Change Is Constant In College Sports
Each year there are changes in every conference. Coaches fired, coached hired, players graduate and new ones recruited, offensive and defensive schemes change. But for some conferences they have whole teams move in and out.
Gus Malzahn is gone from Arkansas State and Willie Taggart is gone from Western Kentucky. So far we have added Bobby Petrino at Western Kentucky, Dennis Franchione will enter with Texas State and reports are circulating that University of Texas offensive coordinator Bryan Harsin has been hired at Arkansas State.
Two-time Sun Belt Player of the Year Ryan Aplin graduates from ASU, but Kolton Browning returns to Louisiana-Monroe. Browning was possibly the most exciting player this past season.
As conference realignment trickles down, the Sun Belt continues to be affected. As mentioned before, North Texas and Florida International will leave the conference this summer for what they hope is greener pastures in Conference USA. Conference Commissioner Karl Benson added Georgia State and Texas State to the conference as well as Texas-Arlington (non-football school).
But realignment occurred again this year when Florida Atlantic and Middle Tennessee accepted invitations to Conference USA. But no announcement of additional schools have happened yet, but speculation is that Georgia Southern is one of the schools that could be added. Appalachain State and New Mexico State have been rumored to be possible additions as well.
Offenses will continue to be high power in the conference, but like they say “defenses win championships.”
Many braced for a tough season as the Jags played their first full Sun Belt schedule resulted in a 2-11 overall record and 1-7 conference record. Some expected them to win more games than they did, and they probably should have. But they were more competitive in their first FBS season than any team in recent memory.
South Alabama’s first season of FBS play was a big learning experience. They went up against 12 FBS teams in their 13 game schedule with seven games on the road. They measured themselves against several good teams and know where they are and what they need to do to get there.
The Jags will make an impact in the conference sooner rather than later. Coach Jones along with his staff and players have established a presence in the conference and have earned the respect of many opponents.
Coach Jones still has holes to fill and the team has some maturing to do. It needs to take what it has learned this season and build upon it. They need to use what they learned on game day and in key situations. The depth chart will benefit from a 2012 signing class where all but one player was redshirted and it will benefit from several fifth-year players ready to fill spots in the starting lineup and on the depth chart.
Troy was another school that had a disappointing season and missing out on a bowl game for the second consecutive season. In 2011 the Trojans went 3-9 (2-6 SBC) but improved to 5-7 (3-5 SBC) in 2012. But look for them to play a role in the Sun Belt in the future as they have in the past.
It could be an interesting few years in the Sun Belt as both Troy works it’s way back up and South Alabama strives to blaze it’s own way toward the top as well.
Sometimes change is good and sometimes it makes you think, “what were they thinking?”
Reflecting Back On The 2012 Season
Head coach Joey Jones working with the field goal unit during South Alabama’s Scrimmage on Saturday, March 3, 2012.
The South Alabama football team concluded it’s 13-game schedule that marks its final year of a two-year transition into Football Bowl Subdivision play.
The Jags played 12 other FBS schools and one FCS school in Nicholls State. Of those 12 FBS schools, eight of them were Sun Belt Conference schools, another first for the school. Those four other non-conference FBS schools included road games against North Carolina State, Mississippi State and Hawaii.
Though the win-loss record (2-11, 1-7 SBC) was not what players, coaches and fans wanted to see there were lots of positives to take away from the season. On four occasions, the Jags lost by eight points or less including a 36-29 game in Jonesboro, AR against eventual conference champion Arkansas State.
But now the focus shifts to recruiting and the team’s offseason workout program. The coaching staff is targeting several junior college players that can come in and make an immediate impact as they have layed a solid foundation for the future with freshmen. Every freshman signed back in February of this year were redshirted except wide receiver Cameron Broadnax.
The coaching staff will hope to do something similar again in 2013 with the incoming freshmen unless they have some outstanding talent that could make an immediate impact on the field.
When asked about his look on this past season he said he was very excited about the future. He pointed out the team this year and stressed the Seniors that have given so much to the program to get us to this point. He said they have built the program the right way and have played competitive football. While they are not there yet, they played several teams down to the wire and earned respect in their first season.
He also said that he was excited about next year. He credited the players and his staff for working hard to prepare them and he believes that it’s going to carry over to next year. He stressed that is a fundamental part of having a good program, the things behind the scenes that people don’t see. “When you see a team keep preparing as hard as it can and wanting to win every game, there’s a lot of teams that quit in these situations and this didn’t and that’s going to carry over. It’s one of the things I think we learned this season,” Jones said.
Jones said that the toughest part of this past season was coming out on the losing side of those close games this year. The Jags were picked to win two games this year in preseason picks, but Jones expected to win more than that. Jones is used to winning close games throughout his career and there were so many close games that they lost. But that’s another part of the learning process, how to come through in those situations. “That’s probably the most disappointing thing because if we had won three or four of those games we would have been bowl eligible in our first year and that would have been a tremendous year,” said Jones.
Jones always stresses that there are three or four playes in most games that determine who wins, but the Jags didn’t get those plays this year. He said that they have to find out what happened and why they didn’t make those plays and win those games.
Some positives that Coach Jones can take away from this season were that they played a lot of great Division I teams this season and kept it close. Arkansas State, as mentioned before, defeated Middle Tennessee 45-0 in the season finale for both teams. But ASU only beat the Jags by a touchdown. The Jags prepared for every game as though they were going to win. While nobody saw that other than the players and staff, Jones said that was evident behind the scenes.
Another big positive is that next year they are going to have a large senior class for the first time. While the seniors have always led the team, they have never had more than a handful of them each season. In 2013 the Jags will have over 20 scholarship seniors to help lead the team on the field.
Now that the Jags are an “official” division I team, they now have something more to strive for. “Now we’ve got that carrot dangling out there in that we do have a chance, we can go to a bowl game,” Jones said. “We had four teams in our conference this year go to a bowl game; it should have been five. It gives us hope that the Sun belt Conference is putting teams in bowl games and if we can do our part we can be in a bowl game next year. That’s what’s exciting about this coming year.”
The Jags will look to fill needs this offseason. Offensively they will be looking for playmakers. As they learned this year, you can never have too many running backs. But they will also be looking for a receiver and a running back with speed. On the defensive side of the ball, they will be looking for more players to help them rush the passer better. The Jaguar defensive line did well this season, but were razor thin at times with injuries.
Depth is still an issue, three defensive linemen sufferred season ending injuries and three running backs were injured and out for the year. On the offensive line, the Jags redshired six player and will be two-deep for the first time in program history.
When asked to be realistic about how soon he thought the Jags would be competitive in the Conference, Jones anwered that he thought they competed this year. He thought it was obvious that they competed with some of the teams this year. The question he asked himself was how long before they can beat those teams. Jones said that would be a big jump because they have work to do. He has challenged his players to make that big jump. If they do their work in the offseason and prepare and recruit players and do a better job as a staff, then the Jags can and will win those games.
They will have to work, because it’s not going to be given to them and it’s not going to happen just because they are a year older. The Jags have to improve in every facet of the game and in every facet of the program. The players and staff are hungry enough to make those changes and get better. Now it’s a matter of going out and doing it.
Seven Jag Softball Players Named All-America Scholar Atheltes
The South Alabama softball team had seven team members honored as All-America Scholar Athletes by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association. This number matches the total number the school has placed on the list since the program began in the 2007-’08 season.
Hannah Campbell, Meghan Collins, Jessica Dobson, Kaitlyn Griffith, Blair Johnson, Katy Neal and Julie Moss were all honored as All-America Scholar Athletes. The honor is given to players submitted by a member coach who achieved a 3.50 GPA or higher during the 2011-2012 academic year.
Collins has been honored three times now, earning the honor each year she has attended South Alabama. Campbell and Moss, both juniors, have been selected twice each.
“These awards are a testament to the work ethic and focus of these young ladies,” Jaguar head coach Becky Clark said. “The amount of time and energy it takes to play a Division I sport and take care of business in the classroom is tremendous, so for these young ladies to excel the way they have is remarkable. I am extremely proud of the way they represent our program and the University of South Alabama.”
In October, South Alabama was ranked 37th on the 2011-’12 list of NCAA Division I All-Academic Teams by the NFCA. This was a 12 place improvement from the previous season and the best ranking in the program’s short history.
Lady Jags Down Sam Houston State 71-61 On Saturday
The Lady Jaguars improve to 7-3 on the season after they defeated Sam Houston State in the Mitchell Center on Saturday. For the first time this season the Lady Jags overcame a halftime deficit to pick up the 71-61 win over the Bearkats.
The Jags trailed by three points at halftime, but used a pair of runs early in the second half to overtake the Bearkats for the win.
“At the half, I talked to our team about the fact that we need to show more resolve and gumption,” head coach Rick Pietri said. “We needed to apply ourselves more from a standpoint of intensity and desire. I just felt like we were being out desired. Sam Houston State deserves credit for that. In the second half, I think our kids responded excellently in every aspect of the game. Our attention rose and we shot a much better percentage in the second half. I just think that all-in-all in the second half, the effort, the intensity, the discipline we were staying true to our principles and as a result we won the game.”
Camille Reynolds led the Jags with 14 points by going 4-of-6 from the floor with three 3-pointers. Mary Nixon added 11 points as well while Veronica Cherizol narrowly missed a double-double with nine points and 12 rebounds.
The Jaguar bench was the key to the victory, as it has been all season. The Jags had a 28-10 advantage over the Bearkat bench. Also three-point shots were key in the win as the Jags connected on 11 shots from outside the arc.
The Lady Jags will have an 11 day break for final exams before returning to the court with a trip to Central Florida on December 19.
Jags Fall To UAB 92-78 On Saturday
The Jaguar men’s basketball team started off the game slow again against UAB in Birmingham on Saturday. The Blazers jumped out to a 16-4 lead to open the game in route to defeating the Jaguars 92-78 at Bartow Arena.
This win put the Blazer even for the season at 5-5 while the Jags drop to 4-5 on the season. The Jags continue to struggle in Bartow arena. They have lost the last nine games there and hold an all-time record of 2-19 in Birmingham. The Jags have not won at UAB since 1988.
The Blazers shot 57.1% from the floor and 52.9% from three-point range for the game. While the Jags struggled again by missing all 12 attempts from 3-point range and missing their first 14 attempts for the game.
“We didn’t play defense, there wasn’t much effort, we had poor shot selection and didn’t share the ball until late in the game,” Jaguar head coach Ronnie Arrow said. “We’re not going to win games until our guys start taking a personal interest in their defense. It starts with them. There’s not enough discipline on offense and way too much not-knowing-what’s-going-on on defense.”
UAB made 11 of their first 14 shots of the game and lead 25-13 with 11:15 left in the first half. The Blazers would take a 46-27 lead into halftime.
The Blazers would lead by as much as 28 points in the second half.
“They were working hard and we were standing around,” Arrow said. “We have basic things that we do that we didn’t do tonight until we decided to start getting some points and sharing the ball. We’re going to look at this long and hard and we’re going to play the guys that share the ball and want to work.”
The Jags would hit their stride late in the game and went on a 14-3 run, capped off with a three-pointer from Mychal Ammons, to close the Blazer lead to 90-78 with 1:25 left in the game. The Blazers would get an offensive rebound on its next possession and hit two free throws for the final points of the game.
Augustine Rubit earned his fourth double-double of the season with 24 points and 11 rebounds, 16 of his points coming after halftime. Xavier Roberson added 18 points, 13 of his in the second half as well. Freddie Goldstein chipped in 13 points coming off the bench.
South Alabama show just 30.3% from the floor in the first half, but would come out of the halftime locker room and shot 54.8% and 46.7% from three-point range. The Blazers would shoot 51.3% in the first half and would improve on that by shooting 66.7% in the second half.
UAB had five players in double-digits lead by Fahro Alihodzic with 17 points.
South Alabama will open a three-game home stand beginning on December 16 when they host Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Tip-off is scheduled for 4:05pm at the Mitchell Center.
Hernandez Named To 2012 NCSAA All-South Region Team
South Alabama Junior midfielder Clarissa Hernandez was named to the 2012 National Soccer Coaches Association of America’s NCAA Women’s Division I All-South Region Team.
She led the Jaguars in almost every statistical category in the fall. She led the team in goals with six, assists 5, shots 56, shots on goal 24 and tied with junior Kristyn Thacker in game-winning goals with two. She also finished in the top 10 among Sun Belt Conference players in each of the previous stats.
Hernandez is from Pensacola, Florida.
She scored a goal and added two assists for the Jags in a 4-0 win over ULM in mid-October. It was a single game career high for Hernandez with four points. She also put the Jags ahead of FAU on a free kick in late September.
The Jags finished the season 8-10-3 and earned a berth in the Conference tournament for the second consecutive season.
CJ Bennett Announces Intention To Transfer
C.J. Bennett reads the defense while head coach Joey Jones looks on from the sidelines in Starkville Mississippi.
Quarterback C.J. Bennet announced via Facebook and Instagram that he intends to transfer to Murray State in Kentucky. He will be eligible to play immediately for the Racers.
In his post he said “When I committed to South I had no idea it would be this tough to say good bye.”
Bennett took over the starting duties for the final three games of the 2010 season and the entire 2011 season. He started the 2012 season but rotated with Junior transfer Ross Metheny before Metheny was named the starter in the Jaguars sixth game of the season after their off week.
Good luck CJ! Once a Jaguar, always a Jaguar.
Jaguar Arts Holiday Contest
Our friends over at Jaguar Arts is conducting a holiday photo contest for Jaguar Nation. Follow these instructions to win a print of the Inaugural Season from Jaguar Arts.
- Like the Jaguar Arts facebook page and share the contest photo.
- Post your favorite Jag holiday picture to the Jaguar Arts timeline by December 25th.
- Get your friends to like your photo in the album, “Christmas Starts with Jaguar Arts.”
- The photo with the most likes by December 31st win a framed print of the Inaugural Season.
The earlier you submit your photo, the better your chance to win is. Jaguar Arts will be uploading the pictures as they come in and spotlighting them throughout the month of December.
Trey Clark Named To Capital One Academic All-America Team
From left to right is Offensive coordinator Robert Matthews, Center Trey Clark and offensive lineman Drew Dearman in the Jaguars first practice preparing for the fall football season.
Trey Clark has been one of the most consistent players for the South Alabama Jaguars football team over the program first four years of existence. He is the only individual in that time to start every game in the program’s existence. But he is also a consistent performer off the field and in the classroom.
For his accomplishments off the field, Clark was named to the second-team Capital One Academic All-America team by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
In order to qualify for the CoSIDA Academic All-America Team, Clark had to be selected first-team academic All-District, to be nominated for the organization’s academic honors, individuals must carry a minimum of a 3.30 cumulative GPA, have sophomore status both academically and athletically, and be a starter or important reserve.
Trey has been voted first-team academic All-District each of the last two years and was also selected to the FCS Athletic Directors Association Academic All-Start Team in 2011. South Alabama’s district includes the states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia and South Carolina.
Clark is one of only two players to start every game on offense this season for the Jaguars. But he is the only Jaguar from the offensive team to be on the field for every one of the school’s 938 snaps in all 13 games this season. He earned a season-high 91% mark at 23rd ranked Mississippi State on September 22. He went on to finish the season with an 89% grade. He averaged more than six knockdown blocks per game as well.
Trey was the lone individual from the Sun Belt to be named to the 2012 Capital one Academic All-America team.
Trey is a native of Prattville, Alabama.
Malzahn Will Not Coach ASU In Bowl Game
On Wednesday, Arkansas State Athletic Director Terry Mohajir announced defensive coordinator John Thompson will be the Red Wolves interim head football coach effective immediately. This move means that former head coach Gus Malzahn will not coach the Red Wolves in the GoDaddy.com Bowl at Ladd-Peebles Stadium on January 6.
Thompson has over 30 years of experience at the collegiate level both as an assistant coach and as a head coach. He will oversee ASU’s preparations for their bowl game and fill the head coaching duties at game time.
“Not only does coach Thompson’s wealth of experience make him an excellent fit to assume the role of interim head coach, but he is also man of character with great leadership qualities who has earned a great deal of respect from this administration and the players,” Mohajir stated. “We are confident he will help our football program make a smooth transition into the postseason, while also giving this team a tremendous opportunity to finish the season on a successful note in the GoDaddy.com Bowl.”
“The decision to move forward with an interim head coach for the GoDaddy.com Bowl was not made lightly, but we feel it is in the best interest of our student-athletes since Coach Malzahn will understandably be consumed with his commitments to Auburn and not be able to give his full attention to this team and its upcoming preparations for the postseason bowl,” said Mohajir.
Thompson, as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach this season, oversaw the Red Wolves defense that ranked first in the conference in scoring defense and third in total defense. ASU led the conference with 10 selections to the All-Sun Belt Conference.
“We have a mature group of players with strong leadership, and I am certain this team and coaching staff is going to rise to the occasion,” Thompson said. “The team has improved on a weekly basis, and we expect it to continue to get better and compete at an even higher level. This has been a special season and everyone associated with this program wants to finish the year strong, none more so than our players and coaches. I know we will continue to show the same commitment we demonstrated all year that resulted in a Sun Belt Conference championship.”
Names that have been mentioned as possible head coaches for Arkansas State are: Texas A&M offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury, Texas’ Co-Offensive coordinator Major Applewhite, former University of North Carolina head coach Butch Davis and former University of South Florida head coach Skip Holtz.