South Alabama Offense Gains 562 Yards in First Preseason Scrimmage at St. Paul’s
South Alabama moved its first preseason scrimmage to St. Paul's Episcopal School, where the offense gained 562 yards on 81 plays. Brandon Bridge threw three touchdown passes and Grant McLaurin made all four field goal attempts.
MOBILE, Ala. — South Alabama held its first scrimmage of preseason camp Saturday at St. Paul’s Episcopal School’s E.E. Delaney Field, where the offense gained 562 yards on 81 plays, an average of 6.94 yards per snap, during the hour-and-a-half session.
Head coach Joey Jones moved the scrimmage off campus to give his players experience in an unfamiliar setting.
Passing Game
Brandon Bridge completed 10 of 18 passes for 131 yards and three touchdowns. Hunter Vaughn was 6 of 9 for 173 yards and two touchdowns, and Matt Floyd went 5 of 7 for 42 yards.
Jereme Jones scored the first points of the scrimmage on the first team’s second series, making a one-handed touchdown catch on a pass from Bridge. Tony Ray Parnell caught a 35-yard touchdown pass from Vaughn and totaled 123 all-purpose yards.
Wes Saxton caught three passes for 53 yards and a touchdown, and Shavarez Smith had three receptions for 24 yards and a score. Terrance Timmons caught two passes for 28 yards.
Ground Game
T.J. Glover, who has moved back to running back from wide receiver, ran seven times for 64 yards and a touchdown and caught two passes for 59 yards, including a 44-yard touchdown on a swing pass to the flat.
Timmons rushed 10 times for 38 yards and two touchdowns, and Jay Jones had seven carries for 26 yards and a touchdown. Floyd added 22 yards on four carries, Xavier Johnson 21 yards on seven carries and Vaughn 20 yards on three carries.
Defense and Special Teams
Roman Buchanan led the defense with five tackles, four solo. Davin Hawkins, Steffon Fuller, Antonio Carter, Desmond LaVelle and Andrew Philon also had five tackles each.
Grant McLaurin made all four of his field goal attempts, the longest a 52-yarder that struck the crossbar and bounced through. Aleem Sunanon was 2 of 4 with a long of 42. Corliss Waitman averaged 52.0 yards on two punts, and Brandon McKee averaged 46.0 on two punts.
Jones: Different Atmosphere
“When you look at a scrimmage like this from my side, I want both of them to play well, and that’s really not possible,” Jones said. “Somebody is going to play better. I don’t get into who won, I look at individual performances. What we needed to do was come here to St. Paul’s and come to a different atmosphere, get our kids used to playing on a different field.”
Jones said the offense executed well for a first scrimmage but the defense allowed too many big plays. “You can’t give up big plays and win ballgames,” he said. “We’re going to watch that on film and correct it before next week. Coach [Travis] Pearson was talking to the players about that; he will get that corrected.”
The staff also used the scrimmage to give several quarterbacks repetitions in game-like situations.
Playing Time on the Line
The Jaguars were off Sunday and return to practice Monday morning.
“Next week will be really big. Our guys understand that playing time is on the line,” Jones said. “I don’t care who the mommas or the daddies are, the best players are going to play. That’s just the way it works.”
