No Cowbells Please – Noisemakers Not Allowed At USA Home Games
C.J. Bennett reads the defense while head coach Joey Jones looks on from the sidelines in Starkville Mississippi on September 22, 2012. The Bulldogs would win the game 30-10.
In case you haven’t heard the news, it’s looks like the Jaguars game against Mississippi State on September 13 at Ladd-Peebles is going to be a sellout. But one of the things that Mississippi State fans are known for will not be allowed into the stadium as South Alabama officials have declared that no artificial noisemakers will be allowed at South Alabama home games this season. That includes the cowbells that Bulldog fans so covet ringing.
USA officials have already contacted their counterparts at MSU to inform them of the policy in hopes that the message will be received by the Bulldog faithful prior to their travels to Mobile for the game.
Despite there being a “ban” on artificial noisemakers already in place in the SEC, Bulldog fans can let their cowbell inhibitions go wild during designated periods in Starkville. When the Jaguars played in Starkville two years ago, the Jags kept the cowbells silenced early, but as the Bulldogs gained momentum the rang loud. I can attest that it is one of the more annoying things in college football too. Personally, I think if you’re crowd has to rely on a cowbell to make noise then you’re doing it wrong as all of the other teams are able to make plenty of noise without a cowbell to encourage their team and cause communication problems. But I digress.
USA Athletics Director Joel Erdmann does not anticipate any problems with the enforcement of artificial noisemaker policy as all bags are subject to search just like any other game. “If anyone entering the stadium is found to have an artificial noisemaker, they will have to leave it at the gate or return it to their car,” Erdmann elaborated. Furthermore, if an artificial noisemaker is used during the game it is possible it will be confiscated and/or the person using it could be escorted out of the stadium.
South Alabama and Mississippi State will kickoff at 3pm on Saturday, September 13th with radio coverage on 99.9FM locally and online through iHeartRadio. It can also be seen on ESPNews nationally.
South Alabama vs Kent State Preview
Running back Jay Jones diving in for a Jaguar touchdown against Kent State in 2013.
After sitting out the first weekend of the college football season, the Jaguars are ready to start their 2014 campaign in Kent, Ohio.
The Jags ended their 2013 season with three-consecutive wins by double-digit margins including a 30-8 win in the season finale against Sun Belt Conference co-champion Louisiana-Lafayette. Now they hope to carry over that momentum into the 2014 season.
USA enters the final game of a three-game series against Kent State with an even record at 1-1. The Jags dropped their first meeting 33-25 in 2011 in Ohio, then picked up a 38-21 win last season in Mobile.
Head coach Joey Jones enters his sixth season leading the program he started from scratch during which he has earned a career mark of 31-21. With his most talented team to date, the Jaguars had nine student-athletes earning preseason All-Conference honors over the summer as voted by SBC head coaches and media. Five of those honorees came from the offensive unit which averaged 425 yards and nearly 30 points per game last season.
Senior tight end Wes Saxton, who has been named to preseason watch lists for the 2015 Senior Bowl as well as the John Mackey and Biletnikoff Awards, was one of three first-team All-SBC selections. Junior Chris May and senior Ucambre Williams are two of five lineman to be named to the first-team as well.
Senior wide receivers Shavarez Smith and Jereme Jones were both named to the second-team All-SBC team. Danny Woodson returns to the lineup after catching 26 passes for 439 yards and four touchdowns last season before missing the remainder of the season due to an Achilles injury. Braedon Bowman, Tony Ray Parnell, Claude Garrett and Alabama transfer Marvin Shinn will add depth to the Jaguars receiving corps this season.
Senior Jay Jones returns after receiving an honorable mention All-Conference selection after leading the Jags with 737 yards on 143 rushes with five touchdowns. He is joined by Kendall Houston and Terrance Timmons and adding redshirt freshman Xavier Johnson and T.J. Glover makes the move back to running back.
Senior Drew Dearman starts at left guard and helps lead a large, experienced offensive line. Melvin Meggs returns from a knee injury to start at right guard. Sophomore Joseph Scelfo takes over the starting reins at center for the Jaguars.
Ross Metheny exhausted his eligibility last season where he earned second-team All-SBC honors and led the conference in total offense per game. Senior Brandon Bridge looks to take over for Metheny and help lead the Jaguars to their first bowl game and potentially their first conference championship. Matt Floyd transferred in from South Florida and Hunter Vaughn came in from Butler (Kansas) CC to provide more depth at quarterback.
The Jaguar graduated several seniors from the defensive front seven, but return several experienced lineman who saw lots of action last season. Also returning are two seniors who were among the team leaders in tackles last season. Cornerback Qudarius Ford and linebacker Maleki Harris, both voted second-team All-SBC last season. Ford’s 76 tackles are the most among returning Jaguars but he also had six pass breakups and two interceptions. Harris added 63 tackles, 8.5 of them for loss, with a team-best seven passes defended.
Kent State dropped their first game of the season last Saturday on a last-second field goal. Quarterback Reardon showed promise after going 30-of-41 for 264 yards and two touchdowns. Ernest Calhoun led the team with 11 catches for 62 yards while Chris Humphrey led the receivers in yardage with 91 yards on six catches. But the team struggled on the ground as they only gained 31 yards on 22 carries as a team.
Nate Holley led the Golden Flashes defesne with 18 stops, 12 solo and forced two fumbles to earn MAC East Division Player of the Week honors. As a team the defense forced four fumbles on four-consecutive possessions in the second half.
The game can be heard on the Jaguar radio network locally on 99.9 FM WMXC (Lite Mix 99.9) and world wide through the iHeartRadio app. You can view the game on ESPN3. The Jags and Golden Flashes kickoff is scheduled for 1pm on Saturday, September 6.
Jaguar Soccer Split Weekend Series In Troy
South Alabama Soccer split a pair of matches over the weekend.
Their first match on Friday against Tennessee Tech in Troy, Alabama saw the Jaguars win 5-0 behind junior Jordan Duncan’s hat trick. Duncan’s three goal performance is the first by a Jaguar since Lauren Allison against Louisiana-Lafayette last season and the first to post seven points in a match since Linsey Snavely on September 15, 2013.
Duncan started the scoring just before halftime off of a cross from freshman Danielle Henley. She also closed out the scoring with the Jags final two goals with her second at the 77th minute then completed the hat trick with less than four minutes left in the match.
Freshman Charde Hannah converted a pass from freshman Rio Harding into a goal. Henley netted her third goal of the season in the 75th minute.
Freshman Sophie Haywood earned assists on the final two goals of the day while playing in her first ever career match.
The Jaguar defense held the Golden Eagles to only four shots total and none of them forcing sophomore goalkeeper Sarah Hay to make a save.
On Sunday, the Jaguars fell to Kennesaw State 2-1 despite a 19-6 shot advantage. The split matches over the weekend puts the Jaguars at 2-2 on the season as the Owls earned their first win of the season to stand at 1-2-1.
Freshman Charde Hannah scored an unassisted goal, her third of the season, at the 3:59 mark but the Jaguars could not net another goal for the rest of the match.
Shortly after Hannah’s goal, the Owls responded when Maggie Gaughan scored off of a pass from Alma Gardarsdottir at 11:35. The match would remain tied at 1 for almost 70 minutes before Gaughan netted her second goal of the match in the 82nd minute after a Jaguar defender and goalkeeper collided to give her the scoring opportunity.
Freshman Courtney Baum made three saves in the net for USA and allowed both goals.
The Jags return to action on Friday for a 7pm match against Southern Miss at The Cage.
Jag Volleyball Comes Up Short In ASICS Classic
The South Alabama Jaguar volleyball team got started on their 2014 schedule over the weekend at the ASICS Classic in Malibu, California. Their matches were close, but the Jags just could not get over the hump in several sets over the weekend.
They opened the weekend with a straight set loss to Pepperdine (22-25, 23-25, 17-25). Mechell Daniel led the Jags with 11 kills whiel Nikki Gittens added six and Jessica Lewis and Symone Stephenson both added five. Emily Hundt earned her first double-double of the season with 16 assista, a match-best, and 12 digs. Jenna Hassel, returning fron an injury, recorded a match-high 15 digs while Emma Anderson added 14 assists.
The Jags had a 48-36 advantage in digs, but Pepperdine had nearly twice as many service aces as the Jags (11-6). They also limited the Jags to a .107 hitting percentage.
Pepperdine led 7-6 in the first set when the Jags scored six consecutive points, but the Wave scored six in a row themselves to get back into the set. The teams were tied at 22 when a kill by Pepperdine led to three straight points to give them the 1-0 advantage.
They continued that streak in the next set by opening with six of the first seven points of the match, half of them coming from Samantha Cash on aces. Trailing 16-10, the Jags responded with four consecutive kills from Hundt, Daniel and Mallory Moore to close within two points at 18-16. Pepperdine would later take the set with a kill to take a 2-0 advantage.
The Jags jumped out to a 4-2 lead in the final set on Hassell’s ace and kills by Daniel and Moore. Evening the match at 13, the two teams exchanged points before the Wave took advantage of three errors and a kill from Olivia Okoro to go up by four points. They would then cruise to the end of the set to take the match 3-0.
On Saturday the Jags fell twice, first to Oral Roberts 1-3 then to Nevada 1-3 to round out their weekend.
Against Oral Roberts, redshirt senior libero Jenna Hassell moved into third place on the Jagaur career digs list with 1,289 all-time in the two losses. Sophomore outside hitter Jessica Lewis combined for 28 kills on Saturday as well.
The Jags will return to action this weeke with three matches at the University of Wyoming Classic where they face Wyoming, Montana and Ball State in Laramie, Wyoming.
TV And Radio Schedules Announced For Joey Jones Show
The University of South Alabama announced the schedules for the Joey Jones radio and television show for the 2014 season.
The Joey Jones TV Show will begin on Sunday at 6:30pm on UTV 44. Pat Greenwood, the Jaguar Sports Properties Director of Multi-Media will host the show along with Coach Jones. They will have post-game interviews and highlights with Jones and student-athletes and will feature members of the program.
The Joey Jones Radio Show will air on Monday’s at 6pm on WNTM 710AM starting on September 1 from Baumhower’s Wings Sports Grille. JSP Director of Broadcasting J.D. Byars will be the host along with Coach Jones. The hour long program will be available on the iHeartRadio app world wide.
Defense Plays Well In Last Practice Prior To Final Preseason Scrimmage
Head coach Joey Jones observes the Jaguars scrimmage on Saturday, August 15 2014 at St. Paul’s Episcopal School.
Wednesday’s practice lasted just over an hour-and-a-half in shells at the practice fields as their final week of camp dwindles down and they approach game week preparations.
Head coach Joey Jones was again pleased by the defense by saying that they are really coming together and playing with confidence. “They are bringing a lot of emotion to practice every day,” Jones said. “Offensively I think we executed some things pretty well, Brandon threw the ball really well today and our receivers were catching the ball. It was a good day.”
“As a coach you never feel like you’re completely ready, it’s a natural thing for a coach to go through because you want perfection and perfection is not possible,” Jones explained about how he feels about the team’s overall progress this month. “There are always things to worry about, but I know that our coaches have done a great job of preparing these guys to put them in the places they need to be. My philosophy is coaches get them ready for the game but when you get to the game players have to take over, so we’ll see how they perform next Saturday.”
With the Jaguars opening the season a week later than most other college football teams, Coach Jones talked about what it will be like for them this weekend. “I’ll probably watch a lot of football laying on the couch,” Jones explained. “I’m going to try and give everybody a day off on Saturday, even the coaches, because we’ve gone through a long, hard camp and we’ve already got our game plan in for Kent State. We’ll come in and work all day Sunday and be on our normal game week [schedule], but it will be nice to have one day with my wife and kids.”
Offensive player of the day went to tight end DeMarrion Buford-Hughes. “He’s a guy that has really been coming along and pushing for playing time at the tight end position,” offensive coordinator Robert Matthews explained. “He’s worked extremely hard this offseason and is starting to grasp the offense — the more he practices, the better he gets. He had some catches in drills today, and is a guy who is going to make that position deeper.”
Defensive player of the game went to senior cornerback Qudarius Ford. “It’s the same old story with ‘Q,’ he consistently does everything he is supposed to do every day,” defensive coordinator Travis Pearson explains. “He shows up consistently the same way he did in all 12 games he played last season. He’s a quiet leader, he does it on and off the field.”
The play of the day went to Jerome McClain for breaking through and sacking quarterback Brandon Bridge on third down in the red zone at the end of the team session. McClain contributed to a sack near midfield during the first part of the team session as well.
There was only one team session on Wednesday which focused on normal down-and-distance from around midfield and third down situations in the red zone.
Ford broke up a pass on the first play of the team period when he dove in front of a Jag receiver. Later, Bridge completed three third-down passes in the red zone. He found Tony Ray Parnell and Braedon Bowman both for first downs, then later he found Cameron Broadnax for a 14-yard touchdown.
After practice, the Jaguar offense was addressed by Chan Gailey, who formerly coached in Troy, Samford, Georgia Tech in college and professionally in Dallas and Buffalo. He worked with USA assistant coach Robby Brown at Georgia Tech. He also spent time with the offensive staff Tuesday afternoon and evening.
Thursday, the Jags will hold their third and final scrimmage prior to the beginning of their season. It will be a situational scrimmage on campus. The team will then have two days off before returning on Sunday to pick up with normal game-week operations.
Henley Helps Lead Jaguars Past Nicholls State 3-0
Henley, a freshman from Hattiesburg, Mississippi, scored two goals against Nicholls State on Sunday in her first collegiate game to help lead the Jaguars past the Colonels 3-0. | Photo: usajaguars.com
The South Alabama soccer team rebounded on Sunday to defeat Nicholls State 3-0 to even their record at 1-1 in their opening weekend of play. They fell to UAB on Friday night 1-2 in 2OT.
Danielle Henley, a freshman from Hattiesburg, Mississippi, recorded a pair of goals with classmate Rio Hardy from Workington, England netting the other goal in the match. Henley scored both of her goals in the first 15 minutes of play, the first on a shot from distance at the 5:40 mark, then the second by controlling a corner kick from fellow freshman Tiina Trutsi and knocking it in the net at the 14:12 mark.
Hardy scored her first career collegiate goal shortly before halftime by converting a breakaway off of a pass from freshman Alyssa Pejic at the 44:39 mark.
“They played excellent,” Winkworth said. “Dan’s first strike was with her left peg; the keeper nearly got to it but she managed to put it in the top corner. The second strike was a tidy finish under pressure, and then Rio’s was on a 1-on-1. Those things are stressful when you go 1-on-1 with a goalkeeper and she was composed and put it away.
“We created a lot of quality chances today and hopefully we can continue to do that because the more good chances we create, hopefully the more goals we’ll score.”
The Jags shined on defense as they only allowed four shots total and none on goal. Freshman Courtney Baum earned the win in her first collegiate start.
“We defended from front to back today,” Winkworth stated. “Steffi (Hardy) and Nini (Rabsatt-Smith) were brilliant back there together today. Alyssa (Mayer) and Nikki (Shirtcliffe) too, and Emi (Passini) when she came on as well, were excellent in getting to their outside players—they had a lot of running to do out there and they did it very well and stayed organized. We stayed compact, were organized defensively and if we don’t concede goals, we’ll be very difficult to beat.”
South Alabama will return to action this weekend when they travel to Troy to play in the Trojan Classic. The Jags will face Tennessee Tech on Friday and Kennesaw State on Sunday.
Jags Practice Begins Preparation For First Opponent
Head coach Joey Jones speaks to his team after their first scrimmage of preseason camp at St. Paul’s Episcopal School on Saturday, August 15, 2014.
South Alabama hit the practice fields in full pads on Tuesday for a practice that lasted over two hours. During this practice, they began preparing for their first opponent Kent State on September 6.
Head coach Joey Jones was pleased with the defense as he commented that they continue to get better and know their assignments. Offensively he noted that they executed better than they did in Monday’s practice. But he thought the team was coming together well.
“It was our first day to work on our first opponent, so most of the practice was geared toward that,” Jones said after practice concerning how much practice time was focused on their first game. “But you always have to work on fundamentals, you’ve can’t ever forget that aspect of the game.”
Offensive player of the day went to Jereme Jones. “Jeremé has had every rep this camp,” offensive coordinator Robert Matthews explained. “He has not missed a practice. He comes in, prepares and really takes care of his body. He is really working hard and is in great shape, and that allows him to be productive on the field.”
Defensively the Player of the day went to the entire defensive unit. “These kids are starting to grow up, and there are some leaders starting to develop,” defensive coordinator Travis Pearson explained. “It showed today. I thought we came out a little slow. We had two or three guys take over and call the defense out, and practice immediately sped up. That’s really exciting for me to see, because I don’t play on Saturdays. I want them to embrace this defense and know that this is their defense, and I’m just along for the ride. I know they are excited to play and I’m excited to watch them play, but we still have to put that hay in the barn.”
Practice only had one team period which lasted about 10 minutes, but during that stretch, Davin Hawkins came away with the play of the day when he made a diving pass deflection on a pass that was intended for Jones.
Special teams focused on kickoff and punt coverage during their sessions. Kickoffs were early in the practice and punt coverage closed out practice. The only takeaway on the day went to Margo Reed who picked off a pass down the right sideline during the team period.
After 7-on-7 drills, the offense and defense worked on seperate fields against the scout team to begin their preparation for Kent State. That session lasted around 20 minutes.
Jaguars Return To Practice After Second Scrimmage; Beginning To Shape Depth Chart
USA practiced for nearly two hours on Monday in shells. Head coach Joey Jones noted that the defense played well and played with emotion. Conversely, the offense did not have a particularly good day.
“The offense didn’t execute very well,” Jones explained. “We didn’t have the attitude we needed to have, but that’s one of the few bad days we have had offensively. There’s always tomorrow, and we will see how they respond.”
Offensive player of the day was senior offensive lineman Drew Dearman. “Drew brings a lot of experience and consistency to the offensive line,” offensive coordinator Robert Matthews said. “He is a tough guy, and we know that we can count on him.”
Defensive player of the day went to junior defensive end/outside linebacker Jimmie Gipson III. Defensive coordinator Travis Pearson said that Gipson brings speed and power to the defense.
Play of the day went to defensive back Margo Reed who intercepted Matt Floyd with an over-the-shoulder catch in the corner of the end zone during 7-on-7 drills.
Another highlighted play was when Floyd connected with freshman tight end Jarrius Hackworth for a 30+ yard gain during team drills.
Phase one of season prep finished with the scrimmage on Saturday. Now the Jaguars coaching staff are going into phase two, which involves solidifying the starters and the back-up roles. Once those are determined, the majority of reps during practice will go to the first and second team players with occasional work going to those beyond the two’s.
While most of the starting positions have been determined after the second scrimmage, head coach Joey Jones said that there are still many back-up roles that are still up for grabs. Though coach Jones hopes to have everything determined by the end of the week. But equally important is to give the players who are working hard to earn a back-up role as much of an opportunity as possible to win those jobs.
Since the Jaguars do not play the first week of the season, their preseason camp began a week later than all of the other teams. But they have the same amount of time to make those depth chart decisions as the other teams.
Call it an advantage or not, most of college football will begin play this week with one of the earliest is Abilene Christian playing at Sun Belt Conference foe Georgia State in the Georgia Done on Wednesday. But this will give the Jaguars the chance to get a look at some of their upcoming opponents, including their first test, Kent State, who will be hosting Ohio University.
The coaches will have to go beyond the one’s and two’s since they start the season on the road. They will have to determine a 70-man travelling roster, which is about 20+/- players beyond the one’s and two’s including special teams.
Meanwhile, the players have already looked at film on the Golden Flashes and they will begin preparation for them on the field beginning Tuesday. By Sunday, the team will be in their normal game-week preparation schedule.
Coach Jones and his staff are pleased with the overall progress of the team so far and they feel good about the starting lineup. Their concern, which is a concern every season, is finding quality depth behind the starters. They need players who can step in and give the starters relief and maintain a high level of production and play-making ability. Experienced players go a long way towards that goal.
USA has 30 student-athletes in their senior class this season, which is the most so far in the Jags short time playing football. They have been around a few seasons and have achieved a comfort level with the program that they can help teach the younger players about how to handle practice and games.
The Jags will practice again on Tuesday with their first game of the season kicking off on Saturday, September 6 at 1pm in Kent, Ohio against Kent State.
Jags Make Progress In Second Preseason Scrimmage
Head coach Joey Jones observes the Jaguars scrimmage on Saturday, August 15 2014 at St. Paul’s Episcopal School.
The Jaguars held their second scrimmage of preseason camp on Saturday at Fairhope Municipal Stadium as they continue to prepare for the season opener on September 6 at Kent State.
After the scrimmage the previous Saturday, head coach Joey Jones said there were a lot of areas that needed improvement and he saw some of those improvements in the second scrimmage. Some of the focus of the second scrimmage after execution was substitutions and organization. And by what he saw on Saturday, he thought the team was getting close to being game ready in those categories.
“I think the thing we challenged them with yesterday (Friday) coming out here today was to be mentally ready and I think they were,” Jones said. “I told them when they were warming up I could tell that their minds were on the task at hand and they treated it like a game. You’ve got to be ready to play.”
They also devoted a lot of time to situational work such as two-minute drills, goal-line situations and special teams play. Several times situational work was interrupted to send out the field goal unit or the punt team in order to practice those moves in a near game-like simulation.
On offense, the team really focused on substitutions, especially rotating offensive lineman. Defensively the team played much more solid after allowing some big plays in the first scrimmage.
Quarterback Brandon Bridge went 15-of-21 for 177 yards and two touchdowns. Braedon Bowman caught one of Bridge’s touchdowns, a two yarder. The other touchdown went to Shavarez Smith for 20-yards. Hunter Vaughn went 2-of-5 for 47 yards and Matt Floyd went 1-of-7 for 8 yards.
Jay Jones was the top running back with three carries for 73 yards and two touchdowns, one of 48-yards and the other was 17-yards during red zone drills. Terrance Timmons carried the ball six times for 36 yards. Kendall Houston got four touches for 15 yards while Montavious Stewart carried seven times for 12 yards.
Smith narrowly led the wide receivers with two catches for 36 yards and a touchdown. Cameron Broadnax had two catches for 36 yards. Jereme Jones caught three passes for 32 yards. Marvin Shinn caught two for 31 yards and Claude Garrett also caught two passes for 25 yards.
Defensively Antonio Carter led the way with five stops. Tre Alford, Akeen Lewis, Jerome McClain, Jeremy Reaves and Ridge James all recorded a sack. Terrell Brigham picked off a pass. Alford T’Quan Robinson, Demarius Rancifer and Roman Buchanan all added three stops.
In special teams work, Aleem Sunanon went 5-of-6 in field goal tries with a long of 47. Grant McLaurin went a perfect 3-for-3 with a long of 50 yards. Freshman Corlis Waitman wow’ed those in attendance when he ended practice by making his one and only field goal attempt of practice from 55-yards out with room to spare.
Waitman had one punt for 37 yards and Brandon McKee punted once for 46 yards.
Now Jones and his staff will review film and decide on a depth chart and travel roster for the Jaguars first game. This decision will determine what players get the majority of repetitions in practice over the next two weeks leading up to game on September 6.
Jones said that they will begin working on Kent State on Tuesday. He also said that with a travel squad of 70 players, it’s up to the players to figure out a way to get on the travel team by either being a starter, a backup or a special teams player. Ultimately it’s real life but it does not make the decision any less difficult. The reality is that they will have to leave some good players at home because of the travel limitation. “You have to fight for what you get,” Jones said.