MOBILE, Ala. — South Alabama returned to the practice field Tuesday morning after a day off for the start of fall classes and began installing its game plan for the season opener against Texas-San Antonio.
The Jaguars practiced for nearly two hours, with a larger share of the session devoted to UTSA-specific preparation.
Scout Team Work
The defense ran plays against the scout team for close to an hour. The offense also worked against the scout team, splitting that work into two sessions, the second lasting about 30 minutes.
Around the midpoint of practice, the offense went through three 10-minute periods: inside running plays, blitz pickup and skeleton passing drills.
Jones Pleased With Focus
Head coach Joey Jones said the team kept its focus despite the first day of the semester.
“There was good focus this morning,” Jones said. “Sometimes after the first day of school they come in and are not focused on what they are doing, but I thought they looked pretty sharp on offense. I didn’t get on the defensive field as much, so I don’t know what they did.”
Jones said the immediate objective is mastering the game plan before Thursday’s scrimmage.
“Our goal right now is to become perfect in our game plan between now and then,” Jones said. “We’ve got a few days to work on that. We just started working on (Texas)-San Antonio, we’ve got a few days to work on that. We’ve got to keep it up in meeting rooms and on the field, and I think right now they are doing that.”
“I feel good about where we are, we just have to keep working,” Jones added. “One thing this football season is going to be about is just playing and practicing the next day and getting better. We can’t always focus on just results, we have to focus on the process. If we do that we will be good.”
Week Ahead
The Jaguars return to the Jaguar Practice Facility on Wednesday at 7:25 a.m. for their last workout before Thursday’s final preseason scrimmage, which begins at 8:25 a.m. at the practice facility.
South Alabama will practice again Friday morning, take Saturday off and return to the field Sunday afternoon ahead of Fan Day, scheduled for 5 to 7 p.m. Sunday at the Mitchell Center.
The 2012 season is South Alabama’s first as a member of the Sun Belt Conference in football.
