Jags Return To Practice Field After Off Day On Monday
Head Coach Joey Jones talking with wide receiver Carr Tigner during preseason practice.
South Alabama had an off day on Monday for the Labor Day holiday and returned to the practice field on Tuesday morning to continue preparation for Nicholls State on Saturday. They continued to work on correcting mistakes that the team made in the 33-31 loss to UTSA.
The first thing the Jaguars have to do is to put the game behind them and move onto the next opponent. Head coach Joey Jones believes that they have done that and are focused on Nicholls State. South Alabama met the Colonels in 2010 but did not face them last season.
“I think we came out and practiced pretty well,” he said about Tuesday’s practice. “I think the approach we have to take is we’ve got to have a great week of practice. Nicholls State, in my opinion, is a much better team than they were two years ago. They’ve improved a lot in watching last year’s film. We’ve got to be locked in this week and I think the kids understand that, but we’ve got to prove it on the field. We challenged them to get ready this week.”
Coach Jones also mentioned that he believes that the lingering feelings from the loss are gone. “I think it’s gone. Sunday they came in a little down, obviously. Any time you lose you’re going to have some of that. But they came out in better spirits (Tuesday).”
Since the Jaguars do not have any game film of the Colonels from this season, the coaching staff has devised a game plan based on what they did last season. Nicholls State went 2-10 last season.
“All we can do is watch last year’s film and the guys they’ve got coming back,” Jones said. “That’s all we can do. They are going to have the advantage of watching our game (against UTSA) and we have the advantage of having already played a game. But you’d much rather have already studied your opponent and have a good gameplan. We have to base our gameplan off what we know from the past, so we’ll probably have to adjust some during the game.”
The Jags will host the Nicholls State Colonels on Saturday at Ladd-Peebles Stadium with kickoff scheduled for 4pm. The game is scheduled to be shown on ESPN3 again.