MOBILE, Ala. — South Alabama returned to the practice field Sunday to begin preparing for its Sept. 28 trip to Tennessee, with an open date this weekend giving the Jaguars extra time to get ready for the Volunteers.
The Jaguars worked in shorts and helmets a day after rallying from a 21-10 halftime deficit to beat Western Kentucky at Ladd-Peebles Stadium.
Bye-Week Schedule
South Alabama will take Monday off before holding full-pad practices Tuesday and Wednesday. The team will then be off Thursday, Friday and Saturday before resuming its normal game-week routine Sunday.
The open date follows a demanding opening stretch. South Alabama lost its season opener on a field goal as time expired, then won its next two games after trailing. Players dealing with bumps and bruises did not practice Sunday and ran conditioning instead.
Buchanan Expected Back
Freshman safety Roman Buchanan left Saturday’s game early in the third quarter after being hurt while making a tackle. The injury was diagnosed as a chest contusion, and Buchanan is expected to be available when the Jaguars travel to Knoxville.
Jones Reviews the Win
Head coach Joey Jones told AL.com that effort stood out most when he reviewed the game film.
“Watching the film, the first thing that stood out was just how hard our players played,” Jones said. “They played with great effort. The next thing that stood out was, we talked to them before the game that this was like being in a heavyweight fight; they’re a heavyweight team and they’re going to hit you in the mouth and they’re going to hit you in the gut and you’ve got to turn around and hit them in the mouth and hit them in the gut.”
Jones said the momentum changed in the second half, when South Alabama kicked a field goal to cut the deficit to 21-13 and later scored a touchdown and converted a two-point try to tie the game.
“At that point our kids knew we were in the game. You saw a different look about them,” Jones said. “So I’m thinking the whole time that if we can make some plays down the stretch we’re going to win the ball game, and we did.”
Scouting Tennessee
Tennessee is 2-1. The Volunteers opened with home wins over Austin Peay, 45-0, and Western Kentucky, 52-20, a game in which they forced seven Hilltopper turnovers. Tennessee then lost 59-14 at Oregon, where the Ducks outgained the Volunteers 666 yards to 312.
Tennessee continues a two-game road swing this weekend at Florida in its Southeastern Conference opener before hosting South Alabama.
Update: Second-Half Defense
After trailing 21-10 at halftime, the South Alabama defense held Bobby Petrino’s Western Kentucky offense to three points in the second half, and the Jaguars forced key turnovers late in the game.
The crowd at Ladd-Peebles Stadium grew louder as the second half went on, with repeated chants of “USA! USA! USA!” and rally towels waved on third-down plays.
The win came in South Alabama’s fifth season of football. The Jaguars played 12 of their 13 games against Football Bowl Subdivision opponents last season.
