Jags Hit Practice Field On Tuesday
Head Coach Joey Jones speaks to his team after the conclusion of the Jaguars first practice of preseason camp.
South Alabama returned to the practice field on Tuesday for a two hour practice that focused on fundamentals along with special teams. Also notably many players on the depth chart that do not normally see many reps got opportunities to take some snaps.
The Jags will practice once more on Wednesday before taking three days off on Thursday through Saturday. They will then get back into game-week preparation for Arkansas State on Sunday with practices beginning on Monday.
“We had a good practice today,” Coach Jones was quoted saying. “We just worked on fundamentals and special teams games, and we worked on running the ball offensively and the same thing on defense. I thought we had a good day.”
“Then we put our young guys in and had a scrimmage at the end,” Jones continued. “I thought that was good to get them about 20 or 24 plays. An off week is the time to do that because you don’t have as much time during a game week. So we got them out there, let them get some reps and got them on film (for evaluation).”
“We want to have another physical practice (Wednesday) and them come back next week and get into game week,” Jones further explained. “We’ve installed some of the gameplan and we’re finishing that (for the Arkansas State) but we want to have just good, fundamental work. Anytime you’re successful, you get better fundamentally and that’s what we want to continue to work on.”
South Alabama is 1-4 on the season with three consecutive losses for the first time in the program. This is also the first time the Jaguars faced a full Division I schedule with 11 of the 13 opponents on the schedule being full FBS members with one being an FBS transitional team.
Jags Looking To Build Consistency In Off-Week
C.J. Bennett reads the defense while head coach Joey Jones looks on from the sidelines in Starkville Mississippi.
There has been a lot of debate by fans over the Jaguars two-quarterback system that they have used so far this season. The coaches are also debating that question.
Coach Jones was quoted saying, “We’re going to make that decision – actually we’re formulating that decision as we speak – and I think by Wednesday we’ll definitely have an answer. I think by the Wednesday practice we’ll make an announcement as to how we’re going to do it.”
C.J. Bennett is 59-of-95 for 543 yards, four interceptions and three touchdowns on the season. Virginia transfer Ross Metheny is 34-of-59 for 354 yards, three interceptions and one touchdown on the season himself.
But Bennett is ranked second among rushers with 28 carries for 134 yards with no touchdowns yet. Metheny has ran 25 times for 7 yards and no touchdowns either.
While Trey Fetner came in for two plays against Troy, he will not be thrown in the mix for the starting position. However, he could be used in certain situations. Trey ran in from three yards out for the Jags only touchdown against Troy on Saturday. His other play in the game, he ran on 4th and 1 to pick up the first down. “We’ll use him in the wildcat (offensive set),” Jones explained. “He’s a good runner. He offers that and it would be good to expand on that package too.”
The week off comes at a great time for the Jaguar defense. Safety B.J. Scott missed the second half of the game against Troy due to a “mild concussion”. He is expected to be available to play when the Jags travel to Arkansas State on October 13. Scott make six tackles in the game, five in the first quarter as well as an interception on the first play from scrimmage by Troy. He also had a pass breakup, a tackle for loss and two quarterback hurries.
Defensive lineman Romelle Jones returned to the lineup against Troy after missing Mississippi State and most of the NC State game due to injury. Montavious Williams is dealing with an ankle injury but should be fine by Arkansas State. “Romelle Jones played (against Troy) but not at 100 percent,” Jones explained. “Hopefully this will give him time to get his knee back 100 percent because he missed the Mississippi State game. Montavious Williams turned his ankle. He played about 10 plays and that was it. Hopefully another two weeks and he’ll be ready to go and hopefully we’ll be back to 100 percent on defense.”
But while they are trying to decide between quarterbacks and healing their bumps and bruises, they are also working hard to gain some consistency.
The offense is looking to find a way to put more points on the scoreboard and to consistently move the ball. While the defense is trying to prevent more big plays. The coaching staff is staying late at night to watch game film to devise game plans and schemes to help achieve these goals.
In the Monday press conference coach Jones said, “I didn’t sleep Saturday night. I’m hard on myself and I expect to win. You hurt for about a day or two, but then you get back to work and realize you have a chance to get better. You can take adversity any way you want, you can pout about it or you can learn from it and get better. If we take the approach of learning from it, then we have a chance to get better. We’re going to keep fighting.”
“We need it,” Jones said about their off date this weekend. “our guys are beat up. We’ve been through four-and-a-half weeks of camp and five weeks of games, you’re talking about nine weeks without a break. It’s coming at a good time.”
The team will practice through Wednesday then the players and coaches will have three days off before getting back to work on game-week preparations for Arkansas State.
Monday Press Conference
South Alabama head football coach Joey Jones was joined by Senior defensive lineman Andy Dalgleish and offensive lineman Melvin Meggs for their Monday press conference. Below is some highlights from each participant.
Head coach Joey Jones opening statement on their game against Troy. “Looking back at the game, it was 24-10 at halftime and I told the kids that if we could come out and drive down the field and score that I really felt like we had a chance to win the ballgame. I had a great feeling about it. But needless to say, we didn’t drive down and score in the second half like I wanted us to. It’s two-sided. You’re frustrated because you always want to win, you prepare to win and work your tail off 16 hours a day to get your kids ready to play. But the positive side of it is when you look at how far away we are from being there, and I think we’re close. We’re not at all where we want to be yet, but you’re talking about playing a team that is as good as anybody in the conference. We’re going to get there. Everyone knew it was going to be a tough year playing these teams, but we have to keep positive and keep our kids encouraged in what we’re doing and believing in what we do. There is going to be a good time coming. It’s going to come so we have to keep our eyes set on that.”
Coach Jones then spoke about the offense. “We played well in the first half. We ran the football better, but didn’t play well the second half. We have to find ways to get better. We’re trying to find our identity on offense, and we haven’t really found that. We have to put the running and passing game together and be consistent. Our defense is playing hard. They have things they have to get better at, but they are keeping us in games. We just have to get it going offensively.”
He then spoke about having an off week this weekend. “We need it. Our guys are beat up. We’ve been through four-and-a-half weeks of camp and five weeks of games, you’re talking about nine weeks without a break. It’s coming at a good time.”
Coach Jones then spoke about how they are dealing with three consecutive losses. “I didn’t sleep Saturday night. I’m hard on myself and I expect to win. You hurt for about a day or two, but then you get back to work and realize you have a chance to get better. You can take adversity any way you want, you can pout about it or you can learn from it and get better. If we take the approach of learning from it, then we have a chance to get better. We’re going to keep fighting.”
Jones then spoke about their first five weeks of the season. “We have good competition. This is the highest level of college football, Division I football, and we’re just stepping into it. We’ve learned about how many athletes there are on these teams. They are well-rounded teams. So we have learned that we have to bring a team to the field that doesn’t have any weaknesses, and that’s what we are striving to get. Will that take some time? Probably, but the bottom line is that’s where we want to be. It really makes you put everything on the board and see what we really need to work on.”
Senior defensive lineman Andy Dalgleish spoke about the game against Troy and being off this weekend. “Obviously it was a heart-breaking loss and the start of a new rivalry. (Defensive coordinator) Coach (Bill) Clark told us that anytime you put as much emotion and effort into a game like we did against Troy, it’s going to hurt. What we have to do now during this open week is get a lot of guys healthy again, I know we are hurting on the defensive line, in particular. We also have to get that (loss) out of our mind and really focus on Arkansas State, which is another Sun Belt game. We have to try and put it in the past, it’s going to be tough to do, but put it in the past and try to look to the future. We can’t play that game again so we just focus on the next one.”
Andy then spoke about what they have learned from the game against Troy. “Obviously coming off these past three losses, it’s been tough. Playing against the teams we’ve been playing against – Troy, Mississippi State and N.C. State — we definitely know the level of competition we have ahead of us and know where we should step our level up to in order to compete with these teams. We just have to do a better job of playing more disciplined, fundamentally-sound football. We gave up the ball a lot and gave up too many big plays on defense. We have to be way more disciplined on that. I think we’ll be alright. We just have to put that in the past and focus on these upcoming games.”
Melvin Meggs also spoke about the game against Troy and being off this weekend. “It’s been a rough couple of weeks so far, but we’ve been doing a lot of things well. We just have to go to the film room and make corrections, eliminate the mistakes we’ve been making and keep playing hard.”
Meggs also spoke about what they have learned from their game against Troy and the other previous opponents. “We have to play more disciplined football. It all starts with us. The level of competition we’ve been playing the last couple of weeks compared to the last couple of seasons has increased. So we just have to step up and rise to the occasion.”
Jaguar Volleyball Downs FIU In Straight Sets
The South Alabama Jaguar Volleyball team are 3-1 in the Sun Belt after back-to-back straight set wins over Florida Atlantic and Florida International. This is the best start by the Jags since 2010.
Sophomore outside hitter Melissa Waelter recorded her third double-double of the season with 15 kills and 13 digs against Florida International on Sunday.
The Jags next travel to Arkansas for matches against Arkansas-Little Rock and Arkansas State. UALR is the Western Division leader as they are 4-0 in conference play.
Savannah Stewart also recorded her 10th double-figure kill match with 11. Lindsay Schwartz added 8 kills while Olivia Mohler and Torlandria Jones both had five kills each. Mohler also added four block assists.
True freshman Emily Hundt had 11 digs and career high four service aces.
Jags Enter Much Needed Off Week
The Jaguar offense looks to the sideline for play adjustments against UTSA.
The South Alabama Jaguars has an off week at just the right time. After starting the season 1-4, dropping their last three decisions in a row, they Jags know what they need to improve. Plus it gives the players a chance to rest and heal those bumps and bruises they have accumulated over the first five games.
They are expected to practice through Wednesday before taking a few days off before returning to the normal game-week practice routine to prepare for their trip to Arkansas State on October 13. Arkansas State, last seasons Sun Belt champion, is 2-3 on the season and 0-1 in the conference. Their head coach was hired to fill the same position at Ole Miss and was replaced by former Auburn offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn.
Arkansas State is the second game of an eight game stretch of Sun Belt opponents they will face this season. It is also the last game of a four game stretch that, coming into this season, was considered the roughest four-game stretch for the Jags.
South Alabama had problems moving the ball through the air against Troy, only throwing for 59 yards in the whole game. Overall, the offense has had problems sustaining drives. The Jags were 0-for-11 in third down conversions against NC State and 20-for-72 for the season, which is a dismal 28 percent.
However the defense has been quite formidable. Opponents have been held to 23-of-69 or 33 percent in third down conversions. But the defense’s most glaring problem is allowing big plays, especially in the passing game.
But what was exposed in the Troy game was an uncharacteristic flurry of penalties. The Jags were flagged 11 times in the first half for 102 yards and they would end the game with 15 for 142 yards. Was it frustration or was it hype by the media during the week leading up to the game? Maybe it was a bit of both.
“We’ve got to evaluate where we are and be true about what we’re doing wrong and what we’re doing right,” Head coach Joey Jones told the Press-Register. “We’ve got to just give ourselves the best chance to win that we can. Right now we’re cutting a fine line. We kind of have to do everything perfect to win. (Opposing) teams have more players than us right now, more depth. We’ve got some good players, they’ve just got more of them. They’ve been recruiting a lot longer. We’ve got to be razor sharp to be able to play with these teams and how we do that is something that we’ve got decide in the next week or two.”
Do the Jaguars continue rotating quarterbacks or do they decide on one quarterback and stick with him for an entire game? C.J. Bennett started the first three games, but Ross Metheny has started the last two games. Both have played in all five games, but only Bennett seemed to have sparked the offense against the second-team defense in Starkville. But will that, combined with his efforts in the previous games this season, be enought to seperate himself from Metheny?
When asked on Saturday if the Jags would continue to stick with the two-quarterback system, coach Jones answered “That’s a good question. I don’t know if we’re hurting ourselves by doing it. The bottom line is I haven’t thought at this time that anybody had really separated himself, that’s why we kept doing it. It’s something we’ve really got to look at the next two weeks. We have an off week next week and we’ve just got to make some decisions. We’ll do that here in the next few days.”
The Jags are a good team, but depth and consistency have been their achilles heel.
But this team has something most teams do not. They have a fight that may be unmatched by many. But that fight needs to find a way to put points on the board in order to give them a better chance at coming out on top.