MOBILE, Ala. — South Alabama ran more than 80 snaps in a half-practice, half-scrimmage session Thursday, the Jaguars’ final workout before the university’s weeklong spring break.
Six quarterbacks took turns leading the first-, second- and third-team units. Head coach Joey Jones said the staff made no formal designations as to which players worked with which unit.
Scrimmage Highlights
Ross Metheny got the offense moving early, hitting Wes Saxton for 13 yards and scrambling for 15 yards two plays later.
Brandon Bridge opened his first drive with a 19-yard completion to newcomer Jay Jones. Four plays later, Bridge found Shavarez Smith along the sideline, and Smith shed the defender on a 43-yard touchdown. Jay Jones also broke a 32-yard run during the scrimmage.
About midway through the session, Bridge picked up 36 yards on a third-and-11 from his own 29-yard line, then capped the drive with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Corey Waldon in the corner of the end zone.
Metheny nearly connected with Bryant Lavender on a scoring throw of about 40 yards, but Lavender was ruled a step out of bounds. Metheny later threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to Corey Besteda.
Defense and Special Teams
Qudarius Ford, who missed all of last season after injuring his knee in preseason camp, had the scrimmage’s only turnover with an interception in the end zone. The defense forced three three-and-outs in the second half of the scrimmage, including a stop on fourth-and-2. Jones said the defense was flagged for jumping offside several times, something he said will be addressed.
Kicker Logan Gunn made four of six field goal attempts, including kicks of 37 and 39 yards.
Jones: ‘A Really Good Work Day’
“We had a really good work day today,” Jones said. “I can’t tell who did what running plays. We ran seven-play segments because we were trying to get a lot of plays in today. We got in about 80 in a 50-minute time period because the kids were hustling and doing a good job of getting to the ball on defense. We’ll watch film to get the results of who did what.”
“I think our leadership has been really good this year,” Jones said. “The guys are mature and working hard to fix some of the little things behind the scenes. The offensive staff has done a good job in the offseason of trying to tweak some things and make our offense better. I thought you saw some really good things out there today. We’re running the football better, that’s the big thing.”
The offense also moved quickly between plays and got the ball snapped faster than it did last season.
Crews: ‘We Came Out Kind of Slow’
Linebacker Clifton Crews said the team started slowly.
“I think we came out kind of slow, everybody was late,” Crews said. “We probably looked better the first three days of practice to tell you the truth. The coaches have come in and taught us a lot, but we are keeping it to fundamentals and sound technique. If we mess up, then mess up at full speed. We don’t want effort to be the problem.”
Spring Break and Beyond
Jones said the coaching staff will spend the break recruiting and evaluating the roster.
“I told the players that we’ve gone through five practices now, which is close to halfway, so we are seeing where we are lining up,” Jones said. “We won’t make [depth chart] determinations until the end of the spring, but obviously we’ll start looking at the personnel as well.”
The Jaguars resume practice Tuesday, March 19, at 6 a.m. Spring drills conclude with the Red-Blue Game on Saturday, April 6, at Ladd-Peebles Stadium.
