SBC Football Schedule Released
Start making your travel plans Jaguar fans!
The Sun Belt Conference released the conference football schedule on the league website on Friday. This is complete Jaguars football schedule.
- Thursday, August 29: Southern Utah @ Ladd-Peebles
- Saturday, September 7: @ Tulane
- Saturday September 14: Western Kentucky @ Ladd-Peebles
- Saturday September 21: BYE
- Saturday September 28: @ University of Tennessee
- Saturday October 5: @ Troy
- Saturday October 12: BYE
- Saturday October 19: Kent State @ Ladd-Peebles
- Saturday October 26: @ Texas State
- Saturday November 2: Arkansas State @ Ladd-Peebles
- Saturday November 9: BYE
- Saturday November 16: @ Navy
- Saturday November 23: Louisiana-Monroe @ Ladd-Peebles
- Saturday November 30: @ Georgia State
- Saturday December 7: Louisiana-Lafayette @ Ladd Peebles
The Jaguars will have three bye weeks this season and will be in action on the last weekend of the season, December 7, when some conferences will be holding their conference championship game. Conferences with 12 or more members can host a conference championship game, the Sun Belt will only have eight football schools for the 2013 season.
The conference also announced that the Sun Belt will have two midweek appearances on ESPN or ESPN2 and four Thursday night appearances on ESPNU.
Two-time defending R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl Champions Louisiana-Lafayette will be featured on both of the ESPN/ESPN2 matchups. First ULL will face WKU who is coached by former Arkansas head coach Bobby Petrino and will be played in Bowling Green, Kentucky on either October 15 or 16.
The next week, ULL will face the defending GoDaddy.com Bowl Champions and two-time defending Sun Belt Champion Arkansas State on either October 22 or 23.
ESPN can also add additional games through their 12-day selection open. ESPN3 will also air this year’s Sun Belt Conference Football Media Day on July 15 in New Orleans for the second year in a row.
Rubit Earns SBC POTY Honor From CollegeInsider.com
Rubit was named SBC POTY by CollegeInsider.com as he averaged 18.9 points, 10.8 rebounds and 33.3 minutes per game during the regular season. Photo by John Adams | usajaguars.com
Augustine Rubit picked up another honor on Tuesday when CollegeInsider.com named him the Sun Belt Player of the Year.
Rubit, a 6’6″, 235-pound junior from Houston, Texas was one of three players honored by the website. Along with Rubit, Brandon Peterson was named Most Valuable Player and Kermit Davis was named Coach of the Year, both from Middle Tennessee State.
Rubit was a preseason All-Sun Belt Conference pick and was named first-team All-Sun Belt last season.
It’s expected that Rubit will also be named to the 2012-2013 All-Conference team by league coaches and media on Wednesday. They will also honor Coach of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year.
Rubit finished the regular season with an average of 18.9 points, 10.8 rebounds and 33.3 minutes per game. He also added 36 blocks, 31 assists and 19 steals this season.
The Sun Belt Tournament tips-off Friday in Hot Springs, Arkansas with the Jags earning a #3 seed in the tournament and a bye in the first round of the tournament. The Jags will face the winner between #6 Western Kentucky and #11 UL-Monroe on Saturday night.
Jones Pleased With Progress On Defense
The Jaguars fourth practice of the spring, the second in full pads, lasted over two hours on Tuesday at the practice fields on campus. Afterwards coach Jones indicated that he was happy with the team’s progress so far this spring.
“I’m real happy”, Jones said. “We’ve got some things to work on like any spring, but we’re trying to work a lot of guys. I think we will be able to evaluate ourselves a little more in a couple of weeks, but right now we are on track.”
The Jags worked on several fundamentals during the first half of practice including a turnover circuit, screens and run plays and individual skill drills. Then in the second half of practice they moved on to short-yardage plays and 7-on-7 skeleton passing drills. The 7-on-7 drills included first, second and third down passing drills. The players came together for a team segment working on perimeter drills, second-and-10 situations and other first and second down plays.
Defensively though, the Jags caught coach Jones’ eye as they began to get the new scheme and terminology. “I thought, defensively, it was a much better day,” Jones explained. “The guys are starting to get it scheme-wise and were flying around to the football. I think that’s due to understanding better what they have to do. They took a big step today. There’s not much change, we’re still going to play hard-nosed football. Kevin Sherrer has done a heck of a job getting these guys to understand how we need to play.”
The team will have Wednesday off before returning to the practice field on Thursday for a half-practice, half-scrimmage at 6am. It will be the last practice before spring break.
Coach Jones and his staff want to see how the players react to game-like situations on the field. The coaches don’t have to stress how important it is, they are working hard to earn playing time this fall.
Coaches are looking to get players as many reps as possible, not really worrying about who is first or second string. “We really haven’t looked at it (depth chart),” Jones explained. “We obviously have to have people lined up to have an organized practice.”
“The bottom line is, we want to get them all reps right now,” Coach Jones reiterated. “We’ll evaluate that more after this week. Really throughout spring we’re going to try to stay away from who’s first-string and second-string. We’re trying to get everybody reps and make them better.”
Jags Open Second Week Of Practice Tuesday
South Alabama opens their second week of spring practice Tuesday morning for their fourth practice session.
The staff continue to get as many players repetitions as time and circumstances allow them to do. They continue to add some new wrinkles to the offense and evaluate players as much as they can. With over 100 players taking part in spring practice, the focus continues to be on fundamentals and evaluation.
But the learning process continues. The new plays have been filmed and reviewed. The coaches have broken them down, players have reviewed them and mentally prepared for Tuesday’s workout.
Offensively, running back Jay Jones has garnered attention in the Jags first three practices. He has showcased his speed to get to the edge but also the ability to run off-tackle up the middle as well. That was something the Jags staff wanted to get when they recruited him.
He joins some experienced players in the backfield in Kendall Houston, Demetre Baker and Terrance Timmons among others. Cristobal Dinham and freshman Kaleb Blanchard will join them this fall.
Jay actually ran a similar offense in his first season at Northeast Mississippi Community College, which has helped him grasp it quicker than anticipated. While he still has a long way to go, he believes that coach Matthews’ scheme fits him well and factored into his decision to come to South Alabama.
Jay will definitely have the upper hand on the players who will join the team this summer. He will know more about the offensive playbook and will have plenty of time in the weight room and conditioning program ahead of the newcomers.
Coach Jones likes having competition at positions on the team. He believes the players work harder and allows the staff to get a good evaluation of the players from that competition. Plus it’s good to have more options and styles to choose from on game day. Competition will make the team better.
Injury wise, the Jags have had only one serious injury. Cornerback Eddy Cabrera will miss the rest of spring practice with a broken fibia. Cabrera’s had another players leg whipped into him, breaking the fibia in the process. He had surgery performed by Dr. Albert Pearsall, the team physician, and is expected to be ready by fall practice.
Two other players are recovering from concussions. Defensive back Charles Harris suffered his on Saturday while defensive end Ridge James suffered his on Sunday. Once they are cleared by the medical staff, they will return to the practice field for the Jags.
The players will hit the field looking to improve their execution in preparation for what coach Jones referred to as a “half-scrimmage” coming up on Thursday. The Thursday session will begin as a normal practice, but with the scrimmage at the end. It will also be the last practice session for over a week as the team will have spring break off before returning to the practice fields on Tuesday, March 19 at 6am once again.
Jaguar Sports Weekend Update
Men’s Basketball
The Jags fell on the road to Western Kentucky on Thursday night after falling behind by as many as 14 points against the Hilltoppers. But the Jags surged late but just could not make up the deficit and fell 79-73 in Bowling Green, Kentucky.
Rubit finished with 23 points and nine rebounds with four assists and three steals. Javier Carter got his second consecutive double-double with a season high 14 points and 10 rebounds. He also added six blocks and three steals against the Toppers.
The Jags rebounded in the season finale trip to Troy to face their in-state rival Trojans. The Jags capped off the season with a 53-49 win on Saturday night in the Jags first game in Troy’s brand new Trojan Arena.
South Alabama fell behind by as many as 16 points in the first half and trailed by nine points at halftime. But outscored the Trojans 34-21 in the second half to come away with the victory. But it took a key defensive stop late to preserve the Jaguar victory.
Javier Carter picked up his third consecutive double-double with 10 points and a career-high 13 rebounds. Carter also added five blocked shots including one with :12 seconds left to preserve the Jaguars three point lead at the time.
Augustine Rubit also added to his season total of double-doubles with a 13-point, 10 rebound effort.
Antoine Allen scored nine of this 12 points in the second half for the Jags.
South Alabama finishes the regular season with a 17-11 record overall and a 14-6 record in Sun Belt play. Troy lost their fifth consecutive game of the season to fall to 11-20 overall and 6-14 in Sun Belt play.
Troy’s head coach Don Maestri continues to be suck on 499 career wins.
South Alabama, who secured the #3 seed in the Sun Belt Tournament, will face the winner of the #6 seed Western Kentucky and #11 seed UL-Monroe game at 8:30pm on Saturday night at the Convention Center Court in Hot Springs, Arkansas.
In the Jags same bracket, #7 FAU and #10 Troy will face on in the first round then the winner with face #2 seed Arkansas State at 9pm on Saturday night in the SUmmit Arena. The winner of that side of the bracket will face the winner of the Jaguars side of the braket at 9pm on Sunday in the Semifinal game.
Football
South Alabama held their second practice of the spring practice period on Saturday morning and their third on Sunday afternoon. With three new faces coaching on the defensive side of the ball, including first year defensive coordinator Kevin Sherrer.
Sherrer, instead of installing a new playbook, is focusing on getting all of the players on the same page. They are working on communication and new signals and terminology.
“The goal is for the new staff to communicate what they want out of the players, and for the players to understand what they [the coaches] want,” head coach Joey Jones explained after practice. “We want the players to come out of the spring totally understanding what our defensive staff wants them to do. The interaction seems to be extremely good. Our players appear to have a great feel for what the coaches want. They like the new coaches and understand they know what they are talking about and they have a great relationship off the field. It’s been real good for us.”
Sherrer was hired before the start of the spring semester and NCAA rules allowed several meetings in the offseason, is helping to achieve Coach Jones’ goals for this spring.
“I was in the first team meeting when they got back from the winter break, so they knew who I was,” Sherrer said. “A lot of them came by with questions, and we were allowed a couple of hours per week in the offseason to meet with them so we were able to get in there and teach them a little bit. The toughest part was getting the staff acclimated to what we are going to do because we all came from different directions. But so far it has gone well. The players have adapted to it and are eager to learn.”
Sherrer is using veterans on the team to help get his message to the rest of the team. Bryson James, Clifton Crews, Enrique Williams, Romelle Jones, Darrius Morrow and Tyrell Pearson, all who started last season for the Jags, were acknowledged by Sherrer as having a lot of experience and leadership ability on the team.
Sherrer is building a strong foundation on which the rest of the defensive scheme will be built. It may be very simple right now, but his process will build upon that and gain complexity throughout the spring and fall camp.
“We want to have a good understanding of the defense and the scheme that we want to run,” Sherrer explained. “We want to evaluate the players that are out there and see who fits the scheme and make sure we’re doing the right things. The most important part is that we want to come away with the right fundamentals, defense striking with their hands, tackling the right way and pursuing the football.”
They will return to the practice field at 6am on Tuesday with another two hour practice scheduled for the team.
Women’s Basketball
The #7 seed South Alabama Lady’s Basketball team will open the Sun Belt Tournament on Friday with a 2pm game against #10 Troy in the Convention Center. The winner of that game will advance to play the #2 seed Arkansas-Little Rock at 2:30pm on Saturday at the Summit Arena.
On the other side of the same bracket at the Jags has #6 North Texas opening at 2:30pm against #11 UL-Lafayette. The winner will then advance to play #3 seed Western Kentucky on Saturday. The winner will then face the winner of the other side of the bracket in the semi-final game on Sunday.
Softball
After dropping only their second game of the season, to #1 ranked Alabama on Thursday, the Lady Jaguar softball team turned around and swept through the Magic City Classic Tournament in Birmingham Alabama this weekend. The Jags defeated Murray State twice, the first 1-0 on Friday then again on Saturday 8-6. They then defeated UAB 8-2 in their second game on Saturday. Then they capped off the weekend by defeating Samford 4-0 on Sunday for a 4-game sweep of the weekend.
Third baseman Haley Fagan took a 1-0 pitch and drove it over the center field wall for a grand-slam to lift the Jags over Samford on Sunday.
Both Julie Moss and Brittany Campbell were named to the All-Tournament Team with Farish Beard named Co-Most Valuable Pitcher and Brittany Fowler named Most Valuable Player of the Tournament.
The Jags will host Nicholls State on Wednesday. The Lady Jags defeated Nicholls 7-1 earlier this season in Louisiana.
The Lady Jags are 17-2 overall this season. Next weekend they will travel to Long Beach California for the Long Beach State Invitational where they will face UC-Santa Barbara, Idaho State, UCLA, Utah and the host Long Beach State.
Once they return from that tournament, they will have the week off before hosting Louisiana-Lafayette over the weekend to open their Sun Belt schedule.
Baseball
The Jaguar lost their first game of the season on the road in Charleston, South Carolina on Friday night to College of Charleston by a score of 12-2.
The Jags then rebounded in the second game to win it 3-0 but then fell 2-3 on Sunday to get only their second loss of the season.
The Jags are 10-2 on the season and will return to action against Nicholls State on Tuesday in Thibodaux, Louisiana with a 6:30pm first pitch. They then return home to host Southern Miss on wednesday for another 6:30pm first pitch.
Jags Begin Spring Practice
Head Coach Joey Jones speaks to his team after the conclusion of the Jaguars first practice of 2012 preseason camp.
South Alabama began spring practice this morning as they gear up for their first season as a full FBS member in 2013. Though the Jags are coming off a 2-11 season and have questions going forward, there is an excitement and eagerness to meet the challenge head on.
The Jags defense last year played very strong and surprised many for a first year FBS program. But they allowed too many big plays.
Out goes Bill Clark, who accepted the head coaching position at Jacksonville State, and in comes new defensive coordinator Kevin Sherrer from Alabama. Sherrer will have experience on the defensive line with Romelle Jones, Montavious Williams, Randon Carnathan, Alex Page and Pat Moore all returning. Likewise, the Jags will return some linebackers that should be the core of a solid unit as well.
But the secondary will be where help is needed, which is where Sherrer will coach.
The offensive line will need to replace Trey Clark, who started every single game the Jaguars have played in the last four years. A group of experienced players return giving second year offensive coordinator Robert Matthews a lot to work with. Drew Dearman and Melvin Meggs return with redshirt freshmen Joseph Scelfo and Clay Machen, among others, looking to earn more playing time as well.
The position that gets the most attention year in and year out is quarterback. The Jags return Ross Metheny who won the starting job from C.J. Bennett last season, but cannot sit back and expect to keep that position with the stable of players behind him. Trey Fetner who came in at times last season on designed run plays on short yardage third and fourth down plays. Fetner has a strong arm, runs great strong with the ball and is settling into Matthews spread offense.
Many will be looking to Brandon Bridge to see what he does this spring. Bridge transferred in from Alcorn State and brings a big arm, but needed work on his accuracy. He is quick and could bring something extra to the spread offense. The key will be his accurancy, the Jags cannot afford many turnovers as a second year FBS program.
Redshirt freshman Grant Powell will look to get an opportunity to show what he has, and the same with Kolt Peavey.
South Alabama will need playmakers to step up and show what they have this spring. They lacked a big receiver who could be counted on to come through in key situations. They converted Gabe Loper to wide receiver from defensive back last season, but he has since graduated. Who will be able to fill that role this season?
Another big player at tight end is also gone as Greg Hollinger left after the season. Hollinger was a go-to guy who could make miss-matches against the defense.
More players will join the team in time for fall camp. But Coach Jones and his staff will be looking to see how the players have progressed from last season before looking at the the influx of mostly young talent this fall.
Jags Baseball Up Record to 9-0 With Win Against Jacksonville State
The Jags baseball team upped their record to 9-0 this season as they defeated Jacksonville State 8-3 Wednesday afternoon at Rudy Abbott Field. Matt Bell pitched five innings allowing three runs on four hits with three strikeouts. The three runs came on a three-run homer allowed in the first inning. But Bell would settle in and retire 14 of the final 15 batters he faced.
Every Jaguar starter got a hit in the game, five of them recorded multiple hits.
USA struck early with two runs in the top of the first inning on a two-run double by Jordan Patterson. Nick Zaharion would single later in the inning to score Patterson. Whitt Dorsey singled to center field to score the Jags final run of the inning to take a 4-0 lead.
The Gamecocks would cut the lead to 4-3 but would be shut out the rest of the way as the Jags cruised to the 8-3 win.
“We scored four in the first on five hits and that was good to see, because there wasn’t a lot offense yesterday,” Jaguar head coach Mark Calvi explained. “Then we gave up a three-run home run, but credit Matt Bell for coming back. He threw up zeros his next four innings, and we got every leadoff hitter out except for the ninth inning. He did what he had to do. He bent a little but didn’t break, and gave us a chance to score some runs. And we were pretty good out of the bullpen again.”
“We have to be good,” Calvi explains. “It gets tougher from here. College of Charleston is going to be good. We face a really good pitcher on Friday. They have some good arms and have some hitters returning, so we need quality starts. We need our starters to get us into at least the sixth (inning). We’ve used the bullpen a little and they have done a great job, but I want to see our starters get into the sixth or seventh inning and have a full cupboard for Saturday and Sunday.”
South Alabama will play College of Charleston in Charleston, S.C. this weekend for a three-game series. The Cougars enter the game 3-4 and on a three game losing streak in the Auburn Tournament with close losses to Indiana State, Auburn and Middle Tennessee State.
Jags Face Western Kentucky In Bowling Green Tonight
As South Alabama gears up for the conference tournament, they still have some work to do with two regular season contests left to round out the season. The Jags have already wrapped up the #3 seed for the tournament, but there is a lot left to play for and finish strong.
The first up is Western Kentucky on Thursday night at E.A. Diddle Arena in Bowling Green, Kentucky where the Jags are 11-16 all-time against the Hilltoppers. Though, USA holds a 33-29 edge all-time against WKU.
USA wants to keep their momentum going as they are 8-2 in their last 10 games, 16-10 overall and 13-5 in Sun Belt play. They also have a two-game winning streak going against the Hilltoppers dating back to last season.
With an injury and a dismissed player earlier this season, the Jags continue to fight and win though the roster is small and everyone is needed. Each player has their role, each player continues to play that role and the Jags continued to win.
Western Kentucky enters the game with a 15-14 record overall and 9-9 in Sun Belt play.
The key for the Jags is getting out to an early start. The Jags are a perfect 15-0 (11-0 SBC) when they are tied or leading at halftime. They are also 12-1 (10-1 SBC) when they have a higher shooting percentage than their opponent.
USA vs WKU will be broadcast on 105.5 FM WNSP, ESPN Full Court or ESPN3.com online.
Rubit Named One Of 25 Finalist For Lou Henson Award
Augustine Rubit set a new career-high with 34 points with 12 rebounds for his 14th double-double of the season against ULL. Photo by John Adams | usajaguars.com
On Monday, CollegeInsider.com announced the finalists for the Lou Henson Award. South Alabama’s Augustine Rubit is among the 25 finalists for the award given to the top mid-major player in the country.
Rubit is the only Sun Belt Player included in the list of 25.
Rubit is leading the Sun Belt in rebounding with 10.9 per game and is second in scoring with 19.0 points per game while also second in double-doubles with 15 this season.
He had a career-high scoring game against ULM in January when he poured in 34 points and has already set a new school record for free throws in a single season. He has scored 30 or more points three times this season.
The award will be presented at the CollegeInsider.com awards banquet in Atlanta, which is also the site of the men’s NCAA Basketball Championship.
The award is named for former Illinois and New Mexico State head coach Lou Henson. Henson won 779 games, 11th in NCAA history, and is one of just 12 coaches to take two schools to the final four.
USA Baseball Ranked 30th; Earley Named SBC Player Of The Week
More good news for the South Alabama baseball team announced on Monday. They are ranked 30th in the Collegiate Baseball Top 30 Weekly Poll. On Monday, they were one of the then 11 unbeaten teams in the Top 30.
Through the first seven games, the Jags are batting .345 with 73 RBI and had an on-base percentage of .470 so far this season. The pitching staff has an ERA of 2.71 with 78 strikeouts with only 20 walks.
Also senior outfielder Nolan Earley was named the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week by the conference office. He batted .700 with three doubles, eight RBI’s and scored seven runs and eight walks in four games last week.
This was Earley’s first time to be honored as Player of the Week.
The Jags improved to 9-0 on the season after Nolan Earley broke a 1-1 tie in the top of the eighth inning with a two-out, two run double for a 3-1 win over Jacksonville State University. Jacksonville State fell to 3-6 on the season. South Alabama and Jacksonville State will play again today with first pitch scheduled for 3pm.