Troy Announces Retirement of Blakeney at End of Season
Larry Blakeney at a press conference in Troy earlier this year. | Photo: wn.com
Longtime Troy head coach Larry Blakeney is set to announce his retirement at the end of the season in a press conference on Monday. He informed his team after their Sunday practice.
Blakeney is the second-longest tenured active coach in the FBS ranks only behind Frank Beamer. He had seven playoff appearances in eight seasons as an FCS coach, including an undefeated regular season in 1995, with three wins over BCS teams. He won eight conference championships including five straight Sun Belt titles from 2006-2010. He has an overall record of 175-109-1.
But after the 2010 season there are different numbers that describe his team. Since 2010 he has not had a winning season and is 14-27 and 0-5 start this year, the first 0-5 start since the 1982 season for Troy, which includes a loss to FCS Abilene Christian, and an FPI ranking of 125th in the country.
Blakeney coached high school teams after graduating from Auburn and spent over a decade on the plains as an assistant. He arrived in 1990 to be the head coach at Troy as they were preparing to move up from Division II to FCS.
In 2001 Troy again moved up, this time to FBS and knocked off Mississippi State that fall to formally announce their arrival.
Three years later was arguably the pinnacle of Blakeney’s career. Troy hosted the #17 ranked Missouri Tigers at Veterans Memoral Stadium for a Thursday night ESPN2 game in 2004. They would knock off the Tigers 24-14 in front of the largest crowd in Troy history.
“We don’t have to beat them 365 days,” he told the Associated Press after the game. “We just have to beat them for one 60-minute segment of history. For that one 60 minutes, Troy was better than Missouri.”
In 2007 they stunned Oklahoma State in Troy. His program produced NFL stars DeMarcus Ware, Osi Umenyiora, Jerrel Jernigan, Leodis McKelvin, Cameron Sheffield, Sherrod Martin, Levi Brown and Jonathan Massaquoi. He was awarded the Sun Belt Conference 10th Anniversary Most Outstanding Head Coach award.
But after the 2010 season things began to fall apart. In 2011 the Trojans wen 3-9 and have not been above .500 since.
A Record Number of Jaguars Earn SBC Academic Recognition
South Alabama had a record 155 student-athletes to earn Sun Belt Conference Academic Recognition for 2013-2014 by being on the SBC Commissioner’s List or Academic Honor Roll as announced by the conference office on Thursday.
The Jags had 84 individuals named to the Commissioner’s List which recognizes student athletes with a GPA of 3.5 or better during the previous two semesters and 71 on the Academic Honor Roll which includes student-athletes with a 3.0-3.49 GPA during that same time span.
Ten of USA’s 17 sports had double-figure totals. Women’s Cross Country/Track and Field team led the way with 27 followed closely by Football with 26. Men’s Cross Country/Track and Field and Soccer both had 19, Softball had 14, and baseball had 13.
The Jags finished second in the final standings for the Vic Bubas Cup which is presented to the top overall program in the Sun Belt Conference.
Here is a link to the 2013-2014 South Alabama Sun Belt Conference Academic Honorees. Congratulations Jaguar Student-Athletes!
Jags Soccer Sweep Player Of The Week Honors For Second Time This Season
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- Sarah Hay, a junior, made two stops in penalty shootout, the second to advance the Jags to the Conference Final against Georgia State on Sunday at noon. Photo: usajaguars.com
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- Freshman Charde Hannah became the second Jaguar and second SBC player ever to win both Freshman of the Year and Offensive Player of the Year awards in the same season. Photo: usajaguars.com
The University of South Alabama soccer team swept the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week awards for the second time this season when freshman Charde Hannah and Sophomore Sarah Hay were honored this week. The Jags went 2-0 over the last week to extend their current winning streak to six games with their help.
Hannah earned the honor for the second consecutive week while Hay is honored for the first time in her career.
Hannah tied a school record with four goals and added an assist in USA’s 5-0 win over Francis Marion. She ranks second in the nation in points per match with 2.6, fourth in goals per match with 1.1 and 11th in game-winning goals with 3. With her help the Jaguars rank sixth in Division I in scoring with 3.70 per match.
Hay helps the Jaguars on the other end of the field. She made 11 saves in the two shutouts over the past week. She had five saves in a 1-0 win over North Florida then added six more against Francis Marion.
Hay has led the Jaguars to five shutouts in six appearances this season with a goals-against average of 0.32, which ranks 10th in the nation while her save percentage is third in the nation at .939.
The Jaguars begin conference play on Friday at 7pm when they host Troy at The Cage.
Hannah Ties Record With Four Goals Against Francis Marion in 5-0 Win
Freshman Charde Hannah earned Offensive Player of the Week honors on Tuesday, September 16, 2014. She is the third Jaguar to earn a weekly honor this season. She tied a school record with four goals against Francis Marion on Sunday, September 21. Photo: usajaguars.com
South Alabama’s Charde Hannah tied a school record on Sunday with four goals in a 5-0 win over Francis Marion.
Charde got the scoring started with a goal in the 5th minute of the match and an assist by Danielle Henley. She would net her second goal in the 28th minute with an assist by Jordan Duncan on a shot into the upper right corner. At the half the Jags were up 2-0.
In the second half, Chelsea Followwell scored a goal after a rebound on a goal keeper save from about six yard out in the 50th minute of the match.
Just under six minutes later, Hannah scored a hat trick with a shot from about 20 yards out. In the 66th minute, Hannah could get her record tying goal on a throughball with an assist from Sophie Haywood.
Sarah Hay had six saves on the day.
The Jags held a 35 – 10 advantage in shots, 18-6 advantage on shots on goal.
USA Has Four Teams Earn SBC Team Academic Awards
South Alabama had four teams earn 2014-2015 Sun Belt Conference Academic Awards on Thursday. That number is twice as many as any other conference member.
USA teams that earned awards were the Jaguar softball team, the men’s and women’s cross country teams and the men’s track and field team.
The conference office recognizes one team from each of the league’s 16 sports for for the award, which is calculated by totaling the student-athlete GPA’s for the team and dividing by the total number of student-athletes on the team. The team with the highest average GPA is named the Team Academic Award winner for that year. The GPA’s are based off of the previous school year and include the total GPA for the year, not the average of semesters.
In all, South Alabama Athletics had a record 100 student-athletes to make the Dean’s list, 189 individuals with a 3.0 GPA or higher, in the spring semester. Additionally, 10 sports programs carried a team GPA of 3.0 or higher.
South Alabama finished second in the Bubas Cup standings for the 2013-2014 academic year. The Bubas Cup recognizes the conference’s top overall program in competition. It was the school’s best finish in more than 10 years.
AD Erdmann Addresses #JagNation Concerning Policy Changes At Ladd-Peebles
South Alabama athletic director Joel Erdmann releases letter to Jaguar fans concerning the water availability situation at Ladd-Peebles Stadium during the Jags sold-out game against Mississippi State on Saturday, September 13, 2013. Photo Credit: Matt Weaver | Special to Thunderjags
South Alabama Athletics Director Joel Erdmann release an open letter to fans on Wednesday addressing the water situation at Ladd-Peebles Stadium. In the letter he outlines the changes that USA and Ladd-Peebles will implement in future games to try to prevent the same situation from happening again.
Here is a link to a PDF of the letter.
September 17, 2014
Jaguar Fans and Customers;
The September 13th football game versus Mississippi State University will be remembered as one of the remarkable moments in South Alabama history. Beginning with the crowded Pep Rally Friday evening in downtown Mobile and carrying through to the tailgating and the game itself, tens of thousands of Jaguar fans experienced a tangible swell of pride and unity.
Please note that the 3:00 p.m. game time was established to allow for a nationally televised game on ESPNews. We anticipate and hope that similar opportunities present themselves in the future. The festive atmosphere of Saturday’s game combined with the sheer numbers of a sell-out crowd and the heat of a mid-September afternoon in Mobile, Alabama, exposed selected operational areas which will be addressed as follows.
1. Water – customers experienced access to warm bottled water at selected areas within the stadium. Moving forward:
• Spectators will be allowed to bring into the stadium two bottles of water per person. Small to medium-sized soft-sided coolers are now allowed and are subject to search. Please be sure such items are sized appropriately to fit within the designated seating area and does not intrude on adjacent fans.
• There will be roving vendors with beverages in both the West and East grandstands.
• Refrigerated trucks will be located in designated ground-level areas of the stadium. These locations will serve as points of sale with cold bottles of water assured. Due to various logistical and safety restrictions, water from these areas cannot be distributed to the concourses – thus a short walk to the areas will be required.
• All efforts will be made to continue to provide cold water in the concourses.2. Shuttles – Customers have access to ride the Wave Transit System from the Bel Air Mall parking lot (Near JC Penney) to Ladd-Peebles and return. The shuttles run non-stop from four hours prior to a game to two hours after. The cost for a round trip is $2.50. At peak times prior to Saturday’s game there were in excess of 30 buses in rotation. Moving forward:
• We will increase the number of buses in the rotation at peak-use times and balance those numbers with the desire to keep the cost of the shuttle at $2.50 per round trip.As our football program continues to grow, we have been provided a tremendous opportunity to call Ladd-Peebles Stadium our home. We view this opportunity as a true partnership between the Stadium and Jaguar Athletics. When issues which negatively impact the experience of our fans occur, we will be diligent in working together as a team to find reasonable solutions.
We deeply appreciate your support. Go Jags!!
Joel
Hannah Earns Offensive Player of the Week Honors
Freshman Charde Hannah earned Offensive Player of the Week honors on Tuesday, September 16, 2014. She is the third Jaguar to earn a weekly honor this season. Photo: usajaguars.com
Charde Hannah of the South Alabama Soccer team added to the Jaguars list of weekly honors on Tuesday as she was named the Sun Belt Conference Offensive Player of the Week.
Hannah, a freshman from Tupelo, Mississippi, is the third Jaguar to earn the conference’s weekly honor after freshman Sophie Haywood and junior Nini Rabsatt-Smith swept the awards last week.
Hannah recorded three goals and an assist for seven points as the Jaguars sent 2-0 by defeating Mississippi State and Alabama A&M. She scored both goals in the win over the Bulldogs.
She currently ranks 16th in the nation in goals per match (.875) and 17th in points per match with 2.13. She leads the conference in both of those categories.
USA will try to extend their four-matching winning streak on Friday when they host North Florida at The Cage.
Jaguar Volleyball’s Baker Earns SBC Defensive Player of the Week Honor
Abby Baker, a sophomore from Fayetteville, Georgia, was named the Defensive Player of the Week for her performance in the Maroon Classic over the weekend. | Photo: John Adams usajaguars.com
Sophomore libero/defensive specialist Abby Baker was named the Sun Belt Conference Defensive Player of the Week on Monday by the Conference office for the first time in her career.
Baker helped the Jaguars to a 3-1 record at the Maroon Classic over the weekend as she had 81 digs for a 6.23 digs per set average in four matches. She did not commit a reception error in the 54 times she was served.
She ranks sixth in the conference in digs with 3.80 per set.
Baker is the first Jaguar to earn a defensive honor since Jenna Hassell on September 10, 2012 and only the third recipient of the honor is South Alabama history.
Baker and the Jags will return to action on Wednesday as they open conference play at Louisiana-Lafayette. They will then return home to host Georgia State on Sunday.
Maleki Harris Named Defensive Player Of The Week
Maleki Harris, a senior from Cordova, Alabama, recorded his second double-digit tackle total against Mississippi State where he also forced two fumbles. The Sun Belt Conference named him the Defensive Player of the Week on Monday, September 15, 2014. | Photo: usajaguars.com
South Alabama’s Maleki Harris earned Sun Belt Conference Defensive Player of the Week honors for his performance against Mississippi State on Saturday.
Harris, a 6’1″ 210-pound senior linebacker from Cordova, Alabama, was credited with a career-best 14 tackles, 6 solo, and a pair of forced fumbles both of which were recovered by the Jaguars. The first fumble came on a five yard tackle for loss on Mississippi State’s first snap after taking over at the USA 31 yard line on a turnover and keeping the score 7-0 late in the first quarter.
The second turnover came in the red zone at the five yard line to stop another scoring opportunity.
This was the second double-digit tackle game for Harris and it was enough to push his career over 100 tackles for his career.
South Alabama (1-1) will host Georgia Southern (1-2) for a 6:30pm kickoff on Saturday at Ladd-Peebles Stadium, the first of eight consecutive Sun Belt Conference games. Locally the game can be heard on Lite Mix 99.9FM and worldwide on iHeartRadio. The game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN3.
South Alabama Soccer Defeats Mississippi State 2-0
Freshman Charde Hannah netted two goals as the Jags defeated Mississippi State in Starkville 2-0 on Friday. Photo: usajaguars.com
The South Alabama soccer team has now won four consecutive games with wins over Mississippi State in Starkville on Friday evening 2-0 behind freshman Charde Hannah’s two goals, her fifth and sixth of the season and a 6-2 win over Alabama A&M on Sunday.
With the wins, the Jags have now won six of their last seven outings. Prior to defeating Alabama A&M the Jags had won their previous three games by shutout. The Jags record improves to 6-2 on the season while the Bulldogs fall to 2-4.
The two teams were scoreless until the 71st minute with Hannah scored on a breakaway inside the left post. Her second goal came with just 12 seconds left in regulation to put the match away.
Sophomore Sarah Hay finished with six saves in the teams fifth shutout of the season. The Jags outshot the Bulldogs 16-14 but Mississippi State led 7-6 in shots on goal.
Against Alabama A&M the Jags got five second-half goals as Sophie Haywood came off the bench to score two goals, a brace, and Charde Hannah added a goal and an assist also off the bench.
Junior Jordan Duncan recorded a goal and two assists, freshman Rio Hardy and Alyssa Pejic also netted goals. Pejic’s goal was the first of her career.
This was the first time that the Jags had to rally after the Bulldogs got a goal in the 18th minute. It would hold the lead for the next 17 minutes before Hannah’s goal tied the match, her team-leading seventh goal of the season.
It was tied at one goal each at halftime then the Jags go back on the board again quickly when Haywood netted her first goal of the match only six minutes into the half. Her second came only three minutes after the first.
Beginning on Friday, the Jags will start a five-match homestand. They will begin with North Florida, part of the Jaguar Classic. The match will begin at 7pm. Troy will start off the festivities against Francis Marion at 4pm.