South Alabama Announces “Jag Lunch”
The University of South Alabama athletics Department announced today that starting next week, before the Jags play Nicholls State, Coach Joey Jones will be featured at a “Jag Lunch”.
Doors will open for the “Jag Lunch” at 11:30am along with food service. The program will begin with Coach Jones at 12:15pm where he will both speak and highlight coaches’ video for the attendees. Cost to attend the lunch is $10 and will be held at Wintzell’s Oyster House on Airport Boulevard.
The announced dates, which are on Wednesday’s, on September 15, October 6, 20, 27 and November 10.
Also, below is another video from the pep rally on Thursday evening before the Jaguars game against Pikeville. Sorry, the videos I filmed during the game did not turn out well. Hope you enjoy the video.
Jags Begin Season 2 With A 56-0 Win Over Pikeville
Coach Turner working with the offensive line after an early drive.
The Jaguars picked up where the left off last season, that is dominating their opponents. The Jags put up 56 points against Pikeville with the defense pitching a shutout and also holding the Pikeville offense to a mere 88 yards of total offense in front of a crowd of 22,376.
The Jaguar offense started the game slow and was only able to put up 7 points with about 3:30 left in the opening quarter. The key play was when Gibbon found Bryant Lavender for 53 yards.
The Jags roared to life in the second quarter. Starting with a nine play, 63 yard drive was capped off by a three yard run by Brandon Ross to double the Jaguar lead, 14-0. True freshman C.J. Bennett lead the offense on the drive. Bennett completed his first attempt to Corey Waldon for a 20 yard gain inside the Pikeville five yard line.
Then on Pikeville’s ensuing possession, Bryson James would intercept the Pikeville pass and return it 22 yards for a Jaguar touchdown. The point after was no good leaving the Jags with a 20-0 lead.
Starter Myles Gibbon would return to the game for some more action later in the quarter. He stepped in an lead the offense on a 83 yard, nine play drive. Gibbon would get the drive started with a 27 yard run to get their initial first down of the possession. Then the could hit Waldon for a 35 yard gain on 3rd and 10 to keep the drive going. Gibbon would later find Courtney Smith from the six yard line with about a minute left until halftime. The point after would be good and the Jags would go into halftime with a 27-0 lead.
Starting the second half, the Jags would start slow again but once Michel Chapuseaux made a 22 yard field goal, they would again come to life and add three touchdowns in the final quarter. Ellis Hill found an opening up the middle and scampered 56 yards for a touchdown to put the jags up 43-0. A mere two minutes later, Jereme Jones would ruturn a punt 54 yards for another Jaguar touchdown.
Johnny Lockett would round out the scoring with a touchdown with about 5:30 left in the game. This would finish off a six play, 47 yard drive lead by transfer Ray Cotton.
The Jags averaged over six yard per rush while totaling 242 yards on the ground. Twelve players combined to reach this number, with Ellis Hill rushing for 55 yards on two carries and Gibbon, Cotton, Santuan McGee, Kendall Houston, T.J. Glover and Ryan Scott would all gain somewhere between 26 and 33 yards for the game.
Myles Gibbon went 7-of-8 for 112 yards while C.J. Bennett went 4-of-6 for 93 yards. The Jaguar offense gained 462 yards total and 220 yards through the air.
Defensively, Ken Barefield and Enrique Williams each posted six tackles, leading the team. Bryson James and Jarred Williams also had four tackles each. James and Williams shared the team lead with 1.5 sacks each. James would have the only interception.
The Jags looked pretty solid on offense and defense against Pikeville. The offensive line had to make some adjustments, but found their groove and gave the skill players more time to make plays happen. The defense was giving up plenty of yards early on slant passes, but the defense tightened up and hit the Pikeville quarterback on almost every play.
The most glaring problem for South Alabama in the first game was placekicking. Too many kicks were missed and no sense of consistency. Kicking can be the difference between a win and a loss and right now if the Jags were depending on an extra point or a field goal to win a game, I don’t know what Coach Jones would do. Would he go for it or would he kick it with the results from the first game? We’ll see how it goes in the next game.
The Jags will have a week off before hosting Nicholls State at Ladd-Peebles Stadium on September 18 at 4pm. This game will be a white-out at Ladd. So wear your white Jaguar apparel and help cheer on the Jags.
Jags Pep Rally Video
Here is a video from the South Alabama pep rally on Thursday evening. It has a short speech by Coach Jones and some comments from Jerron Mitchell and Justin Dunn. It also includes some very nice play by the South Alabama Marching Band, among them the Alma Mater and the Jaguar Fight Song. Hope you enjoy!
Also, don’t forget to watch the Coach Joey Jones TV Show on UTV 44 at 10:30am.
Jags Pep Rally For Pikeville Game
Join the rest of the fans at the Jaguar statue in front of the Mitchell Center on campus at 7:30pm for a South Alabama style pep rally.
Less than three days till the Jaguars hit the field against Pikeville to being their second season of football.
Come out for the Pep Rally, then come out to Ladd-Peebles stadium and cheer on the Jags.
Game Week Is Upon Us
Myles Gibbon earned the #1 spot on the first depth chart for the South Alabama Jaguars.
Game week preparation is in full swing this week as Pikeville gets set to visit Mobile on Saturday. So to start the week, the Jags released their first depth chart.
Some positions were clear from the beginning. On offense Brian Krauskopf, Chris Brunson and Jon Griffin were very solid on the line. Courtney Smith and Brandon Ross were pretty much givens at some skill positions. Myles stood out in preseason drills and became the clear number one guy going into the second scrimmage. Ralph Turner at the Z receiver may have caught some off guard, but he is quick and lethal if he finds some space. Jereme Jones is another quick guy at the Y receiver.
On Defense Anthony Taylor and Montavious Williams looked solid on the line. Justin Dunn and Charlie Higgenbotham were givens at the inside Mike and Will linebacker positions. Jerron Mitchell and Jonathan Cameron were no surprise at cornerbacks. Ken Barefield also wasn’t much of a surprise at strong saftey either.
Michel Chapuseaux earns the place kicking and kickoff duties while Scott Garber will punt. Jeremy Jones will return punts with T.J. Glover behind him on second team. Jeremy Jones and Santuan McGee will be deep for kickoff’s.
Probably the only surprises would be Brennan Sim slipping down to third on the depth chart and Raymond Cotton not being listed in the three deep QB depth chart.
But all in all, the first team was pretty well set and has a good mix of size and speed.
Game week preparation is in full swing this week as Pikeville gets set to visit Mobile on Saturday. So to start the week, the Jags released their first depth chart.
Some positions were clear from the beginning. On offense Brian Krauskopf, Chris Brunson and Jon Griffin were very solid on the line. Courtney Smith and Brandon Ross were pretty much givens at some skill positions. Myles stood out in preseason drills and became the clear number one guy going into the second scrimmage. Ralph Turner at the Z receiver may have caught some off guard, but he is quick and lethal if he finds some space. Jereme Jones is another quick guy at the Y receiver.
On Defense Anthony Taylor and Montavious Williams looked solid on the line. Justin Dunn and Charlie Higgenbotham were givens at the inside Mike and Will linebacker positions. Jerron Mitchell and Jonathan Cameron were no surprise at cornerbacks. Ken Barefield also wasn’t much of a surprise at strong saftey either.
Michel Chapuseaux earns the place kicking and kickoff duties while Scott Garber will punt. Jeremy Jones will return punts with T.J. Glover behind him on second team. Jeremy Jones and Santuan McGee will be deep for kickoff’s.
Probably the only surprises would be Brennan Sim slipping down to third on the depth chart and Raymond Cotton not being listed in the three deep QB depth chart.
But all in all, the first team was pretty well set and has a good mix of size and speed.
Jags Taking The Rest Of The Week Easy; Quarterbacks Set Themselves Apart
Brennan Sim looking to throw under the watchful eye of Coach Jones during the first scrimmage.
The Jags final scrimmage of the preseason will be on Friday instead of Saturday. Saturday will be reserved for the fans to meet the players and coaches as well as an opportunity to pick up a copy of Tommy Hicks’ book, “Kickoff: The Story of the University of South Alabama’s Inaugural Football Season”.
Tuesday was the Jags final full contact practice before Saturday’s scrimmage. This will give the players a few days to mend their many bumps and bruises over the last couple of weeks.
The rest of the week will see team go out and work in limited to no contact drills.
Meanwhile back on the practice field, the quarterback position is starting to clear up just a little. Gibbon and Bennett have set themselves apart from Sim and Cotton. Sim looked like he was poised to be the starter coming out of spring drills, but as many know, things can and do change.
Gibbon put on about 20 pounds from last season but still runs a 4.56 40 if I was told correctly. But the different in Myles from last season to this season is quite a lot. His deep passing is still great, he still has decent speed but his drop back passing game still needs some work.
Sim also put on some weight, about 15 pounds to be exact. But he has been nagged with some shoulder problems and missed some practice this preseason.
C.J. Bennett came in and has done a great job learning the offense. He has done well and Coach Gregory seems to be confident enough that he can run the offense that he has been splitting time with the 1st and 2nd team offenses with Gibbon. Gregory also said that Bennett was a polished passer and is as good as anyone you have seen, but could work on his ball handling skills in the run game.
Raymond Cotton has had the most to contend with though. He transferred from Ole Miss just before preseason camp started and had to learn a new system. But probably the largest factor has been his injured shoulder. He injured it back in spring practice at Ole Miss and was feared that he may need surgery to repair it.
But as we know from last season, things do happen and starters can get injured. Thus it’s great to have quality players beyond the starter, not only to step in when needed but also to help keep the pressure on and the competition going to make everyone a better player.
Women’s Rugby Recruiting Interested Players
Women’s Rugby at South Alabama is a strong possibility. Significant interest at JagFest has moved the rugby organizers to open the sport to women of South Alabama. The Lady Jag’s will be recruiting. Any interested girls should contact April Hill
All rugby players need to attend the first team meeting scheduled for Sept 14th at the new rec center meeting room at 6pm for practice and match schedules, officer elections, information about club dues, and also to fill out and exchange contact information. Go Lady Jags!
Rugby Stirs up Interest at JagFest
Jag fans get ready for rugby at South Alabama. Jagfest this past Saturday was a very successful venue for recruiting participants. Over 70+ students stopped by the booth to “sign up” during the event. Founding members of South Alabama Rugby took interested players’ contact info and helped promote the team’s first meeting (Sept. 14th at the new Rec Center meeting room).
For more information, visit http://www.southalabamarugby.com/
Stadium Mania
Erling Riis preparing to field a punt from Hargrave Military Academy in the Jaguars first football game.
On Saturday, August 28th South Alabama is holding their Fan Day at Ladd-Peebles stadium for the Jaguars final scrimmage of the preseason. Fans will see a different Ladd-Peebles than what they saw last season. The inside of the stadium has had a bit of a face lift for the Jags second season. Gone are the dull Grey and Green. Photos from outside show fresh white and blue in the stands.
But what is the future of South Alabama Football? How long will they continue to play at Ladd-Peebles? No one outside of the President and the Board of Trustees know right now, if they even know for certain. What we do know is that South Alabama yearns for an on-campus stadium. On-campus stadiums draw larger crowds and definitely exhibit a different atmosphere than off-campus venues.
Currently, the NCAA has a freeze on so that no schools can apply to become FBS (formerly Division I-A) schools. I think this was a contributing factor to South Alabama’s accelerated plan to full FBS standing in the least amount of time necessary. But could some new or stricter requirements be on the way to become and maintain FBS membership?
Currently, an FBS school must meet minimum attendance requirements of an average of 15,000 people in actual or paid attendance per home game. This requirement must be met once in a rolling two year period. Additionally an FBS school must have 30,000 seats in their stadium.
Some schools who have not actually met the requirement recently (as of 2009) but have not drawn the ire of the NCAA yet are Utah State, Eastern Michigan, Rice, Idaho, Ball State, Kent State, Buffalo, New Mexico State and Florida International. So could the NCAA be ready to enforce those rules or tighten them even further? Could they be on the verge of requiring larger stadiums for FBS membership too?
But with Ladd-Peebles sorely showing it’s age, how much longer can it keep South Alabama, the GMAC Bowl and the Senior Bowl happy? There were several months of unknown last year when the Senior Bowl seemed to be shopping the game around to other cities.
There is speculation that South Alabama may build a 30-35,000 seat stadium in the coming years. I think building one smaller than Ladd-Peebles now is futile. Why would South Alabama build something and not go all out. They have done fabulous with the practice facilities and the field house. Why would they build a smaller, yet nicer venue even if they plan for future expansion?
I think everything publicly will remain quiet for the next year or two but I firmly believe that you will hear an announcement in either 2011 or maybe as late as 2012 as to the school beginning to look for and design a stadium. I also think they would want the stadium finished in time for the 2014 season.
Why the 2014 season you ask. That is when the first big school is set to visit Mobile. Mississippi State will be visiting and I really don’t think they would be visiting to play in Ladd-Peebles stadium. We currently do not have a date for the MSU game in Mobile, but what better way to cristen a new stadium is with an SEC school as a possible season opener?
As to the size, I think it will be at least 40,000 seats and maybe as large as 50,000 seats if they can get commitments from the GMAC Bowl committee and the Senior Bowl Committee to contractually agree to play there for some number of years.
The size may be in reaction to or anticipation of rules changes by the NCAA concerning attendance or stadium size for FBS schools.
The next conundrum is where to build the stadium. There are really two schools of thought as to where to build it. Do you build out in Hillsdale where there is plenty of area and near the student dorms? Or do you build near the existing structures of Stanky Field, the Mitchell Center and the new Bell Tower?
If it is built out in Hillsdale near the Fieldhouse and Practice Field it would definitely have pleny of parking room but it would be in a remote location on campus. Building it between Stanky Field and the Mitchell Center would not leave that much room for parking in it’s current condition. I mean honestly, what is having a college game at home on campus without being able to have the tailgating experience near the stadium? What is the use of having the stadium if you cannot easily use it to recruit students as well as student athletes?
So my line of thought is that they must be seriously considering building it between the Mitchell Center and Stanky Field. With the addition of The Grove at Hillcrest and Old Shell Road and the current construction of a new dining hall in the same area and future plans for a large residence hall in the same area it leads me to believe that aging Gamma residence Hall’s might be in the sights of the bulldozer. Combine it with the parking that exists for the Gamma’s and Engineering it would be a great start for a parking area for Stanky Field, the Mitchell Center and a Football Stadium. Combine that with plans for a multi-level parking structure within a short distance from this area and parking would not be a problem.
The existing structures of The Cage (soccer field), softball field and the track could all be easily moved. Just the extra revenue from an on-campus football stadium and the average increase in attendance thereof would easily pay to move those structures. With relocation of Jaguar Track, The Cage and the Softball Field, the area would easily accomodate a stadium the footprint size of Bryant-Denny Stadium or Michigan Stadium.
Randy Kennedy has an article that is set to run on Sunday, August 29th in the Mobile Press-Register which may or may not shed more light on the subject.
So, in short I think hearing about an announcement of a 40-50,000 seat stadium to be build between Stanky Field and the Mitchell Center is not completely ludicrous. In fact, I think it is completely plausible and could come as early as next year and completed by the 2014 season. I definitely want to be one of the first people to pick up next Sunday’s Press-Register to read Randy’s article to see if anything I mentioned is similar to what he has to say about the subject.
Jag Defense Plays Better In Second Scrimmage Of 2010
Myles Gibbon, running the first series with the first-team offense, scores the first touchdown of the scrimmage.
The second scrimmage of the preseason was a bit more even than the first one last week. Less touchdowns but also less turnovers. Which pleased Coach Jones when it was all said and done.
Several players were out due to injury on the defense. None severe, just nagging injuries which the coaching staff decided to sideline for the scrimmage. Randon Carnathan, Justin Dunn, Tim Harvey, Jake Johnson, Romelle Jones and Alex Page all sat out the scrimmage.
The Jags ran about 93 plays, close to their goal of 100. Overall the offense gained 251 yards with the first team defense only allowing 48 in their seven series on the field. The only two turnovers of the day were recovered by Jarred Williams and Montavious Williams, but both were committed by Ellis Hill, but one was a bad exchange from Brennan Sim. Anthony Taylor made back-to-back sacks for the first-team defense while Kendell Bagnerise added one right after Taylor to back the offense up 18 yards in one possession.
With so many playmakers out on defense, Jonathan Cameron and Bryson James led the defense each with four tackles. Zach Rone lead the second team defense with five tackles.
Myles Gibbon led the first team offense 80 yards in seven plays on their first possession to score the first touchdown. Brandon Ross made the big gain on the series with a 39 yard run, including knocking a defensive back flat on his tail, to set up the touchdown. After two runs by Santuan McGee, Gibbon ran to the left and made the corner of the end zone for the score.
C.J. Bennett led the first team offense the second time they were on the field. He would lead the offense down the field but could not get into the end zone and they settled for a 37 yard Michel Chapuseaux field goal.
The second first-team touchdown would be from a combination of Gibbon and Bennett under center. With the offense facing fourth down from the defense’s 43 yard line, Myles would hit Bryant Lavender for a 14 yard gain on the left sideline. Then Bennett would enter the game who would fine Ralph Turner open on the right side of the field for a 29 yard touchdown. The series covered 60 yards in six plays.
The second-team offense would have it’s best drive of the day on their first possession of the game with Bennett at quarterback. He would start the series off with a 14 yard completion to Lamontis Gardner. Then after a handoff for a short gain, he complete a pass to Gardner for eight more yards and a second first down of the series. But the series would come to an end after a fumbled handoff on third down was recovered by the offense and forced them to punt.
Bennett went 5 of 8 passing for 65 yards and a touchdown, Brennan Sim completed three for 27 yards and Gibbon completed one for 14 yards. Corey Besteda, Gardner and Lavender each caught two passes while Ralph Turner led the receivers with a touchdown and 29 yards on one reception.
Coach Jones had the following to say after the scrimmage: “We changed things up, but I thought we looked a little sharper. There were a few penalties out there, which we have to get corrected in the next couple of weeks, but I thought it was a good day. It was more like a game, we called all the special teams out there so they had to be alert on the sidelines. My overall feeling is that the offense and defense got better, and special teams were pretty consistent.”
He continued, “We will evaluate this film and go into next week with an idea of who our ones and twos will be. Of course, it’s not over because these kids compete for jobs every day, but we have to find a starting point when we begin next week.”