Harris And May Represent Jaguars At 2014 SBC Media Day
The student-athletes who represented the school and their teammates were Maleki Harris and Chris May. Here is a sample of what they had to say at the 2014 Sun Belt Conference Media Day at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.
Harris was named to the preseason second-team All-Sun Belt Team by Phil Steele and Athlon Sports. Last season he started 10 games but saw action in all 12 games. He finished fourth on the team with 63 tackles and 8.5 tackles for loss. He led the team with seven pass breakups and with two fumble recoveries. He also recorded 2.5 sacks, three quarterback hurries and an interception.
Harris, as a sophomore, also played in all 13 games and recorded 20 tackles while leading the team with two fumble recoveries and set a school game record when he recovered both of them in the same game against Hawaii.
May, a 6’5″ 290-pound native of Tuscumbia, Alabama, was selected as a First-Team All-Sun Belt player and was selected as a Second-Team All-Conference by both Phil Steele and College Sports Madness. He led the team last season with 65 knockdown blocks and was second on the team with an 87% grade overall after starting all 12 games for the Jaguars last season at right tackle. He allowed only one sack on 394 passing attempts by the Jaguars last season. He had a season-high nine knockdowns in the Jaguar win over Lousiana-Monroe.
As a redshirt freshman in 2012, he appeared in all 13 games and started the final seven at left tackle. He was named to the conference All-Freshman Team by the Sun Belt Conference beat writers and earned a coaches’ award on the offensive line three times to tie a season-record.
Chris May (Jr. Offensive lineman)
Speaking about his Sun Belt Conference Media Day: “It’s really cool. I was talking with Maleki (Harris) about how cool it is to not only be here, but to be here representing our team, university and city.”
Speaking about the offense’s greatest challenge this football season: “I think our main challenge will be to keep everyone on the same page. We have so many different athletes and so many people that can do so many different things that if we stay together and maintain great team chemistry then we can do some special things.”
Speaking about the cohesion among the offensive line: “We have some special players upfront. We get Melvin Meggs back who was a great player for us two years ago, but he suffered an injury and had to miss last season. Drew Dearman and Ucambre Williams, an All-SBC performer, and Joseph Scelfo will probably step up and play center for us this year. He has the potential to be really good too. Four of us that start on the line came in together in the same signing class. It’s been cool to see everyone mature and grow as players and men.”
Speaking about competing for the conference championship: “I felt like we were at that point last year. We obviously struggled a little late in some games, but we finished 6-6 and were bowl eligible. This year is a big year for us. We have a lot of returning starters on offense, and some guys who are building depth for us on defense. I feel like this is the year for us to not only compete for the Sun Belt (title), but to win the whole thing.”
Speaking about the team heading into this season: “Coach (Joey) Jones has really been hitting us hard with discipline and team-building exercises. We did a workout with some Navy Seals about midway through the summer. As long as we can have that team chemistry and can stay disciplined, I feel like we have the potential to have a great year.”
Maleki Harris (Sr. Linebacker)
Speaking about his role in the defense: “I definitely feel that I have more responsibility to lead the defense. When I first got here, I butted heads with some of the guys who were seniors last year. But they took me under their wing, and I think the coaches saw that and have put me in a position to be a leader. I feel a lot of responsibility for this season and how it goes, especially defensively. I feel like a lot of it is on me. If I can’t make the play, there may be something I can tell a teammate that they can use in certain situations. But I feel like there isn’t a play that I can’t make. At the end of the season when my career here is over, I want South Alabama to succeed. That’s part of being a leader. You have to lead, but you also have to prepare others to lead. When you have that, then you have a great program and that’s what we want at South Alabama.”
Speaking about the defense: “I feel like our weakness is experience, and the only way you can get experience is going through it. But our strength defensively is toughness. We are going to be a tough, hard-nosed defense because that’s how we are coached. It starts with our defensive coordinator Coach (Travis) Pearson. It is discipline and toughness, mental toughness to be more specific. That’s some of the points where we fell short last year. Those close games we lost came down to mental toughness. Now that we have been through that, I feel like we are ready for it.”
Speaking about the 2014 schedule ahead of them: “I see so much potential for a great year and the opportunity to get Mobile recognized for more than just the Senior Bowl. We want Mobile to be known as the home of South Alabama. We want to be nationally-known. We want that recognition but at the same time we are going to stay humble and keep working toward our goals.”
Speaking about what he learned by playing in the Sun Belt Conference last season: “It was tough, but it was fun. It can get a little crazy going on the road in the Sun Belt. But the team that wins on the road is the team that will come out on top. You have to do it. There is not a sport that you can succeed in if you don’t win on the road. It’s going to be a tough challenge, but I think we will be ready for it.”
Speaking about the team this season: “We want the Sun Belt championship. I feel like we are very talented across the board, and we may not have been able to say that at times in the past years. We are young, but this may be the most talented team to come through South Alabama. Talent-wise we won’t be lacking at any position.”
Sun Belt Media Day Rewind
The 2014 Sun Belt Media Day is in the books and the Conference is in a good position to make some noise this season. Especially South Alabama.
This big headlines for this season so far is the number of new quarterbacks taking the reigns for SBC schools when the fall schedule begins. Over half of the teams in the conference will be starting new quarterbacks. South Alabama is not the exception either. Ross Metheny played very well last season and, most notably, played very smart. He threw for over 1,300 yards as he helped lead the Jaguars to a 6-6 season and 4-3 conference record. Now it may be Brandon Bridge’s turn to help lead the Jaguars to a new level of success.
Bridge sits at the Number 1 quarterback after spring pratice but will have to continue to prove himself as the stable of returning quarterbacks will continue to fight for playing time. However they will also have to prove themselves against two new quarterbacks that will join the team this fall in HuCo transfer Hunter Vaughn and former South Florida quarterback Matt Floyd.
Only five Sun Belt schools have a returning starting quarterback and the biggest name is Louisiana-Lafayette’s Terrance Broadway. Broadway was voted the preseason Offensive Player of the Year honors. Along with him is Georgia State’s Ronnie Bell, Texas State’s Tyler Jones, Appalachian State’s Kameron Bryant and Georgia Southern’s part-time starter last season Kevin Ellison.
When Jaguar head coach Joey Jones arrived at the 2013 Sun Belt Media Day last summer, his team was picked to finish next-to-last in their first season as a full SBC and FBS member. After a season-opening loss to Southern Utah, the Jaguars regrouped and found their game. They finished the season with a three-game winning streak including a season-finale win over Sun Belt Conference Co-Champion Louisiana-Lafayette.
This season it toally different. Coach Jones’ team is picked to finish third in the conference. The potent Jaguar offense returns nine starters from last season. The two starters they lost were Metheny at Quarterback and Matt Calcagnini at center.
The story is a bit different on the defensive side of the ball as they are returning six starters, most of them in the defensive backfield.
But the conference acknoledged the talent that is on the Jaguar roster as nine student-athletes were named to the preseason All-Sun Belt Team.
The following was some of the things that Coach Jones had to say while speaking with the media in New Orleans.
Jones talking about whether he feels USA as good as any team in the conference. “I feel that we are starting to get closer in terms of talent. Two years ago we weren’t Division I quite yet and the talent wasn’t there. But last year was much closer and now we are probably getting to the point where we are comparable to the other teams in the league. But it all comes down to how you play, talent only does so much. you have to play well to win football games.”
Jones talking about quarterback Brandon Bridge: “I feel real good about Brandon. He is a great character young man, he works hard at his craft and he cares about it. He’s very talented, I expect big things out of him. He understands his role isn’t to be the biggest playmaker in the world, it’s to be the starting quarterback at South Alabama and win football games for us, that means taking what the defense is giving you. He’s done a great job this spring.”
Jones spoke about the expectations of being picked to finish third in the conference in the preseason poll: “The way we finished last year definitely helped going into this season. We realized if we play well and do our part we’ll have a chance. One thing I know about the Sun Belt Conference is there are a lot of good football teams and a lot of great coaches. You better be ready to play every week. You look not only at our games, a lot of one- and two-point decisions, but around the league and the other teams are going through the same thing.”
One of the most interesting questions for Jaguar fans is what it will take for USA to win the conference championship. Jones said, “The key in my opinion is we have to win close games, and we have to win on the road. Winning on the road is probably the biggest thing in this conference, most teams were .500 or below on the road last year. You have to find a way to win on the road in this conference to win the championship.”
Last season the Jaguars lost four games by two points or less, two of them by just one point. The Jaguars game against Tennesse was decided by just seven points and USA had a chance to tie or go ahead with under two minutes left in the game in the red zone.
Jones also spoke about the season-ending win over conference co-champion ULL and what it means as they head into the 2014 season. “Louisiana-Lafayette has been the team that everyone in our conference has looked at the last three or four years. Them and Arkansas State. To be able to have a chance to play well against them last year certainly helped our confidence going into this year. But this is a new year with different players and different coaches, we can’t look back, we have to keep looking forward.”
Jags Place Nine On 2014 Preseason All-Sun Belt Team
Ahead of Sun Belt Media Day, the conference released the preseason All-Sun Belt Conference Teams with South Alabama having placed nine on the list.
Wes Saxton was named to the First-Team at tight end for the second consecutive season while Chris May and Ucambre Williams joining him as representatives on the offensive line.
Six more were named to the Second-Team. Wide Receivers Jereme Jones and Shavarez Smith, defensive lineman Jesse Kelley, Linebacker Maleki Harris, defensive back Qudarius Ford and placekicker Aleem Sunanon.
Voting for the Preseason All-Sun Belt Team is conducted among the 11 head caoches and select members of the media.
In addition to being named to the All-Sun Belt Team, Saxton is also on the watch list for the John Mackey and Biletnikoff Awards.
Jones looks to continue his consecutive games with a catch streak this season, which currently sits at 39-games.
Smith set the school record for receiving yards in a season and ranked 14th nationally with an average of 18.8 yards per reception (third among players from non-AQ BCS Conferences). He is also on the preseason watch list for the Biletnikoff Award.
Ford is the top returning tackler on defense as he was second on the team last season with 76 stops. He also picked off two passes and broke up six others after starting all 12 games.
Sunanon turned around a shakey start to his redshirt freshman year to become one of the most consistent kickers in the conference. He set a school single-season record with 91 points as he connected on 18-of-23 field goal attempts and 37-of-39 extra point attempts. He was selected as an Honorable Mention to the All-Sun Belt Team in 2013, his first season at the collegiate level. He finished the season ranked in the top 20 nationally in field goals per game while finishing second in the conference in scoring average. He made a school-record 12-consecutive field goals over the final seven games of the season.
2014 Sun Belt Media Day Is Here
The 2014 Sun Belt Media Day will get underway at 9am this morning in the Bienville Club Lounge in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Each school will have their head coach, except for Troy’s Larry Blakeney who recently had surgery and has been advised against making any long trips, and two student-athletes available to the media. Then at 3pm Sun Belt Conference Commissioner Karl Benson will deliver the State of the Sun Belt Conference, after which he, Coordinator of Officials Steve Shaw, College Football Playoff CFO Reid Sigmon and Sun Belt Athletic Directors will be available to the media.
The SBC will also have two outlets for those who cannot be in attendance.
The “Sun Belt Social Suite” will allow fans access and connections to media day activities by featuring fan submitted questions in a one-on-one interview setting. Fans can submit questions to various coaches and student-athletes via Facebook and Twitter by using the hashtag #SunBeltMediaDay. Questions will be answered in real time as the event is live streamed on the Sun Belt Sports website SunBeltSports.org. The morning session will go from 10am-12pm then the afternoon session will run from 1-3pm with Danielle Percival hosting.
Secondly ESPN3 will have a live show from the floor of the Sun Belt Media Day with a two-hour broadcast starting at 1pm and featuring a selection from each coach and student-athletes from all 11 Sun Belt schools participating. Below will be a schedule of the ESPN3 coaches.
For a full bio for each of the schools, coaches and student-athletes visit the Sun Belt Sports website by clicking here.
The itinerary in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome:
- 9:00 AM – 9:25 AM – Louisiana-Monroe – Head Coach Todd Berry – Student Athletes: Ray Stovall (Sr LB) and Rashon Ceaser (Jr WR)
- 9:30 AM – 9:55 AM – Appalachian State – Head Coach Scott Satterfield – Student Athletes: Kameron Bryant (Jr QB) and Ronald Blair (Sr DL)
- 10:00 AM – 10:25 AM – New Mexico State – Head Coach Doug Martin – Student Athletes: Valerian Ume Ezeoke (Sr OL) and Travaughn Colwell (Sr DB)
- 10:30 AM – 10:55 AM – Texas State – Head Coach Dennis Franchione – Student Athletes: David Mayo (Sr LB) and Michael Orakpo (Sr LB)
- 11:00 AM – 11:25 AM – South Alabama – Head Coach Joey Jones – Student Athletes: Chris May (Jr OL) and Maleki Harris (Sr LB)
- 11:30 AM – 11:55 AM – Troy – Offensive Coordinator Kenny Edenfield – Student Athletes: Terrence Jones (Sr OL) and Wayland Coleman-Dancer (Sr LB)
- 12:00 PM – 1:15 PM – Lunch
- 1:30 PM – 1:55 PM – Arkansas State – Head Coach Blake Anderson – Student Athletes – Sterling Young (Sr DB) and J.D. McKissic (Jr WR)
- 2:00 PM – 2:25 PM – Louisiana-Lafayette – Head Coach Mark Hudspeth – Student Athletes: Terrance Broadway (Sr QB) and Alonzo Harris (Sr RB)
- 2:30 PM – 2:55 PM – Georgia Southern – Head Coach Willie Fritz – Student Athletes: Edwin Jackson (Sr LB) and Garrett Frye (Sr OT)
- 3:00 PM – 3:25 PM – State of the Sun Belt Conference with Commissioner Karl Benson
- 3:30 PM – 3:55 PM – Media Availability with Benson, Coordinator of Officials Steve Shaw, College Football Playoff CFO Reid Sigmon and Sun Belt Athletic Directors
- 4:00 PM – 4:25 PM – Georgia State – Head Coach Trent Miles – Student Athletes: Joseph Peterson (Jr LB) and Keith Rucker (So. TE)
- 4:30 PM – 4:55 PM – Idaho – Head Coach Paul Petrino – Student Athletes: Maxx Forde (Sr DE) and Mike Marboe (Sr OL)
ESPN3 Broadcast Schedule:
- 1:03 p.m. – Sun Belt Commissioner, Karl Benson
- 1:11 p.m. – Mark Hudspeth, UL Lafayette
- 1:21 p.m. – Kenny Edenfield, Troy
- 1:31 p.m. – Dennis Franchione, Texas State
- 1:41 p.m. – Willie Fritz, Georgia Southern
- 1:51 p.m. – Scott Satterfield, Appalachian State
- 2:01 p.m. – Trent Miles, Georgia State
- 2:10 p.m. – Doug Martin, New Mexico State
- 2:20 p.m. – Blake Anderson, Arkansas State
- 2:30 p.m. – Joey Jones, South Alabama
- 2:40 p.m. – Paul Petrino, Idaho
- 2:48 p.m. – Todd Berry, UL Monroe
USA Softball Announces Hiring Of Assistant Coach
Rachele Fico of the National Pro Fastpitch Akron Racers will join the USA Softball team as an Assistant Coach after NPF season concludes. She previously played collegiately at LSU.
South Alabama head softball coach Becky Clark announced the hiring of former LSU standout pitcher and current Akron Racers ace Rachele Fico to fill the assistant coaching position formerly held by Mark Ryal who left for a similar position at Oklahoma State.
Fico will complete the 2014 season with the Akron Racers of the National Pro Fastpitch league before assuming her full-time coaching duties at South Alabama. This will be her first time as full-time coach after spending the last two season with the Racers and also after being selected number 1 overall in the 2013 NPF Draft.
Fico, an Oxford, Connecticut native, is currently the NPF’s leader in win with a 7-5 record this season. She has a 4.14 ERA and has struck out 42 batters in 72 2/3 innings pitched. She will look to help keep the Jaguar pitching staff on top after they finished last season with the NCAA’s best ERA at 1.29. Hannah Campbell led the way with a 0.95 ERA, good enough for third in the nation, while Farish Beard’s 1.23 ERA was good enough for sixth place in the country. Campbell was also selected third overall in the 2014 NPF Draft back in May and joined Fico at Akron. Beard will enter her senior season in 2015.
Fico, while at LSU, was a two-time National Fastpitch Coaches Association First-Team All-American (2012, ’13), three-time NFCA All-South Region First-Teamer (2010,’12, ’13) and a three-time All-Southeastern Conference honoree (2010, ’12, ’13). She was a top-25 finalist for the USA SOftball Player of the Year award on two occasions.
During her freshman season at LSU in 2010 she was named the SEC Co-Freshman of the Year and also made the All-SEC Freshman and Defensive Team lists. The next season she led the team to the 2011 NCAA College Station Regional where they eventually fell to Syracuse. Fico would be named to the All-Regional Team after an 18-strikeout performance against the Orange which tied her the second-most in LSU history.
She also brings Women’s College World Series experience to the Jags staff as she helped lead the Tigers to the 2012 WCWS in Oklahoma City after earning both wins over #9 seed nationally Missouri at the NCAA Columbia Super Regional. She also earned unanimous NCAA College Station Regional MVP after pitching back-to-back shutouts against Texas State and #8 national seed Texas A&M.
In her collegiate career at LSU she finished among the top-5 in appearances (149), starts (104), complete games (82), innings pitched (774), wins (78), saves (8), opposing batting average (.195), shutouts (32), strikeouts (797) and strikeouts per seven innings (7.21).
Welcome to JagNation coach Fico!
Jags Voted To Finish Third In Conference Coaches’ Poll
According to a poll of the Sun Belt Conference coaches released on Saturday, South Alabama was selected to finish third in the eleven-team league.
Co-Champions Louisiana-Lafayette and Arkansas State were selected to finish first and second again this season with the Ragin’ Cajuns being a unanious first-place selection. Behind the Jaguars is in-state rival Troy selected to finish fourth.
Appalachian State is rated the highest among the four new addition to the conference as they were selected to finish seventh with Georgia Southern chosen to finish eighth, fellow newcomer Idaho chosen to finish ninth, Georgia State 10 and New Mexico State chosen to finish last in 11th place.
Prior to last season, the Jaguars, entering their first season as full FBS and Sun Belt Conference membership, was selected to finish seventh in the then-eight-team league. However, after a three-game winning streak to finish the season, the Jaguars posted a 6-6 record overall and a 4-3 record in conference play to finish tied for third place with the same conference record as Troy, Western Kentucky (who joined Conference USA on July 1), and Louisiana-Monroe. The final win of the season came against co-champion ULL 30-8 at Ladd-Peebles Stadium. Co-Champions ULL and Arkansas State both finished with a 5-2 conference mark.
While the Jaguar were bowl eligible, and after the fans took to social media in an attempt to sway the bowl selection committees, USA was overlooked for a bowl invitation.
The entire breakdown of where the 11 Sun Belt Football teams were selected to finish is below.
- Louisiana-Lafayette (11 first place votes) 121 points
- Arkansas State 102
- South Alabama 98
- Troy 84
- Louisiana-Monroe 78
- Texas State 70
- Appalachian State 47
- Georgia Southern 44
- Idaho 29
- Georgia State 27
- New Mexico State 26
SBC Office Announces Expanded Coverage Of Live Events Via ESPN3
The Sun Belt Conference office announced a content expansion in their agreement with ESPN that will result in exclusive distribution of up to an additional 50 Sun Belt events on ESPN3.
The expansion will begin this fall with a number of SBC football games will exclusively produced and distributed on ESPN3. But it will not be limited to football, other fall sports such as Women’s Soccer, Men’s Soccer and Volleyball championships will be aired on the network.
Additionally a number of men’s and women’s baskeball regular-season games will be available along with every game of the 2015 Sun Belt Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships.
In the spring, Baseball will be featured heavily with regular-season games several games from the 2015 Softball Championship will all be carried on ESPN3.
“One of the more unique aspects of this alliance is that the Sun Belt is going to work with ESPN to make sure our institutions are capable of producing their own content that meets ESPN3’s production standards,” Sun Belt Conference Commissioner Karl Benson said. “This has the potential to make a tremendous impact on the total number of Sun Belt contests – in all sports – that will be available on ESPN3.”
This will help Sun Belt member schools to be able to deliver high quality productions that can be featured on ESPN3 throughout the year.
ESPN3 is an online streaming service provided by ESPN Inc. It delivers both live streams and replays of global sports events to fans. The network is available to individuals who receive high-speed internet connection or cable TV subscription from an affiliated service provider. It is also available to approximately 21 Million U.S. college students and military personnel.
The network can be accessed online by WatchESPN.com, on smartphones and tablets via the WatchESPN App and streamed to users televisions through Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, Roku, XBox 360 and XBox One. The network is currently available to more than 92 million homes.
“ESPN3 and WatchESPN have revolutionized how viewers consume sports – we are excited to be part of that and eager to display the Sun Belt to the 92 million homes that ESPN3 reaches,” Benson said.
Saxton And Smith Named To 2014 Biletnikoff Preseason Watch List
The preseason watch lists are coming out and the Jaguars continue to have representatives being announced. On Tuesday it was the Biletnikoff Award Preseason Watch list announcement that saw two Jaguars being named to the list.
A pair of seniors in Wes Saxton and Shavarez Smith were among the candidates announced on the watch list for the 2014 Biletnikoff Award that is presented by the Tallahassee Quarterback Club Foundation Inc. The award recognizes the outstanding receiver in college football. Any player, regardless of position, who catches a pass is eligible for the award be it a wide receiver, tight end, slot back or running back.
Smith and Saxton set school records last season with 50 catches each as they helped the Jaguar offense average over 250 yards passing per game.
Saxton set a career high with 635 yards receiving while Smith finished with 940 yards receiving with six touchdowns and an average of 18.8 yards per catch. Both of them tied for fifth place in the Sun Belt Conference in receptions per game while Smith finished fourth and Saxton finish eighth in receiving yards per game.
Smith, a 6’1″ 210-pound McDonough, Georiga native, was voted to the Second-Team All-Sun Belt Team after last season as he had 18 plays of 20-yards or more. He was selected the Sun Belt Conference Offensive Player of the week after the Jaguars win over Georgia State with a school record 194 yards, tying another record with 10 catches which included a 37-yarder in the Jags opening possession of the second half. He led the receivers against Tennessee with 83 yards on four catches. He accounted for both of the Jaguars touchdowns against Navy while recording five catches for a team-high 65 yards against the Midshipmen. All those accomplishments came in his first season with the Jaguars.
Saxton, a 6’4″ 235-pound native of Hueytown, Alabama, was a First-Team All-Sun Belt Conference selection after ranking among the top five tight ends in the nation in catches and receiving yards per game. He had a career-high 10 receptions for 89 yards at Texas State. The also set a career high with 95 yards on six catches at Troy. In a two-week span in the Jaguars second and third games of the season he caught seven passes for 92 yards to help the Jaguars defeat Tulane 41-39 in New Orleans then caught four passes for 91 yards the next week against Western Kentucky, including a career-long 37-yard reception, to win their conference opener. He finished out the season with a five-catch 88-yard performance against SBC Co-Champion Louisiana-Lafayette.
The 2014 Biletnikoff Award winner will be announced on December 11 on The Home Depot College Football Awards Show that will air on ESPN. College and NFL Hall of Famer Fred Biletnikoff will announce the winner as part of the awards show.
Two other Sun Belt Receivers were also named to the watch list, Louisiana-Monroe’s Rashon Caesar and Louisiana-Lafayette’s Jamal Robinson for a total of four Sun Belt student-athletes making the 2014 Preseason Watch List.
Congrats Wes and Shavarez! Go Jags!
Could ESPN GameDay Come To Mobile?
South Alabama fans are creating a bit of a storm on social media after a recent post by BleacherReport.
On Sunday Brian Pedersen, a featured columnist for Bleacher Report, posted an article predicting every ESPN College GameDay location for the 2014 season. What has gotten the Jaguar Nation up in arms with their social media postings is their prediction for Week 3 of the college football season.
That week is September 13 when South Alabama is set to host Mississippi State at Ladd-Peebles Stadium. Pedersen points to ESPN’s willingness to travel to Fargo, ND last season to get “off the beaten path”.
He goes on by talking about how there are fewer good stories than South Alabama’s. Though he stated that the football program began in 2010 (actually it began in 2009, but close enough) and how it improved from 2-11 in our first season as an FBS Transitional team to 6-6 in 2013 as our first season as a full FBS member.
“The fans in Mobile love their football and annually support the teams that come into town for the GoDaddy and Senior Bowls,” Pedersen writes in his article. “Now it’s time to give them, and the USA student body, a chance to bask in the glow of the national spotlight for at least one Saturday.”
While it is still a long shot that Kirk, Corso and Chris Fowler could visit the Azalea City for a GameDay stop. Other matchups that weekend that Pedersen considered according to the article was: Columbia, Missouri (Central Florida @ Missouri), Fresno, California (Nebraska @ Fresno State), Iowa City, Iowa (Iowa State @ Iowa), Logan, Utah (Wake Forest @ Utah State), Lubbock, Texas (Arkansas @ Texas Tech) and Norman, Oklahoma (Tennessee @ Oklahoma).
The social media campaign that the fans are conducting involves tweeting at @CollegeGameDay with the hashtags #JagNation and #PickUSA. The #PickUSA hashtag was used last december when the Jaguar fans tried to lobby for the bowl committee’s to extend an invitation to South Alabama for a bowl game. Unfortunately that campaign ended with the Jags staying home for the bowl season after obtaining bowl eligibility with three consecutive wins over three Sun Belt Conference opponents including a 30-8 season finale win over Conference Co-Champion Louisiana-Lafayette at Ladd-Peebles Stadium.
Fans, go out and send those messages and share these stories. Every little bit helps. The @CollegeGameDay twitter account posts questions and polls, so it seems to be a monitored account. Filling their inbox and mentions with South Alabama fan messages can only help our cause.
You can read the article here.
Go Jags!
2014 SBC Media Day Announced With Special New Feature
The annual Sun Belt Conference Media Day for the 2014 season is scheduled for Tuesday, July 22 at the Bienville Club Lounge in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Media Day availability will start at 9AM and go through 5PM with the head coach and two student-athletes from each of the 11 football playing schools in the conference. SBC Commissioner Karl Benson is scheduled to deliver the State of the Sun Belt Conference at 3PM. Following the State of the Conference, Benson will be available to the media along with Coordinator of Officials Steve Shaw, College Football Playoff CFO Reid Sigmon and the Sun Belt Athletic Directors.
Those who cannot attend can view a live show from the floor of Sun Belt Media Day on ESPN3. They will be airing a two-hour broadcast starting at 1PM and will feature a selection of each coach and student athlete interviews from each of the football schools participating.
The Conference will also be unveiling the “Sun Belt Social Suite”. This unique feature will allow fans access and connections to media day activities by featuring fan submitted questions in a one-on-one interview setting. Fans can submit questions to various coaches and student-athletes via Facebook and Twitter by using the hashtag #SunBeltMediaDay. Questions will be answered in real time as the event will be live streamed on the Sun Belt Sports website SunBeltSports.org. The morning session will go from 10AM to 12PM and the afternoon session runs from 1-3PM. Danielle Percival, former Trojan TV Sports reporter, will be hosting the inaugural incarnation of the “Sun Belt Social Suite”.
The schools participating are: South Alabama, Appalachian State, Arkansas State, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Idaho, Lousiana-Lafayette, Louisiana-Monroe, New Mexico State, Texas State and Troy.