South Alabama Defeats Tulane 41-39 In The Superdome
South Alabama celebrates their 41-39 win over Tulane on Saturday, September 7, 2013 in the Superdome.
Hard work pays off.
After the season opening loss to Southern Utah, the Jags refocused and went through a week of hard nosed workouts to prepare for their trip to New Orleans. They were determined to prove they are a better team than what the fans saw on Thursday night against the Thunderbirds.
They did just that.
“That was a great win for a lot of reasons,” head coach Joey Jones said after the game. “We struggled last week at the end of the game. We played well for three-and-a-half quarters but then lost it. In this game we played well, but then they came back and we bowed up and won it. That’s a sweet way to win a ballgame. Tulane is a much improved team.”
“But my hat’s off to my staff,” Jones continued. “We worked 16 hours a day since last Thursday night because we care about these players. And these players care about this team. They came and worked, we had a great practice week. They did everything we asked them, never dropped their heads and they came out and won the ballgame today. That’s what it’s all about. That is a good life lesson for them there.”
The Jaguars got started early when Jay Jones picked up 29 yards on the first play from scrimmage. After an incomplete pass, Metheny would gain 11 yards on a quarterback draw. Metheny would cut up the middle again and race in for a 35 yard touchdown to take a 7-0 lead in only 47 seconds of play.
Tulane responded with passes from Nick Montana to Rob Kelley for 15 yards, Ryan Grant for eight but Terrell Brigham would force a fumble that would be recovered by Montell Garner at the Tulane 46 yard line. The second possession would not yield points for the Jaguar though, as Cris Dinham could only manage eight yards on 3rd and 11 and would lose two yards on fourth down to turn the ball over on downs.
After a three and out by the Jaguar defense, Ross Metheny and the Jaguar offense would begin at their own 40 after a 16 yard punt by Tulane. Metheny started the drive with a five yard run, but a personal foul on Sam Scofield would add 15 yards to put the Jags in Tulane territory at the 40 yard line. Metheny would then connect with Wes Saxton for 26 yards before connecting with Shavarez Smith for the 14 yard touchdown to take a 14-0 lead with 10:18 left in the opening quarter. The drive spanned three plays covering 60 yards in 56 seconds.
The Green Wave would respond on their next possession. Montana would hit Grant for a 41 yard gain with Orleans Darkwa capping it off with a run over right tackle for two yards for the touchdown to cut the Jaguar lead in half at 14-7 with 5:56 left in the first quarter.
South Alabama would get it back on their next possession. Dinham opened the series with a four yard rush to the Jaguar 29 before Metheny went back to his tight end Wes Saxton for 24 yards down the sideline to the Tulane 47 yard line. After a short gain by Dinham again, Metheny would run on back to back plays for seven and five yards. A couple plays later, facing 3rd and 3 at the Tulane 30 yard line, Metheny would connect with Davin Hawkins for his first career touchdown reception as the Jags lead extends to 21-7.
The Jaguar defense would force a punt on Tulane’s next possession. Metheny would open the Jaguars drive on the USA 20 yard line and would quickly throw a strike to Danny Woodson for 41 yards to the Tulane 39 yard line. Metheny’s pass intended for Bryant Lavender would fall incomplete, however a pass interference call would would move the ball down to the Tulane 24 yard line. Kendall Houston would end the quarter with a four yard rush up the middle to the Tulane 20. Metheny would find Saxton open on 3rd and 6 to get the first down at the Tulane 12 yard line. After an incomplete pass, Metheny would run for 12 yards on a quarterback draw for the touchdown and a three score lead at 28-7 with 13:52 left in the second quarter.
The Green Wave would piece together an 11 play, 80 yard drive for a touchdown to cut the Jaguar lead to 28-14 with 10:23 left in the game.
On the kickoff, T.J. Glover took the ball out of the end zone and only got out to the 12 yard line, but an illegal block would move it back to the Jaguar 6 yard line. USA managed one first down before being forced to punt from their 17 yard line. However, a bad snap would get past Scott Garber, but a heads-up play by him prevented a touchdown and only gave Tulane two points on a safety to make the score 28-16.
The Jags defense would force a three-and-out on the next Tulane possession, but on the second down play, Randon Carnathan would be injured and did not return to the game. More on his injury below.
T.J. Glover would return the punt 27 yards from the Jaguar 14 to the 41 to start their possession. On the first play, with Brandon Bridge in at quarterback, the Jags would be flagged for a false start to back them up to five yards. Jay Jones would get it back and then some with a 13 yard rush up the middle just short of midfield. Two plays later on 2nd and 9, the offense would be flagged for another false start to make it 2nd and 14 and coach Jones would call a time out to settle his offense down. The Jags would be forced to punt two plays later. Garber’s 46 yard punt would go into the endzone for a touchback with 3:06 left until halftime.
Tulane would open their possession with another deep pass from Montana to Grant for 45 yards to get to the Jaguar 35 yard line. The Jaguar defense would hold the Green Wave to a 47 yard field goal as Tulane cut Jaguar lead to 28-19 with 1:31 left until halftime.
Starting from their own 25 after the touchback on the kickoff, Jay Jones would rush for five yards on back-to-back plays as it looked like Coach Jones and Coach Matthews were content to run out the clock on the half. But then Metheny would find Jereme Jones for an 18 yard gain to the Tulane 47 yard line. The offense would run to the line to spike the ball as the Jags only had one time out with 14 seconds left till halftime. Metheny would then go back to Saxton again for 10 more yards to the Tulane 37 with :07 seconds left and they would call their final time out. Metheny would connect with Saxton one more time for eight yards and he would get out of bounds at the Tulane 29 yard line. Aleem Sunanon would make the 46 yard field goal attempt to lead the Jaguars into the lockerroom with a 31-19 lead at halftime.
Tulane would begin the second half with Dante Butler returning the kickoff from the endzone to the 19 yard line before Rush Hendrix would take him down. A false start would back them up to their own 14 yard line. On 3rd and 14, Romelle Jones would sack Montana for a six yard loss at the Tulane 9 yard line.
The Jags would have Glover’s 12 yard punt return brought back as E.J. May was flagged for an illegal block to start a bad possession for the Jaguars. Two plays later on 3rd and 5 at the Tulane 48 yard line, Metheny’s pass would bounce off of Bryant Lavender’s chest and would be intercepted by Nico Marley and returned 30 yards to the Jaguar 30 yard line, but a personal foul would move the ball to the 15 yard line. Tulane would score a touchdown three plays later when Darkwa would take it in from one yard out to cut the Jaguar lead to 31-26 with 11:42 left in the 3rd quarter.
On the ensuing possession for the Jaguars, facing 3rd and 8 from the Jaguar 27, Metheny would find Jereme Jones across the middle for 11 yards and a first down. But two plays later Metheny, running the read option, would fumble the exchange with Dinham that would be recovered by Marley at the Jaguar 39 yard line. The Jags would force an incompletion by Montana on 4th and 2 at the Jaguar 31 to give the offense the ball back on downs with 8:47 left in the 3rd quarter.
Metheny would start the possession with a 12 yard run before connecting with Saxton on back-to-back passes for 12 and 4 yards. But on 3rd and 5 at the Tulane 40, Metheny would be flushed from the pocket and try to float a pass to Saxton on the right sideline, but a leaping defender would pick it off and return it 25 yards to the Jaguar 40 before offensive lineman Drew Dearman forced him out of bounds saving a touchdown.
Montana would connect with Grant again for a 40 yard touchdown pass on their first play. Grant would be flagged for excessive celebration and the Jags would be flagged for roughing the passer. The defensive penalty was enforced on the kickoff while the celebration penalty was enforced on the PAT. Tulane would get their first and only lead of the game at 33-31 with 6:35 left in the 3rd quarter.
The Jags would drive 17 yards before being forced to punt which was fair caught at the Tulane 20 yard line. On 3rd and 8 from their own 22, Montana was sacked for a 10 yard loss by Alex Page. The special teams unit stepped up to help the offense as Qudarius Ford blocked the Tulane punt and Terrance Timmons would recover it in the endzone for a Jaguar touchdown to give the Jags the lead once again at 38-33 with 1:13 left in the 3rd quarter.
The Tulane and the Jaguars next possession would be three-and-out’s. Tulane’s next possession would be a disaster. A nine yard rush by Kelley would come back on a holding call to make it 1st and 20 at the Tulane 45. A bad snap would cause them to lose six more yards for a 2nd and 26 at their own 39 yard line. Montana’s screen pass to Butler would be sniffed out by Romelle Jones for a four yard loss to make it 3rd and 30 at their own 35. Clifton Crews would then sack Montana for another six yard loss to make it 4th and 36 from the Tulane 29.
The Tulane punt would be fielded at the Jaguar 25 by Glover and returned one yard, but Montell Garner would be flagged for a personal foul to move it back to the Jaguar 13 yard line with 10:43 left in the game.
The Jags would go three and out again and Scott Garber’s 45 yard punt would be returned only three yards to put the ball at the Green Wave 45 yard line. Montana would try another deep pass but Roman Buchanan would pick him off at the Jaguar 16 yard line and it would be upheld after a review.
The Jags would take over at their own 16 yard line with 9:46 left in the game and a 38-33 lead. Metheny would open up with a 15 yard completion from Metheny to Davin Hawkins but he would fumble it out of bounds at the Jaguar 31 yard line. Then Metheny would load up again and connect with Shavarez Smith for a big 43 yard gain to the Tulane 26 yard line. After a rush by Dinham for no gain and an incomplete pass, the Jags faced 3rd and 10. Metheny would hand it off to Dinham who took it over left end and would go out of bounds after a 14 yard gain to the Tulane 12 yard line and another South Alabama first down. Jay Jones would run off left end for eight more yards to the Tulane 4 yard line. Houston would lose two on a rush, then on 3rd down Metheny’s pass to Jereme Jones would fall incomplete. Coach Jones would opt to take points and kick a 23 yard field goal to put the Jags up 41-33 with 6:07 left in the game.
Brandon McKee’s kickoff would be fielded at the one yard line and David Hawkins would bring down the Green Wave returner at the 18 yard line. Montana would find Matt Marfisi for 18 yards to the Tulane 36. After a deep pass intended for Grant fell incomplete, he came right back to Grant for nine yards on the sideline. Darkwa would get the first down on 3rd and 1 by getting two yards. Montana, after an incomplete pass, would find Xavier Rush for 10 yards and another first down. A run by Montana would go for 11 yards to get into Jaguar territory at the 43 yard line. A screen pass to Kelley would gain six yards, then a slant pass to Sydie London would gain three more yards to the Jaguar 23. Two plays later Montana would complete a pass to Rush for 10 more yards to the Jaguar 12 yard line. After a draw play only gained two yards to the Jaguar 10 yard line, Tulane would take a time out with 1:31 left in the game. After lining up, the Jags would take a time out to adjust their defense. On 2nd and 8 at the Jaguar 10 yard line, Montana’s pass appeared to be intercepted by Roman Buchanan, but after a review it was called an incomplete pass. On the next play Montana would hit Grant for a 10 yard touchdown to draw them within a two point conversion with 1:19 left in the game.
On the two point play, Montana was pressured out of the pocket to the right sideline when the Jaguars brought a blitz, he would put up a throw but it would be intercepted by Maleki Harris leaving the Jaguars up 41-39. The Jags would use their final time out to set up for the onsides kick. The kick would go nine yards and would be recovered by Bryant Lavender at the Tulane 44 yard line. The Jags could finally end the game with the victory formation.
South Alabama put up great offensive numbers. They gained 328 yard in the first half, which almost equaled the the 335 yards they gained in the whole game against Southern Utah in the previous game.
The Jags ended the game with 465 total yards of offense, 297 yards through the air and 168 on the ground. USA gained 25 first downs to Tulane’s 20. Tulane ended with a slight edge time of possession with 30:03 to USA’s 29:57.
Ross Metheny ended the game as the leading rusher with 75 yards on 11 attempts and two touchdowns. Jay Jones gained 64 yards on 11 carries, Dinham added 28 yards on 10 carries and Houston had 17 yards on 7 carries.
Tulane’s Orleans Darkwa rushed 10 times for 32 yards and two touchdowns.
Ross Metheny went 19-of-30 for 290 yards and two touchdowns while taking two sacks and two interceptions. Bridge was 1-of-2 for seven yards.
Nick Montana went 29-of-47 for 327 yards and three touchdowns and one interception.
Wes Saxton led the Jaguars with 92 yards on 7 catches. Jereme Jones added four catches for 50 yards, Danny Woodson also had 50 yards on three catches. Shavarez Smith gained 57 yards on two catches with a touchdown. Davin Hawkins caught two passes for 45 yards and his first career touchdown as a Jaguar. Two other Jags had catches as well.
Tulane’s highly touted receiver lived up to his billing with 187 yards on 14 catches and two touchdowns. Xavier Rush was the next closest with 34 yards on three catches.
Defensively, Qudarius Ford led the Jags with 8 total tackles, two pass breakups and a punt block. Romelle Jones and Terrell Brigham both added seven stops with Jones collecting two tackles for loss and one sack. Clifton Crews and Alex Page both had a sack as well. Roman Buchanan had the only interception for the Jaguar defense.
Tulane’s Sam Scofield led all tacklers with 15 total, 13 solo and two for loss. Robertson added 11 tackles, two for loss and a sack for the Green Wave.
South Alabama scored touchdowns on four of their first five drives.
Tulane rebounded early in the second half by turning three Jaguar turnovers into 14 points to take the lead on the Jags.
Qudarius Ford said after the game, “We practiced that punt block all week. We knew they weren’t going to be ready for it. When the coaches called it, I knew it was going to work. We just executed. We saw how the wings always flared out, and it left the underneath gap wide open. I knew when I got through that it was money.”
It was the first time since Tennessee-Martin on October 15, 2011 that the Jaguar offense has put together multiple scoring drives that were under a minute.
The 21-7 first quarter marked the most point production by the Jaguars in the first quarter of a game since they scored 20 against Lamar on September 10, 2011. They gained 245 yards and 11 first downs in the opening quarter.
The 465 yards of total offense is the most against an FBS school in the University’s short history. Metheny’s four scores is another school-record.
“We were just taking what they gave us and kept rolling,” Ross Metheny stated after the game. “We made the plays tonight, and that’s what our offense is set up to do. We put ourselves in position to make the plays, we just have to make them. We struggled with that a little last year and last week as well. But we finally made the plays and did what we were supposed to do tonight.”
“We got up big early,” Metheny continued. “The offense played great the first half, probably the best offensive half we have had. Then we came out and had three turnovers fairly quickly in the second half, but the defense was playing really good in the second half. We had to have a big play, and we blocked the punt. The punt return staff did a great job of coming up with that punt block. It was something we saw on film, and it worked just right. You have to make those plays in order to win big games and we did it.”
“It’s the biggest win we’ve ever had,” Jones stated. “We have a lot of games coming that we can win. Winning is a habit. We want our guys to win, and they have done that. I’m so proud of the way they fought back, and fought against the fact we lost last week late in the game and came out here and won a tough game on the road.”
“Tulane is a much-improved team, and they have a good football program,” he continued. “They’re going to do well in Conference USA. For us to come on the road and win one like that is big for the South Alabama football program. Curtis Johnson (Tulane head coach), his staff and the players acted first class the entire game. My hat’s off to them. They are the kind of team you want to play against, because they play the game the right way.”
Coach Jones spoke about true freshman Roman Buchanan by saying, “Coming in and playing like that in Division I football as a true freshman is big. We know he’s a great player, and he’s going to be a great one in the future for sure.”
Coach Jones also spoke about stopping the two-point conversion at the end of the game. He said, “That was big. Most teams want to sprint out to the right, and I went up to coach Sherrer and asked him if we were going to bring edge pressure and he said, ‘We’re going to bring everybody.’ We brought an all-out blitz and pressured the quarterback, and he couldn’t really get his feet set to throw the ball. It was a great call by coach Sherrer.”
When asked if he would like to see a series between the two schools, Jones replied, “I would love for it to be. Two hours away; we’d love to have a rivalry with them in the future.”
However the two teams are not scheduled to play again until October 10, 2020 when Tulane travels to Mobile.
Randon Carnathan’s injury turned out to be some sort of Achilles heel injury and was in a protective boot on the sidelines when he returned to the sideline. The extent of his injury is unknown
JuCo tranfer Jerome McClain came out of the game with a concussion. He will have to clear medical tests before he will be allowed to return to practice or games.
Losing two defensive linemen will hurt their depth at that position.
Jereme Jones consecutive games with a catch streak is up to 29 now.
South Alabama will open Sun Belt play on Saturday when they play Western Kentucky for the first time. The game will feature Bobby Petrino’s up-tempo offense that they used to defeat Kentucky on the road to open the season. South Alabama and Western Kentucky is set to kick off at 6:30pm at Ladd-Peebles Stadium.
Come out and support your Jaguars in this key Sun Belt game. Go Jags!
Gameday: South Alabama at Tulane
South Alabama and Tulane will kickoff at 2:30pm in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana today.
I think it’s unfair to say this is a must-win for the Jaguars, but if they have had a must-win game in their short 5 year history, this would be one. They had Southern Utah in hand in the fourth quarter last week and let it slip away. This week they travel to a team that is arguably a fairly evenly matched team as a seven point underdog.
Head coach Joey Jones and his staff has put the players through a tough, hard nosed week of practice to get them ready to prove that they are not going to go down without a fight. They are not going to let last weeks disappointment linger over them for the season. That is why this game is so important. How will they respond after last weeks loss?
This game may determine how they approach upcoming games against Western Kentucky, Tennessee and Troy in the weeks following today’s game.
Keys to the game is the Jaguar defense. Can the defensive line get more pressure on Tulane quarterback Nick Montana? Will the secondary play better this week and prevent big plays?
Offensively can the Jags produce more points? When they have a negative play how will they respond? Will they let that stall the drive or will they find a way keep the drive going?
We’ll see you in the Superdome! Go Jags! Beat Tulane!
Know Your Stadiums: Mercedes-Benz Superdome
Tulane University also calls the Superdome home until they move back on campus in 2014 in their new stadium.
The Tulane Green Wave play in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Previously known as the Louisiana Superdome or just The Superdome.
The plans for the superdome was drawn up in 1967 by the architectural firm of Curtis and Davis. The steel frame covers 13 acres and is located on 52 acres of land which includes the former Girod Street Cemetery. It’s 253-foot dome is made of Lamella multi-ringed frame that has a diameter of 680 feet making it the largest fixed domed structure in the world.
It is located in the Central Business District of New Orleans and has been the host of several major sporting events including the super bowl, final four and NCAA Bowl Games.
The dome has an interior space of 125,000,000 cubic feet, a height of 253 feet and a dome diameter of 680 feet. It has a total floor area of 269,000 square feet.
The Superdome came about from sports visionary David Dixon who attempted to convince the NFL to award a franchise to New Orleans. However, after hosting several exhibition games at Tulane Stadium, the typical New Orleans summer thunderstorms dampened the NFL prospects. NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle told Dixon that they would never expand into New Orleans without a domed stadium.
Dixon got the support of the governor of Louisiana and they toured the Houston Astrodome in 1966 where the governor was quoted as saying “I want one of these, only bigger.” Seven days after the NFL awarded New Orleans the 25th football franchise, bonds were passed for construction of the Superdome.
The Superdome was conceptualized to be a multifunctional stadium for football, baseball and basketball. It was planned to have moveable field level stands that would be arranged specifically for each sport and areas for dirt such as bases and pitchers mound, that would be covered with metal plates on the stadium floor that would be covered by artificial turf during football games. Blount International of Montgomery, Alabama was chosen to build the stadium.
They hoped to have the stadium would be ready for the 1972 NFL season at a cost of $46 million. However, due to political delays, construction did not start until August 11, 1971 and was not finished until August of 1975, seven months after the super bowl was scheduled to be held in the stadium. Since the stadium was not ready, the super bowl was moved to Tulane Stadium and was played in cold, rainy conditions. The price of the stadium ballooned due to inflation, construction delays and increased transportation cost due to the 1973 oil crisis and increased to $165 million.
The 1975 season began with the Saints losing to the Cincinnati Bengals 21-0 in the first game held in the stadium. Tulane Stadium was condemned on the day the Superdome opened however the original concrete sections stood on the Tulane campus until November 1979.
The original artificial turf playing surface in was produced by Monsanto specifically for the Superdome and was called “Mardi Grass.”
The dome was officially dedicated on August 3, 1975. A long list of celebrities continued to celebrate it’s grand opening from August 28 through September 14, 1975.
In 1978, Muhammad Ali defeated Leon Spinks in his last professional win. In December 5, 1981, the Rolling Stones drew a crowd of over 87,500 for a concert. In 1988 the Republican National Convention was held in the Superdome. A world gala premiere was held in June 1996 for Disney’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
Midway through the 2003 football season, the turf was replaced with FieldTurf.
In August of 2005 it was used as a “shelter of last resort” during Hurricane Katrina. During the storm, a large section of the outer covering was peeled off in the high winds. Images of the damage where the concrete underneath was exposed became iconic images from the hurricane. The dome was closed until September 25, 2006.
It cost $185 million to repair and refurbish the Superdome with FEMA putting up $115 million, Louisiana Stadium & Expendition District refinanced a bond package to secure $41 million, NFL contributed $15 million and the state added $13 million for the renovations and repairs.
As part of the renovation, Sportexe MomentumTurf was installed for the 2006 season.
In early 2006, the Superdome began a $320 million renovation that was split into three phases. The first was the repairing and refurbishing from Katrina. In 2008, new windows were installed to bring natural light into the building. Later in the year, the roof-facing of the Superdome was remodeled to restore the roof with a solid white color.
Between 2009-2010, the entire outer layer of the stadium was replaced with new aluminum panels and insulation which returned the building to its original champagne bronze color.
Escalators were added to the outside of the club rooms, each suite included modernized rooms and new point-of-sale systems was also installed to allow concessions with credit cards throughout the stadium for the first time.
During the summer of 2010 Speed S5-M Synthetic turf was installed by UBU Sports and now has the largest continuous synthetic turf system in the NFL.
In 2011, demolition and new construction began in the lower bowl of the stadium to reconfigure it to increase seating by 3,500 seats, widen the plaza concourse, build two bunker club lounges and add additional concession stands. They also added express elevators to take coaches and media from the ground level of the stadium to the press box. They were completed in late June of 2011.
The Superdome has a listed capacity of 76,468 unexpanded or 73,208 non-expanded. Published attendance figures for events such as the Sugar Bowl have exceeded 79,000 though. The BCS National Championship Game has been played in the dome four times. Annually, two other bowl games are played in the Superdome: the Sugar Bowl and the New Orleans Bowl. It also hosts the Bayou Classic between two of the state’s historically black colleges in Grambling State and Southern.
The primary tenant of the Superdome is the New Orleans Saints and hosted the Super Bowl most recently in 2013. Tulane will play their final season of football in the Superdome this season as they plan to move to their smaller on-campus stadium in 2014.
The Superdome had not taken on corporate naming rights until 2011 when Mercedes-Benz bought the rights.
Information for this article was found at www.superdome.com and wikipedia.org. Photos from wikimedia.
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- Construction of the Superdome.
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- Construction of the Superdome
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- The Superdome is the home for the New Orleans Saints NFL Franchise.
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- Tulane University also calls the Superdome home until they move back on campus in 2014 in their new stadium.
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- Mercedes-Benz bought the naming rights to the Superdome in 2011.
Keys For South Alabama vs Tulane
A win for South Alabama depends on a few key players on the other side of the ball from them.
Defensively, South Alabama’s defensive line and linebackers will need get pressure on Nick Montana while playing their gap assignments to stop Orleans Darkwa on the ground. The secondary will have to keep tabs on wide receiver Ryan Grant, but they cannot do so at the expense of letting another receiver get wide open.
Their balanced offense will force the Jaguar defense to play smart and play disciplined. They will also try to mix it up and try to confuse the defense.
The offensive line may have their hands full with two LSU transfers on the defensive line in Jeremy Peeples and Chris Davenport along with another SEC transfer. Darion Monroe, a safety, leads the defense which is bolstered with several sophomores who all played as true freshmen.
Last week the Green Wave forced six turnovers in route to their 34-7 win over Jackson State. South Alabama will have to continue to protect the ball as they did in the first game. The only Jaguar turnover was an interception in the fourth quarter, which was costly nonetheless.
This year is already much calmer than last season as they had a player paralyzed after breaking his neck on September 8. The team evacuated to Birmingham for Hurricane Isaac and some players and coaches returned to home damage after the storm. Their conference USA Defensive Player of the year was arrested for armed robbery prior to fall camp.
Their final practice prior to the game on Saturday was a physical one to cap off a week of very determined practices. Their two hour practice focused on their game plan for Saturday.
Friday, the Jags will have a short walk-through practice in shorts prior to leaving for New Orleans. They will then stop by the Superdome for a walk-through.
Coach Jones liked what he saw, but he was quick to say that the team has to take what they have done on the practice field and apply it on the field on gameday.
Coach Jones believes his message to his team after the opening game loss that they must improve play was understood. “I think it has. I know it has,” Jones told AL.com. “I know our seniors have taken it to heart and the biggest thing is we want to earn some respect and just get out there and just play well and let the scoreboard take care of itself.”
South Alabama takes on the Tulane Green Wave in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans with kickoff set for 2:30pm. The game can be heard live in the Mobile area on 105.5FM WNSP or worldwide online at www.wnsp.com. A live video stream should be available through the Tulane sports website.
OL Drew Dearman Article On AL.com
On Wednesday, AL.com had a great feature article on offensive lineman Drew Dearman. Dearman, a 6’3″ 310-pound graduate from Vestavia Hills High School, chose South Alabama over Mississippi State and Southern Miss coming out of high school.
Give this article a read. He’s a hard worker, very talented and just an overall great guy.
Alex Page Named To 2013 CLASS Watch List; Jags Focused In Wednesday Practice
The South Alabama Jaguar football team had another intense, focused practice on Wednesday as they prepare to hit the road for New Orleans to face the Tulane Green Wave.
The two hour practice included individual drills, situational drills, special teams and offense versus defense work. “It was a pretty good physical practice,” head coach Joey Jones told AL.com. “Going into this week, we’re not going leave anything on the practice field. We’re going to work our tails off and get ready for this ball game and we’re going to bring it to the game on Saturday. That’s our goal.”
Tulane’s defense is the most improved squad since last season. They are big on the inside, they have fast players in the secondary and they swarm the ball quickly.
Offensively, Tulane is a pretty balanced team. Coach Jones noted that they do well running the football inside. Orleans Darkwa was noted as being one of the better running backs. Quarterback Nick Montana, son of NFL great Joe Montana, was at one time at Notre Dame prior to transferring and eventually landing at Tulane this season. Jones noted that he can place the ball to receivers well and can attack the whole field.
While the Jags did not end up on the winning side of the scoreboard against Southern Utah, they did come out of the game healthy. Offensive lineman Melvin Meggs tore his ACL over the summer in summer workouts and Will Thompson had surgery on his leg during preseason camp, but other than those already known injuries, the Jags are quite healthy. Wes Saxton was held out of practice on Tuesday but returned on Wednesday in a non-contact jersey. Coach Jones expects him to be ready to go on Saturday.
Also on Wednesday defensive end Alex Page was named as one of 30 candidates for the 2013 Senior CLASS Award in college football.
In order to be eligible, a student-athlete must be classifed as an NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition. The list of 30 candidates will be narrowed down to 10 finalists midway through the season. The final ballot will be conducted among media, coaches and fans on a nationwide basis. The winner will be announced in January during the bowl season.
Page is a 6’1″, 235 pound native of Pratville, Alabama. He received his undergraduate degree in history back in May. He earned first-team CoSIDA Academic All-District recognition last year and is working on his master’s degree. He was named to the 2012-2013 Sun Belt Conference Commissioner’s List for his work in the classroom.
Alex was a second-team all-league selection in 2012 after recording 64 tackles with 11.5 tackles for loss and six sacks. He was ranked in the top 10 in the Sun Belt in TFL’s and Sacks. The collected a career-best 10 tackles in two game, including the Jags first FBS win over FAU.
He was also voted to the preseason first-team All-Sun Belt Conference by conference coaches and media. He was also included in first-team all-conference lists by Phil Steele, Lindy’s and Athlon Sports.
Go Jags! Beat Tulane!
Jags Continue Preparation For Tulane
South Alabama continues to prepare for this weekends matchup against Tulane, who is coming off of a 34-7 win over Jackson State even though they were outgained yardage-wise 356-308.
The Green Wave defense forced six turnovers, two of them fumbles inside the five yard line as they were driving for a score. Head coach Joey Jones said that their defense is the most improved squad from last season. “They have a bunch of guys flying around. They are not very big at linebacker or in the secondary, but they are huge up front and have some really big guys inside. They are playing a lot better on defense.”
The Jags will have to continue to protect the ball in order to have a chance to win. Last season the Jags had 33 turnovers in 13 games. However, in their first game of the season, they only turned the ball over once with a Brandon Bridge interception in the fourth quarter.
Also improved for the Jaguars is the rushing game. Jay Jones led the stable of running backs that collected a total of 187 yards. Jones rushed nine times for 92 yards to average 5.5 yards per carry. Brandon Bridge added 56 yards on the ground, 40 of them coming on a touchdown scramble in the second quarter.
Overall, the Jags averaged 5.4 yards per play while outgaining against Southern Utah.
The Jaguar defense allowed 317 yards, only 134 on the ground with an average of 3.3 yards per rush. Enrique Williams surpassed Jake Johnson to take over as the all-time leading tackler with his 12 stops against SU. He also forced a fumble on a sack. Charles Watson collected eight tackles and Maleki Harris collected seven tackles, with 2.5 for loss.
Tulane’s offense included a passing attack that had several big plays to average more than 20 yards per completion. Quarterback Nick Montana, the son of former NFL great Joe Montana, went 6-of-14 for 144 yards and two touchdowns. Ryan Grant let the receivers with 3 catches for 82 yards. Orleans Darkwa rushed for 50 yards while Ron Kelley rushed for 41 yards.
The Green Wave kicker, Cairo Santos, connected on all of his kicks in the game with two field goals and four extra points. Their punter averaged 42 yards per punt as well.
“They do a good job with their run and pass ratio,” Jones explained. “They are not a team where you just stop the run or stop the pass, they are pretty good at both.”
However, after all of these positives for the Jaguars, coach Jones was quick to point out that all of that means nothing if they don’t put the points on the scoreboard. “The bottom line is we want to win a ballgame, that’s the overall goal,” he said. “The biggest thing on offense right now is converting points. We dropped a touchdown pass, we dropped another 60-yard pass that could have put the game away. We have to make plays in those situations, if we make one of those the game is over.”
The Jags Tuesday practice was very businesslike. The coaches and players were completely focused on preparing for Tulane this weekend. Coach Jones said that practicing hard is what it’s going to take for them to learn to win. He also believes that his team has put the loss behind them and that they have to in order to have a successful season.
Wes Saxton did not dress out for Tuesday’s practice nor did he take part in drills. Jones indicated to AL.com that it was only precautionary and that he will be ready for Saturday’s game.
South Alabama and Tulane kickoff at 2:30pm on Saturday in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. Bus tickets may still be available through USA National Alumni Association ($35 for bus ride or $70 for bus ride and game ticket) and through Little Flower Catholic Church ($65 including ticket). For information about seat availablity, visit this link for the USA Alumni Association and call the Little Flower Church Office for availability.
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Coach Joey Jones Show Recap 09-03-2013
Head coach Joey Jones speaks with sideline reporter Pat Greenwood heading into halftime against Middle Tennessee on Saturday, November 17, 2012.
Lee Shirvanian and Coach Joey Jones were joined by offensive coordinator Robert Matthews on the radio show on Tuesday hosted at Baumhower’s Restaurant on Airport Boulevard in Mobile.
Coach Jones mentioned Aleem as being a good kicker and that he just needs to get into the game and hit a few kicks to get his confidence going since he is a redshirt freshman. The Jags have had a pair of fifth-year seniors over the last two seasons at the placekicker spot and they brought a lot of experience to the team at that position.
He also spoke about the fake punt by Southern Utah that went for a first down. He mentioned that they ran the same exact fake punt play in practice during the week and there were supposed to be five guys spying the punter but they all failed to do their job.
Coach Matthews, along with being the offensive coordinator, also coaches the offensive line. He thought the line did a pretty good job by opening some decent run lanes for the running backs and protecting the quarterback. They weren’t perfect and that is something they have to work on, but it was an encouraging game because that was all correctable.
Lee asked how he thought the offense performed. Coach Matthews reiterated what coach Jones said that they did well at times but need to put more points on the board and take advantage of opportunities. They need to make some of those big plays on offense and become more explosive. He also mentioned that South Alabama was up by eight points in the fourth quarter and they had the ball late, so it was up to them to get a few first downs and win the game.
Lee asked about a play late in the game with the ball at the 50 yard line where SU was about to get a big pass play to set up a score. He mentioned that some people mentioned to him that that play was illegal, so he asked Coach Jones about it. Coach Jones said that it was not an illegal play, but they ran a guy on the field late from the sidelines after the formation was set so the defense didn’t account for him. The result was a wide open receiver. He does not know if it was a planned play or what, but it was not reviewable play if it were an illegal play.
Question from a listener about the quarterbacks. He mentioned that last season Coach Jones indicated he didn’t like the rotation. Both Jones and Matthews said that they are better at the quarterback position over last season. Ross Metheny has improved and Brandon Bridge is progressing in the offense. It goes back to something Coach Jones has said every season, if they have players that good, impact players they will find a way get them on the field because that helps to give them the best chance at winning the ball game.
Caller asked three different questions to Coach Jones. The first was the E.J. May interception that was ruled incomplete. Coach Jones said that, via the replay board, he was able to see that the ball came out and that it was a good call so they did not challenge the play. His second question was about a power formation with two tight ends which Coach Jones said that they do have that formation, but they just don’t have that many big tight ends. His last one was about the two quarterback system again concerning a rotation. Coach Jones referred back and reiterated some of his comments earlier in the radio show.
Another caller asked about West Florida possibly adding football, but not Division I. Coach Jones said it would be good for them, he just hopes they don’t go Division I and pull some players that might go to South Alabama.
While answering another part of the callers question, Coach Jones indicated that Dejon Funderburk was going to redshirt this season, but the way he stated it was that it was not their decision and somehow it came from the NCAA. But he did say that with him and transfer Marvin Shinn, they may have the best scout team recevier corps in the nation.
Talking about Tulane, they have a good running back returning this season. They also have a very good receiver that returns as well. Coach Jones said he may be one of the best they face this season.
Lee mentioned that this will be the last season Tulane plays in the Superdome because they are building their own stadium. He asked how it is different to play in a dome. Coach Jones mentioned that it is different for punt returners because it messes with the depth perception. Kickoff returns isn’t really affected because of the contrast behind the ball.
Lee mentioned the start for the Sun Belt this season with Texas State defeating Southern Miss in Hattiesburg and Western Kentucky defeating Kentucky. Both Louisiana teams, Lafayette and Monroe, both didn’t fare so well this week. A big game this weekend for Lee is Western Kentucky at Tennessee since the Jags will face them in a few weeks. Plus Bobby Petrino is familiar with the SEC so it could be a very interesting game.
Lee asked about Arkansas State’s game at Auburn this weekend and if it’s a big advantage for a head coach to face the team he left from the previous season for a new team. Coach Matthews said that there were several coaches left at ASU that were under coach Malzahn and knows what his schemes will be like. But coach Malzahn should be very familiar with the personnel that he will be facing.
Coach Jones ended the show talking about the team. Lee asked him how important the game at Tulane is after losing to Southern Utah. Coach Jones said that every game is important and that they will not be favored by 20 points or anything in any of their game. But he wants his team to be one that goes out every week and gets better while playing hard nosed football. If they do that they can win some games.
Jags Return To Practice Field
First year defensive coordinator Kevin Sherrer talks with the defense on the sidelines at Ladd-Peebles Stadium in the Jaguars season opener against Southern Utah on Thursday night.
South Alabama returned to the practice field on Sunday night for the first time since the Jags season opening loss to Southern Utah. Prior to the light workout in shorts and helmets, they had a team meeting that lasted almost two hours.
The two days prior, the coaching staff poured over the game film breaking down the game and grading performances. Head coach Joey Jones told AL.com, “Looking at the film, I feel like we did some really good things. But the thing we didn’t do was obvious – we didn’t finish the game. We were up eight points with eight minutes left and we lose the ball game. We learned a hard lesson from that.”
“Defensively, we’ve got to stop them, and offensively we’ve got to make first downs late to win the ball game. That’s bottom line. But, the positive side, even though we had a couple of special teams breakdowns, special teams was great. Kickoff coverage was probably the best we’ve ever had – it averaged on the 15 yard line. Kickoff return, we averaged 31 yards per return. Punt team was a 42.1 (yard) average and tackling with a less than 1 yard return.”
“We did some good things. When you have a loss you tend to look at things and it seems like everything is gloom and doom. In some ways it is. But we did some positive things. The thing I challenged the guys with today was we’re going to fight and we’re going to get better. We’re a better team. If we had finished out the game the other night we’d feel a lot better, but we just didn’t finish. So we’ve got to learn to win ball games. We’re at a point with our team, we’ve just got to get that taste of it again. We had a chance and we let it slip away.”
South Alabama started the game by moving the ball quickly with two first downs in their first three offensive plays of the game, however their drive stalled and forced them to punt. Southern Utah was able to capitalize on their drives and went up 10-0 on their first two drives of the game. The Jags would cut the lead to 10-7 prior to halftime.
SU would add a field goal in the second half before the Jags took the lead 14-13 then extended their lead to 21-13 early in the fourth quarter.
Unlike last season, the Jags took care of the ball with only one turnover, however that turnover proved to be costly as Southern Utah turned that turnover into six points but failed on the two-point conversion in an attempt to tie the game.
Besides not finishing the game, the Jags allowed too many big plays. Yet, the Jags could have won the game late with a couple first downs or two field goals in the first half.
It was evident that the Jaguar offense has improved from last season. Shavarez Smith and Danny Woodson gives Metheny and Bridge more options to throw to. Jay Jones showed his speed with a 57 yard run. Brandon Bridge also showed his ability with his 40 yard touchdown run in the first half.
The defense began the game fairly shakey, but in-game adjustments held SU to only three points through the second and third quarters. The Jaguars defensive line had problems getting pressure on the quarterback and stopping the run as SU running backs picked up some big gains. The secondary did not come up with any turnovers, but did break up five passes. However when the game was on the line, they gave up a huge first down on 2nd and 12 and a 13-yard first down on a 3rd and 5.
The Jags will look to correct these areas this week before they travel to New Orleans to face an improved Tulane team on Saturday in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Kickoff is scheduled for 2:30pm.
Coach Jones did say that defensive back Tyrell Pearson and tight end Ben Giles will return from suspension for violations of team rules. Cornerback Akeem Appleton will serve one more game suspension after sitting out the Thursday night game as well.