Sun Belt Media Day Rewind
The 2014 Sun Belt Media Day is in the books and the Conference is in a good position to make some noise this season. Especially South Alabama.
This big headlines for this season so far is the number of new quarterbacks taking the reigns for SBC schools when the fall schedule begins. Over half of the teams in the conference will be starting new quarterbacks. South Alabama is not the exception either. Ross Metheny played very well last season and, most notably, played very smart. He threw for over 1,300 yards as he helped lead the Jaguars to a 6-6 season and 4-3 conference record. Now it may be Brandon Bridge’s turn to help lead the Jaguars to a new level of success.
Bridge sits at the Number 1 quarterback after spring pratice but will have to continue to prove himself as the stable of returning quarterbacks will continue to fight for playing time. However they will also have to prove themselves against two new quarterbacks that will join the team this fall in HuCo transfer Hunter Vaughn and former South Florida quarterback Matt Floyd.
Only five Sun Belt schools have a returning starting quarterback and the biggest name is Louisiana-Lafayette’s Terrance Broadway. Broadway was voted the preseason Offensive Player of the Year honors. Along with him is Georgia State’s Ronnie Bell, Texas State’s Tyler Jones, Appalachian State’s Kameron Bryant and Georgia Southern’s part-time starter last season Kevin Ellison.
When Jaguar head coach Joey Jones arrived at the 2013 Sun Belt Media Day last summer, his team was picked to finish next-to-last in their first season as a full SBC and FBS member. After a season-opening loss to Southern Utah, the Jaguars regrouped and found their game. They finished the season with a three-game winning streak including a season-finale win over Sun Belt Conference Co-Champion Louisiana-Lafayette.
This season it toally different. Coach Jones’ team is picked to finish third in the conference. The potent Jaguar offense returns nine starters from last season. The two starters they lost were Metheny at Quarterback and Matt Calcagnini at center.
The story is a bit different on the defensive side of the ball as they are returning six starters, most of them in the defensive backfield.
But the conference acknoledged the talent that is on the Jaguar roster as nine student-athletes were named to the preseason All-Sun Belt Team.
The following was some of the things that Coach Jones had to say while speaking with the media in New Orleans.
Jones talking about whether he feels USA as good as any team in the conference. “I feel that we are starting to get closer in terms of talent. Two years ago we weren’t Division I quite yet and the talent wasn’t there. But last year was much closer and now we are probably getting to the point where we are comparable to the other teams in the league. But it all comes down to how you play, talent only does so much. you have to play well to win football games.”
Jones talking about quarterback Brandon Bridge: “I feel real good about Brandon. He is a great character young man, he works hard at his craft and he cares about it. He’s very talented, I expect big things out of him. He understands his role isn’t to be the biggest playmaker in the world, it’s to be the starting quarterback at South Alabama and win football games for us, that means taking what the defense is giving you. He’s done a great job this spring.”
Jones spoke about the expectations of being picked to finish third in the conference in the preseason poll: “The way we finished last year definitely helped going into this season. We realized if we play well and do our part we’ll have a chance. One thing I know about the Sun Belt Conference is there are a lot of good football teams and a lot of great coaches. You better be ready to play every week. You look not only at our games, a lot of one- and two-point decisions, but around the league and the other teams are going through the same thing.”
One of the most interesting questions for Jaguar fans is what it will take for USA to win the conference championship. Jones said, “The key in my opinion is we have to win close games, and we have to win on the road. Winning on the road is probably the biggest thing in this conference, most teams were .500 or below on the road last year. You have to find a way to win on the road in this conference to win the championship.”
Last season the Jaguars lost four games by two points or less, two of them by just one point. The Jaguars game against Tennesse was decided by just seven points and USA had a chance to tie or go ahead with under two minutes left in the game in the red zone.
Jones also spoke about the season-ending win over conference co-champion ULL and what it means as they head into the 2014 season. “Louisiana-Lafayette has been the team that everyone in our conference has looked at the last three or four years. Them and Arkansas State. To be able to have a chance to play well against them last year certainly helped our confidence going into this year. But this is a new year with different players and different coaches, we can’t look back, we have to keep looking forward.”
Jags Place Nine On 2014 Preseason All-Sun Belt Team
Ahead of Sun Belt Media Day, the conference released the preseason All-Sun Belt Conference Teams with South Alabama having placed nine on the list.
Wes Saxton was named to the First-Team at tight end for the second consecutive season while Chris May and Ucambre Williams joining him as representatives on the offensive line.
Six more were named to the Second-Team. Wide Receivers Jereme Jones and Shavarez Smith, defensive lineman Jesse Kelley, Linebacker Maleki Harris, defensive back Qudarius Ford and placekicker Aleem Sunanon.
Voting for the Preseason All-Sun Belt Team is conducted among the 11 head caoches and select members of the media.
In addition to being named to the All-Sun Belt Team, Saxton is also on the watch list for the John Mackey and Biletnikoff Awards.
Jones looks to continue his consecutive games with a catch streak this season, which currently sits at 39-games.
Smith set the school record for receiving yards in a season and ranked 14th nationally with an average of 18.8 yards per reception (third among players from non-AQ BCS Conferences). He is also on the preseason watch list for the Biletnikoff Award.
Ford is the top returning tackler on defense as he was second on the team last season with 76 stops. He also picked off two passes and broke up six others after starting all 12 games.
Sunanon turned around a shakey start to his redshirt freshman year to become one of the most consistent kickers in the conference. He set a school single-season record with 91 points as he connected on 18-of-23 field goal attempts and 37-of-39 extra point attempts. He was selected as an Honorable Mention to the All-Sun Belt Team in 2013, his first season at the collegiate level. He finished the season ranked in the top 20 nationally in field goals per game while finishing second in the conference in scoring average. He made a school-record 12-consecutive field goals over the final seven games of the season.
2014 Sun Belt Media Day Is Here
The 2014 Sun Belt Media Day will get underway at 9am this morning in the Bienville Club Lounge in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Each school will have their head coach, except for Troy’s Larry Blakeney who recently had surgery and has been advised against making any long trips, and two student-athletes available to the media. Then at 3pm Sun Belt Conference Commissioner Karl Benson will deliver the State of the Sun Belt Conference, after which he, Coordinator of Officials Steve Shaw, College Football Playoff CFO Reid Sigmon and Sun Belt Athletic Directors will be available to the media.
The SBC will also have two outlets for those who cannot be in attendance.
The “Sun Belt Social Suite” will allow fans access and connections to media day activities by featuring fan submitted questions in a one-on-one interview setting. Fans can submit questions to various coaches and student-athletes via Facebook and Twitter by using the hashtag #SunBeltMediaDay. Questions will be answered in real time as the event is live streamed on the Sun Belt Sports website SunBeltSports.org. The morning session will go from 10am-12pm then the afternoon session will run from 1-3pm with Danielle Percival hosting.
Secondly ESPN3 will have a live show from the floor of the Sun Belt Media Day with a two-hour broadcast starting at 1pm and featuring a selection from each coach and student-athletes from all 11 Sun Belt schools participating. Below will be a schedule of the ESPN3 coaches.
For a full bio for each of the schools, coaches and student-athletes visit the Sun Belt Sports website by clicking here.
The itinerary in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome:
- 9:00 AM – 9:25 AM – Louisiana-Monroe – Head Coach Todd Berry – Student Athletes: Ray Stovall (Sr LB) and Rashon Ceaser (Jr WR)
- 9:30 AM – 9:55 AM – Appalachian State – Head Coach Scott Satterfield – Student Athletes: Kameron Bryant (Jr QB) and Ronald Blair (Sr DL)
- 10:00 AM – 10:25 AM – New Mexico State – Head Coach Doug Martin – Student Athletes: Valerian Ume Ezeoke (Sr OL) and Travaughn Colwell (Sr DB)
- 10:30 AM – 10:55 AM – Texas State – Head Coach Dennis Franchione – Student Athletes: David Mayo (Sr LB) and Michael Orakpo (Sr LB)
- 11:00 AM – 11:25 AM – South Alabama – Head Coach Joey Jones – Student Athletes: Chris May (Jr OL) and Maleki Harris (Sr LB)
- 11:30 AM – 11:55 AM – Troy – Offensive Coordinator Kenny Edenfield – Student Athletes: Terrence Jones (Sr OL) and Wayland Coleman-Dancer (Sr LB)
- 12:00 PM – 1:15 PM – Lunch
- 1:30 PM – 1:55 PM – Arkansas State – Head Coach Blake Anderson – Student Athletes – Sterling Young (Sr DB) and J.D. McKissic (Jr WR)
- 2:00 PM – 2:25 PM – Louisiana-Lafayette – Head Coach Mark Hudspeth – Student Athletes: Terrance Broadway (Sr QB) and Alonzo Harris (Sr RB)
- 2:30 PM – 2:55 PM – Georgia Southern – Head Coach Willie Fritz – Student Athletes: Edwin Jackson (Sr LB) and Garrett Frye (Sr OT)
- 3:00 PM – 3:25 PM – State of the Sun Belt Conference with Commissioner Karl Benson
- 3:30 PM – 3:55 PM – Media Availability with Benson, Coordinator of Officials Steve Shaw, College Football Playoff CFO Reid Sigmon and Sun Belt Athletic Directors
- 4:00 PM – 4:25 PM – Georgia State – Head Coach Trent Miles – Student Athletes: Joseph Peterson (Jr LB) and Keith Rucker (So. TE)
- 4:30 PM – 4:55 PM – Idaho – Head Coach Paul Petrino – Student Athletes: Maxx Forde (Sr DE) and Mike Marboe (Sr OL)
ESPN3 Broadcast Schedule:
- 1:03 p.m. – Sun Belt Commissioner, Karl Benson
- 1:11 p.m. – Mark Hudspeth, UL Lafayette
- 1:21 p.m. – Kenny Edenfield, Troy
- 1:31 p.m. – Dennis Franchione, Texas State
- 1:41 p.m. – Willie Fritz, Georgia Southern
- 1:51 p.m. – Scott Satterfield, Appalachian State
- 2:01 p.m. – Trent Miles, Georgia State
- 2:10 p.m. – Doug Martin, New Mexico State
- 2:20 p.m. – Blake Anderson, Arkansas State
- 2:30 p.m. – Joey Jones, South Alabama
- 2:40 p.m. – Paul Petrino, Idaho
- 2:48 p.m. – Todd Berry, UL Monroe
Jags Voted To Finish Third In Conference Coaches’ Poll
According to a poll of the Sun Belt Conference coaches released on Saturday, South Alabama was selected to finish third in the eleven-team league.
Co-Champions Louisiana-Lafayette and Arkansas State were selected to finish first and second again this season with the Ragin’ Cajuns being a unanious first-place selection. Behind the Jaguars is in-state rival Troy selected to finish fourth.
Appalachian State is rated the highest among the four new addition to the conference as they were selected to finish seventh with Georgia Southern chosen to finish eighth, fellow newcomer Idaho chosen to finish ninth, Georgia State 10 and New Mexico State chosen to finish last in 11th place.
Prior to last season, the Jaguars, entering their first season as full FBS and Sun Belt Conference membership, was selected to finish seventh in the then-eight-team league. However, after a three-game winning streak to finish the season, the Jaguars posted a 6-6 record overall and a 4-3 record in conference play to finish tied for third place with the same conference record as Troy, Western Kentucky (who joined Conference USA on July 1), and Louisiana-Monroe. The final win of the season came against co-champion ULL 30-8 at Ladd-Peebles Stadium. Co-Champions ULL and Arkansas State both finished with a 5-2 conference mark.
While the Jaguar were bowl eligible, and after the fans took to social media in an attempt to sway the bowl selection committees, USA was overlooked for a bowl invitation.
The entire breakdown of where the 11 Sun Belt Football teams were selected to finish is below.
- Louisiana-Lafayette (11 first place votes) 121 points
- Arkansas State 102
- South Alabama 98
- Troy 84
- Louisiana-Monroe 78
- Texas State 70
- Appalachian State 47
- Georgia Southern 44
- Idaho 29
- Georgia State 27
- New Mexico State 26
Saxton And Smith Named To 2014 Biletnikoff Preseason Watch List
The preseason watch lists are coming out and the Jaguars continue to have representatives being announced. On Tuesday it was the Biletnikoff Award Preseason Watch list announcement that saw two Jaguars being named to the list.
A pair of seniors in Wes Saxton and Shavarez Smith were among the candidates announced on the watch list for the 2014 Biletnikoff Award that is presented by the Tallahassee Quarterback Club Foundation Inc. The award recognizes the outstanding receiver in college football. Any player, regardless of position, who catches a pass is eligible for the award be it a wide receiver, tight end, slot back or running back.
Smith and Saxton set school records last season with 50 catches each as they helped the Jaguar offense average over 250 yards passing per game.
Saxton set a career high with 635 yards receiving while Smith finished with 940 yards receiving with six touchdowns and an average of 18.8 yards per catch. Both of them tied for fifth place in the Sun Belt Conference in receptions per game while Smith finished fourth and Saxton finish eighth in receiving yards per game.
Smith, a 6’1″ 210-pound McDonough, Georiga native, was voted to the Second-Team All-Sun Belt Team after last season as he had 18 plays of 20-yards or more. He was selected the Sun Belt Conference Offensive Player of the week after the Jaguars win over Georgia State with a school record 194 yards, tying another record with 10 catches which included a 37-yarder in the Jags opening possession of the second half. He led the receivers against Tennessee with 83 yards on four catches. He accounted for both of the Jaguars touchdowns against Navy while recording five catches for a team-high 65 yards against the Midshipmen. All those accomplishments came in his first season with the Jaguars.
Saxton, a 6’4″ 235-pound native of Hueytown, Alabama, was a First-Team All-Sun Belt Conference selection after ranking among the top five tight ends in the nation in catches and receiving yards per game. He had a career-high 10 receptions for 89 yards at Texas State. The also set a career high with 95 yards on six catches at Troy. In a two-week span in the Jaguars second and third games of the season he caught seven passes for 92 yards to help the Jaguars defeat Tulane 41-39 in New Orleans then caught four passes for 91 yards the next week against Western Kentucky, including a career-long 37-yard reception, to win their conference opener. He finished out the season with a five-catch 88-yard performance against SBC Co-Champion Louisiana-Lafayette.
The 2014 Biletnikoff Award winner will be announced on December 11 on The Home Depot College Football Awards Show that will air on ESPN. College and NFL Hall of Famer Fred Biletnikoff will announce the winner as part of the awards show.
Two other Sun Belt Receivers were also named to the watch list, Louisiana-Monroe’s Rashon Caesar and Louisiana-Lafayette’s Jamal Robinson for a total of four Sun Belt student-athletes making the 2014 Preseason Watch List.
Congrats Wes and Shavarez! Go Jags!
Could ESPN GameDay Come To Mobile?
South Alabama fans are creating a bit of a storm on social media after a recent post by BleacherReport.
On Sunday Brian Pedersen, a featured columnist for Bleacher Report, posted an article predicting every ESPN College GameDay location for the 2014 season. What has gotten the Jaguar Nation up in arms with their social media postings is their prediction for Week 3 of the college football season.
That week is September 13 when South Alabama is set to host Mississippi State at Ladd-Peebles Stadium. Pedersen points to ESPN’s willingness to travel to Fargo, ND last season to get “off the beaten path”.
He goes on by talking about how there are fewer good stories than South Alabama’s. Though he stated that the football program began in 2010 (actually it began in 2009, but close enough) and how it improved from 2-11 in our first season as an FBS Transitional team to 6-6 in 2013 as our first season as a full FBS member.
“The fans in Mobile love their football and annually support the teams that come into town for the GoDaddy and Senior Bowls,” Pedersen writes in his article. “Now it’s time to give them, and the USA student body, a chance to bask in the glow of the national spotlight for at least one Saturday.”
While it is still a long shot that Kirk, Corso and Chris Fowler could visit the Azalea City for a GameDay stop. Other matchups that weekend that Pedersen considered according to the article was: Columbia, Missouri (Central Florida @ Missouri), Fresno, California (Nebraska @ Fresno State), Iowa City, Iowa (Iowa State @ Iowa), Logan, Utah (Wake Forest @ Utah State), Lubbock, Texas (Arkansas @ Texas Tech) and Norman, Oklahoma (Tennessee @ Oklahoma).
The social media campaign that the fans are conducting involves tweeting at @CollegeGameDay with the hashtags #JagNation and #PickUSA. The #PickUSA hashtag was used last december when the Jaguar fans tried to lobby for the bowl committee’s to extend an invitation to South Alabama for a bowl game. Unfortunately that campaign ended with the Jags staying home for the bowl season after obtaining bowl eligibility with three consecutive wins over three Sun Belt Conference opponents including a 30-8 season finale win over Conference Co-Champion Louisiana-Lafayette at Ladd-Peebles Stadium.
Fans, go out and send those messages and share these stories. Every little bit helps. The @CollegeGameDay twitter account posts questions and polls, so it seems to be a monitored account. Filling their inbox and mentions with South Alabama fan messages can only help our cause.
You can read the article here.
Go Jags!
Ucambre Williams Named To Rotary Lombardi Award Watch List
Ucambre William was named to the 2014 Rotary Lombardi Award Preseason Watch List on Monday. | Photo: usajaguars.com
University of South Alabama’s Ucambre Williams was announced as being on the watch list for the 2014 Rotary Lombardi Award by the Rotary Lombardi Award Committee announced on Monday.
This marks the second consecutive season a Jaguar has been named to the watch list for this award. Last season Alex Page was placed on the preseason watch list.
Williams, a 6’3″ 295-pound senior from Phenix City, Alabama, enters the 2014 preseason camp with the tag of starting left tackle. The two-year starter was also named to the preseason second-team All-Sun Belt Conference teams by both Phil Steele and Athlon Sports.
He was selected to the second-team All-Conference team after a team-best 89% grade with 43 pancake blocks. He did not allow a sack on any of the 394 passing plays by the Jaguar offense. He was selected as the coaches’ award winner on the offensive line three times last season (Tulane, Georgia State, Louisiana-Lafayette) and posted a season-high 94% grade against Georgia State and six knockdown blocks against the Green Wave. He equaled his high grade against Troy as the Jags set a school record with 630 yards of total offense. He also graded out with a 90% mark or higher six times last season.
He also was selected for the Coaches’ Award after games against nationally-ranked Mississippi State and UTSA in 2012.
The 45th Annual Rotary Lombardi Award ceremony is scheduled for Wednesday, December 10 at the Bayou Music Center in Houston, Texas. Student-Athletes who are eligible for the award are down-linemen, end-to-end, either on offense or defense, who set up no farther than 10 yards to the left or right of the ball or linebackers who set up no farther than five yards deep from the line of scrimmage.
Congratulations Ucambre! Go Jags!
USA Sports And Coaches Radio Shows Moving To Clear Channel Station
The University of South Alabama and Athletics Director Dr. Joel Erdmann made a huge announcement on Monday concerning radio broadcasts of South Alabama sports.
The University and Clear Channel radio agreed to a three year partnership that will move South Alabama Football radio broadcast from 105.5FM WNSP to 99.9FM WMXC and USA coaches radio shows as well as Men’s Basketball and Baseball games will be broadcast on NewsRadion 710AM WNTM. All broadcast will be available to stream through Clear Channel Media + Entertainment’s iHeartRadio app for smartphones and tablets.
Previously all of the same content was broadcast on 105.5 WNSP and streamed online through their website and other applications that gave access to their stream through smartphone and tablet devices.
Though the football broadcast will be the only thing broadcast on Lite Mix 99.9, it will expand their reach further into Florida and Mississippi as well as north into Alabama.
Officials hope that, by getting on a Clear Channel station, they could be cross promoted and may potentially be rebroadcast on other Clear Channel stations if things go well.
Unfortunately the Men’s Basketball, Baseball and coaches radio shows will be relagated to their AM radio station, NewsRadio 710. Though their streaming is available through the iHeartRadio app, they are limited to the AM radio waves for the forseeable future.
“We are excited about this partnership and the opportunities it provides for our department,” stated Erdmann. “Of significance is the broadcast reach for our football games, and priority broadcasting for the men’s basketball and baseball programs. The iHeartRadio application provides dependable and easy-to-access free broadcasts of our games nationally on digital radio, smartphones, tablets and home computers. In addition, the ability to market and cross-promote through various Clear Channel stations directly targets males, females and families of various ages and interests.”
“This partnership is a natural for us. Many of the great people who work here at Clear Channel Mobile are USA alumni and fans, and we’re all excited to bring the games to Jag Nation and our Gulf Coast community,” Lite Mix 99.9 and NewsRadio 710 WNTM Program Director Dan Mason said. “Like the student-athletes and coaches who give their best every day, we’ll bring our best to coverage of Jaguar Athletics and offer unprecedented access to the program. Every football game will air live on Lite Mix 99.9, which serves the Central Gulf Coast with the most powerful FM signal between Tampa and New Orleans, while games and coaches shows for all three programs will be available at iHeartRadio.com.”
Dates and times for the Joey Jones Radio Show have not been released yet, but the first broadcast of South Alabama Football will be on Saturday, September 6 when the Jags travel to Kent State with kickoff scheduled for 1pm.
The initial three-year contract includes a provision to extend the agreement at the end of the initial contract.
What do you think about the move? Comment on this post or, on Facebook or tweet @usathunderjags with your thoughts about this move.
Bridge Finishes Second in Manning Passing Academy “Air It Out” Competition
Quarterback Brandon Bridge seeing some playing time against Southern Utah during the 2013 season.
Out of 40 quarterbacks who competed in the “Air It Out” competition at the Manning Passing Academy, South Alabama’s own Brandon Bridge advanced all the way to the finals and finished second in the competition.
Congrats Brandon! This looks very promising for South Alabama with the group of wide receivers returning this season.
Go Jags!
2014 SBC Media Day Announced With Special New Feature
The annual Sun Belt Conference Media Day for the 2014 season is scheduled for Tuesday, July 22 at the Bienville Club Lounge in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Media Day availability will start at 9AM and go through 5PM with the head coach and two student-athletes from each of the 11 football playing schools in the conference. SBC Commissioner Karl Benson is scheduled to deliver the State of the Sun Belt Conference at 3PM. Following the State of the Conference, Benson will be available to the media along with Coordinator of Officials Steve Shaw, College Football Playoff CFO Reid Sigmon and the Sun Belt Athletic Directors.
Those who cannot attend can view a live show from the floor of Sun Belt Media Day on ESPN3. They will be airing a two-hour broadcast starting at 1PM and will feature a selection of each coach and student athlete interviews from each of the football schools participating.
The Conference will also be unveiling the “Sun Belt Social Suite”. This unique feature will allow fans access and connections to media day activities by featuring fan submitted questions in a one-on-one interview setting. Fans can submit questions to various coaches and student-athletes via Facebook and Twitter by using the hashtag #SunBeltMediaDay. Questions will be answered in real time as the event will be live streamed on the Sun Belt Sports website SunBeltSports.org. The morning session will go from 10AM to 12PM and the afternoon session runs from 1-3PM. Danielle Percival, former Trojan TV Sports reporter, will be hosting the inaugural incarnation of the “Sun Belt Social Suite”.
The schools participating are: South Alabama, Appalachian State, Arkansas State, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Idaho, Lousiana-Lafayette, Louisiana-Monroe, New Mexico State, Texas State and Troy.