Georgia State by the numbers
The Jaguars prepare to take the field at Lamar University.
Saturday will see a battle between two start up programs in South Alabama and Georgia State. Each team took their own route to where they are today. South Alabama went on the fast track to Division I-A, or FBS, and layed a framework to gradually progress and be successful from day one. While Georgia State decided to defer a season and merely practiced all last season.
South Alabama put together a first season schedule that was meant to gauge their progression by measured challenges without unattainable goals. While their first test was against Hargrave Military Academy, the Jags passed with flying colors and they did not look back for the rest of the season.
As the Jaguars had progressed better than anyone would have thought, their second season opponents was shuffled to be all four year institutions and to present more challenges. Currently, the Jaguars have passed all of their tests by defeating Nicholls State at home and huge road wins against Lamar University and UC-Davis.
Georgia State, as mentioned before, only practiced all last season in preparation for this season. They scheduled pretty agressively by playing Lambuth, Jacksonville State, Old Dominion and most surprisingly of all the University of Alabama. So far they are 5-3 on the season with wins over Shorter, Campbell, Morehead State, Savannah State and North Carolina Centeral and losses to Lambuth, Jacksonville State, and Old Dominion.
Georgia Southern hired former ESPN analyst Bill Curry to start their football program. Curry, formerly of Kentucky, Alabama and Georgia Tech, had been out of coaching since 1996 with an overall record of 82-105-4 as a college coach. His best season came at Alabama in 1989, his last year when his team went 10-2, losing the Sugar Bowl 33-25 to Miami. His following stint at Kentucky never saw a winning record, only finishing 6-6 in 1993 with a loss in the Peach Bowl by one point, 14-13, to Clemson. The following three seasons the Wildcats went 1-10, and back to back 4-7 seasons before he was asked to step aside.
As to whom is the better team, that will be settled on the field at Ladd-Peebles Stadium on Saturday, but we can agree to disagree with how these two programs have decided to progress and their scheduling decisions.
Georgia State by the numbers:
Coach Joey Jones Show Recap 2010-10-26
I picked up a little late into the show and Coach Jones was already talking about how Kendall Houston is a big bruiser in the middle, but Santuan McGee is a little faster and can attack the perimeter. They felt that the game was going towards being a perimeter running game because they were stacking the box more so they decided to play McGee more.
Lee then asked Coach Jones about the fumble that occurred with 2:15 left in the game at the South Alabama 36 yard line when they had about a yard to go for the first down. Coach Jones said that Trey Clark and CJ Bennett had a miscommunication on the snap which lead to the fumble. They were trying to get them to jump offsides and if that did not work, they were going to run a quarterback sneak.
Lee brought up an instance that happened in the Kentucky Wesleyan game about headsets. Coach Jones explained that the opponents headsets went out. Well, in most conferences, they have rules or contracts that if one sides headsets go out, then the other side has to take theirs off. In this case, this was not written into the contract for them to play, so USA did not have to do that but they went ahead and took their headsets off. But it was noticed that they were using cell phones to communicate, so Coach Jones called a time out and talked to the head referee and stated if they are going to use a cell phone that USA could use their headsets. Which was allowed.
Lee brought up the old football adage that “if you have two quarterbacks, you have none,” and asked coach Jones if he had ever heard of that. Then he followed up by asking about how that works with three, clearly meaning Gibbon, Sim and Bennett. Coach Jones jokingly said that then you have three quarterbacks. But more seriously, Lee asked how they determine who is going to play a series. Coach Jones answered by saying that it’s mostly by feel. Certain quarterbacks bring certain qualities to the table so determine what they want to do in the game and work on that throughout the week and see how the players react and how they look throughout the week.
Offensive line coach John Turner joined Lee and Joey on the radio show and immediately started talking about the offensive line. Lee remarked that people have told him that putting together an offensive line is the “toughest, most difficult thing to do in football.” Coach Turner agreed that it has been tough, but he never completely agreed that it fits his description. He mentioned that if you go back to look at the game film from their first scrimmage it was, as he said, a “borderline fiasco.” He then went on to praise them for working really hard to become some great offensive linemen. However, he cautioned that they are not there yet, but they are working every day to get better.
Lee followed up by asking what Coach Turner meant by “borderline fiasco.” To which Coach Turner answered by saying that they weren’t quick and coach Gregory had just gotten there and was just installed his new offense. So they had to change all of their calls and all of their communication on the fly. Then Coach Clark’s defense was coming out with multiple blitz’s and everything which put a lot of pressure on the offensive line.
Coach Jones was quick to praise the offensive line because, without them, the offense would not be able to do anything. He then spoke highly of his offensive line unit and how hard they have worked to improve and help this team win each week.
Lee then mentioned Cam Newton and the Auburn offensive line and how it has improved. Coach Turner agreed that it was quite evident that the Auburn offensive line has worked hard to get better and it is evident. But Lee followed up talking about how, in most cases, the player like Cam Newton who is making the plays get so much praise while the offensive line is basically a second thought. Coach Turner said that it goes with the territory, when a player decides to play that position, they understand it. They don’t worry about seeing their names in the paper, they are proud of the plays they make and the success the team has when they do a good job.
Lee paraphrased an email question about, when the Jags get to the FBS level, how many of the current players will still be with them. Coach Jones said that the team will lose seven seniors this season and many six to nine next season. So most of the players will be here in 2012. They will have 85 scholarships and probably will not lose but about 18 players up to then.
Going back to the offensive line, Lee asked how the Jaguar offensive line will stack up against opponents next year like Kent State and NC State. Coach Turner said that if you look at them on paper, you would say no. But he said that you cannot measure what is inside these players. Coach Turner then emphasized that he knows these guys are going to be ready, they are going to get after it and will play hard when the time comes.
A caller asked about Georgia state, which lost their previous game against Old Dominion 34-20. Coach Jones said that they were close at halftime but the score got stretched out in the second half. Ole Dominion went and got more junior college players so they are fairly mature. They went 9-2 last season in their first season of football.
Another email question came in asking if the players, after two road wins including the one in California, are up for this game. Coach Jones said that there is no doubt that they are ready. This team is closer to us and feels more like a rival type game. Probably the closest thing they have to one right now. The players are looking forward to playing at home again as well.
Coach Jones said he cannot wait to see the crowd and neither can the players. They know its going to be a bigger crowd, that they are coming home and that it’s going to be a big game against a good team.
Lee asked Coach Turner how they prepare for Georgia State. Coach Turner said that they line up in multiple fronts and bring multiple blitz’s against opposing teams. So he anticipates a big time challenge for the guys on the offensive line. They will have to be able to recognize all the different looks and be able to make adjustments within their schemes.
When asking about recruiting linemen, it was obvious that they want to recruit size, strength, smarts and good foot speed, just like anyone else. But Coach Turner said that their offense likes to move, that they like to pull linemen and move them around on each play, so they like athletic offensive linemen. But Coach Jones has said from day one that they want “tough, tough football players.” Coach Jones also said that when other teams look at their game film, they are impressed by how tough and how hard these guys play. It’s a real testament to the South Alabama players.
Georgia State likes to pass the ball, similar to UC-Davis. However they like to run the ball a bit more than UC-Davis does. UC-Davis seems to throw the ball, then run to try to do something a little different. While Georgia State is a bit more balanced between the two.
Lee then pointed out that Coach Turner was a coach at UT-Chatanooga which is a Division I-AA team. He asked if the Jags would match up well against them. Which Coach Turner replied that the thought that they would when he was trying to answer someone just the other day. He went through a mental list of the players they had up there and said that he believed USA would be a strong contender against them and in that division of football.
Coach Jones cautioned that while many football fans expect us to play teams like Alabama, but he said his guys are not experienced enough to play against Alabama. He praised how well his staff has done and that they will let teams like Georgia State go play Alabama while they work on getting better and building a program step-by-step.
Travis Toth came on to preview the upcoming game against Georgia State. He said from a marketing standpoint it’s their biggest game since the inaugural game. Plus other factors like Alabama and LSU having their bye weeks, former Alabama coach Bill Curry coaching the other team and the Jags returning after a very successful two game road stretch. Also another measuring stick because they go to Tuscaloosa to play Alabama on November 18. This is the weekend for those people to come to the stadium and check it out.
Travis also stressed that it is a “white-out” as the team will be wearing their white uniform from head to toe. This should be the largest crowd to date, Coach Jones said that Kendall broke the record rushing, Courtney broke the record receiving and that it’s time to break and attendance record.
South Alabama kicks off against Georgia State on Saturday at 4pm at Ladd-Peebles Stadium. GO JAGS! Beat those panthers.!
South Alabama shows guts and wins nail-biter at UC-Davis
South Alabama Head Coach Joey Jones talks with Courtney Smith during a stoppage in play against Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas.
South Alabama’s game against UC-Davis really lived up to its billing. It had excitement, adversity, tough play, heart and a little luck. This recipe came out in favor of the Jaguars, 24-21. But most of all it answered some lingering questions that Coach Jones wanted answers to. The Jags were behind against Nicholls State early in the game, but pulled away in the second half. However, the Jags needed some fourth quarter heroics and a little luck to pull out the win in California.
The Jags had to overcome four turnovers, two interceptions thrown by Brennan Sim and two fumbles, one from Sim and another by Bennett late in the game and frankly nearly disastrous, for the win. However, the defense continued to step up and make plays when necessary. Anthony Taylor made two crucial sacks on the final Aggie drive to set up the attempted field goal to send the game into overtime.
Coach Jones wanted to see what his team could do if they were down in the fourth quarter. He wanted to see how his kids would respond having to play a full four quarters of football. Well, he got his answer alright.
“We came through at the end, the defense did a great job,” said head Coach Joey Jones. “We fumbled the ball on the 30, but we sacked them and made them kick a field goal that was fortunately wide right.”
“I have to tell you, UC-Davis is a great, first-class football team,” Jones continued. “We came out to California and beat an extremely good football team tonight. They have great players and are very well-coached team. We had so many setbacks during the game, whether it was penalties or turnovers, but never had the feeling we were out of the game. Our kids kept playing hard. It’s just a great statement for our program. People have been asking me all year long, and I know where we are now; we beat a great I-AA program that won its conference last year, is probably going to win it this year, and beat San Jose State this season. We’re up there. Are we Division I-A yet? No, but we’re probably close.”
The Jags will return to Ladd-Peebles stadium to round out their season with three consecutive home games. The first of which will have Georgia State, in their first season of football, coming to Mobile coached by former University of Alabama head coach Bill Curry on Saturday, October 30th. Kickoff is scheduled for 4:00pm.
Continue for a more detailed breakdown of the game.
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Coach Joey Jones Show Recap 2010-10-19
Coach Jones looks on from the sidelines as the Jaguars take on Lamar University.
Chris Brunson out for the year with a broken ankle. When asked, Coach Jones said that we are not deep at that position. Brian Krauskopf was used at center in practice, but he will probably move into Brunson’s spot. Brian is probably the most valuable player on the line because of his flexibility and ability to do whatever the team needs.
Kendall Houston rushed for more yards himself than Lamar’s entire team in the game. Mitch Rodrigue is the other coaching guest on the show.
Caller asked about the logistics of traveling to California. Coach Jones said that they are flying out of Mobile Airport at 9am on Friday and land in California around 12:40 pacific time. When they went to Lamar for the game, they carried everything they needed in trucks mostly.
Everything they needed for the game but not necessary for practice, stayed on the truck and went on to California. Shoulder pads and helmets obviously was needed for practice, so they came back with the team to Mobile. Jersey’s and such went out to California. The stuff they needed for practice they will carry with them on the flight in bags when they leave on Friday.
It’s a very tedious process and has to be well thought out. Even more so when you have to get on a plane. They even continued to have meetings on Tuesday to tie up loose ends.
Lee asked about how USA uses tight ends. Most teams use one tight end if they use one at all. Typical teams that run the spread offense don’t even use a tight end. Coach Rodrigue said he thought Tight End was one of the most important positions on the field. They can be utilized in so many ways and South Alabama uses them in all of them. As a receiver, as a blocker and in the back field as a full back.During the course of a game, coach Rodrigue estimated that they probably use four different tight ends.
Lee asked Coach Jones why they use the tight ends so much. Coach Jones said that they want to be different. Coach Jones went to the spread in the late 90’s when everyone was running the I formation. Now seemingly everyone has transitioned to the spread with four wide.
So when they began to form the program, he knew he wanted to be different. They knew they had Brandon so they had a big strong back for a good running game, which is one thing they wanted to do, run the football. Coach Jones believes that championships are won by running the football. You can run out of the shotgun, but when you use tight ends, you spread the defensive front out. With four wide-outs, that defensive front shrinks and makes it harder to run.
But with a tight end detached from the line, you have more running lanes and also more passing opportunities. With tight ends in the game they have to still be concerned about the run. You can’t block a tight end with a cornerback and you can’t cover a tight end with a linebacker.
Coach Rodrigue also chimed in by noting that defensive coaches want to know, first off, what personnel are in the game. When a defensive coach first hears that they have two tight ends in the game they immediately think that they will be attached to the line and think run. But the South Alabama offense, by utilizing tight ends the way they do, they can pretty much do anything they want. USA can line up with two tight ends but an empty backfield.
With such a good running game, the tight end can easily get open for a pass on a play action pass.
A person emailed a question about the last two games and the Jags being 1-for-20 on 3rd down conversions. Coach Jones didn’t know about the stat but did say that they got quite conservative in the red zone and need to try to do that better.
Coach Jones previews some information about UC-Davis. They are a really good, sound football team. They won their conference last year and picked to win it again this year. They beat Stanford a couple years ago. Defensively they play really hard. While they may not be as athletic as some of the teams that USA has played, he said that they played better as a team. Special teams are good and limit turnovers. They aren’t going to make mistakes and give you the game. You have to go out there and beat them.
UC-Davis is really efficient throwing the ball, but they are trying to find a running game. Sometimes they run it well but it’s not consistent. When you are not balanced, teams try to exploit that and that’s what has happened to the Aggies.
Coach Rodrigue attributes their good practices and success in games to practicing early in the morning. He thinks they are wide eyed and haven’t gone through a day to have stuff lingering in their mind from a normal day of class and stuff. They are out there focused on football. Good practices leads to good games.
Someone asked how competitive the coaches think we would be against a Division I-A team. Obviously we have a ways to go to be competitive against the BCS schools but Coach Rodrigue thinks we could be competitive against some Division I teams, including being competitive in the Sun Belt. He thought our Achilles heel would be our lack of depth. Experience and depth would be negatives for our team.
USA Makes Statement Against Lamar
The Jaguar offensive line lines up against the Lamar defense. They helped Kendall Houston rush for 166 yards, the new single game record for Jaguar running backs, and did not allow a sack in the game.
South Alabama went on the road to Beaumont, Texas to begin their season-defining three game stretch and came home with a big win and a huge statement, 26-0. The Lamar Cardinals had averaged just over 341 yards per game but were held to a season low of 161 yards of total offense as the Jaguar defense came out ready for a big fight.
The Jags were quite conservative with their play calling in the game. After losing your first string running back to a season ending ACL tear, it was good play calling on Coach Gregory and Coach Jones’ part. While the scoreboard did not show what the Jaguar faithful were used to, it was definitely a resounding win.
The defense would score the only touchdown in the first half and the offense would only score one touchdown in the game. The rest of the scoring rested on the foot of Lawson McGlon who was officially 4-for-5 in the game but did make a kick that was nullified by a penalty. So a position that, at the beginning of the season, looked like it could lose a close game turned out to be the one that put the game out of reach.
“We sputtered somewhat on offense when we got the ball into the red zone, but we moved the ball well between the 30s,” said Coach Joey Jones after the game. “We had to settle for four field goals, but when you’re on the road sometimes that happens. I’m really proud of Kendall and the way he came in for Brandon after we lost him last week. He really stepped up and ran like a Division I running back tonight.”
“We know that UC Davis is a very good team. They’ve beaten San Jose State and won their conference last year,” Coach Jones stated on their upcoming opponent. “They’re a very sound team, we are going to have to go out to California and see what we’ve got. But, our kids are real excited about that. We’re trying to take this thing with baby steps, and we’ve taken some big steps already. It’s a great win, but where we stand I don’t know. At the end of the year I think we’ll be able to look back and see where we are as a team. All I know is that we came on the road, and were on the bus for six hours. The kids did a great job being focused, and we played a great ballgame. It’s a big win for our program.”
“You have to play great defense on the road, and we did that tonight,” Coach Jones commented. “I’m real proud of the staff and players. They played lights out tonight. They knew this was their first big challenge, and answered that call.”
The Jaguars did not come out of the game unscathed. Unfortunately Chris Brunson suffered a broken ankle in the first half of the game against Lamar and will be out for the remainder of the season. Brunson was also a backup to Trey Clark, the center, who suffered a sprained ankle but should be okay. Coach Jones will probably try Brian Krauskopf in practice until Clark’s ankle is better and to give him experience in case he is needed in a game situation.
The Jags travel to Davis, California to face the Aggies of UC-Davis in a 4pm (Central, 2pm Pacific) game against their second of three consecutive FCS teams and their second in a row on the road. For a more detailed breakdown of the game, continue below.
Jags prepare for Lamar University
Brennan Sim leads the Jaguar offense in the second half against Nicholls State.
South Alabama will meet it’s second big test of the 2010 season, and their biggest test to date, when they travel to Beaumont, Texas to play Lamar University on Saturday, October 16th. Lamar, like South Alabama, is a new program. They are re-starting their football program which ended competition in 1989.
Head Coach Joey Jones commented on Lamar by saying, “When you turn the tape on and watch Lamar, what you see is a bunch of really good athletes. They have done a good job recruiting from the junior college ranks in Texas and all over. Their staff has done a good job of pulling in some immediate talent.”
Their first game of the season was a loss at McNeese State who was then ranked number 11 in the NCAA FCS. They came from behind to defeat Southeastern Louisiana, who in turn upset nationally ranked Texas State just a week ago. Their other losses were to Stephen F. Austin (ranked 5th) and Sam Houston State, both of which are among the three teams still undefeated in the Southland Conference.
Coach Jones also said, “When you look at what they do offensively, they are a quick-strike, big-play team. They have a really good quarterback who is very accurate, he can scramble around and make plays. And they have some great receivers who are tall and can run. Lamar really knows what it is doing scheme-wise, offensively. It looks like last week, they really tried to run the ball more, and did a very good job of that. I think it’s helped their football team from a balance standpoint.”
One of their standout players is Receiver J.J. Hayes who has 31 catches for 372 yards and five touchdowns on the season. Next in line is Marcus Jackson who has 27 catches for 557 yards and five touchdowns. These two receivers account for over 50% of the passing yards for the team. However Hayes was injured in one of their games recently when his face mask was pushed into his neck causing a neck and throat injury. He returned to practice today but his availability for Saturday’s game in unknown currently.
Last week, the Cardinals rushed for 147 yards in their win, which is just nearly 100 yards more than their season average of 53.5 yards per game. However, their defense has been giving up an average of 410 yards per game while the Jags have averaged 447.4 yards per game.
Coach Jones continued about their game with Lamar by saying, “We’re excited about the game and going on the road. It looks like a great environment to be in after watching it on film, our kids are looking forward to that.”
The Jags have been a little beat up lately with some nagging injuries on the offensive line, but some of them should be in better shape this week. However the most overshadowing injury to date was the loss of running back Brandon Ross to a season ending ACL tear.
The Jags kickoff against Lamar on Saturday at Provost Umphrey Stadium in Beaumont, Texas at 6pm.
See below for Lamar by the numbers.
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Injury Updates
Quarterback Brennan Sim receives the Offensive player of the game away after the Jags defeat Edward Waters College in the Wiregrass Football Classic in Dothan, Alabama.
South Alabama quarterback, Ray Cotton, had successful surgery on his throwing shoulder Coach Joey Jones announced. Cotton, a transfer from Ole Miss, who has reported had a torn Labrum since high school.
The labrum is a cuff of cartilage that helps to compensate for the shallow shoulder socket. It circles the shallow shoulder socket to make the socket deeper and makes the joint much more stable and allows for a very wide range of movements. It is thick tissue that is susceptible to injury with trauma to the shoulder joint like one could suffer playing football.
Coach Jones said that it was obvious that it was causing problems. Some of the tell-tale signs was that Cotton was throwing low to receivers and his throwing motion was off such that he was not bringing his elbow up to shoulder level. Also there was some pain when he threw the ball.
According to Coach Jones, Cotton should be ready in four months, just in time for spring practice.
When asked about Brandon Ross’ recovery, he said that if they allow the swelling and inflamation to go down before performing surgery, he should be able to recover in about six months. So he would probably miss spring practice, but he would be able to work out over the summer and be ready by fall camp.
Coach Jones also mentioned that Brennan Sim was a little dinged up in the Missouri game but has checked out okay with the medical staff. He actually practiced this morning with the team and will be ready to play on Saturday. However, Coach Jones did say that they will have to get the point across to the Jaguar quarterbacks that they need to slide more and take less hits.
Another Big Jaguar Win 45-6 Over Missouri S&T
Brandon Ross scores a touchdown early in the Jags game against Missouri S&T.
The Jags stay undefeated when another big win at home against Missouri S&T, 45-6. They improve to 5-0 on the season and 12-0 overall in the programs history.
Jordan Means opened up the scoring with a career-long 36 yard field goal on the Jags opening drive, just two and a half minutes into the game. The drive covered 41 yards in six plays but stalled and had to settle for the field goal.
Brennan Sim, the starting quarterback, took the first four snaps, including completing a pass to Courtney Smith for 29 yards. However, on a scramble the lowered his head for a few extra yards but was hit hard and had to leave the game. Myles Gibbon came in on third down but his pass to Courtney Smith was incomplete forcing the field goal attempt.
The Jags held the Miners and forced a punt. On the subsequent South Alabama possession, Sim returned to the field. Sim then completed his first pass attempt to T.J. Glover for 14 yards. Then two snaps later Sim was sacked and fumbled the ball which Missouri S&T recovered at the USA 26 yard line.
On the first play, Missouri S&T ran for one yard but offsetting penalties, holding on MS&T and a horse-collar tackle on USA, nullified the play. Missouri rushed twice for two yards on the first and no gain on the second. Then facing third and eight at the USA 24 a pass reception by Chad Shockley from Steve Watson for 13 yards got the Miners down to the Jaguar 11 yard line. The following play was an 11 yard touchdown reception again by Chad Shockley. However the extra point attempt was blocked, leaving the Miners with a 6-3 lead with 5:15 left in the first quarter.
C.J. Bennett was under center for the next South Alabama possession. The opening play was a run by Ralph Turner for eight yards to the USA 41 yard line, but a holding penalty put the Jags back at the 31 yard line. On first and 12, Bennett’s pass attempt to Lemontis Gardner was incomplete, but the very next play Bennett hit Corey Waldon for a 42 yard gain to the Miners 27 yard line. Brandon Ross followed it up with two rushes, one for 13 and another for 14 to score the answering touchdown. With the Jordan Means extra point the Jags regained the lead 10-6 with 3:10 left in the first quarter.
On the subsequent MS&T possession, after an incomplete pass and a two yard rush, Enrique Williams sacked the quarterback Watson for 14 yards causing a fumble. Randon Carnathan picked up the fumble and returned it eight yards for the touchdown. Means point after was good extending the Jags lead to 17-6 with 1:50 left in the first quarter.
Missouri S&T’s next possession went 25 yards in nine plays covering 6:10 before being forced to punt, which was downed at the Jaguar five yard line.
C.J. Bennett handed off to T.J. Glover for three yards. Then Kendall Houston ran for another ten yards to give the Jags some breathing room. Bennett tried to connect with Ryne Baxter but the ball fell incomplete. Then the following play he hooked up with Corey Waldon for 16 yards. Another incomplete pass before another Kendall Houston rush for 25 yards put the Jags at the Miners 41 yard line.
Following a time out by South Alabama, a rush by Bryant Lavender for 38 yards to the three yard line. Houston then plunged in for the touchdown. The Means PAT made the score 24-6 with 7:28 left in the second quarter.
The Jaguars defense held the Miners to -4 yards in a three and out on their next possession. The punt went 39 yards but Jereme Jones got most of it back on a 20 yard return to the Missouri 39 yard line.
It only took the Jags three plays to score. A six yard run by C.J. Bennett to the 33 yard line. Brandon Ross then rushed for 22 yards to the 11 yard line. However, Ross would need to be helped off the field with an apparent knee injury. Kendall Houston would cap off the drive with an 11 yard rush for the touchdown. With the Means PAT, the Jaguar lead extended to 31-6 with 4:10 left in the second quarter.
Again the Jaguar defense shut down the Miner offense with another three and out punt. The Jaguars started at their own 40 yard line. Bennett’s two passing attempts went incomplete. Then on third and ten Bennett was sacked and fumbled which was recovered by Missouri S&T at the Jaguar 31 yard line.
The first Missouri play was a 15 yard completion to the Jaguar 16 yard line. Following an incomplete pass, Watson completed a pass for a loss of one yard. Then on third and 11, an incomplete pass brought up fourth down. Missouri S&T then faked a field goal but only managed to gain three yards before Justin Dunn made the tackle.
The Jags ran out the final 54 seconds of the first half with two rushes by Ellis Hill for seven and eight yards respectively.
Missouri received the kickoff to begin the second half and started at their own 12 yard line. The Jags defense started the half with big to force a three and out. The Miners punt went 43 yards but Jereme Jones returned it 24 yards to the Miners 34 yard line, but a face mask penalty on Missori put the ball at the Miner 19 yard line.
Gibbon connected with Courtney Smith for 14 yards to the five yard line. Santuan McGee came up a yard short, only gaining four of the needed five yards. But Gibbon would plunge in for the score on the next play. The extra point put the Jaguar lead at 38-6 with 12:28 left in the third quarter.
On a drive that ended the third quarter and began the fourth quarter, the Jags had another scoring opportunity. The Jags drove 54 yards in eight play and getting down to the Miner four yard line before facing a fourth and three at the six yard line. Lawson McGlon attempted a 23 yard field goal but his plant foot slipped causing him to fall but the kick went wide left.
Later in the fourth quarter, Missouri started at their own 12 yard line. After a time out before the Miners third and two, they come up short on a rush and only gained one yard. Then, after a bad snap, the punter picked up the ball and tried to run for the first down but ended up losing five yards.
Santuan McGee would run four consecutive times for three, three, three and seven yards respectively before scoring the final touchdown of the game.
South Alabama gained 202 yards on 33 rushes and 167 yards passing for a total 369 yards. The Jaguar defense only allowed 71 yards on 41 rushes and 83 yards passing for at total of 154 yards.
South Alabama had several players run the ball. Brandon Ross rushed 6 times for 55 yards before leaving with a knee injury. Kendall Houston ran 4 times for 49 yards, Bryant Lavender ran once for 38 yards, Ellis Hill seven times for 29 yards and Santuan McGee six times for 21 yards. While several others also ran the ball for single digit yards.
Six Jags caught passes. Courtney Smith caught three for 73 yards, Corey Waldon caught two for 58 yards, T.J. Glover caught one for 14 yards and Richard Ross caught one for 11. Two others had one reception each.
C.J. Bennett went 5-for-10 for 107 yards. Gibbon was 2-for-4 for 17 yards and Brennan Sim was 2-for-2 for 43 yards.
Enrique Williams finished with a career high eight tackles and a forced fumble. Ben Giles added seven tackled while Justin Dunn added six himself with each of them with two tackles for loss. Tim Harvey and Jake Johnson had five tackles each and Ken Barefield and Alex Page each had four tackles. The defense held the Miners to an average of less than two yards per rush.
Coach Jones commented on the Jaguars performance after the game. “I thought the defense played very well. Obviously, early they made a drive, but as always our coaches on the sideline made adjustments and our kids adjusted to what they were doing. From that point on, they did a really good job. I was real proud of them today.”
Coach Jones commented on Brennan Sim returning to the sidelines after halftime without his shoulderpads. “Brennan got dinged a little bit, and we had to get him out. C.J. came in and played well. It seems like each game that there is a quarterback who steps into the mix and plays well. It’s more of a feel thing that we go with each game. I thought C.J. had a great game today.”
The Jags will go on the road for their next two games. The first is in Beaumont, Texas against Lamar for a 6pm kickoff. However reports are that Brandon Ross will have an MRI on his knee on Monday so the Jags appear to be without their number one running back going into their two game road swing.
Coach Jones commented about the players and the upcoming road games. “They know these upcoming weeks are going to be tough; we have to travel to Texas and California, and come back here and play Georgia State after that. As competitors we’re looking forward to that. They’re excited about getting on the road, going on a six-hour bus trip and playing a very good Lamar football team.”
October is shaping up to be a huge month for South Alabama football with games against Lamar, UC-Davis and Georgia State. The first two being road games. We will soon see much this team has grown and how far they are on their roadmap to Division I-A play.
Go Jags!
Coach Joey Jones Show Recap 2010-10-05
South Alabama sporting their all red uniforms at Ladd-Peebles Stadium against Kentucky Wesleyan.
Coach Perry was the guest along with Coach Jones and Lee Shirvanian on the radio show on Monday. The show started off talking about Baumhower’s is in the process of changing its name to reflect more of its dishes rather than just focus on their wings. So go out and support the show by visiting Baumhowers and ordering the Joey Jones Special, the black and white chicken with steamed broccoli.
This weeks game will see another new uniform combination with the Jags wearing their white jersey’s with their red pants. So the fans and students are being encouraged to wear their red apparel but get ready for Georgia State when they are having a complete white out.
The coaches spoke about how Kentucky Wesleyan stacked the box and the offense took advantage by throwing the ball and getting some big plays out of the receivers.
Lee mentioned the end of the LSU and Tennessee game and asked coach Jones if he has someone that is responsible to make sure that only 11 players are on the field at any given time. Coach Jones said that first off, the coordinator call the personnel grouping so then the position coaches make sure that the correct players get on the field. So when the players go on or off the field they tell them the package and the players are responsible to get on or off the field.
Coach Perry said he is responsible for making sure all of the offensive players are on the field. He also mentioned that it has been easier this year than it was last year, which means they are improving. But as long as the guys go onto and off of the field at the same time, it makes it much easier to keep up with numbers. If two guys go on, then two guys must come off.
Lee then asked that since USA has so many running backs, how do they determine who gets the most carries or more playing time. Coach Jones they are trying to find the winners on the team. If a player shows that they can win the game, then they will be on the field. The Coach Jones starts talking about the running back and how they have two big backs and two scat backs.
Obviously Brandon Ross (234 lbs) is one of their big backs along with Kendall Houston, while Ellis Hill is a bit between the big backs and the scat backs. TJ Glover and Santuan McGee make up the scat backs. Coach Jones talked about how he has never had such a group of backs before and how they can put Houston or Ross in there and they can pound for about 8 yards for play after play. Then they can put in McGee or Glover and they can get outside and got for 20 or 25 yards really quick. To round out the question, Coach Jones said they are trying to rotate all of the backs to keep them fresh and healthy as they go through the season.
Lee then posed a question to Coach Jones saying “If South Alabama gets into a tight game this year.” But before Lee could finish the question, Coach Jones said “we will, we will.” Lee then finished the question that when they get into that situation, will they continue to do like Alabama has done with Mark Ingram and Trent Richardson and continue to rotate. Coach Perry pretty much said that it just depends on who has the hot hand. Some days its Brandon then there are days when Kendall has the hot hand. Brandon has more experience and also that he has to be among the best in the nation in pass protection may sometimes be a better choice.
Lee said that if Brandon had more carries he would break 100 yards every game and Coach Jones was quick to agree in saying he definitely would. But he also added that there will be games in the not too distant future where he will be needed to carry the ball much more than he has been up to now. But the way that the games have been going, they have wanted to get as many players in the game as they can without overusing their starters.
Coach Jones mentioned that there are several players who are day to day or who will be 50/50 as they get closer to game day this Saturday. He mentioned Levi Slaydan has come back. Chris Brunson with a wrist injury. Brian Krauskoff had a weight room accident and has a big club on his hand. Shaun Artz has a cast on his wrist. Corey Pittman has returned to the team with fresh legs and is doing pretty good. They just have several guys who are a little beat up but if everything keeps progressing the way it has, they should be back to full strength in the next couple weeks.
Lee mentioned that Trey Clark, the center, has been the constant on the offensive line. Coach Jones said he makes all the calls on the line concerning pass protection and identifying the Mike linebacker. He may be considered undersized but teams will win with players like Trey.
After another break, they came back to the show to talk about a very sobering subject that they wanted to announce. Something that is more important than winning or losing on the field. They announced that Coach Perry’s wife was recently diagnosed with cancer. At a young age, only 29 years old, it was shocking for them to hear the diagnosis and find it boggling that someone as active, healthy and athletic as Ms. Perry, who runs every day and is a triathlon athlete, to be diagnosed with cancer. Coach Perry encouraged everyone to go downtown to Bienville Square for the American Cancer Society’s ‘Making Strides Against Cancer’ on October 30th. It starts at 8am and there is no fee. Donations are accepted.
Coach Perry stressed that if you do not know of anyone who has faced cancer, it’s only a matter of time with the current rate of diagnosis. So both he, Coach Jones and Lee Shirvanian wanted to make sure to encourage everyone to think about going downtown for ‘Making Strides Against Cancer’ on Saturday, October 30th at 8am starting at Bienville Square in downtown Mobile, Alabama.
The first write in question was about time of possession and asking if Coach Jones agreed that time of possession is a distorted statistic. Coach Jones agreed someone, he did say that about 90% of the time it is a good statistic, but there are games like the Jags have had this season, where time of possession favored the losing team and thus was a bit of a distorted stat. Generally, having the ball longer than your opponent means that you are probably sustaining drives better than your opponent and giving yourself more scoring opportunities.
Lee mentioned he wondered how may yards per rush the team was averaging. Coach Jones mentioned that Tommy Hicks ran some stats and compared them against Division I-AA schools and had them number one in a few categories on offense and defense. However, he was quick to mention that the numbers were distorted because they are not playing all Division I-AA schools so they can’t vouch for the validity.
Lee then asked about Missouri S&T, South Alabama opponent this weekend. Coach Jones said that they are giving them the most fits so far, coaching wise. They have odd looks defensively and offensively. Defensively you they typically see 3-4 and 4-3 defenses as well as the 8 man fronts. But Missouri runs a flex defense which few teams actually run and are making them really do their homework this week.
Lee mentioned the Troy and Middle Tennessee State game that was going to take place that night. Lee asked if he would like to play a Tuesday night game. Coach Jones chuckled and said definitely and that the Jags would play on Monday morning if they could be on television. However, their time on TV is rapidly approaching as the mid-majors are playing Tuesday and Thursday night, midweek games for ESPN and ESPN2.
Encouraging Words From Sun Belt Commissioner
South Alabama head coach Joey Jones greeting fans during Jaguar Prowl before the Jaguars game against Kentucky Wesleyan.
Sun Belt Conference commissioner Wright Waters has some bold words as he was looking at South Alabama’s football program recently.
Fans of college football, especially SEC football, knows that South Mississippi, northwest Florida and South Alabama is quite the hotbed of talent. Just a couple of the recent players are Pat White, Julio Jones, Trent Richardson among many others have come out of this area. While South Florida is heralded as a hotbed of talent, this area is just as fertile.
But Mr. Waters’ comments were uttered at the Heron Lakes Country Club for the Cellular South 1st & 10 club. “Not to put undue pressure on Joey or Joel or Gordon, but very honestly, South Alabama can be the Boise State of the next decade.”
Boise State was in Division I-AA in the mid-90’s. Waters visited for their playoff game against Marshall back then and they weren’t ready for the game. However, we all know that Boise State has remedied that situation since then.
But the other glaring one I want to make note of is the following one as he spoke about Boise State’s recruiting. “They understand their recruiting area, they understand what’s important, they’ve done a great job of scheduling and I think those omens are here too (at South Alabama). As I look at future non-conference schedules for South Alabama, they’re not taking the $1.3 million guarantee, they’re doing it the right way and scheduling games home and away. They’ll be ready. … Joey’s been there, done that, and that’s huge.”
This year marks the 10th season the league has sponsored a championship in football. As good things have happened to the league since they added football as a championship sport.
Troy moved up to Division I-A and have done well. The changes to South Alabama has been tremendous since the announcement of the addition to football at the University.
Currently with nine football schools, South Alabama will get the Sun Belt one school closer to the minimum 12 schools for a conference championship game. However, with the loss of the University of New Orleans and the impending departure of the University of Denver, this will leave the conference with only 11 schools. Since Arkansas-Little Rock does not appear to be making any movements towards adding football, a 12 team football conference is not on the horizon just yet.
Tommy Hicks has many more quotes from Commissioner Waters in his article here.