MOBILE, Ala. — South Alabama held its final practice before Saturday’s season opener against Texas-San Antonio indoors Thursday, the second straight day Tropical Storm Isaac forced the Jaguars inside.
The South Alabama opener against UTSA was rescheduled because of the storm and will kick off at 1 p.m. Saturday at Ladd-Peebles Stadium. The Jaguars have Friday off before meeting in the afternoon to travel by bus to the team hotel.
Indoor Workout
The hour-and-a-half session in Jaguar Gym split the offense and defense into separate periods and finished with special teams work, focused mainly on kickoff coverage. The indoor setting limited some of the game-plan work the staff could do in preparation for the Roadrunners.
Jones on the Delay
Head coach Joey Jones said his team handled the disruption well and benefited from additional preparation time.
“I think we adapted extremely well and I think the kids’ minds are in the right place,” Jones said. “Obviously, it had to help a little bit in that we got a couple more mental practices in. It was the best decision (to move the game) by far. You look at the weather and what happened today and moving the game back to Saturday was a good choice.”
Jones said he was pleased with his team’s work leading up to the opener.
“What I’ve seen is a maturity in this group that we haven’t had from an overall team standpoint,” he said. “They came to work today and I thank the coaches and players for the work that they’ve put in. They’ve been great. We’ll see how it turns out on Saturday but I think the kids have been great. We got it all in.”
South Alabama begins its 2012 schedule in the second year of the program’s transition to the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision, with Sun Belt Conference play to come later in the fall.
