Your 2020 South Alabama Jaguar Preview
After last season, the Jags can’t get much lower can they? A 2-10 season with their only win over a FBS and conference foe coming in the season finale That one win kept the Jags from having their first winless conference record in program history.
But the final four games of the season looked different from the first eight. Was the team finally starting to click, was it Desmond Trotter leading an offensive attack that could move the ball and score a few more points? Or was it something else?
Well, the 2020 season will tell and, despite Covid, it could be a make or break season for head coach Steve Campbell and his staff.
Offensively, South Alabama returns quite a bit of talent from 2019. Seven of the top 8 receivers are back as well as an experienced offensive line with 42 combined starts. Desmond Trotter is back at quarterback, who started the final four games of the season and saw a boost in offensive production. Trotter has some competition with Chance Lovertich transferring in from the junior college ranks after a juco national championship. Running back has some big question marks as they need to fill Tre Minter’s production.
Defensively the Jags have many question marks. In 2019 the defense made some huge gains statistically, but they didn’t reflect on the win-loss record. Defensive line lost a ton of experience as well as cornerback. The linebacker corps was razor thin at times but managed to make it through the season. The talent loss on the line will put pressure on the linebacker corps to control the run until the defensive line gels and gets their feet under them.
Not much has changed in special teams. Jack Brooks, the Aussie, will handle the punting and it’ll probably be kick-by-committee for field goals unless someone steps up as consistent in short, intermediate and long range field goals. Diego Guarjardo will most likely handle kickoffs as he tends to have the stronger leg. The video of the botched PAT attempt against Memphis has been watched by millions and really was the tone for the 2019 season. After that debacle the Jags will most likely utilize a backup quarterback as holder on field goal and pat attempts, which should help avoid a repeat of the 2019 incident.
Here’s the position group breakdowns.
Offensive line
The Jags only lost three letterwinners from last year and return 10 letterwinners of which three started all 12 games. They return four either redshirts or returning student-athletes.
In the offseason, the Jags brought in nine new faces and only one of them from the junior college ranks with the rest coming in as true freshmen.
Brian Ankerson is the anchor of the unit playing at center. He has the longest active starting streak on the team with 24 consecutive games. Hadon Merchant has started 22 of this 23 appearances in the last two seasons.
These two will be looked at as leaders of the unit.
Jacob Shoemaker, who was an honorable mention to the all-Sun Belt Conference team his first season with the Jags will move from his tackle position to guard.
Last years team allowed too many sacks and had a hard time blocking for the run game. For the 2020 team to have more success, those are two areas they must improve over last year.
Quarterbacks
The Jags return Desmond Trotter, who took over the starting position mid-season and never looked back. Cephus Johnson, who started the first eight games of the season, transfered out after the season.
Tylan Morton and Tanner McGee also return from last season.
Chance Lovertich was brought in from Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College as well as true freshmen Elijah Gainey and Brian Garcia.
Trotter appeared in eight games, starting the final four of the season. He led the team with eight touchdowns, tied a school record with four touchdown passes in the season-finale win over Arkansas State. He also had a career-high 337 yards of total offense in the game.
Lovertich brings some juco success to the table. He was named the second-team NJCAA All-American, first-team all-MACJC and the South Division’s Most Valuable Offensive Back after helping MGCCC to the national championship with a 12-0 record his sophomore year.
Morton played in the first four games before sitting out the rest of the season to preserve a redshirt. McGee sat out the entire season to redshirt.
Gainey is a three-star prospect per 247sports but sat our his senior season after suffering a knee injury. He started the previous two seasons.
Trotter has been challenged by Lovertich for the starting spot, but coach Campbell expects Trotter to be the starter in the season opener against Southern Miss. Expect Lovertich to get some playing time, but didn’t get any spring practice to get experience in the program.
To start, the quarterback position must protect the ball and make good decisions. Between Johnson, Trotter and Morton they threw 11 interceptions but only 14 touchdowns while completing only 52.8% of their combined passing attempts.
Running backs
USA returns four letterwinners from last season while losing two.
The biggest loss is by far Tra Minter who rushed for over 1,000 yards last season, the first in program history. Minter also became only the second All-American in program history and the only first-team all-Sun Belt Conference selection.
In addition to the four letterwinners, they also return two redshirt freshmen and a juco.
Carlos Davis led the four sophomores on the team wiht a career best 122 yards on 10 carries against SBC West Division winner Louisiana-Lafayette.
The coaching staff will look to fill Minter’s role with a running back by committee until they have someone step up as ‘the guy.’ The coaches also look at the sophomores to have three years of experience in the offensive scheme and make contributions.
The coaching staff think they have a good mix in the backfield with power, speed, and pass catchers.
The Jags not only need to find their bonafied starter, but they also need backs that can come in, produce, and keep the defense respecting the position.
Wide receivers
The Jags return the two top receivers from the 2019 season. Kawaan Baker led the team with 35 catches, 574 yards, and yards per game (47.8) while Jalen Tolbert led the team with 6 touchdown catches, four of them in the season finale win over Arkansas State.
Davyn Flenord is changing positions this season, last year he caught 14 passes for 127 yards. Tre’Veon Hamilton caught 3 passes for 43 yards also left the program.
Two freshmen redshirted last season and two juniors return from last years squad. The coaching staff also brought in seven true freshmen.
Baker, who is on the Reese’s Senior Bowl Top 250 list, is the leader of the receiver corps but was also used in the running game with jet sweeps and special teams situations. He logged 82 yards rushing and 35 yards in kick returns for 692 all-purpose yards, finishing second on the team in that category.
Tolbert established himself as a receiver to watch against Arkansas State when he caught 5 passes for 144 yards and four touchdowns. His effort was rewarded with an honorable mention National Performer-of-the-Week accolade from the College Football Performance Awards and was College Sports Madness’ Sun Belt Conference Offensive Player of the Week against the Redwolves.
The coaching staff feels that they have good depth and with Baker, Tolbert and Jalen Wayne they have a trio of veterans with three years of experience in the program.
Tight ends
Only one letterwinner returns for the 2020 season. Brandon Crum played in all 12 games with six receptions for 65 yards. One reshirted freshmen and two sophomores return this season and the coaching staff brought in a juco and three freshmen. Only two returning players were active last season.
Leaving the program were Zac Crosby, Khameron Taylor and Nick Thompson. They combined for five receptions, 61 yards and the only touchdown from the tight end position (Taylor).
The tight end position is utilized much differently under coach Campbell and it couldn’t have been more obviously last season with only 11 receptions and one touchdown from the group. If the Jags throw to a tight end, it’s more to catch the defense off-guard rather than as a regular threat.
Crum is the de-facto veteran of the group as a sophomore. Meyers, the only other player of the group that was active last year was put on scholarship during fall camp this year.
Trent Tyre brings some much needed experience from the juco ranks.
Cameron Hatcher-Owens is moving from the defensive line to offense this season.
Defensive line
The defensive line lost a lot from last season. Only four letterwinners return from the 2019 squad in Gi’Narious Johnson, Jeremiah Littles, Maurice Strong and Charles Coleman III. Strong had the most tackles among the returning players with 15.
Gone are Jordon Beaton, Sean Brown, Rocel McWilliams, Tyree Turner, and Jeffery Whatley. Four of the five were all-Sun Belt Conference performers during their careers.
Of the additional returning players, two of them are redshirt freshmen. The coaching staff added three juco players and two true freshmen.
The defensive line has a core trio of Johnson (jr), Littles (Sr) and Strong (So) to build around with Jamie Sheriff and Markes Johnson to add some more experience from the Juco level. THen add in a pair of all-state and all-region prep stars and the coaches have something to work with.
Inside Linebackers
Defensive coordinator Greg Stewart returns four letterwinners from last year and only lost one Kade Koler.
Only two other players return at the position, a sophomore and a freshman.
The staff brought in a juco and two true freshmen.
Cole is receiving all the pre-season hype with a second-team all-Sun Belt Conference selection by Phil Steele, a third-team all-League by Athlon over the summer, and the other Jaguar in the Reese’s Senior Bowl Top 250.
Cole has played outside linebacker the last two seasons, but will be moving back to inside for the fall.
Nick Mobley led the team in total tackles with 91, which ranked him in the top 10 for the conference and top 90 in the nation per game.
Roy Yancey returned last year after redshirting in the 2018 season due to an injury. Yancey started six games and appeared in all 12 games.
Stewart feels he has the depth he needs for the first time in his time at USA.
Outside Linebackers
Four letterwinners return in AJ DeShazor, Chris Henderson, Shawn Jennings, and Kelvin Johnson. The two letterwinners lost from last season: Khalil McDonald and Taji Stewart.
Two freshmen reshirted last season also returns for the fall. The coaching staff added Zach Jones as a freshman, Zivaiishe Smith a sopohomore from Juco, and Christian Bell a senior transfer from Wisconsin.
DeShazor had his named called often last season, he was third on the team in total tackles while starting all 12 games.
Johnson finished in the top five it total tackles last season, but he primarily played inside he is making the move to outside for 2020.
Bell appeared in 24 games over three years for Wisconsin, he was a four-star recruit by ESPN coming out of Hoover.
Chris Henderson and Christian Bell are expected to be two of the main leaders of the outside linebacker corps. DeShazor and Doug Sullivan are expected to make some big contributions as well though.
Cornerbacks
The cornerback position had some big losses from last year too. Gone are Travis Reed, Jalen Thompson, and Gus Nave, some names you heard quite a lot last season. Also gone are Jay Woods and Tyrone Leggette.
Returning letterwinners are Devin Rockette, Ryan Melton, Jaden Voisin and Davyn Flenord (moving over from receiver). Also returning is Dallas Gamble who redshirted.
The coaching staff brought in two juco transfers and one true freshman.
Thompson graduated with the career leader in interceptions (9) and INT’s return for touchdowns (2). Reed’s 41 total stops and three tackles for loss led the cornerback group last season as he earned second-team all-Sun Belt honors.
Rockette returns with the second-most pass break ups last season, including a pair of fumble recoveries and an interception.
Darrell Luter Jr was a three-star juco recruit and rated among the top 40 cornerbacks in the nation, selected to the second-team all-Mississippi ACJC.
The coaching staff is hoping that youth, eagerness and willingness to learn will be enough to replace the experience lost from last season. Rockette returns the most reps and will be one to help set an example to the new faces.
Safeties
Gone are DJ Daniels and Sterrling Fisher but returning are Keith Gallmon, Tre Young and Keon Voisin. Also returning are Kwameh Lewis (sr) and Nic Brunkosky (r-fr).
The coaching staff brought in three players, two juco and one senior transfer.
Gallmon earned preseason third-team all-Sun Belt Conference from Athlon and a fourth-team preseason all-league by Phil Steele. He started all 12 games with 59 total tackles, 43 of them solo and two tackles for loss.
DJ Exilhomme was a second-team all-Northeast Conference selection after recording 72 total tackles, three tackles for loss, five passes broken up, three fumble recoveries, an interception and a blocked kick.
CJ Thompson was the top juco recruit in Oklahoma and the 15th rated safety in the country by 247 sports. He was named second-team NJCAA All-American and second-team all-Southwest Junior College Football Conference.
Gallmon returns the most starting experience on the team at the position and has emerged as a leader among the safeties. Add in the other safeties who have played snaps for the Jags and some juco experience and the staff feel pretty good about this squad.
Special teams
All the letterwinners and the lone redshirt return to the team with the addition of Cooper Charlton as an incoming freshman.
Brooks is a fourth-team all-Sun Belt Conference selection by Athlon sports. As a freshmen his punting average was sixth in the conference and in the top 60 in the country.
Frankie Onate led the team in scoring and Guajardo was the first kicker to record double-digit touchbacks in a season since 2014 and Aleem Sunanon.
Kawaan Baker will be continue to be on kickoff return coverage and Jalen Tolbert will replace Tre Minter as the other kickoff returner. Tolbert and Jalen Wayne will be the competing for the primary punt return position this fall.
Coaches have had the student-athletes kicking more balls than previously. Guajardo has working on his kickoffs for consistency and Brooks has been working on more consistent punting. Both were freshmen last season and Brooks was only on campus a few weeks before the season started, so with a season under their belts they should be ready come game time.
South Alabama vs Southern Miss Scheduled For National Broadcast
The South Alabama Jaguar football team will open the 2020 college football season with a nationally-televised match up against the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles per Conference USA.
The Jags and the Golden Eagles will kick off at 8pm CDT on Thursday, September 3 at M. M. Roberts Stadium in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. The game will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network.
It will be the first time the Jags have been on CBSSN since their November 13, 2013 game at Navy.
As all South Alabama football games they can also be heard on 96.1 FM The Rocket and 99.5 FM The Jag locally in Mobile. As well as nation wide on the iHeartRadio app.
We will be there to give you in-game updates on twitter at @USAThunderjags.
Season Tickets In The Time Of Covid
Getting actual season ticket sales numbers is hard.
The only time you really get any sense of numbers is when a school sells out of season tickets. Your Power Five major programs typically have waiting lists for season tickets.
However, when you get down to the Group of Five, they don’t typically have sell outs of season tickets.
Old Dominion had a great run that ended in 2018. For nine seasons they sold out their season tickets and had sell out games at S.B. Ballard Stadium. A streak of 60 sell outs for a mid major is quite the accomplishment even for a 20,118 seat stadium.
The 2020 season was supposed to be something huge for South Alabama football.
After 11 seasons of playing their home games at Ladd-Peebles Stadium, roughly a seven mile drive from campus, the Jaguars were poised to open their brand new, $74 million on-campus stadium.
When it was announced, Jaguar fans were elated to finally get on campus. Many had gripped against the lack luster condition of Lad-Peebles Stadium, a 72 year old facility.
But after a poor season on the field, 2-10 with only one win against an FBS opponent, did that dampen the spirits of even some of the most die hard fans? That was the second seasons under head coach Steve Campbell’s leadership and a total record of 5-19 over that time period. Two of those wins against FCS opponents by the way.
Recently Director of Athletics Joel Erdmann and other staff hosted a meeting with season ticket holders via Zoom. In that meeting it was mentioned that with social distancing measures in place at Hancock Whitney Stadium, the capacity would be limited to 6,200. But that number would be able to accommodate all of the season ticket holders.
That got my attention.
Later in the meeting, it was mentioned that they had only sold 4,439 season tickets. Granted, they stopped selling season ticket midway through March when social distancing measures and stay-at-home orders were put in place in the state of Alabama.
But with the push after the 2019 season ended and the 2020 season being the first on-campus, and season ticket renewals having already been emailed and mailed out, one would think that more than 4,439 season tickets would have been sold.
As of the Zoom meeting, 10% or less of the season ticket holders had decided to opt-out of the 2020 season and either roll their payments over to the 2021 season tickets or gift the money to the University.
It’s unknown how many student tickets would have been kept in reserve and not sold. But it seems that, without the pandemic striking, student were going to have plenty of opportunities to take in a game.
Attempts to get season ticket sales numbers from peer Group of Five schools in the area were unsuccessful.
UAB, a peer school in a G5 conference within the state of Alabama, was one of those schools that did not respond. The 2020 season will be their last at the ageing Legion Field before they move into the currently under construction Protective Stadium. The $179 million, 45,000 seat multi-use stadium that will be operated by the Birmingham Jefferson Civic Center. While it is not an on-campus stadium (those plans were nixed by the University of Alabama Board of Trustees) it will be in closer proximity to the University in downtown Birmingham.
While South Alabama is a year ahead of occupying their stadium, USA ticket sales prioritized season ticket holders who purchased tickets for 2019 when it was time to get 2020 season tickets.
It was last summer when the 2020 season ticket holders went through the process of choosing their seat locations in ‘The Cock’ as well.
Am I completely off on the season ticket numbers here?
Is 4,439 a respectable number?
Is my expectations for season ticket sales too high for a mid major G5 school with a brand new $74 million on-campus stadium?
Or does this have more to say about the current state of the program rather than the current state of the playing venue? Did Covid hamper what would have been their big season ticket sales months?
I think Covid or not, if the 2020 season is played in the fall, it will be a make or break season for Coach Campbell. Another two or three win season and more apathy in the fans may force Erdmann’s hand.
Reports Swirling Big Ten To Cancel Football Season
After the reports yesterday that the Big Ten had enough votes internally to postpone the fall sports season to the spring, we all knew Monday would be a very interesting day.
Dan Patrick reported early Monday morning that the Big Ten had voted internally 12-2 to postpone the season. The two votes for a fall season were Nebraska and Iowa.
Now the Detroit Daily News is reporting that the Big Ten will announce on Tuesday that the conference has officially decided to postpone fall sports until the spring of 2021.
Meanwhile the SEC is reportedly recruiting ACC and Big 12 teams to play this fall. Both the ACC and Big 12 seem to be on the fence as to playing football this fall. Even the Big 12 may be cozying up to Nebraska, who left the conference to join the Big Ten in 2010.
Big Twelve to Nebraska: Come on home Nebraska. Let’s find a partner, make it a dozen and renew one of college football’s great rivalries! pic.twitter.com/uCfwOLQ8LE— Spencer Tillman (@SpenceTillman) August 10, 2020
All the while the Sun Belt Conference and Conference USA are still practicing and moving forward towards a 2020 fall season. It’s being rumored that some early games are moving up to week zero (August 29th). Troy and Middle Tennessee may be renewing their rivalry this year, and they may make it home-and-home in one season!
When you thought 2020 could not get any more crazy! This scheduling and will they/won’t they discussion is bringing out some borderline unimaginable stuff!
The Fate Of Fall Sports Likely To Be Determined In The Next 72 Hours
The next 72 hours will determine if we have college football this fall, or any fall sports for that matter..
On Saturday, the Mid American Conference announced that they were postponing their fall sports until the spring, which includes football.
The MAC, considered a Group of 5 conference, is starting to look like the first domino to fall among the FBS conferences.
The Big Ten presidents met on Saturday and, while they did not vote to postpone the season, they did vote that football practices should remain in the “acclimatization phase” until further notice, which means helmets only and without contact.
Apparently commissioners of the Power 5 conferences held an emergency meeting as concerns continue to grow among college football athletics officials that the upcoming football season, and other fall sports, will not be able to be played due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
It appears that, even though the Big Ten presidents did not vote to postpone the season, they are ready to pull the plug on the fall season and wanted to gauge whether the other commissioners and university presidents would join them.
The Big Ten presidents could meet as soon as Sunday Night with the feedback from the other Power Five commissioners and could be the first to vote to postpone fall sports season to the spring among the Power Five.
The PAC-12 is set to meet again on Tuesday.
Basically no one wants to be the first, nor the last.
However if all of the power five conferences vote to postpone fall sports, including football, to the spring they will need to have some sort of plan ready to announce to the fans and student-athletes. They will not want to hear “we’ll get back to you on that.”
I fall into the camp that having a football season is probably one of the best things for the student-athletes. They will be on campus with excellent medical care and rigorous testing. Probably the biggest threat would be college parties and girls. Because, lets face it, some college kids are going to have some parties and athletes will be invited.
Jags vs Southern Miss Date Change; Tulane Replaces Grambling For Home Opener
South Alabama Athletics announced two scheduling changes on Thursday.
The season opener against Southern Miss has moved up to Thursday, September 3. It was originally scheduled for Saturday, September 5th.
In an effort to replace the Jags home opener against Grambling, which was cancelled when the SWAC announced the postponement of the football season to the spring, has scheduled Tulane to visit Mobile.
USA was trying to schedule an FCS school to replace FCS Grambling but was unable to find anyone to fill that hole in the schedule. Apparently they did not want to take the chance of forever having a home opening loss in Hancock Whitney Stadium to go down as a loss to in-state foe (can’t really call them a rival…yet) UAB.
As for attendance for the season opener at Southern Miss, or attendance at home this season, there has not been an official announcement. So far it is presumed that home game attendance will be limited to 25% if fans are permitted to attend games at all, at least in the early part of the season.
Take a look at our previous article about attendance numbers and why USA should consider playing their home games at Ladd-Peebles this season due to the reduced attendance numbers because of the pandemic.
Check back for updates as they come.
Go Jags!