MOBILE, Ala. — South Alabama returned to the practice field Tuesday morning after a Labor Day off day, beginning preparation for Saturday’s home game against Nicholls State while working to correct mistakes from a 33-31 season-opening loss to UTSA.
Head coach Joey Jones said the Jaguars have moved past the defeat and are focused on the Colonels.
Jones on the Practice Week
“I think we came out and practiced pretty well,” Jones said of Tuesday’s session. “I think the approach we have to take is we’ve got to have a great week of practice. Nicholls State, in my opinion, is a much better team than they were two years ago. They’ve improved a lot in watching last year’s film. We’ve got to be locked in this week and I think the kids understand that, but we’ve got to prove it on the field. We challenged them to get ready this week.”
Asked whether lingering effects of the UTSA loss remained, Jones said, “I think it’s gone. Sunday they came in a little down, obviously. Any time you lose you’re going to have some of that. But they came out in better spirits (Tuesday).”
Game Planning Off Last Season’s Film
South Alabama last faced Nicholls State in 2010 and did not play the Colonels in 2011. Nicholls State finished 2-10 last season.
Because the Jaguars have no film of Nicholls State from the current season, the coaching staff built its game plan from last year’s tape and the Colonels’ returning personnel.
“All we can do is watch last year’s film and the guys they’ve got coming back,” Jones said. “That’s all we can do. They are going to have the advantage of watching our game (against UTSA) and we have the advantage of having already played a game. But you’d much rather have already studied your opponent and have a good gameplan. We have to base our gameplan off what we know from the past, so we’ll probably have to adjust some during the game.”
Kickoff Details
South Alabama hosts Nicholls State on Saturday at Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile. Kickoff is scheduled for 4 p.m., and the game is scheduled to be shown on ESPN3.
Update: Jones Discusses Limited Scouting on Sun Belt Teleconference
Speaking on the Sun Belt Conference teleconference Monday, Jones said the lack of current film on Nicholls State is a concern. The Colonels’ scheduled season opener at Oregon State was postponed because of weather from Hurricane Isaac, so South Alabama has no 2012 game tape of its opponent.
“From their standpoint, I would think it would be somewhat of a disadvantage, but from our standpoint, I’d rather have some film on them and kind of see who they are because they could obviously surprise us with some things that they didn’t show last year,” Jones said. “So that’s a concern for us. I know from their side they would rather have played a game.”
Reviewing the UTSA Opener
The Jaguars committed four turnovers in the 33-31 loss to UTSA. Jones said the offense left points on the field. “We scored 31 points and could have easily scored 45,” he said. “We threw an interception at the goal line going in and had two long passes that were wide open that we didn’t hit. … But I was real pleased overall offensively.”
On defense, Jones said the Jaguars started slowly before second-half adjustments. “I think the speed of the game got us a little bit early. Sometimes in the first game that happens,” he said. “We made some adjustments on the sideline and once we did I thought we played much better in the second half.”
Chapuseaux Takes Over Placekicking
Michel Chapuseaux has taken over day-to-day placekicking duties from Jordan Means while continuing to handle kickoffs. Against UTSA, Chapuseaux made his only field goal attempt, a career-long 43-yarder in the third quarter, and averaged 60.8 yards per kickoff with three touchbacks.
Update: Scouting the Colonels
Saturday’s game is the first time in the program’s four seasons that South Alabama has had to respond to a season-opening loss. UTSA won the opener when Sean Ianno kicked a 51-yard field goal with 16 seconds left, after the Jaguars had gone ahead 31-30 on C.J. Bennett’s 34-yard touchdown pass to Jereme Jones with less than three minutes remaining. A 15-yard penalty on the ensuing kickoff gave UTSA good field position for the winning drive.
“If their kicker doesn’t make the last field goal then everybody is happy, but we’re still dealing with the same issues,” Jones said. “My challenge to the team is three, four or five games from now, let’s look back and see how we improved. Let’s see if we’ve stopped turning the ball over and if we’ve stopped committing dumb penalties. If we can do that we will have a shot. We need to be a team that can get better as the season goes along.”
Caston Moves to Receiver
LaQuintin Caston, who started at quarterback for Nicholls State against South Alabama in 2010 and completed 13 of 23 passes for 273 yards and two touchdowns in that game, has moved to wide receiver. Caston threw for 870 yards and ran for 707 more in 2011. In a radio interview Thursday morning, Nicholls State coach Charlie Stubbs said Caston had problems in several games and the staff did not want one of its best players on the sideline when another quarterback entered the game.
Landry Klann is the projected starting quarterback for the Colonels. He completed 36 of 57 passes for 377 yards and two touchdowns last season.
Nicholls State Defense
The Colonels allowed fewer than 360 yards per game in 2011 and return seven defensive starters, including leading tackler Jordan Piper, who made 81 tackles, and Siegan Vergenal, who had 65. Nicholls State will be without its top two return specialists from last season.
2010 Meeting
South Alabama beat Nicholls State 39-21 in 2010, when Kendall Houston had the first 100-yard rushing game of his career, scoring twice on 12 carries and Brandon Ross also topped 100 yards with a touchdown. The Jaguars totaled 490 yards, 288 on the ground. Nicholls State’s Jesse Turner, now listed as the Colonels’ second-team running back, scored on a 33-yard run and a 95-yard reception in the first quarter of that game as Nicholls State led 7-0 and 14-7, the first time South Alabama had trailed in a game. The Jaguars answered with 20 unanswered points in the second quarter.
Jones said the 2010 film will be of limited use. “This is a completely different ballgame,” he said. “You can look at some things offensively because coach [Charlie] Stubbs has been calling the plays the whole time [he has been running the program], but they have changed on defense. We won’t really look back at that film.”
