Robert Matthews Sees Positives in South Alabama Spread Offense Debut, Targets Ball Security and Third Downs

MOBILE, Ala. — South Alabama’s new spread offense produced 31 points and 308 yards in its debut, a 33-31 loss to UTSA, and offensive coordinator Robert Matthews said this week that fixing ball security and third-down efficiency would have changed the outcome.

A Fast Start

The Jaguars’ opening drive covered 75 yards in eight plays, with quarterback C.J. Bennett getting the ball out quickly and the play calls signaled in smoothly.

On the second drive, a pass was intercepted in the end zone, and UTSA followed with an 80-yard touchdown drive. The offense committed three turnovers in all: the interception, a fumbled snap under center and a fumble when Bennett and running back Demetre Baker collided.

“We had a lot of positives,” Matthews said. “Obviously, there were a couple of plays we wish we had back. It’s like we told the guys after the game on Saturday; it was all about us and our mishaps, and if we just fix a couple of things, there’s a totally different outcome.”

“Our No. 1 goal is ball security,” he said. “It’s something we talk about every day and something we practice every day, and we had a couple of things that you could watch a football game 100 times and never see. But you saw it twice on Saturday. … We’re going to come back this week and keep improving.”

Third-Down Conversions

South Alabama converted 5 of 13 third downs. Matthews noted one failed attempt came on a poor quarterback-center exchange on a short-yardage sneak and another conversion was wiped out by a holding penalty.

“The thing I was disappointed about is we were 38 percent on third downs,” Matthews said. “You change those, now you’re 7-of-13, you’re around 55 percent, and you feel good about your third-down conversions. But the fact is we didn’t, and those things did happen, so we’ve got to work on our third-down conversion ratio and get it back up over 50 percent, which would make us one of the top teams in the country. That’s our goal, and we didn’t get that done on Saturday.”

Two Quarterbacks

Bennett and transfer Ross Metheny both played, with Metheny seeing limited action. Matthews said both will continue to play.

“There was some good and some bad. The first game is always tough, and it’s probably toughest on the quarterback position because you’re seeing things in game speed again,” Matthews said. “You wish you had four preseason games like the NFL does, but unfortunately we don’t. You’ve got an intrasquad scrimmage and then you’re in Game 1. I think we’ll continue to improve at that position, and we’ll press forward and you’ll see both guys out there.”

Offensive Line

Matthews, who also coaches the offensive line, installed a new blocking scheme in the offseason for a unit with three new starters.

“Overall, I thought they were pretty solid,” he said. “We moved the ball pretty well and had good time to throw the ball. But that was just Game 1. We’ve got to come back this week and prove ourselves again. We’re just a blue-collar group, and that’s kind of what we talked about Sunday. We’ve got to prove ourselves every week up front.”

Offensive Numbers

Jereme Jones and Corey Besteda each caught three passes, combining for 91 yards, and six other players had at least two receptions. Baker ran 12 times for 63 yards and a touchdown, and Kendall Houston added 43 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries as the Jaguars rushed for 126 yards.

South Alabama, playing its first season as a Sun Belt Conference football member, hosts Nicholls State on Saturday at Ladd-Peebles Stadium.