MOBILE, Ala. — South Alabama concluded preseason camp with a situational scrimmage of about an hour and a half, putting the Jaguars’ first- and second-team units through game-type scenarios against the scout teams.
Players were given the weekend off and return to practice Monday, the same day fall classes begin at the university. The coaching staff planned to spend the weekend reviewing film from the scrimmage to settle the depth chart for the Sept. 1 season opener against West Alabama.
Full Pads, No Tackling
The Jaguars worked in full pads, but coaches held the players out of live tackling. The first and second teams on offense, defense and special teams took turns against the scout units.
The scrimmage began with kickoff coverage. The first-team defense then took the field with the offense backed up at its own 1-yard line, and later series started at the 20- and 30-yard lines.
Field Goals From Means and McGlon
Starting at its own 30, the first-team offense drove the length of the field to set up a 37-yard field goal by Jordan Means.
After a punt-team period, the first-team offense and defense returned for another series. The defense worked on second-and-long and third-and-long situations, while the offense practiced first down, second-and-long and third-and-short. Lawson McGlon closed the first half of the scrimmage with a 40-yard field goal.
Following a break, the first- and second-team defenses defended short fields, and the second-team offense worked both on a short field and from its own 1-yard line. The second half also included kickoff and punt return work. McGlon added another 40-yard field goal and finished the session with a 22-yarder.
Jones Reviews Sideline Organization
Head coach Joey Jones said the scrimmage was designed to expose the team to game-day logistics as well as on-field situations.
“We exposed our team to a couple of things; sideline organization of the game, which I thought was pretty good for the most part though there are a couple of things we need to talk about as a staff to fix, and situational things on the field,” Jones said. “We didn’t tackle today, which I thought was good. We had a pretty good tempo, sometimes they tend to back off too much when you do that. We got all the special teams covered, we had three reps with each; we’ll watch the film and see what corrections we need to make there.”
Jones said the staff would use the weekend to evaluate players and outline the schedule leading to the opener, which comes on a Thursday.
“Number one, we’re going to evaluate the film and our players, what we need to do offensively and defensively and any corrections we need to make,” he said. “Then we’ll talk about sideline organization, the things I noticed that we need to go over and get fixed for next week.”
Jones said another situational scrimmage is planned for Thursday, with players coming in Friday to watch film before game week begins.
Early Start on West Alabama
Jones said the team will begin installing its game plan for West Alabama next week, giving the Jaguars three extra days of preparation.
“We’re going to go ahead and start working on the first ball game — we’ve done a little bit here and there before now, but it will give us an extra three days to work on West Alabama and put our game plan in, then go back and make corrections,” Jones said. “There may be a scheme we don’t like or a blitz we don’t like that we will throw out. We’ll whittle it down and get ready for game week.”
Gregory: Offensive Line ‘Might Be the Strength’
Offensive coordinator Greg Gregory said the first-team offense is in good shape and singled out the offensive line.
“I think our first offense is good. I think the question mark that the so-called experts had about our football team — our offensive line — might be the strength of our offense,” Gregory said. “I think those guys know how to play, they’re not the biggest but they don’t have to be; they block, they run, they’re athletic and they are competitors.”
Gregory said the Jaguars are strong at quarterback, running back, tight end and fullback, but injuries have left the receiver group thin, forcing the healthy receivers to take every repetition. He said the backups need to make significant progress.
“Overall, we are about where I thought we’d be right now, we just have to polish things up between now and Sept. 1,” Gregory said. “Our kids are chomping at the bit, they’re ready to play.”
Clark Sees Defensive Depth Developing
Defensive coordinator Bill Clark said injuries have created opportunities for younger players, including freshmen, to take more snaps and build depth.
“We’ve started developing some depth. We’re starting to see those twos, though some of it is due to injury,” Clark said. “Obviously now our focus will start changing next week where we really start concentrating on West Alabama where we’ve been a little more general to start with. Overall we’re pleased with where we are, and we hope we’ll get everybody back well Monday.”
South Alabama, which began playing football in 2009 under Jones, opens the 2011 season against West Alabama on Thursday, Sept. 1.
