused a fumbled which Cotton picked up quickly and moved to the right. Under pressure he threw across the middle incomplete, intended for Gage Hayes. Scott Garber booted a 40 yard punt or so which T.J. Glover fielded and was quickly tagged down.

Brennan Sim came in to lead the offense from their own 40 yard line. A hand off to Ellis Hill went for about two yards. Then Brennan found Bryant Lavender for a 17 yard completion. But the next play, a handoff to Ellis Hill again, was botched and a fumble. Then Brennan was sacked for a six yard loss. Then another sack forced them to punt.

Starting at their 45 yard line, C.J. Bennett lead the drive. The first play was a handoff to Santuan McGee for about eight yards. Then McGee ran again for about 17 more yards. On first down, Bennett attempted a pass which went incomplete when he threw behind the receiver.

On second down, Kendall Houston rushed for about five yards to make it third down and about five yards. Bennett attempted another pass which was nearly picked off by linebacker Zach Rone near the right hashmark. Michel Chapuseaux made a 45 yard field goal to end the possession.

Chapuseaux kicked off and T.J. Glover returned for about 19 yards. Cotton lead the offense from around the 30 yard line. The first down play was a run by Johnny Lockett for about four yards. Another bad snap that Cotton picks up and runs for a short gain, but as he was crossing the field he took a huge hit from linebacker David Hawkins. After the coaches went to the huddle to check Raymond out, he continued to play. He would hand off to Lockett again for a short gain. Then Cotton would run around the right side for another short gain. A handoff to what looked like Donte Rome went for a short loss bringing out Jordan Means who booted around a 40 yard punt.

Coach Jones decided it was time for a break so all the players congregated on the sidelines with their group for about five minutes.

When the break was over, Brennan Sim lead the offense from the 40 yard line. The first down play was an incomplete pass. On second down Sim handed off to Ellis Hill, who looked like he was going to lose yardage, but turned it into a one yard gain. Sim then threw an incomplete pass intended for Taylor Noon. Then Sim over threw Bryant Lavendar going to the right. Lockett then rushed for a short loss. Sim threw yet another incomplete pass just to get the ball away and avoid a sack. Sim then completed a pass to Donte Rome for about six yards.

Matt Saucier came in and booted a big punt which was fielded and downed inside the five yard line.

Starting the next possession on the 40 yard line, Myles Gibbon lead the offense again. The first play was flagged for offsides on the defense. Then on first down and five, he handed off to Kendall Houston for seven yards and a first down. He then went back to Houston for a five yard gain. Gibbon then threw to the end zone intended for Courtney Smith, but he overthrew him just a little. Gibbon, under pressure, threw to Ralph Turner but was incomplete.

Then C.J. Bennett came in and threw a pass complete to Bryant Lavendar for about 14 yards. The very next pass went to Ralph Turner on the right side for a 29 yard touchdown. Chapuseaux added the extra point.

Jordan Means kicked off and Ralph Turner got a nice return of about 35 yards before he was tagged down. Matt Saucier came in to lead the offense and his first play was a run around the left side that would have gone for about 25 yards but was called back on a penalty. After a handoff for maybe a short gain, Saucier completed a pass to Gage Hayes for about six yards. On a fake handoff, Saucier tried to run left but was dropped for a loss of about four or five yards. Then Saucier was sacked for about a two yard loss ending the series.

Gabe Graham then came out to lead a series. His first play was a hand off to Michael Nevels for maybe one yard. Then a handoff to Lockett for no gain. Then Graham kept it and ran for about six yards on third down. Jordan Means attempted a 45 yard field goal which went dead left, no good.

Then end the scrimmage, Coach Jones had the players work on red zone plays. Sim went first with the offense and threw incomplete for Bryant Lavendar. Ryan Scott took the handoff on second down for a short loss. Then Sim threw to Corey Besteda under pressure but it was just short and incomplete.

Gibbon ran the next series and on the first play nearly ran into the end zone himself but was stopped short. Lockett was stopped just short of the goal line on the next play. The Kendall Houston took the next hand off into the end zone for a touchdown.

Bennett lead the next series. On the first play his fade pass attempt to Besteda was incomplete with Jonathan Cameron in tight coverage. Ellis Hill took the hand off on the next play for a short loss. Then Ellis Hill also took the next handoff up the middle but was stripped and fumbled the ball, which was picked up by the defense.

Gibbon came back in and ran a couple more plays. he handed off to Houston who went for a short gain. Another hand off to Houston went for a short gain if any. Then a false start call on the offense ended his series.

Bennett came back in once more and on his first play, he handed off to Houston who went into the end zone for a touchdown which ended the scrimmage.

In all about 93 plays were run, which was right around how many Coach Jones wanted to run. No major injuries, the only report was one player iced his right ankle and one player got slightly overheated.

The team will take Sunday off before returning to the practice field early Monday morning, which is also the first day of classes for South Alabama.

Sunday saw the Jags hit the field with shells while adding more contact. The hits were easy to hear and were definitely hard but full tackling was not allowed. They were only allowed to hit and hold up short of bringing someone to the ground.

Sunday’s practice began with more special teams practice. On Friday, they began with punt coverage but on Sunday they began with kickoff coverage. After beginning with special teams, the Jags then broke off into positional drills. Quarterbacks worked with receivers on timing and routes while running backs worked on handoffs and blocking. Linebackers, defensive linemen and defensive backs all working on basics as well.

After positions, the Jags then went into an inside drill session, which actually had the Jags hitting for the first time in summer camp. The offensive and defensive units swapped players in and out numerous times to more reps in for the new players. As Coach Jones said after practice, “The only way you can find out about guys is by giving them reps. I think we have some good young players who can build some depth for us at each position. Today, I felt like we got more people in practice, and we need to continue to do that.”

After the inside drill, the offensive and defensive linemen seperated to work on individual position technique. The secondary, linebackers, receivers and running backs worked against each other in pass coverage drills.

Monday

Similar to before, they had an 11-on-11 live-action session for ten plays. Freshman running back T.J. Glover rushed twice and broke one off the left end for 25 yards. In the two carries, he totaled about 30 yards but impressed the coaches and onlookers in the process. The Jaguars running backs coach Tommy Perry said, “He’s fast and you notice it. We’re trying to make things work so we can get him the ball in space, because he is electric. He’s a freshman, so he has to learn what to do, but as a coach you get excited when you see that extra gear, because he definitely has that.”

I would definitely look for Glover to be used in motions, misdirections and screen plays in the coming year with his speed.

The defense stepped up on six plays by stopping the offense for no gain on three rushes. They also forced two incomplete passes and and interception by redshirt freshman Eddy Cabrera.

After the 11-on-11 session, the offense worked on picking up the blitz with the defense. The first play of the drill saw Myles Gibbon hit Bryant Lavender, a freshmen, on a go route for 30 yards. Brennan Sim went 3-for-3 in the passing drill averaging close to seven yards per pass. He completed passes to Jereme Jones and Courtney Smith.

Monday was another practice in shells for the Jaguars. Practice began with a period of special teams practice, again focusing on kickoff returns and ended the practice with kickoff coverage.

The practice was similar to what the Jags will continue to do throughout preseason camp, but only with shells and limited hitting. They had multiple periods of third down situational drills and multiple 11-on-11 drills.

The first third down situational drill had the offensive line and running backs practice running plays against the defensive interior. On the other side of the field, quarterbacks and receivers worked against defensive backs  in coverage. During this set of drills, Anthony Taylor and Charlie Higgenbotham came away with sacks as well as forcing and recovering a fumble.

One of the 11-on-11 sessions was running plays in the red zone. The offense started witht he goal of making a first down starting at the 20. On the first play, Sim connected with Courtney Smith for a nine yard gain, short of the first down when Anton Graphenreed tackled Smith one yard shy of the first. The offense then had two big gains on the defense with Houston on a rush and a screen play to Johnny Lockett from C.J. Bennett. But the defense held on the next two plays.

The final 11-on-11 of the day continued the outstanding play by the defense. They only allowed two first down in ten plays with three consecutive sacks. Jake Johnson was in on two of them as well as Ben Giles and Ucambre Williams. The first play saw the offense make a first down with a pass from Sim to Courtney Smith on a slant. The offense’s only other first down was on a quarterback draw by Raymond Cotton on their last play.

The offense was hot early in the third down 7-on-7 drills. They converted about half of their attempts with Bennett being responsible for four first downs with four completions to four different players. Brennan Sim helped to get three first down. Only two Jaguars, Taylor Noon and Bryant Lavender, caught two passes for first downs.

Coach Jones commented on the practice afterwards by saying, “It was a very good practice, though I thought we had a little lull in the middle to latter part for the first time. That’s normal, and what I was proud of is that they fought back at the end of practice. We’re in the middle of nine straight days of practice, and that ‘s tough. They just have to get a little better every day, and so far we have improved.”

The Jags continue their nine consecutive days of practice on Tuesday when they don full pads for the first time this preseason camp.

Benefiting from Friday’s situational scrimmage, Lawson McGlon has kicked his way to first-team place-kicker. Wilson was also named as one of the two kick returners with Santuan McGee.

While Santuan McGee was listed number one on the depth chart early in the week, offensive coordinator Greg Gregory said on the Joey Jones Radio Show on Tuesday that Brandon Ross was the starter at running back. As for tight ends, Kevin Helms and Paul Bennett have switched places on the depth chart but are listed as co-starters.

Some other notable changes have taken place as well. Due to some injuries in the secondary, the Jags had to make some changes just to get through fall camp. Ken Barefield started fall practice as a wide receiver but was moved to safety but was convinced to move by defensive backs coach Duwan Walker. Then just a few weeks after making the move, he was marked as a starter.

Zach Brownell, a freshman safety himself, missed most of fall camp recovering from an injury, but had this to say about Barefield, “He works hard watching film, and he’s been paying a lot of attention. I give him some tips here and there, and those might have helped him out, but he’s done a great job of learning the position on his own.” Brownell returned to practice this week and has quickly made his way back to playing on first-team defense.

Coach Walker looks on the positive side of Brownell’s time off due to injury, “It probably worked out well because he got his legs up under him, and now he’s good and healthy and ready to go,” Walker said. “We were in a position where we had to practice some other kids, so to get these other guys back on the field has definitely built in some depth for us. We feel pretty good about going into the season as far as depth is concerned.”

Tony Threatt, another freshman safety, also spent time away due to injury. He has since returned to practice and is expected to help contribute depth at safety along with Matt Saucier and Alex Phifer.

If you are a new reader to this site and happen to recognize Saucier’s name, it was because he was the first team quarterback in spring practice. He has since made the move to safety in fall camp. Coach Walker likes the idea of Saucier playing defense. “We like guys that handle the ball every down, and as a quarterback you’ve got the ball in your hand every down,” Walker said. “After being a quarterback, you have some kind of idea of what the offense is trying to do. He’s a smart kid, and it was easy for him to pick up.”

I’m sure you noticed that that all of the five safeties that will be seeing significant playing time are all freshmen. They will have help in the secondary from four cornerbacks who do have experience playing beyond high school. Junior Michael Wilson and Sophomore Anton Graphenreed are expected to start on Saturday and they will be joined by Sophomores Jerron Mitchell and Steven Pease. However, Coach Walker doesn’t look at Graphenreed and Wilson as starters with Mitchell and Pease playing backup, he sees them collectively as players. “We don’t look at ourselves as having starters at cornerback, we just think of it as having kids that we can roll in,” Walker said. “Steven Pease is going to be a great player for us, and along with Jerron Mitchell, we expect those guys to be able to roll in at the corner position.”

With the schools first-ever game fast approaching, there is little worry about the inexperience at safety. They may be freshmen in status, but many have offensive instincts which can translate to on-field experience.

As of Thursday morning, 15,818 tickets remain for Saturday’s game at Ladd-Peebles Stadium according to the usagameday.com website.

The defense came out with something to prove on Saturday and did they prove it to the offense. They only gave up one touchdown and two field goals outside of the red zone and goal line situational drills. Justin Dunn lead the defense with five tackles and one assist behind the line of scrimmage. Five players, Chris Cooke, Clifton Crews, Bryson James, Matt Saucier and Enrique Williams all had four tackles with Cooke and Williams both having two tackles for loss. Charlie Higgenbotham added three tackles while Josh Chestang had two tackles, both being sacks on quarterback Myles Gibbon. Zach Rone recovered a fumble and Brett Hancock came away with an interception to accound for the two first-half turnovers.

The scrimmage began with the Jaguar offense starting deep in their own territory at the two yard-line. In four plays the offense picked up two first downs. Brandon Ross gained six yards on a run for one of the first downs and Gibbon hitting Kevin Helms on the left sideline for 21 yards for the other first down. On the offenses second series, Enrique Williams tackled Eli Smith for a safety on the second-team’s first snap. However they regrouped and picked up a pair of first downs. Brennan Sim found Corey Besteda for 11 yards for one. Then three plays later Sim found Bryant Lavender for 17 yards for the other first down.

On Saturday, Kim Shugart posted an article on al.com for the Mobile Press-Register about the place-kickers. It covered their troubles in last weeks scrimmage and continued struggles to become consistent. You can read the article here. But it was Michel Chapuseaux who scored the first points for the offense on Saturday with a 38 yard field goal. A key play setting up the field goal attempt was a 35 yard completion from Gibbon to Ralph Turner. On the very next series, Chapuseaux had a 48 yard attempt hit the left upright and bounce off. That attempt was set up by a 19 yard completion to Lemontis Gardner by Gibbon on a third and nine from their own 41 yard line. While Lawson McGlon hit both PAT attempts and Jordan Means hit a PAT as well.

The next series the first-team drove inside the 15 yard line but the second sack of the day by Chestang, eventually led to a fourth and four situation from the 11 yard line. Gibbon then ran a quarterback draw but was stopped one yard shy by Anthony Taylor.

On the second-teams second drive, they drove to the defense’s 38 yard line but Nick Owens was sacked by Alex Tamariz for an eight yard loss on third down to end the series. However, Owens would lead the offense to the events first touchdown the next time on the field, capping off a five play 50 yard drive with an Eli Smith rush off right tackle for 27 yards.

The second possession by the third-team offense crossed midfield as well, but was ended by a fumble recovered by Rone.

After a short break, the defense came back and prevented the offense from scoring on both series following the break. On the first of two red zone possession drills starting at the defense’s 20 yard line, Chapuseaux hit a 39 yard field goal. The scrimmage ended with two touchdowns on goal line drives starting at the 5 yard line. Ross found the end zone on the first team’s first play. Then on third and goal from the six, Owens rolled left and hit Nick Brunson in the corver of the end zone for the other touchdown.

Myles Gibbon went 8-for-13 for 105 yard in the air and 21 yards rushing on six carries. Nick Owens went 6-for8 for 45 yards and a touchdown. Brennan Sim went 2-for-7 for 28 yards and an interception. Gabe Graham went 3-for-4 adding 28 yards also. Each quarterback was sacked once. Combined all four South Alabama quarterbacks went 19-of-32 for 206 yards. Ross had 10 rushes for 47 yards, Eli Smith had four for 30 yards and Anthony Mostella had 3 rushes for 20 yards. Combined the offense rushed 43 times for 104 yards and two touchdowns. The offense combined for 310 yards for the scrimmage. The complete stats can be found here.

After the scrimmage, Coach Jones commented on the defense by saying, “Defensively, they did a great job of bracing themselves in the red zone. They bent between the 20-yard lines, but toughened up. Offensively, we need to learn how to punch the ball in the end zone. That’s where most offenses have problems early in the year, and some of that is not allowing cut blocks because we don’t want to do that to our own guys. When you’re in the red zone, it’s hard to overcome a loss on first or second down, because the defense really has you where they want you.”

“One thing that the defense needs to work on is coming off the goal line,” Coach Jones observed. “One of my pet peeves is when we can’t keep teams pinned deep in their own territory. If we have them on the 2-yard line, let’s keep them down there, make them punt and get the ball around the 50. Then you have a greater percentage chance of scoring a touchdown.”

Jones continued speaking about the offense, “Nick had one of his better practices, he really did well this morning. I thought Myles had a good day too, he didn’t make any glaring mistakes that I saw. He was real poised out there, and he’s not getting flustered running our offense, which I like to see from a young quarterback. Brandon was tough running the ball. He’s not in shape yet because he’s been out a good deal with an injury, so he is not totatlly ready for a ball game. But, he is very tough on the inside.”

Gibbon spoke after the scrimmage saying, “We need to become more effective inside the red zone, because the most important part of an offense is being able to score when you get there. We had some big plays, but when we get down the field we need to execute better. Hopefully we can run the ball better in the red zone because when you’re passing there is so little space to throw to.”

Overall Coach Jones was happy with how the team responded and performed in their second preseason scrimmage. “Overall, I’m very pleased with both sides of the ball,” he said. “I thought we were a little more organized today, especially on the sidelines. One of the things we were trying to do was get them in the types of situations they’ll see in games as best we could, I think they learned a lot from that today. This was a real successful scrimmage.”

However, this team is quite different from the team that showed up for the spring scrimmage at Ladd-Peebles Stadium back in April. Coach Jones knew they would react differently because of that and he was right too. “It’s not that they were tight, but you could sense a little difference,” he said. “That’s why we brought them out here. We’ll do it again one more time before the first game to get them used to these surroundings.”

Myles Gibbon spoke about his visit to the stadium after the scrimmage by saying, “It felt good to finally come to where our home will be this fall and be in this atmosphere. When we walked out on the field, I just tried to imagine what it is going to be like having loads of people in here cheering and the stands filled from top to bottom. We’ll see what happens, but it’s exciting thinking about it.”

The Jags will have Sunday off and will return to the practice field for their 3:30pm practice time on Monday.

Defensive huddle during the Jaguars first scrimmage on August 15, 2009. Photo by Doug Roberts.

The weather held off enough that Coach Jones continued with practice on Thursday. With only two days until the teams second full scrimmage, he wanted to make sure the Jags had a good physical practice, and he accomplished what he set out to do.

The staff completely deviated from what has come to be known as the ‘usual schedule.’ They began practice with about 30 minutes of special teams drills, focusing primarily on their hands team for onsides kicks. They about 20 minutes of small group, one-on-one competition at various different positions. Then they were put through about an hours worth of situational work during their two hour practice. and then ended the practice with another 30 minutes of special teams work in punt and kickoff coverage.

In the previous two and a half weeks of preseason camp, they would only work in live 11-on-11 drills for less than half that time. That changed on Thursday.

About an hour into the practice, after the special teams and individual workouts, the offense ran about 10 minutes of first-down plays from midfield. Then they started first-down drills from the defense’s 20 yard line, working on their red-zone offense. On the first possession with third-and-six, Myles Gibbon found Paul Bennett for a seven yard completion to get the first down. The very next play saw Santuan McGee run off the right tackle for a touchdown.

On the next two drives, the defense would turn up the pressure and turn it into their favor. Eddy Cabrera would intercept a pass at the goal line. Then Anthony Taylor would pitch in with two of the defenses three tackles for loss in the ensuing possession. The the final drive saw Marquise Diamond break up a pass at the end zone to force a field goal attempt, which was missed.

The final situation drills of the day had the offense lining up to run third-down plays of distances of nine, five and two yards. Again the defense stepped up with seven straight stops. Justin Dunn and Bryson James recorded key tackles during that run. However Gibbon would finally end the dought by hitting his 6’5″ receiver Courtney Smith to gain a much needed first down. But then the defense would again stop the offense short of first downs on six of the next eight tries.

Coach Jones was quite pleased with the physical workout and had the following to say. “I think we had a great physical day. The kids were ready mentally, and I noticed their legs were a little fresher as well. That’s probably because we’ve had some extra time off the last two days due to the weather. The coaches noticed in the weight room this morning that they were bouncing around, so now we’re thinking as a staff that we ought to plan more often to give them breaks during camp. Sometimes the rain forces you to do that, and I think that in this case it was really a good thing for us.”

Coach Jones had good things to say about the defense. “The guys on defense have been practicing extremely hard, and they are learning where they need to be,” he stated. “They were playing tentative the first couple of weeks because they were constantly asking themselves, ‘Where do I line up?’ Then, ‘What’s my responsibility?’ Then, ‘What is the offense doing?’ It’s hard to decipher all of those things, but now it is starting to become second nature and they are able to just react and run. The defense has definitely gotten more confident in what it is doing.”

Talking about changing up the practice routine, coach Jones had the following to say. “Any time you change the routine up, I think the kids like that. They hate to come out to practice and do the same thing every day. We’re trying to get them to learn about these different situations, and to understand certain things like when you’re inside the 25-yard line the quarterback can’t take a sack. Sometimes in practice you just run plays, but this is a more realistic scenario that they will see in games.”

Coach Jones also went on to explain why the staff, until now, has not had a lot of situational work during camp. “The first weeks we were just putting as much information in their heads as possible,” he said. “With the scrimmage coming up on Saturday and another next weekend, that’s when we really want to prepare them for everything they will see in a game.”

Since Wednesday’s practice was canceled, the Jags will be out on the practice field very early on Friday, at 5:45am. It will be a less physical workout in helmets and pads, but they will be working on passing drills and the special teams kicking game but no tackling. The reason for such an early workout, “We’re going to practice in the morning for two reasons,” Coach Jones stated. “One is because we want to try and avoid the rain, which has been a problem for us this week. And two, it will give the players a full 24 hours to rest before the scrimmage so hopefully their legs will be fresh.”

Also the Jags are scheduled for a 9am scrimmage at Ladd-Peebles Stadium on Saturday.

Saucier leads first team offense in impressive first spring game. - Photo by Doug Roberts: http://dougstech.com/

I think Coach Jones summed it up best when he addressed the estimated 8,000 fans who turned out for their final day of spring practice. “When you look back a year ago, we came here in February and started putting this program together. Over the last few weeks, I’ve seen how all of our players, managers, trainers and staff have been involved. To come to a game like this, where I was expecting 1,500 people to be out there, to see 8,000 fans is a great testament to the city of Mobile and how they are going to support this program. I think that this town is ready for football, and they are excited about Sept. 5 coming soon.”

The first team offense dominated their second team opponents in the defense on Friday. Richard Ross and Matt Saucier both scored twice as the first team offense scored points on all five of its possessions. Similarly, the first team defense dominated its opponents in the second team offense by only allowing six total yards and no first downs.

The first team offense did not waste any time getting on the scoreboard. They drove 70 yards on four plays in 1:47 with Ross bouncing off two tackles to finish a 25 yard run for a touchdown. Turner sparked the possession with a 36 yard gain on a reverse to open the series.

With just over four minutes remaining in the opening quarter, Ross scored again on a one yard pludge into the endzone to cap off an eight play, 59 yard drive. On third down, Saucier found Lim Windham for a 14 yard strike to keep the series going. Later, Saucier set up the Ross score with a 12 yard scamper.

On the first units’ next drive Saucier accounted for most of the yards running the ball. He had a 14 yard run early in the series. Then one play after Saucier ran for 33 yards down the sideline, he hit Kevin Helms for an eight yard touchdown pass. The 2:13 drive spanned 60 yards on five plays.

The first team offense also put together a long drive that ended with a field goal. The drive lasted for more than eight minutes with Saucier keeping the drive alive with two big plays on third down. First was a scramble for a first down and the second was a key thrid down completion to Paul Bennett for another first down. Lawson McGlon capped off the drive with a 42 yard field goal.

Saucier would score the final points of the game with a one-yard quarterback sneak with 4:08 left in the ending quarter. In all on the final drive, Saucier ran four times. The drive covered 47 yards on eight plays including a 27 yard pass to Anthony Mostella.

The only first down the second team offense saw was on a pass interference call on its first play from scrimmage. Then two plays later they came the closest they would all game to gaining a first down when they faced a third-and-one at their own 44 yard line. Dunn hit Marquis Chapel and dropped him for a two yard loss forcing them to punt.

In total, USA gained 278 yards of offense on 43 plays with an average of 6.5 yards per snap. However, the first team offense accounted for 272 of those yards. Saucier was the leading rusher with 76 yards on 10 rushes including a touchdown. He was also 7-13 for 78 yards and a touchdown through the air.

Santuan McGee gained 41 yards on three attempts and Ross had 29 yards on three rushes while scoring twice. Ralph Turner gained 52 all-purpose yards, running for 35 and catching two passes for 17 yards. Turner was the only Jaguar player to have more than one reception.

Justin Dunn and Eric Dalgleish each had four stops, both accounted for two tackles behind the line of scrimmage, in leading the first team defense. With Dunn and Dalgleish leading them, the first team defense forced five three-and-outs with the last one seeing Richard Courtney score on a fumble return of 21 yards, which was forced by Dalgleish.

Following the scrimmage, Coach Jones announced the winners of the program’s first ever spring awards as voted on by the coaches. Trey Clark (offensive line), Andy Dalgleish (defensive line), Justin Dunn (linebacker), Tim Harvey (defensive backs), Kevin Helms (tight ends), Santuan McGee (running backs) and Courtney Smith (wide receiver) were presented with the Outstanding Performance Award at their position with Michel Chapuseaux, Eric Dangleish, Jordan Means, Anthony Mostella and Ralph Turner sharing the honor on special teams.

Paul Bennett (tight end), Josh Chestang (linebacker), Chris Cooke (linebacker), Lamontis Gardner (wide receiver), Anton Graphenreed (defensive back), Cory Pittman (offensive line), Richard Ross (running back), Matt Saucier (quarterback), Anthony Taylor (defensive line) and Lim Windham (wide receiver) were named the most improved players at their position.

The Jaguar Leadership Award was given to Bennett on offense and Harvey on defense. Dunn, Brian Krauskopf, Jerron Mitchell and Erling Riis earned the Jaguar Strength Award. Bennett and Clark were also given Outstanding Academic Awards.