MOBILE, Ala. — South Alabama preseason camp is winding down, and head coach Joey Jones trimmed Thursday’s practice by 30 minutes after the Jaguars worked on the field 13 of the previous 14 days.
The session still ran an hour and 45 minutes. Camp officially ends this weekend, with classes at South Alabama resuming Monday morning.
Thursday’s Practice
The Jaguars opened with skeleton 7-on-7 passing drills. The offense began in the red zone and finished the period facing third down inside its own 20-yard line. Later, the offense and defense each worked against the scout team.
In situational work, the first-team offense ran first-and-10 plays starting from its own 35-yard line. On the first series, quarterback Myles Gibbon hit Santuan McGee in the flat for a 15-yard gain, and Brandon Ross ran for more than 10 yards. On the second series, Ross and McGee each broke runs of 10 or more yards.
The second-team offense converted only one third down against the defense and allowed a sack. Gibbon also handled a low snap and scrambled for a first down.
On Friday, the team visited Camp Grace instead of practicing, as the staff did near the end of last year’s preseason camp.
Second Scrimmage Saturday
South Alabama will hold its second preseason scrimmage at 9 a.m. Saturday. Jones said several positions remain open and the staff will use the scrimmage to help settle the depth chart.
“We’re trying to still evaluate players,” Jones said. “Obviously, we’re trying to progress offensively and defensively with all of our packages, but we’re still looking at individuals. We can see things are starting to fall into place as far as the depth chart goes, but we obviously won’t make any decisions until after Saturday. After this week, we’ll focus more on polishing our offense and defense.”
Lessons From the First Scrimmage
In last Saturday’s scrimmage, the defense allowed three plays of 40 yards or longer, two of which went for touchdowns. The offense committed three turnovers and allowed three sacks.
Two freshmen stood out. Quarterback C.J. Bennett completed 7 of 13 passes for 162 yards and two touchdowns, and wide receiver T.J. Glover led all receivers with three catches for 106 yards, including a 70-yarder. Bennett was also among those responsible for negative plays, including sacks.
“We did some good things, but overall too many mistakes were made,” Jones said of the first scrimmage. “I think the execution offensively needs to get better, and we need fewer negative plays. Defensively, we don’t need to give up big plays. Last week, they (defense) played well but just gave up too many of those. I think if we can cut that out, then that would be a plus on the defensive side of the ball.”
The 2010 season is South Alabama’s second year of football under Jones, with home games at Ladd-Peebles Stadium.
