MOBILE, Ala. — South Alabama went through its sixth practice of preseason camp Wednesday, a roughly two-hour session in full pads on a hot, humid morning, as the Jaguars prepared to begin two-a-day workouts Thursday.
The South Alabama preseason camp session was the team’s third straight day on the field and its second in full pads. Head coach Joey Jones scaled back from the nearly three-hour practices held earlier in camp.
“Practice was good,” Jones said. “I challenged them today. I thought there were times we were up and times we were a little bit down, the heat really got to us a little bit. But, I kept seeing them fighting back and getting better. When they dipped down, I thought they might be done, but they fought back which I was real proud of. We have to concentrate in those times when it’s hot, the mistakes you make when you’re tired are what loses ball games.”
Team Drills
Practice opened with team drills starting from the offense’s 35-yard line. Returning starting quarterback C.J. Bennett began with a 10-yard completion to Bryant Lavender. Demetre Baker had two runs of at least five yards, Ross Metheny connected with Wes Saxton for 20 yards, and Terrance Timmons added a couple of solid runs.
Goal-Line Work
The final team period put the first and second units through three-play goal-line series from the 3-yard line. Ben Giles stopped Kendall Houston twice in the opening series. Metheny later threw a touchdown pass to Saxton, and Baker scored twice.
“It was good,” Jones said. “The defense came out first series and stopped the offense, but the offense got better on the next set of downs. It was like two heavyweights punching each other, I liked it.”
Consistency Up Front
Jones said he has seen progress from the offense but wants more consistency, particularly from the offensive line.
“The consistency has to be there,” Jones said. “You want them to be successful every play, that’s not going to happen, but the offense hit some plays today. I see some good things. If we can shore up the line of scrimmage where we can really block and protect, we have enough skill to where we will be able to do some good things. We’re putting a lot of pressure on those guys up front to do what they are supposed to do.”
Two-a-Days and Saturday Scrimmage
South Alabama will practice twice Thursday, at about 7:15 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., with each session expected to last about an hour and a half. The staff plans to ease off Friday and stop installing new material ahead of Saturday’s scrimmage.
“The biggest thing is we have to fight through,” Jones said. “We’re at the point where our legs are getting tired, but we will have to battle through that. We’ll back off Friday before the scrimmage, so the coaches are going to stop installing and getting things ready for Saturday. That way we can evaluate the kids better. We don’t want them confused Saturday, we want them to be able to execute and show us what they can do.”
South Alabama is preparing for the 2012 season, its first as a football member of the Sun Belt Conference.
