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!
Ucambre Williams Named To Rotary Lombardi Award Watch List
Ucambre William was named to the 2014 Rotary Lombardi Award Preseason Watch List on Monday. | Photo: usajaguars.com
University of South Alabama’s Ucambre Williams was announced as being on the watch list for the 2014 Rotary Lombardi Award by the Rotary Lombardi Award Committee announced on Monday.
This marks the second consecutive season a Jaguar has been named to the watch list for this award. Last season Alex Page was placed on the preseason watch list.
Williams, a 6’3″ 295-pound senior from Phenix City, Alabama, enters the 2014 preseason camp with the tag of starting left tackle. The two-year starter was also named to the preseason second-team All-Sun Belt Conference teams by both Phil Steele and Athlon Sports.
He was selected to the second-team All-Conference team after a team-best 89% grade with 43 pancake blocks. He did not allow a sack on any of the 394 passing plays by the Jaguar offense. He was selected as the coaches’ award winner on the offensive line three times last season (Tulane, Georgia State, Louisiana-Lafayette) and posted a season-high 94% grade against Georgia State and six knockdown blocks against the Green Wave. He equaled his high grade against Troy as the Jags set a school record with 630 yards of total offense. He also graded out with a 90% mark or higher six times last season.
He also was selected for the Coaches’ Award after games against nationally-ranked Mississippi State and UTSA in 2012.
The 45th Annual Rotary Lombardi Award ceremony is scheduled for Wednesday, December 10 at the Bayou Music Center in Houston, Texas. Student-Athletes who are eligible for the award are down-linemen, end-to-end, either on offense or defense, who set up no farther than 10 yards to the left or right of the ball or linebackers who set up no farther than five yards deep from the line of scrimmage.
Congratulations Ucambre! Go Jags!
USA Sports And Coaches Radio Shows Moving To Clear Channel Station
The University of South Alabama and Athletics Director Dr. Joel Erdmann made a huge announcement on Monday concerning radio broadcasts of South Alabama sports.
The University and Clear Channel radio agreed to a three year partnership that will move South Alabama Football radio broadcast from 105.5FM WNSP to 99.9FM WMXC and USA coaches radio shows as well as Men’s Basketball and Baseball games will be broadcast on NewsRadion 710AM WNTM. All broadcast will be available to stream through Clear Channel Media + Entertainment’s iHeartRadio app for smartphones and tablets.
Previously all of the same content was broadcast on 105.5 WNSP and streamed online through their website and other applications that gave access to their stream through smartphone and tablet devices.
Though the football broadcast will be the only thing broadcast on Lite Mix 99.9, it will expand their reach further into Florida and Mississippi as well as north into Alabama.
Officials hope that, by getting on a Clear Channel station, they could be cross promoted and may potentially be rebroadcast on other Clear Channel stations if things go well.
Unfortunately the Men’s Basketball, Baseball and coaches radio shows will be relagated to their AM radio station, NewsRadio 710. Though their streaming is available through the iHeartRadio app, they are limited to the AM radio waves for the forseeable future.
“We are excited about this partnership and the opportunities it provides for our department,” stated Erdmann. “Of significance is the broadcast reach for our football games, and priority broadcasting for the men’s basketball and baseball programs. The iHeartRadio application provides dependable and easy-to-access free broadcasts of our games nationally on digital radio, smartphones, tablets and home computers. In addition, the ability to market and cross-promote through various Clear Channel stations directly targets males, females and families of various ages and interests.”
“This partnership is a natural for us. Many of the great people who work here at Clear Channel Mobile are USA alumni and fans, and we’re all excited to bring the games to Jag Nation and our Gulf Coast community,” Lite Mix 99.9 and NewsRadio 710 WNTM Program Director Dan Mason said. “Like the student-athletes and coaches who give their best every day, we’ll bring our best to coverage of Jaguar Athletics and offer unprecedented access to the program. Every football game will air live on Lite Mix 99.9, which serves the Central Gulf Coast with the most powerful FM signal between Tampa and New Orleans, while games and coaches shows for all three programs will be available at iHeartRadio.com.”
Dates and times for the Joey Jones Radio Show have not been released yet, but the first broadcast of South Alabama Football will be on Saturday, September 6 when the Jags travel to Kent State with kickoff scheduled for 1pm.
The initial three-year contract includes a provision to extend the agreement at the end of the initial contract.
What do you think about the move? Comment on this post or, on Facebook or tweet @usathunderjags with your thoughts about this move.
Bridge Finishes Second in Manning Passing Academy “Air It Out” Competition
Quarterback Brandon Bridge seeing some playing time against Southern Utah during the 2013 season.
Out of 40 quarterbacks who competed in the “Air It Out” competition at the Manning Passing Academy, South Alabama’s own Brandon Bridge advanced all the way to the finals and finished second in the competition.
Congrats Brandon! This looks very promising for South Alabama with the group of wide receivers returning this season.
Go Jags!
National Pro Fastpitch To Air On CBS Sports Network
Hannah Campbell, selected third overall in the 2014 National Pro Fastpitch Draft is finished second in the nation in ERA and led the Jaguar pitching staff to a 1.29 ERA which was tops in the Nation. She is the first Jaguar student-athlete and first female in school history to be drafted professionally. | usajaguars.com
The National Pro Fastpitch announced a new Television deal with CBS Sports Network, which will allow Jaguar fans and fans of other stars from the State of Alabama to watch games in the comfort of their home.
Hannah Campbell, South Alabama’s first-ever professional, currently has a 3-5 record in her first season in the NPF after being drafted third overall earlier this year.
Campbell has pitched 30 1/3 innings, the third-most in the circle for the Akron Racers as the team has a 11-13 record overall and is currently third in the four-team league through the first half of the season. The pitchers with more innings than her are former collegiate stars Rachele Fico (LSU) and Alison Owen (Mississippi State).
After suffering a pair of losses in her first three appearances, both to the same team in the Chicago Bandits, she finally earned her first professional victory on June 7 against the Bandits as well.
The Racers will return to action on July 11 when they host the USSSA Pride at 6:05pm. Though it will not be aired, CBS Sports Network will televise an NPF game on Monday and Tuesdays for the next five week, a nightly game August 11-15, a postseason Pool-Play game on August 20 and the league championship series on August 22-23.
Of the 88 players on NPF rosters, 20 of them played in the SEC collegiately. On the Racers team along with Hannah is joined by Kelley Montalvo and Charlotte Morgan from the University of Alabama, from UAB Olivia Watkins and her twin sister Lannah Campbell.
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.
Jaguar Tight End Wes Saxton Named To John Mackey Preseason Watch List
Jaguar tight end Wes Saxton catches a pass from Ross Metheny against FIU in 2012. Saxton is the first Jaguar to be named to the John Mackey Award Preseason Watch List.
The National College Football Awards Association released their preseason watch list for the John Mackey Award, which is given annually to the most outstanding collegiate tight end. On that list of 40 student-athletes was University of South Alabama tight end Wes Saxton.
Saxton, a 6’4″ 240-pound Hueytown, Alabama native, earned a first-team All-Sun Belt Conference selection last season as a junior while ranking among the top five tight ends nationally in both repections and receiving yards. He tied for the team lead with 50 catches and gained 635 yards receiving, both of those were career-highs. He is a preseason All-SBC selection at tight end in both the Phil Steele Publications and Athlon Sports heading into the 2014 season.
The Midseason Watch List is set to be announced on October 13 with the 2014 John Mackey Semifinalists will be announced on November 17 and the award finalists will be announced on November 24. The winner will be announced on December 10 and they will be presented the award on December 11 at The Home Depot College Football Awards Red Carpet Show on ESPNU.
One other Sun Belt Conference tight ends were named to the preseason watch list as well. Arkansas State’s Darion Griswold was also named to the list. Other schools with players on the preseason watch list include Oklahoma, Oregon, Penn State, Louisville, Ole Miss, Oregon State, Alabama, Ohio State, Mississippi State, Notre Dame and South Carolina who the Jags will face in November.
South Alabama will begin their 2014 season on September 6 at Kent State with kickoff slated for 1pm on ESPN3.