Coach Joey Jones Show Recap 2011-11-08
Head coach Joey Jones was joined by coach John Turner and host Lee Shirvanian for his radio show on Tuesday, November 8, 2011.
They have already started preparing for Cal Poly. The team is practicing three days this week (Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday) then the coaches will be recruiting Thursday and Friday. The players will have Thursday, Friday and Saturday off before getting back in and starting back in game week mode.
The extra three days of practice will be a huge help for the team, especially for the defense as they have to prepare to defend the triple option. It’s an offense that you don’t see often anymore. Kids don’t see it in high school any more nor do you see in the college game much either. I wrote an article about basics in defending the triple option you can read by following this link.
They are working on fundamentals and are really focusing on special teams fundamentals. This week they have really broken down the special teams fundamentally this week and Coach Jones can see results.
Lee posed a question to Coach Turner about the offensive line preparation for Cal Poly. Coach Turner said that they have seen several 4-3 base defenses this year and over the past couple years so they are ready fundamentally. So they will repeat some of the game plans that they have installed already this year as well as any other plans they think are needed for this game.
In The Orthopedic Group’s injury update segment Coach Jones said that B.J. Scott is still recovering from his knee injury and is listed as doubtful for the game. Jereme Jones, who hurt his shoulder against Henderson State, is currently listed as questionable (50/50) but is looking better each day. Gabe Loper who left the game against MVSU with a hamstring issue will probably be ready by game time. Finally Bryson James has slowed with a back injury but is doing well and has more than a 50% shot at playing but will only list him as questionable right now.
Lee asked for another update on Brandon Ross’ status. He was at practice where he had been running and is looking pretty good. However he said that he is probably 75-80% and thought if they had pushed him harder, he probably would have been ready to play in the final game but there was no need to hurry his recovery just to play in one game and risk re-injuring his knee. They are focused on getting his well and ready for next season.
Lee mentioned their depth and running back and how injuries this season had thinned out the stable. Coach Jones said that Keels playing time was necessitated because of injuries at running back.
A caller asked if Coach Jones preferred playing in a divisional format with a conference championship or would be prefer something like the Big12 has where each school plays each other and have a conference champion coming out from that. Coach JOnes answered that he preferred the divisional format with a conference championship.
He actually talked to the team recently about something like that. This is their third season without anything to really play for beyond an undefeated season. It’s hard preparing for each game without a goal to strive for.
Next season that changes somewhat as they are playing in the Sun Belt Conference but will not be eligible for the conference championship nor will they be eligible for a bowl game. But they do have a bowl like trip to end the season at Hawaii to strive for. But they will be able to directly compare themselves to other teams in the conference. He guarantees that if they win more games than anyone else, they may not be recognized by the conference, but they will be recognized by the school.
Another listener called in about kickoff times and how they relate to Alabama and Auburn with their TV games. Coach Jones they talk about kickoff times alot in the offseason. He could not care what time they kick off beyond what is best for the fans. They don’t want 11am kickoffs because they have such a great tailgating presence and they don’t to do anything to hurt that.
Next year game times will be more fluid due to conference scheduling, TV and other outside factors. Coach Jones is worried about the quick turnarounds as they are starting to play Tuesday night games on ESPN. He does not want to play a Saturday game and have to turn around and play Tuesday. Or Play on a Tuesday and turn around for a Saturday game.
An email question asked if they would be able to sign a few JuCo players and be able to back sign them to this past recruiting season. Coach Jones said that they can and they will. They want several for offensive line and secondary players.
Lee asked if the offensive line was going to be the hardest hit group from graduation. Coach Jones said that they are the only graduating players on the team pretty much. They will be losing Brian Krauskopf, Jon Griffin and Chris Brunson, all starters on the offensive line. Jon Griffin has started every game since he has been at South Alabama. Two more players they are losing are Paul Bennett and Kevin Helms, which amounts to a lot of experience and ability.
Coach Jones is very confident in the leadership and ability in the players they have recruited. They can see their leadership and they will have a chance to step up and make a difference.
Other players that are Seniors are corner backs Jeremy Roberts and Anton Graphenreed, Safety Coleman Hornaday, Placekicker Jordan Means, offensive lineman Ryan Norris and wide receivers Lamontis Gardner and Donte Rome.
Lee asked how many offensive lineman they are targeting for this recruiting class. Both coaches answered that they are looking to sign seven to eight offensive linemen this time. They will be addressing that need with some JuCo players as well as several high school signees.
Coach Jones jumped in and said that their plan, which has been very successful so far, they have been very careful about who they sign. They didn’t sign just to have numbers, they signed a calculated number of players and thus they will be able sign over 20-24 scholarship players instead of the 10 that they would have been able to sign otherwise.
An email question about balancing money games against playing other teams to help get to a bowl game. Coach Jones said that they will have to play some money games for the financial stability of the program. But they hope to have some good scheduled games like Navy. But they were very fortunate to get teams like NC State, Mississippi State and Oklahoma State to come to Mobile for games, but they lost some financially in doing that. But what they lose there, they gain with exposure and things for the area.
Lee asked if he could ever see a time when Alabama or Auburn could be on the Jags schedule. Coach Jones said that he could see a time when that could happen.
Rounding out the show, they had the Fuego Who’s Hot segment and asked who are the most improved players this season. Coach Turner said that Brian Krauskopf would be one that he would single out as the most improved this season in technique. Younger guys have gotten better as well and he named Tremain Smith, Shawn Artz and Drew Dearman out of the young guys that have really improved. Coach Jones said that Gabe Loper has really improved and come one this season. He did not begin the season as a starter but jumped in there when needed and has really improved. They started him at safety but they think he is more natural at corner back. Since moving back there he seems to have grown more comfortable there and settled in nicely.
Monday press conference for November 7
Center Trey Clark and the offense make adjustments at the line of scrimmage.
Coach Jones was joined by offensive lineman Trey Clark for their Monday press conference. They reflected on the Jaguars win over Mississippi Valley State and previewed the Jags final game of the season against Cal Poly on November 19.
“I think it [the weekend] was a good break for our players and our staff to just get away from football for a couple of days,” said Coach Jones in his opening statement. “The players came back refreshed, and that was good. As far as the Mississippi Valley State game, I thought we played well. We had a really good first half, and we got a lot of guys playing time in the second half. We’re looking forward to (the) Cal Poly (game). We know they are a great football team, but one thing we are focusing on this week is fundamentals. We are going to practice for three days in pads, and have some physical practice and work fundamentals. We’ll also put the game plan in, but the big focus the next three days is getting better fundamentally. We’re excited about it. One thing our players have talked about is that we have had a good year, and we want to finish strong. The way you finish strong is by practicing hard and doing your part in practice, and then the games take care of themselves.”
In reply to a question about what Coach Jones would like to see after two consecutive wins, he answered. “We just want to finish strong, and that’s the biggest thing. We have played well all year. We had some issues in some games and some mistakes, but we played well all year. I want to finish on a good note. We have some seniors who came and started this program three years ago, and I want to send them off on a good note as well. They have done a lot for this program.”
Coach Jones then spoke about Cal Poly. “On the offensive side of the ball they run the triple option, which is what coach Bryant used to run in the 70s and 80s. It is a very good offense and very tough to defend. People have a hard time stopping it because it is the best offense put together in my opinion. On paper it is the very best one because you don’t have to block two people on the side of attack. If you read one and are pitching off of another, you’re basically double-teaming everywhere else. There’s just no other offense that can do that. It’s very tough to defend. Our kids don’t see it very much at all. I think it is hard to prepare for a game like that in one week, so us having two weeks to prepare helps. It gives us three extra days to work on that, and I am thankful that we do because they are very good offensively. Defensively, they are very sound and fundamental. They have strong guys up front. They don’t do a lot of things on the defensive side of the ball; they are just sound in what they do and are very well-coached.”
Coach Jones was then asked about remaining undefeated at home. “That’s always in the back of your mind, but we can’t get caught up in all of that. We know that what happens on the practice field creates success on Saturdays. We just worry about that. We have to do what is needed to get prepared for this team. It is a very good football team. UC-Davis beat them last week, and we know how good of a team they are. It took all we could do to beat them last year. They play very good football, so we just have to get ready.”
Coach Jones also spoke about Trey Clark’s importance to the program. “When you start on offense, you start with your center. Trey has been the core of our offensive line. He is very smart; he makes all of our checks and calls. He cares about it and is passionate about this team. He is a guy who has that much of what I call guts inside of him. He has the want-to to do it. He is a little undersized, but he plays big in the game and we can win with guys like Trey Clark – there’s no doubt in my mind.”
Clark spoke with the media about having another off week. “We will take this opportunity to go back and really work on our fundamentals. We’ll definitely take full advantage of this bye week in preparation of Cal Poly. We have started watching a little bit of film; they are very well-coached and a physical bunch. They have pretty good size up front, so I think this week will be great for us in terms of preparation.”
Clark then mentioned sending out the seniors on a winning note. “It is going to be a very emotional game for me playing with all of those guys for the last time. We want to do our best to send them off on a good note, and win it for the seniors.”
Finally Clark continued speaking about the emotions involved as the season finale approaches. “It’s definitely bittersweet. I thought we played well in the last two games, but at the same time you really don’t want it to end so soon because I have played with these boys for three seasons. Some of them are getting ready to go off and start the next chapter of their lives, and I’m going to miss so much being next to those guys. It’s one of those things where we just want to send them off on a good note and win it for the seniors.”
Jags down MVSU 35-3
A bad snap caused a big loss for the Delta Devils.
Thursday nights matchup against Mississippi Valley State was a bit of a mismatch. The short week didn’t make much difference as the they won 35-3 in a cold breezy game at Ladd-Peebles Stadium.
With injuries to Jereme Jones and B.J. Scott, J.J. Keels handled the lone kick return duties against the Delta Devils. Keels showed he was ready for this opportunity very quickly in the game. After forcing the Delta Devils to punt, Keels would take the punt off of a bounce and return it 45 yards to the two yard line. Keels would not be able to take it into the end zone on the first down play, but Houston would on the next play though.
He would also take the opening kickoff of the second half 100 yards for a touchdown to get his first touchdown as a Jaguar. Earlier in the second quarter, Keels would break a 25 yard run down to the Delta Devil one yard line, where he stepped out of bounds before scoring. Again Houston would put the ball in the end zone.
Every time the Delta Devils threatened to score, they would make a mental mistake and break their momentum, it would allow the Jaguars defense to stiffen and force a stop.
The defensive front, particularly the starting three, were in the backfield all night. Romelle Jones regularly beat his man but Delta Devils linemen did good to knock him off his rush from time to time. Ben Giles had a career night with nine tackles.
It was another game where the Jags could go deep into their bench and get other players some playing time and experience in game situations. But the Jags also tried out some new wrinkles in their goal line package and successfully scored a couple times in that situation.
Coach Jones commented after the game, “It was big for J.J. to come in there as a true freshman and make those types of plays. We lost B.J. and Jeremé, so we have gotten thin in our return game. I thought he stepped up and did really well. That [the kickoff return] was a big play in the game.”
“I thought we played really sound in the first half,” Coach Jones said. “The defense gave up a little yardage in between the 20s, but got stiff down there toward the goal line. The offense had a short field a couple of times, then we had an 80-plus yard drive in the first half, which is big. The special teams played well — the return game was good and we kicked the ball well. Overall I am real pleased with the game.”
“We are kind of a methodical football team, we don’t have big-play guys on offense,” he continued. “J.J. came in and sparked us in the return game, and he had a couple of good runs. But we are the kind of team that if we don’t make mistakes and have a lot of penalties, we have a chance to beat a lot of people. When we play like we did tonight then we end up on the winning side, so we just need to keep that up.”
The Jags have a week off before their final game of the season when they host Cal Poly on Saturday, November 19. The game can be seen locally on UTV44 and nationally on ESPN3.com and will kick off at 4pm.
MVSU Gameday is here
The Jaguar offense led by Myles Gibbon, goes four wide on 3rd down late against Henderson State.
South Alabama will host Mississippi Valley State University today with kickoff scheduled at 6:30pm at Ladd-Peebles Stadium in a White-Out game (Wearing all white uniforms). The Delta Devils are 1-8 on the season after finally coming out on top last weekend against Texas Southern by a score of 12-9.
The Delta Devils previous eight games were against Alabama State (41-9), Murray State (39-0), Alcorn State (39-14), Prairie View A&M (43-34), Southern University (28-21), Alabama A&M (37-14), Jackson State (17-16) and Grambling State (30-24 OT). All were losses for MVSU.
The Jags will be without Jereme Jones after his shoulder injury in last weeks win over Henderson State and B.J. Scott (knee). I wouldn’t expect to see Kendall Houston or Demetre Baker too much if the Jags jump out to a good lead. Both are nursing some knee injuries which are slowing them down. Coach Jones and Coach Perry will want them to get plenty of rest between now and the Cal Poly game on November 19th.
Earlier this week, Clay Machen announced his verbal commitment to the Jags. Machen is a three star (scout.com) recruit out of Auburn High School. He is a 6’4″, 295 pound center but according to his high school coach Tim Carter, he can play any position on the offensive line but he also said he thought center would be his best position long term. Carter also said that he played basketball which indicates he has good feet.
Coach Joey Jones Show Recap 2011-11-01
One of Kendall Houston's three rushing attempts versus Henderson State.
Joey Jones and Lee Shirvanian joined by strength and conditioning coach Justin Schwind for this week’s Joey Jones Radio show at Baumhower’s Restaurant on Airport Boulevard.
Lee started by mentioning that the Jags got off to a good first half, but that it looked like they just wanted to get the game over with as quickly as possible in the second half since it’s a short week. Coach Jones said that they got players out of the game to rest and give other players some time to play.
They immediately went into the Fuego hot players of the game. Lee and Coach Jones mentioned linebacker Desmond LaVelle is a great player, hard worker. The coaches love his attitude and nose for the football. He was actually named linebacker of the week by the coaching staff. Then Coach Jones mentioned offensive lineman Melvin Meggs, a redshirt freshman that really played well, probably his best game of the year. Very effective on Bakers 7 yard run for a touchdown in the game. Getting really good with the technique for an offensive lineman. They further mentioned Demetre Baker with first 100 yard game of the year even after not practicing much during the week due to a bum knee and another defensive player was Gabe Loper who is becoming a good force in the secondary with good man-to-man skills and his zone technique is getting better.
Next they went into the Orthopedic Group injury update. Coach Jones mentioned Jereme Jones hurt his shoulder in that 65 yard run against Henderson State and will not be playing against MVSU on Thursday. Jereme was the only player he mentioned.
The PAT was a fake that was preplanned that didn’t work. The blocked was wrong and caused him to get stopped, but if they had picked up the correct guy to block, then he would have walked into the end zone Coach Jones said.
Lee asked about being up 16-0 and deciding to go for the two point conversion instead of kicking the PAT to make it 17-0 and not have to “chase points.” Coach Jones said that it was to be a surprise when they may not be expecting it plus doing that tells the other teams that you are willing to fake it any time which helps with the rush. He also mentioned that they probably should have done it earlier in the year and that Coach Perry is on him all the time about faking it to keep teams honest.
Lee mentioned Keels first start, CJJ said it was mainly because of injuries. Kendall has been nursing a knee injury for a while now, but he indicated that today was the first time he looked close to 100% in the last two weeks. Also it was mentioned earlier that Baker had been nursing a knee injury as well. At one point they weren’t sure either Baker or Houston would even play in the game.
Lee mentioned that you could never have too many running backs since the Jags have a good stable of backs. Coach Jones agreed and said that Brandon Ross could possibly play in the final game of the season, but they are not going to do that but rather wait for him to come back next season instead. Jones said he’s probably 90-95% right now but they don’t want to risk it.
Caller asked Coach Jones thinks that the team is ahead of schedule? The caller remarked that, looking at other teams in the conference, he thinks the Jags could be in the “upper echelon” of the conference right now. Coach Jones said he does not know where they would be and said that they are not at their full scholarship level yet, but they will be after this recruiting class. They want to be competitive in the Sun Belt but knows it will be tough with teams like Troy and FIU with teams like Western Kentucky and Arkansas State getting better. But the biggest difference and the toughest thing will be facing good FBS teams week after week.
The next caller to the show asked about the problems Trey Clark had snapping the ball to the quarterback in the shotgun. Coach Jones said that Trey was complaining about his hands being dry from the cold air and wind. So they put a glove on him and his snaps improved. Plus with the wind and his style of snapping can cause problems because it’s not like a spiral so it can be affected by gusty winds at times.
Lee asked about the strategy at the coin toss and if the wind was the major factor in choice after winning the toss. Coach Jones said it was, they wanted the wind at their back in the first quarter and more importantly in the fourth quarter. Around 4:00 the wind is pretty strong but by 7:00 it has died down. So after looking at weather forecasts they wanted it at their back when it is at it’s strongest.
When asked by Lee about concern about not being able to run the ball consistently inside the five yard line Coach Jones said he was very concerned. It has kind of snuck up on them, it was something they were very good at early in the year but now it has been clamped down on. The coaches have looked at it and changed some things. He also said that they should have picked up on that a week or more ago. They have some changes they are making that they think will get them back in gear again.
Lee and Coach Jones introduced Coach Schwind by saying that he has been with Coach Jones for about five years. He is very good at his job, is a great person and is a great motivator for the players.
Coach Schwind answered the question about how he motivates the players to work out and get stronger is by showing them the purpose of why they do it. How it translates into better performance in the game on the field. When asked who was the hardest worker in the weight room, Justin immediately said Paul Bennett.
Lee said that the jags are a very physical team and asked Justin if they meet his expectations for a physical team. Coach Schwind’s answer was yes, they are a very physical team and coaches from other teams tell them that the Jags are the most physical team they have played.
Talking about the Kent State game, Lee mentioned how the Jags were being pushed around by their defense and how physical they were with us. Coach Jones agreed and said that their defense was the most physical team they have played so far. He gave them credit for their play.
Lee also asked about the difference between workouts during the season and during the off season. Coach Schwind said that the off season is about getting bigger and stronger. In-season, the idea is recovery. Your emphasis is recovery and to maintain what they have.
A follow-up question by Lee was asking if there was such a thing as too much weight training. Justin answered with a “yes and no”. If you are doing the same thing every day then that is not good. You are going to hit a wall and over train an area while under training other areas. You have to plan the regimen to meet the needs of the kids and how they recover so you do not cause injury.
Later Lee asked about changes to their workouts as they go into an FBS schedule next season. Coach Schwind said that he has already talked to Coach Jones about this and that they have mainly discussed emphasizing discipline. Justin’s job in the off season is to focus on this in every thing they do. Strive for perfection and hope that continues into the season and onto the field.
Another follow-up question from Lee was about the possibility of strength and conditioning helping to prevent injury. Coach Schwind said that there is no doubt about it, it helps to avoid injury. If you are in a perfect anatomical position of the body to do something, your susceptibility to injury is greatly reduced. They train for a complete balance of the body, if you do not have a sound weight training regimen then you are opening yourself up to possible injury.
Coach Jones also chimed in to help explain. He said that if you only did benchpress without any Lat pulls to strengthen your back, you will have shoulder injury. He said Herchel Walker always talked about pushups, but he had shoulder injuries, possibly because he wasn’t balanced that way.
Turning towards Mississippi Valley State, Coach Jones said that they are very athletic. Defensively they very dynamic, they have a very big number of different blitz’s that they can run. They have lots of different coverages and different types of fronts they can use. Which is a lot to go through in a short week.
Offensively, they have quarterback who can throw and who can run some. They try to get him to the edge a good bit so they have to keep him contained and to watch down field for the big pass.
Talking about last Saturday’s game some more, Coach Jones liked the blue uniforms and said that they would wear them again. But he wanted to get some input from the fans about them. He said the players and President Moulton both liked them.
Free tickets to the game for high school kids with $5 companion tickets for the parents. These are end zone tickets.
A caller asked about designing plays. When the Jags play a team do they try to use plays that they see and like and put it into their offensive system. Coach Jones said not really, they don’t want to be what he called a “Monday football” team. Where they play a game and add plays that they see on Monday morning. First off, different teams have different personnel which factors into a play being fit for one team and not another.
Coach Jones used an example of a team using a speed sweep against the Jags. He said that, with T.J. Glover out, they are not a speed sweep team because they lack that speed to get out to the edge quick enough to make it work.
The previous question lead to Lee’s next question to Justin about developing speed in the weight room. Justin said that it can be done by technique. They can work on how to run and how to run fluidly. He said that fundamentally there are two ways to run faster; by improving frequency and by increasing stride. Improving frequency is about getting their legs and feet to get up and down faster to take more steps. Stride length is how many yards they cover in each step. Lots of times, when players get to college, they find out no one has emphasized to them these things.
The next caller asked about recruiting Junior College players to help the team as they begin their transition to FBS with a much tougher schedule next season. Coach Jones said they are probably looking at four to five JuCo players to add to the team. Mainly in the secondary the offensive line. They also want to find a rush type defensive end to rush off the edge and get after the quarterback.
Monday press conference previewing MVSU on Thursday
The Jaguar offense lining up in the wishbone set in the first quarter against Henderson State.
South Alabama Head Coach Joey Jones recapped Saturday’s win over Henderson State and a preview of the Jaguars game against Mississippi Valley State on Thursday night. Joining Coach Jones was defensive end Anthony Taylor and freshman running back J.J. Keels.
Coach Jones spoke about Saturday’s win after coming off a loss to Georgia State. “We were challenged by that loss, and we needed to respond not only as a team but as men. I thought we did that. The kids came out and played hard again, which they always do, and got after and played passionate football. The challenge this week is that we have to do it again. We’ve talked about winning the game during the week – at practice. And they have continued to work hard and it has been a good deal.”
Quote on Coach Jones comments about the team’s defensive performance. “We had seven takeaways and I think we just got after them early and they just never got going. I thought we played extremely well defensively in the first half. It ended up being 28-0 at halftime, and I think it just took them out of the game.”
Coach Jones comments on Mississippi Valley State. “They are athletic on both sides of the ball, and got their first win of the season last week. They have a quarterback who is a tall, rangy guy who can run and throw. He is the key to their offense. Defensively, they run a lot of different fronts and multiple blitzes so it’s making us simplify our game plan even more – the fact that we have a short week and they run a lot of things defensively. The biggest challenge for us is the multiplicity of what they do defensively.”
Coach Jones speaking about Thursday’s game and how it affect the team. “It is a short week, and it changes your schedule somewhat. There isn’t a lot of preparation time. We’re used to getting a lot of preparation time in for a team, but it’s something we have to deal with and fortunately the other team does as well and they have to travel. We feel good about it, and the coaches have done a good job simplifying the game plan. What you have to do is execute in a game like this. You don’t want to put too much in and then the kids don’t get it and don’t perform well on Thursday night. Sometimes change is just good. As coaches, we are about routine. We have our routine and everything is planned, but sometimes a change is good not only for the staff but for the players. The great thing is that after this game on Thursday, we have a short week. They are going to get some time off, and that could really help us for that last ball game.”
A follow up on how the quick turnaround affects the Jaguar game plan. “We had to have it ready by Monday morning. Not only did we have to speed things up, but we also had to simplify a little bit to make sure we can execute. The biggest thing I stress is we have to be able to execute. We can’t put in too many things, and we just have to be smart about what we do.”
In the game against Henderson State, Anthony Taylor recorded his first career interception. This is what he had to say about it at the press conference. “The interception really turned it around, because they were moving the ball on us. We had a zone blitz called, and I dropped back into the right coverage and made the first pick of my career. It was a big moment for me and my team. I’m just happy I’m out there making plays for them. I got a newfound respect for what running backs do on that play. There is a lot going on and a lot of colors running together. The first thing I did was get out of bounds. But it was a big play and was really exciting.”
Taylor also spoke about the defense’s preparation for the Henderson State game coming off of the Georgia State loss. “Coming off the loss to Georgia State, our coaches really emphasized running to the ball. We really got back to that last week, and I think that showed. We got seven takeaways, that was a record-setting performance. I think getting back to the little things really helped us, just being an all-around swarming defense.”
Running back J.J. Keels spoke about his first career start against Henderson State. “I was happy and excited and tried to do my best to show everyone why I was recruited. Hopefully I can show that for the rest of this year and next year. I didn’t know I was going to start until our walkthrough before Saturday. It kind of took me by surprise, but it was the position I wanted to be in.”
Keels spoke about Saturday’s win as well. “I think the turnaround started at practice. Coming into the game off of a loss to Georgia State, everyone felt like we had to do better. During the week at practice, everyone knew that it was our week. These last three weeks will be the last games we will ever play with some of these people. This side of the ball, everyone came off with fire and so much passion that coach Jones was excited and he was happy with that.”
Keels also spoke about playing on a Thursday night. “It’s been a while since we played on Thursday. The last time was against West Alabama. The practice week is very short and we practice on days we normally do not practice. The times are stricter, but we have more fans on a Thursday. I think this game is big on Thursday. Everyone can come for entertainment, but it’s just another day at work.”
South Alabama and Mississippi Valley State kick off at 6:30pm on Thursday, November 3 at Ladd-Peebles Stadium. The Jags will be wearing their all white uniform and are asking the fans to wear white as well.
Go Jags!
Jags blue out the Reddies 28-3
Myles Gibbon encouraging the team as they go to the sideline to start the game.
South Alabama rebounds from turnover fueled, double-overtime loss at Georgia state to force a school record seven turnovers in a 28-3 win over Henderson State. Demetre Baker and Jordan Means combined to account for 22 of the 28 points for the Jags while donning their all blue uniforms for the first time.
Last years game was much closer with the Jags icing the game with a late field goal to win 37-31. But the rematch was never in doubt really. Both teams went three-and-out on their first possessions, but Enrique William’s interception on the Reddies second drive got the offense in gear. They started at the HSU 25 and have first and goal on the two yard line, but three consecutive rushes, two by Houston and one by Baker could not get the ball into the end zone thus they would settle for the field goal.
On the Reddie third possession, Clifton Crews would force a fumble on their first play which would be recovered by Gabe Loper setting up Demetre Baker to rush for 16 and 7 yards respectfully for a touchdown to go up 10-0 in the span of about three minutes.
Then on the fourth Reddie possession, they would line up in the punt formation but would fake it and run but would be stopped short of the one yard they needed for the first down. This gave the Jags the ball at the Reddie 29 yard line. Baker would take it into the end zone again for his second touchdown of the game. What looked like a bad snap would be handled by Taylor Noon and pitched to Jordan Means to run with, but he would be caught failing to convert. This left the Jags leading 16-0 with 1:57 left in the first quarter.
After a HSU punt on another three-and-out, the Jags would start at their own 27 yard line. Jereme Jones would almost get caught for a loss, but would break a 65 yard run down to the Reddie 8 yard line before being tackled out of bounds. Jones would be injured on the play and taken to the sideline and eventually to the locker room.
The Jags would again fail to punch it in with 1st and goal from the Reddie 4 yard line on three consecutive runs by Baker. The Jags would settle for a field goal by Means what was shorter than an extra point to go up 19-0 with 12:52 left in the 2nd quarter.
Henderson State would finally move into Jaguar territory and get as far as the 43 yard line before the drive fizzled out and forcing a punt which was downed at the Jaguar 14 yard line.
The Jags Paul Bennett would catch a good pass from CJ Bennett but would fumble it to the Reddies at the Jaguar 42 yard line. But on 3rd and 6 on the Reddies possession, the Jags would force a fumble and Romelle Jones would recover it at the Jaguar 44 yard line.
The Jags would then march 56 yards in nine plays with CJ Bennett running it in from 9 yards out to cap off the drive. Means’ PAT would be blocked leaving the Jags lead 25-0 with 4:15 left in the 2nd quarter.
Henderson State would start at their own 32 yard line after a short kickoff was fair caught at their 32 yard line. The Reddies would then begin driving into Jaguar territory getting down to the 37 yard line. But the defense would hold on 4th and 11 at the Jaguar 42 to get the ball back.
The Jags would then use their hurry-up offense to try to put points on the board before halftime. Bennett would find Lamontis Gardner for 3 yards on first down. The Jags would call a time out with 41 seconds left in the 2nd quarter. Bennett would find Bryant Lavender for 8 yards and a first down at the HSU 47 with the Jags calling their 2nd time out of the half.
Bennett would find Corey Waldon for 13 yards down to the Reddie 34. Bennett would rush the offense up to the line and spike the ball to stop the clock. Bennett would tuck the ball and run for 6 yards before stepping out of bounds at the Reddie 28 yard line. After an incomplete pass on 3rd down, Means would line up for a 45 yard field goal into the wind with 9 seconds left until halftime. His kick would just barely make it over the crossbar giving the Jags a 28-0 halftime lead.
Henderson State would add a field goal with 33 seconds left in the 3rd quarter to break the shutout, however that would be the only score in the second half.
The first part of the second half was really sloppy for the Jags. After playing a penalty free first half, they would lose some composure in the second half.
It did give Coach Jones and the team to go deeper into their depth chart for a second time this season. At one point, there was only one starting player in the lineup on offense. JJ Keels saw plenty of time at running back and Greg Hollinger got more time than he had all season as well.
Romelle Jones continues to play like a beast on the defensive line. The secondary is playing thin without Damond Smith and BJ Scott. Jereme Jones suffered a bit of a hyper extension to his shoulder but is okay. We probably will not know if he is able to go on Thursday until Tuesday’s radio show.
Drew Dearman has been seeing more playing time on the offensive line and the coaches seem to be quite comfortable with his play. He did a great job on Saturday.
Coach Jones had the following to say at his post game press conference. “Those takeaways were big and we had a short field on offense a good bit tonight, and that’s always a good thing. I thought we really played a good game defensively for the entire game. We didn’t give up any big plays, and if we don’t do that then we are going to be very hard to score on. They did that tonight and I was proud of them.”
“We were prepared, the coaches had them prepared and we had a good week of practice,” he continued. “We match up with teams that are in the spread formation pretty well. I think our athletes fit the spread defensively, and we had a good pass rush tonight. That’s one thing we haven’t had in a while. We put pressure on the quarterback, and we were hitting them and trying to knock the ball loose.”
The Jags defense held the Reddies to 155 yards passing and a mere 55 yards rushing for only 210 total yards. While the Jags offense racked up 252 yards rushing and another 123 yards through the air for 375 for the game. The Jags also held a 37:06 to 22:54 time of possession advantage as well.
Demetre Baker had his first 100+ yard rushing game with 113 yards on 20 carries. Jereme Jones ran once for 65 yards, Myles Gibbon ran 7 times for 27 yards. JJ Keels ran 12 times for 27 yards. While Kendall Houston only carried the ball three times on the opening drive for four yards and that was his game.
CJ Bennett went 11-of-18 for 101 yards with one interception for the game. Myles Gibbon went 4-of-8 for 22 yards and no interceptions. Corey Walden and Bryant Lavender both caught three passes each. Waldon had 35 yards and Lavender had 26 yards.
The Jags have a quick turn-around as they host Mississippi Valley State on Thursday night with kickoff scheduled for 6:30pm at Ladd-Peebles Stadium. The Jags will be dressed out in their white uniform, so the athletic department is asking the fans to wear white to the game.
Henderson State preview
CJ Bennett directing the Jaguar offense in the first half against Georgia State.
The Jags host Henderson State, their first of three home games to round out the third season. It was announced on Tuesday, that the Jaguars final regular season game this year will be televised by UTV44 in the local market while being available nationally on ESPN3.com. Kickoff is still scheduled for 4pm against Cal Poly.
So far the Reddies are 4-3 on the season with wins over Harding (35-21), West Georgia (50-30), Southeastern Oklahoma (30-14) and East Central Oklahoma (42-21 in overtime). They come into Mobile on a three game winning streak.
The Reddies average 30.7 points per game while giving up 27.9 points per game on average. They have 132 first downs on the season, 69 of them came through the air while 46 have come on the ground. The remaining 17 have come through penalties. Their opponents have gained 148 first downs with 75 through the air and 58 on the ground. The remaining 15 have been given up by penalty.
The Reddies have gained 2,428 yards of total offense with an average of 346.9 yards per game. 1,449 yards have come through the passing game as their quarterbacks have gone 152-of-252 on the season with 11 touchdown passes and 9 interceptions. That breaks down to 5.8 yards per passing attempt and 9.5 yards per completion. They have gained 979 yards rushing on the season for an average of 139.9 yards per game and an average of 4.4 yards per rush with 15 touchdowns.
Defensively the Reddies have given up 2,690 of total yards which is 384.3 yards per game on average. They have 1,680 yards through the air as opposing quarterbacks have gone 162-of-263 with 12 touchdown passes but only 4 interceptions for an average of 240 yards per game. They have also given up 1,010 yards rushing for an average of 144.3 yards per game and 3.7 per rush.
The Reddie offense has fumbled the ball 20 times while losing 11 of them to the opposing team. While the defense has forced and recovered the same number (20 fumbles and 11 recoveries). The Reddies have been flagged for 64 penalties for 577 total yards or an average of 82.4 yards per game. Their opponents have been flagged for 56 penalties for 516 yards for an average of 73.7 yards per game.
HSU has a solid special teams unit with an average of 22.6 yards per kick return and 12.7 yards per punt return. While defensively they give up an average of 20.3 yards per kick return and only 3.8 yards per punt return.
HSU has a very bad 3rd down conversion rate of only 29% on the season by only converting 27 of 93 attempts but are converting 62% of their 4th down conversions (8-of-13). Opponents are converting 44% of their 3rd down attempts going 52-of-118 and also converting 47% of their 4th down conversions (7-of-15).
The Reddies score 76% of the time in the red zone with 65% of their trips being touchdowns. Their opponents score 70% of the time in the red zone with 56% of them being toucdowns.
Henderson State have a few players to watch out for. Jarvis Smith is their main running back with 603 yards on the season with 85 carries. The next closes rusher has 39 attempts for 236 yards.
The Reddies also have two quarterbacks who has seen a fair amount of playing time. Nathan Nall has played in six games going 80-of-137 for 790 yards, three interceptions and 6 touchdowns. Kevin Rodgers has seen action in 4 games while going 72-of-115 with 6 interceptions and 5 touchdowns. Though it sounds like Nall is injured and Rodgers will be taking is place against the Jags.
HSU has a pretty good stable of receivers. The top two are Nick Johnson with 26 catches for 213 yards and three touchdowns on the year. Robert Jordan has 24 catches for 263 yards but no touchdowns. They have five other receivers with between 10 and 15 catches and over 100 yards receiving on the season.
The Jags will kickoff against the Reddies at 4pm on Saturday at Ladd-Peebles Stadium. South Alabama will be wearing their all blue uniforms for the first time so the athletic department has asked fans to wear blue to the game.
Go Jags!
Coach Joey Jones Show Recap 2011-10-25
Teams huddle as they go to overtime in the Georgia Dome
Coach Joey Jones and Lee Shirvanian were joined by tight ends coach Bryant Vincent at Baumhower’s Restaurant on Airport Boulevard in Mobile Alabama.
They began by recapping some of the Georgia State game. Lee mentioned B.J. Scott’s big return to open the game. But the Jags were stopped inside the five yard line and couldn’t put it in the end zone. Answering Lee’s question concerning the impact that caused when they couldn’t score, Coach Jones said that it did have a affect on the game. Blocking was problematic on that series and the Jaguars have been pretty good in the red zone this season, but that stand gave the Panthers confidence that they could stop the Jags.
Lee asked if there is an advantage in scoring first in a game. Coach Jones answered by saying that he does not believe that it’s that much of an advantage. As a team you have to be able to withstand that. It’s nice to score first, but he thinks opening the second half with a score is bigger than opening a game with a score, especially if it’s a close game.
In the Fuego’s ‘Who’s Hot’ segment, Coach Jones called out Paul Bennett and Kevin Helms for their outstanding work both blocking and catching. Defensively he name Romelle Jones as one that is playing well.
For the Orthopedic Group’s injury report, Coach Jones mentioned B.J. Scott injured his knee by hitting it on the turf late in the game last Saturday. They are doing MRI’s and watching it. Right now it doesn’t look promising for him to play against Henderson State. Scott added some charge to the kickoff game with about 180 return yards for the game. Lee mentioned that the asked if they might get him involved in the offense.
Lee then turned to Coach Vincent and mentioned that the Jags routinely use multiple tight ends and that if you are a tight end, South Alabama is a place for you. As for throwing more to the tight ends, Coach Vincent says that they are taking what the defense gives them. Bennett and Helms both can block really well but they can also catch really well too.
Lee mentioned that you rarely say that there is a good penalty, but at the end of the fourth quarter, that was a good penalty. Bennett rushed and threw and interception, but due to a dead ball foul because they were missing a guy on the field. Lee mentioned that the thought the game was over because the flag was on the Jags. But since it was a dead ball foul and the clock had been stopped on the previous lay, they got another shot and made it count.
Coach Jones, when asked about his thoughts on overtime, said that they played an overtime game in San Antonio and felt good about it. Neither team scored in the first overtime, but going into the second, Coach Jones felt good about it. They felt good but couldn’t get the ball in the end zone.
Coach Vincent was asked about how he and Coach Jones got to know one another before he was hired for the staff. Coach Vincent said that they coached against each other in Birmingham when he was at Spain Park and Jones was at Mountain Brook. Hopefully their success in the college ranks will open the door for all of the good high school coaches to move up into college. Vincent is asked how he got to coach tight ends when he didn’t even have any tight ends at Spanish Fort last year. Coach Vincent said that when Coach Rodrique left, that was the position that was open.
Lee asked an email question about the final play of the game when Bennett’s pass was intercepted to end the game in the second overtime. He asked if that was a designed play and why not just run it on 2nd down from the two. Coach Jones said he expected that question and indicated that it was a called play to throw out of play-action if someone was open or throw it away. But protection was an issue and two guys came in unblocked, they hit his arm and the ball fluttered and was intercepted unfortunately. They had open players, one guy was covering two receivers.
Another email asked if we will see Myles in the game due to C.J.’s interceptions. Coach Jones said that, looking at Bennett’s stats, he doesn’t look good. But he only threw one interception actually, the others were tipped passes or his arm being hit. But he did say that Myles has been working hard in practice and will see some playing time this week but not because Bennett is playing bad.
Lee mentioned that most of the time Myles has been in the game it was for a run and asked if they had a wildcat play with one of their fast receivers like Jereme Jones or someone else. Coach Jones said that they probably should have one of those plays, but that they don’t have anything in their package yet. It’s something they would like to try though. He said that either Jones or Ameriol Finley would be ones that could do that.
Continuing talking about Finley, Lee asked about his transition from quarterback to defensive back and how it was going. Coach Vincent said that he hasn’t played on defense in two years, but he is doing well transitioning. He has plenty to learn but is progressing well. He is making contributions right now in special teams.
Coach Vincent continued talking about tight ends and throwing to them more lately. He said that Paul Bennett and Kevin Helms are primarily blockers, but that Coach Gregory is doing a good job of using what they do and getting those guys out in the flat to throw to. Helms is doing very well catching the ball and gaining yards.
Lee then asked about what the coaches do during halftime, how they meet with the players. Coach Jones answered that they split the offense to one side and defense to the other side in the locker room. Coaches meet and decide what they are going to do, then they meet with the whole offense and defense as a unit before breaking down into individual groups.
Coach Jones later said that he is worried that the team may be tending to play to the level of their opponents. They are playing their hearts out, but that they may be playing emotionally to the level of the team they are playing. That’s something they have to be aware of. As a coach, they have to know when to get the players up for a game and when they need calming down too.
A caller asked for Coach Jones to talk about recruiting, particularly in the Mobile and Baldwin County area. Coach Jones said that they have good relationships with coaches in the area. They start in Mobile and work their way out looking for players. It’s great for South Alabama to have so many good players right here in the Mobile area.
Lee asked about the two big touchdown passes from Hill to Wilson for Georgia State. Coach Jones said that those two big plays were huge. If either of those two plays or two tipped passes for interceptions go our way, he feels that USA would have won the game. They just have to stay away from the turnovers and stop the big plays.
One caller asked Coach Jones if he would have gone for a two point conversion or would have just kicked the extra point if they had scored a touchdown in the second overtime. Coach Jones answered by saying he would go for the extra point. He said he was confident that they would win the game. Usually teams that don’t think they can outright win may go for two to end it early if they have the chance.
Coach Jones acknowledged that the offense has been sputtering this season. He said that losing T.J. Glover and Courtney Smith will do that, they lost some big play makers. T.J. could catch a short pass and then outrun players for a big gain and Courtney made many big catches. Going five yards at a time is tough to do consistently, but if you can make some big plays it really helps and that is what they are lacking right now.
Greg Hollinger is getting more involved in the offense, he is behind due to preseason injuries. He is getting more involved each game.
Back to recruiting, Coach Vincent said that it helps recruiting by previously being a high school coach. Coach Jones agreed and added that being a head coach in the high school ranks, you know how you want to be treated, so as a recruiter they have built relationships with coach and not just strolled in and asked who their best players were.
Finally they look ahead to Henderson State. Lee indicated that their quarterback is out or will be questionable for the game. Coach Jones said they have to prepare for both, but they are very similar so unlike GSU they will not have to prepare for quarterbacks with totally different styles.
Monday press conference for October 24, 2011
Quarterback C.J. Bennett speaking with coaches on a headset.
Jaguar head football coach Joey Jones with players Paul Bennett and Alex Page met with the media on Monday. They looked back on the Jaguars loss to Georgia State and previewed their upcoming game against Henderson State on Saturday.
Coach Jones opened the press conference with his opening statements. The always humble Coach Jones first congratulated Georgia State on their hard fought win and also mentioned that the Jaguars have been a marked team by their opponents. The then began to reflect on the game in the Georgia Dome.
“What I’d like to do is congratulate Georgia State on a big win for their program. It seems like now, and I don’t know why, that we are the circled team on a lot people’s schedules. We’ve had a lot of success over the last two years, and every coach I’ve talked to after the game says that they have circled our name. I guess we’re the new upstart program that has done fairly well.”
“I felt like we played hard, when you look at the film we played extremely hard. I thought we were focused, but when you look at the game there were four times we got inside the 10-yard line and didn’t score and two times we gave up big plays on defense. If you take those plays out the game is different, but unfortunately you have to count those six plays. It wasn’t a matter that our kids weren’t ready to play, there’s no doubt in my mind that they were. We just had a few critical errors that can cost you games.”
Coach Jones also commented on how the special teams play has improved over the course of the first seven games of the season. “I think our special teams have improved, they have become a real plus for our program. Early in the year I thought we were deficient there, especially the first ball game, and have gradually got better as the season has gone on. We were only a couple of things away from making every goal we have.”
“Henderson State is a team averaging 30 points a game, they are very good offensively and sound defensively. They run the spread and throw it all over the field. It seems like I’ve got up in front of the players and talked ad nauseam over the last three years about that teams that can beat you. When you look at a team like Henderson State, there is no doubt that they can, they are good enough, are well-coached and do a good job. They are really efficient offensively, so we have to be ready to play.”
“What we have done is focus on us and what we need to do regardless of the competition. One of the things we talked to the team about yesterday is that we should never focus on a team and try to play at their level. We need to play at our best level at all times, whether it’s N.C. State or anybody else. We need to play at the highest level possible, that’s the challenge for our team.”
Coach Jones then elaborated on what Henderson State does well as a team. “They really throw the ball very well. They throw a lot of quick passes where you can hardly get to the quarterback. He takes the snap and gets rid of it in about a second-and-a-half, it’s a lot of short passes and timing patterns. They are very efficient in what they do offensively.”
“Defensively what they are is a very sound football team. They don’t do a lot, whereas a lot of teams we have played this year have been multiple in their fronts and used slants, blitzes and different things. This team is more fundamental and just going to play good, well-coached football.”
“We played them last year and they have a lot of people back. I think they have 16 returning starters from last year’s team, and they gave us a game at the end last year, came back and made a run. Knowing their personnel, we feel better and more prepared playing them.”
Answering a question about the difference in offensive production from last year to this year, Coach Jones said. “I think it’s a combination that we are playing better teams this year, that’s always a factor, and the turnovers. The other night C.J. gets credited with four interceptions, but only one of them was him. Two were dropped balls that we tipped up and gave to the defense and the other one somebody hit his arm when he threw it and the ball went straight up in the air. Really we had one bad play the whole game.”
“I don’t know how we could have prevented them other than catching the ball, but turnovers have plagued this team for sure. Especially in some of the bigger games. Coaches can sit up here and talk about it all the time, but when you have five turnovers you’re just not going to win.”
“But in a lot of ways I think we are better. Last year we had T.J. Glover, who could make a big play for us when we needed one, and I think that area has hurt us as well.”
When asked about possible personnel changes this week coach Jones said, “We’re looking at some things and some different moves, but of course I’m going to keep that to myself at this point.”
He then answered a question about the Jags preparation for Henderson State’s offense with a new quarterback. “They are real similar. If you look at them they do the same things. I don’t think they look much different at all except that they have a new body at quarterback. He’s good, and a big kid – 6-2, 6-3 and over 200 pounds — and has a good arm. They don’t look much different when you look at them last year and this year. They might have averaged a few more points per game last year, maybe a touchdown more per game, but they are still very effective.”
When asked if the Jags will be able to dictate this weekend’s game on offense Coach Jones answered. “We’d like to hope so, that’s our goal every game. That’s who we are as an offensive team. We’re going to start with the run first, we feel like we’ll have some chances there, but we also have to be able to throw it. One thing we need to do a little bit more is throw the ball on run downs to help so that the other defense can’t load up on us. We’ve talked about that as a staff, we’ve got to mix that up a little bit to help us as well.”
Paul Bennett was next up speaking with the media. He was asked about areas of improvement. His answer was short and to the point. “We’re just going to keep practicing and doing what we’ve been doing. We just have to make it work this time.”
Another question was about the team’s state of mind after the Georgia State loss. “We hate to lose. We’ve been brought up here hating to lose. Everyone’s expectations are still high. We’re not going to conform to what everyone else wants us to, we have our own high expectations. We’re just going to keep practicing how we’ve been practicing, and just work out the kinks.”
Defensive end Alex Page was next and answered the same questions. On areas of improvement, “We have a rotation defensively, and it seems to have been effective so far. We’re just going to continue to practice and improve.”
On the team’s state of mind after the GSU loss. “It’s in the back of your mind, having suffered the loss. But as a player, you have to put it past you and keep practicing and preparing for the next game no matter how tough the loss was. That’s what we’re going to do this week.”
Some fans have been vocal online talking about personnel change, primarily at the quarterback position. Which I’m quite sure the personnel question was indirectly meant to address.
The quarterback position is the position that receives the most scruitnity when fans are a bit disgruntled. C.J. Bennett has thrown 13 interceptions to 6 touchdowns this season.
Should Myles Gibbon be given a chance? I don’t have access to all of the game film, but if what Coach Jones says is correct, then you cannot fault Bennett completely for all of those interceptions. They have played against very good opponents and the receivers have had chances to pull down some passes but couldn’t. But at what point to do try someone else to see if that sparks the team or even sparks the other player to work harder and make better decisions?
Go Jags.