South Alabama Recruiting Rankings
Jags ranked 3rd in SBC
South Alabama has made it into the 247sports recruiting ranking list this season. Currently the Jaguars are ranked third in the Sun Belt Conference however it does not reflect some of the latest verbal commitments.
While the Jags recently received their 14th verbal commitment, 247Sports only has eight total commits. The Jags are tied with FIU with six three-star commits.
Overall, the Jags are currently ranked the 80th best recruiting class based on those eight commits. Just to give you an idea who is ranked just above the Jags and within striking distance in the recruiting race, the notable programs are: Stanford 78, Tulsa 77, Boise State 75, Oregon 72 and Arizona State 70.
Lamb possible AJC “Super 11”
Georgia is a fertile recruiting ground and the Jags have a number of commits from the state. Each year the Atlanta Journal Constitution lists their “Super 11” recruits from the state. They have narrowed down the list to 33 and the Jags have one of their recruits in that list. Quarterback Taylor Lamb from Calhoun is one of six quarterbacks on the list. He led the state with 3,638 yards for his Class AA championship team last season.
Jags Receive 14th Verbal For 2013 Signing Class
The Jags received their 14th verbal commitment for the 2013 signing class. Jalen Wells, a 6’4″ 230-pound student-athlete from Dublin, GA is listed as a Tight End via 247Sports and an outside linebacker by Scout.com. He is being recruited as a defensive end by the Jaguars.
Wells first started playing organized football last season as he had previously focused on basketball. He was in Mobile for the South Alabama 7-on-7 tournament and impressed the Jaguar coaching staff with his athleticism.
Furthermore, he competed in the Dublin, GA’s track team with some surprised for a player of his size. He competed in the 5000-meter and the triple jump. The 5000-meter is an event where an athletes endurance is pushed to the brink.
Wells is projected to add 40-pounds or more in the future based on his frame and physical abilities which will surely make him a force to be reckoned with for opposing offenses. He is already rated the 80th best tight end in the country and as a three-star athlete by 247sports. Scout.com rates him 123rd among outside linebackers and as a two-star athlete. Wells caught 29 passes for 600 yards and eight touchdowns last season.
He has garnered some interest by Florida, Georgia, NC State, Mississippi State and Georgia Tech but had not received an offer from them. South Alabama made an offer to him in July and he committed late last week.
The other verbal commits are:
- Tiquan Lang CB Lowndes GA. 5’8″ 168-lb 73 tackles, 3 int, 1 kick block, 5 KOR for 201yds and 1TD, 6PR for 113yds in 2011.
- Terrell Pinson FS Itawamba CC 6’3″ 200lb As a freshman he played WR and caught 10 passes for 160 yards and a touchdown.
- Xavier Johnson RB Chamberlain, FL. 5’9″ 170lb Rushed for 1,736 yards and 16 TDs in 2011.
- Caleb Hayman WR/TE Gainesville, FL. 6’1″ 193lb
- Dejon Funderburk WR Washington (Pensacola), FL. 6’0″ 175lb Caught 31 passes for 720 yards adn 7TD’s while rushing for 362 yards and 4TDs.
- Taylor Lamb QB Calhoun, GA. 6’1″ 190lb Had a 73% completion rate for 3,635 yards, 40TDs and 9Ints.
- Justin Jones RB Northeast Miss. JC 5’6″ 180lb Rushed for 920 yards and caught 27 passes as a freshman.
- Roman Buchanan S Daleville, AL. 6’2″ 195lb 72 solo tackles, 45 assists, four sacks, three forced fumbles and two recovered, two interceptions, four passes defended and a field goal blocked as a junior.
- Tevaris McCormick WR Biloxi, MS. 5’9″ 170lb 769 yards receiving, 213 yards rushing and 265 yards on returns with 16 total touchdowns.
- Jacob Chaffin DT Spain Park, AL. 6’3″ 260lb 38 solo tackles, 8 tackles for loss and three sacks as a junior.
- Devon Earl S Hoover HS, AL 5’10” 180lb 61 tackles, 5 INTs, 10 pass deflections and 3.5 tackles for loss as a Junior
- Noah Armstrong OT Lawrence Co. 6’8″ 300lb Offered by Arkansas State, Western Kentucky and Southern Miss.
- Willie Williams Jr DE Americus, GA. 6’2″ 255lbs Alabama, Georgia, Arkansas and UCLA were also recruiting him.
- Brandon King 6’2″ 212lbs 118 tackles last season, 70 sol0, 6TFL, 1 sack and 1 forced fumble. Received recruiting interest from a few FBS schools such as Northern Illinois, Maryland, Rutgers and Auburn among other schools.
Jags Make Impression After Off Day
Defensive coordinator Bill Clark working with Jake Johnson and the linebackers during individual drills on Saturday morning.
After the first three practices, although the Friday practice was shortened to about an hour by incliment weather, the Jags got a well deserved day off on Sunday. When the team returned to the practice field Monday morning, the Jags put on an impressive showing.
The players were in shells for the second straight practice which spanned nearly three hours at the Jaguar Practice Facility on the campus of the University of South Alabama. It began with almost 45 minutes of individual skill work by both the offense and defense. Then inside drills began with receivers and defensive backs going one-on-one.
Nearing half-way, the team took a five minute break from the increasing heat of the morning to cool off in the shade provided by an open sided building with cooling fans and gatorade. Before returning to the fields, the Jags had a quick warmup stretch and workout.
When they returned to the field, the offense ran about 16 plays against the defense in the first of two team periods during this practice. They also had a pair of skeleton passing drills which spanned about 10-minutes each. The first was in the open field and the second was near the end zone.
The final of the two team periods was over 20 plays in duration near midfield. C.J. Bennett completed passes to five different Jaguars during the period. Jake Howton caught passes from Bennett and Trey Fetner. But the highlight of the session was a great throw and catch from Bennett to Greg Hollinger down the left sideline. Hollinger made the move from wide receiver to tight end in the spring.
Jaguar head coach Joey Jones commented after practice about the improvements made after the day off. “I thought it was a very good day, we definitely got better in practice today,” he said. “There were some mistakes, they always happen, but overall I thought we improved. The kids came to practice. It was almost a three-hour practice out here and they gave great effort. We had a little lull in the middle, but they fought through and got better at the end. We’re learning and fighting through, we didn’t have anyone cramping today, so it was much better.”
Coach Jones also commented how much the secondary has improved. “In the secondary, at the corner position, our coverage is much better,” he continued. “They are playing a lot of man-to-man and able to cover guys. They got beat a couple of times, but the coverage there is getting much better in the secondary.”
The Jags will take the field on Tuesday in full pads for the first time in preseason camp. “I’m anxious to see what will happen,” Coach Jones said about donning full pads for the first time. “It’s not going to change much, we’re not going to tackle a lot, it’s going to be similar to today. Inevitably, when you get the pads on it livens up a little bit, I think something triggers in their heads that they are supposed to go a little harder. We’re looking forward to it, the great thing about it is you can have the ones go against each other on the line of scrimmage, you can really get something done without worrying about anybody getting hurt.”
Other players of note: Cameron Broadnax, a true freshman wide receiver, has looked good through the first four days of practice. The Jags have a number of smaller receivers, Broadnax’s size will definitely help the Jags.
Qudarius Ford Injures Knee, Out Four To Six Weeks
Qudarius Ford lines up against Wes Saxon during the Jags first practice of preseason camp on Thursday evening.
As reported in our coverage of Saturday’s practice, it was confirmed that Cornerback Qudarius Ford did suffer a knee injury. Head trainer for South Alabama, Jinni Frisbey, said that the staff believes that he injured his Posterior Cruciate Ligament.
Frisbey said that Ford would likely be out for four to six weeks. Ford, who had worked his way into the starting lineup, played in all 10 games last season as a sophomore.
Ford spent the remainder of practice watching from the sidelines with an ice wrap around his knee.
Former Jag Into The Olympic Semifinals Of Women’s 400-Meter Hurdles
A former University of South Alabama track and field standout is participating in the London Olympics. Ajoke Odumosu finished third in her heat on Sunday to advance through round one in the Women’s 400-meter hurdles.
Odumosu, a native of Lagos, Nigeria recorded a time of 54.93 which is just shy of her season-best 54.75 to finish third in the second of five heats to qualify for her second semifinal appearance in the Olympic Games. Four years ago she qualified for the semifinals in the same event in Beijing, China in 2008.
Odumuosu participated with the Jaguars from 2004-2008 and was an eight-time SBC individual champion. She recorded three titles each in both the outdoor 400-meter dash and 400-meter hurdles while also earning two titles in the indoor one-lap sprint.
She was also a three-time NCAA qualifier and was the first Jaguar female to receive All-American honors. She was named to the Sun Belt Conference All-Time Outdoor Team in 2006. She still holds records at South Alabama in the indoor and outdoor 400-meter dash, the 400-meter hurdles and the indoor 4×400-meter relay.
Odumosu is scheduled to run in the third heat on Monday, August 6.
Junior WR Corey Waldon Undergoes Knee Surgery
South Alabama’s Junior Wide Receiver Corey Waldon underwent knee surgery on Friday. Waldon, who was held out of practice on Thursday, will likely miss 3-5 weeks but aim to have him ready for the Jaguars season opener against UTSA on Thursday, August 30.
Trainer Jinni Frisbey said that his surgery went well.
Jags Complete Third Practice Of Preseason Camp Saturday
Head Coach Joey Jones talking with wide receiver Carr Tigner during preseason practice.
South Alabama got started early on Saturday morning to beat the rain chances and completed their full practice schedule for the day. It was overcast most of the morning, but the humidity made it pretty warm. The hydration staff roamed all morning making sure the players were well hydrated to help prevent players from overheating and cramping.
The Jags practiced for almost two-and-a-half hours on Saturday in shells (helmets and shoulder pads) with the offense focusing on inside running plays. In all, the offense ran over 100 plays against the defense working on the inside run, 7 on 7 skeleton passing and full-team drills.
The first half of practice focused on individual drills and fundamentals. The quarterbacks worked with the running backs and receivers in 10 minute periods while the offensive line worked with Coach Matthews. Additionally, the receivers and defensive backs would work one-on-one on while other personnel worked on inside drills.
The defensive linemen and outside linebackers worked on the sleds early in the practice. The secondary and inside linebackers did drills with Coach Clark, the defensive coordinator, while also going through various formations before going against the offense.
During skeleton drills, C.J. Bennett started with back-to-back completions to Jereme Jones and Bryant Lavender. Transfer quarterback Ross Metheny hit Jared Palmer in the back corner of the end zone for a touchdown later in the drill. Tyrell Pearson deflected a pass as well as picking off a pass that was deflected by lineback Jake Johnson. Darrius Morrow also broke up a pass during the drill.
Bryant Lavender added three receptions during the final team drills of the day. Corey Besteda added a few catches during the day as well. One fully extended catch and a Tyrone Prothro-like near catch along the sideline, however it appeared that he could not come down with it in the end.
In the first practice, there were four or five players who obviously cramped up. After the practice, the staff made sure to remind them to eat plenty of food and, particularly protein and drink lots of gatorade. It was obvious today that the staff helped the players to correct those problems from the first day.
Coach Jones made note in the post-practice talk that he is seeing the benefits from the offseason strength and conditioning workout regimen. The benefits are not only physical, but mental and in leadership roles.
“We’ve got more leadership on this football team,” Head coach Joey Jones said. “What I am hearing is guys leading others, which hasn’t happened as much in the past. That’s going to make things better as we go through this football season.”
“I was happy with the effort, they came out ready to go and their minds were on it,” he said. “Obviously we have some things that need to be sharpened up, but this was really just our second day of practice. We have a way to go, but I was real proud of the effort.”
“We wanted to concentrate on running the football and stopping the run when you put shoulder pads on for the first time,” Coach Jones further explained. “The inside drill went really well, I thought the defense got after it while the offense hit a few plays. It was good to see the intensity. I’m not worried about results right now, I’m concerned with the process. It’s not going to be perfect now, we know that, but if we continue to work on the process we’ll have a chance to be good later on.”
There were times when the offense looked flat later in practice. But that really is to be expected at this time. Coming into preseason camp, the quarterbacks and receiver tend to have an edge but the defense will typically pick up quickly and surpass the offense. Which I believe explains today. Also, this is the third day of intense workouts in the humid weather, that much intense work will take something out of you this early in camp.
On the injury front, Brandon Ross was dressed out but did not participate in contact drills. However he did hold pads for certain drills. Qudarius Ford iced up his knee late in practice. Will Thompson had an occasional limp. Eddy Cabrera got winded late in the conditioning drills.
In recruiting news, Alabama commit Darius Paige appeared at practice today. Paige, a 6’3″ 275-pound defensive tackle from Pensacola, Florida observed practice with Assistant Athletic Directory Haven Fields. Paige, who committed to the Crimson Tide back in May, has been offered by a number of schools including: Arkansas State, Clemson, FIU, Florida State, Kentucky, Louisville, LSU, Marshall, Mississippi State, Tennessee and South Alabama.
The Jags will have Sunday off before returning to the practice field on Monday morning at 7:15am.
NCAA Board Of Directors Approve New Bowl Selection Process
As talked about earlier this week on Thunderjags, the NCAA Board of Directors approved a new selection process on Thursday for bowl games. This new process includes the possibility of a team with a 5-7 record to be selected to a bowl game.
Under this new measure, on the contingency that there is not enough bowl-eligible teams or if a bowl cannot be filled by its conference affiliations, the open spots would be filled through a six-tier process.
- First consideration will go to 6-6 teams with a win against any FCS teams (Former Division I-AA) regardless of scholarship numbers.
- Then a 6-6 teams with wins over two FCS schools.
- Follow by a team that finish 6-7 and loses in a conference championship game.
- Next a team that finishes 6-7 that play a 13 game schedule allowed under the Hawaii exception (Hawaii and it’s home opponent).
- Then a transitional team moving from FCS to FBS if they have a 6-6 record.
- Finally A team with a top-five APR that finishes 5-7 on the season could be selected.
There are 124 FBS Schools as of 2012 (Four are transitional teams which will be completing their second year of a two year transition). As you probably know by now they are the University of South Alabama, UT-San Antonio, Texas State and UMass. There are four schools that have a bowl ban for the 2012 season, Ohio State, Penn State, North Carolina and most recently UCF.
However two more institutions, Oregon and Miami (FL.) University have cases pending before the NCAA which could further lower the number of bowl-eligible schools to as few as 114 possibly. There are 35 bowl games which opens 70 slots for bowl teams.
In 2011, there was worry that there would not be enough bowl-eligible teams to fill the needed slots. By the end of the season there were 72 teams for the 70 slots, including a 7-5 Western Kentucky team which was not offered a bowl berth.
While we have been told the Jags would not be eligible for a conference championship or a bowl game, that may not be true now. Depending on how the rule is applied, IF the Jaguars can finish with a least a 6-7 record, they could potentially be eligible to fill any empty slot in a bowl game.
“It’s exciting to even hear that news,” Head coach Joey Jones said. “We had put that completely out of our mind and that next year would be the first year that we would have an opportunity. For our players and our staff, that’s something to work toward.”
Jags Appear On Bowling Green Schedule For Home-And-Home Series
Bowling Green announced updates to their future non-conference football schedules which included two dates with the University of South Alabama. They have added a home-and-home series against the Jags on September 11, 2021 in Bowling Green and the return game will be on September 3, 2022 in Mobile.
Between now and 2021 when the Jags are scheduled to play the Falcons, they could potentially meet in a bowl game. The MAC and the Sun Belt conferences have previously signed a deal with the GoDaddy.com bowl, which is played at Ladd-Peebles Stadium, for the top team from each conference to square off in a MAC vs Sun Belt match-up.
Future Sun Belt member Texas State has dropped off of the Bowling Green schedule. They previously had a home-and-home series scheduled for September 19, 2015 in Bowling Green and a September 24, 2016 date to travel to San Marcos, Texas. No reason was given for dropping Texas State.
UPDATE: Bowling Green has since taken the reference to the South Alabama schedule off of their site.
Jags Second Practice Cut Short Due To Weather
Quarterback CJ Bennett prepares to take a snap in the light rain at the Jaguar Practice Facility on Friday evening.
The Jaguars hit the field for their second practice of preseason camp but cut it short due to weather. After only an hour on the practice field with light rain, Coach Jones has to call off practice due to lightning too close the practice facility.
Saturday’s practice has been moved up from the previously announced 6:30pm time to an early 7:15am practice. This will mark the first time the Jags will hit the field in shells and allowed light contact.
Their short practice allowed them to work on individual drills for a little over 30 minutes before about 15 minutes of skeleton passing drills. It was during the Skeleton drills that the call was made for the players, coaches and staff to return to the Football Fieldhouse.
First year offensive coordinator Robert Matthews said that, after meetings and walkthroughs prior to practice, the offensive unit would not be affected by the weather and that the installation of the game plan will continue to be on schedule when they take the field on Saturday. The offense is converting to the spread from the multiple power offense that had been run previously.
“We had a lot of good meeting time today, but unfortunately lightning popped and we had to go back inside,” Coach Joey Jones stated. “We can make it up with good meeting time and walk through time, but the bottom line is we didn’t get in much of a practice. But we’ll have a good practice tomorrow morning, I’m looking forward to that. We were going to practice in the morning starting on Monday anyway. There’s a 20-30 percent chance of rain tomorrow morning, but 40-50 percent chance in the afternoon, so we rolled the dice and will go in the morning.”