Fan Day scrimmage 2011
Anthony Ingram catches a touchdown pass from Trey Fetner with cornerbacks Travis Brooks and Ameriol Finley.
South Alabama held their first scrimmage of preseason camp on Saturday in conjunction with Fan Day at Ladd-Peebles Stadium. They also debuted their new blue uniforms as well, but it not know when and how often they may be used this season.
The first half of the scrimmage was not open to the fans to view but the offense scored three times. The first team offense scored a touchdown and a field goal, while the second team offense added another field goal on their final possession before a break.
C.J. Bennett lead the offense on a 10 play 57-yard drive leading to a Jordan Means 30-yard field goal. Demetre Baker carried the ball four times for 39 yards in his only appearance of the day. Bennett also connected with Corey Waldon for a 25 yard completion on the drive.
On the first team’s last possession, Bennett lead a 60-yard, seven-play touchdown drive. Santuan McGee would pick up the first first-down of the drive on an 11 yard rush. McGee would finish with 26 yards on five attempts. J.J. Keels would move the chains again after rushing for eight and four yards respectively. Bennett would move the the team into the red zone after a 13-yard strike to Waldon. The very next play appeared to be a touchdown pass from Bennett to Waldon again, but it was negated by an offensive pass interference call.
Keels would move the ball 16 yards before Devin Robinson would find the end zone on an 18-yard run.
Trey Fetner lead the second team on a 54-yard drive that culminated in a 28-yard field goal by Michel Chapuseaux on the final snap before the break.
Fetner completed a pass to Jake Howton for 47-yards of the 54-yards the drive covered on a post pattern. Devin Robinson also rushed three times for 12 yards after the big completion.
The only score of the second half came on the next to last series. Fetner found Anthony Ingram open down the middle of the field for the 40-yard touchdown pass.
The Jaguar offense gained 328 yards and averaged just under five yards per play for the day. Fetner went 4 of 7 passing for 106 yards and a touchdown. Bennett finished 2 of 4 for 38 yards. J.J. Keels carried the ball 13 times for 74 yards and Devin Robinson rushed 14 times for 57 yards.
On the defensive side of the ball, Desmond LaVelle lead the team with seven stops total, five of them were unassisted. Cori Barnett and Cordivido Grice also added five stops themselves. B.J. Scott and Damond Smith added three tackles for the first team. Ameriol Finley, Ben Giles, Maleki Harris, Ceasare Johnson and Ramon Lewis all added three tackles for the second and third team units.
The scrimmage ended with some special teams work on kickoff returns and placekicking. Each kicker attempted three field goals each. Jordan Means split the uprights from 37, 40 and 50 yards. Chapuseaux made a 49 yard attempt and Lawson McGlon also made a 45-yard attempt.
“I thought we responded well today,” said coach Joey Jones after team’s first live scrimmage. “We put them in some situations that they hadn’t been in in practice where you are tackling full speed. There is a difference, I don’t care who you are and how hard you practice — and we practice hard — games are different because there is that little extra burst that you always have to give. We realized in the scrimmage today that we have to do a little bit more of this where they are used to game-type situations. I thought they got a little tired, but that’s due to the fact that we’ve been practicing 10 days in a row. The bottom line is they need to realize that the game is a little different than practice. The kids are fighting through it, I thought they gave good effort.”
Coach Jones continued speaking about the running backs in this scrimmage, “Of course Kendall Houston didn’t play today and Demetre, we got him out after about six plays. We know good and well what he can do. We’re trying to develop some depth, and J.J and Devin looked good. And Santuan has always looked real good, so we feel like we’ve got five guys back there that can play.”
“We had plans to have our No. 1 units go in there for 15-18 plays then have the twos and threes work a good bit today, which is what we did,” Jones commented. “I thought the offense picked it up today and put some things together. It had been looking pretty bad the last few days to be honest, the defense had kind of been dominating them. The offense played a little better today, it was good to see them fight back.”
“We’ve got some good freshmen, I believe they are going to find some playing time,” Jones finished. “We’re going to have to make a decision next weekend after the scrimmage whether to redshirt them or play them; that’s a valuable decision. Some of those guys are stepping up and could fill some starting roles before long, but we’ll see how things progress.”
Jake Johnson, finished with an unassisted sack at inside linebacker, spoke after practice about the scrimmage. “I think we got game speed, because in practice we’re going full speed to the ball but we have to slow up and not hit. Today it was up tempo with linemen coming off hard and cutting us, running backs were running hard. We’re not there yet, but it was good for a first scrimmage to see that and where we need to be.”
The team will be off on Sunday to rest. They will return to practice at 6:15am on Monday at the Jaguar Practice Facility.
Tuesday and Wedensday practice coverage
South Alabama had their first two-a-day practice on Tuesday. In their morning practice, they had a very physical and vigorous workout that might have been a preview for the Fan Day scrimmage coming up on Saturday, August 13.
Practice began with special teams work with roughly the first 10 minutes were devoted to work with the punt team. After that, the offense worked on individual and group work which featured screen drills along with routes for tight ends, receivers and running backs.
The next session had the offense and defense working on the running game, both inside and outside, along with play-action passing. The offense then went to skeleton passing drills against the their defensive counterparts. While the skeleton drills were going on, the offensive line worked on pass protection against the defensive line.
The team then took a 10 minute break from the heat before resuming practice. After a stretching session, the offense took the field against the scout team working primarily on reverses.
The offense and defense then took the field against each other. The first 12 plays from scrimmage were snapped from the offense’s 20-yard line. Demetre Baker took the first ball for no gain. Then Myles Gibbon recovered a fumbled from a low snap which resulted in a loss of yards for the offense. Kendall Houston then rushed for 15 yards on the third play which was followed by a six-yard run by Devin Robinson. Baker kept the momentum with a 10-yard rush on fifth play.
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Jags hit field in shells
Myles Gibbon scrambling during practice in 2010.
Friday mornings practice saw the team dress out in shells for the first time this preseason. It also saw an elevation in intensity, however the coaches made sure the kids stopped short of full contact.
As has become accustomed for the Jags, they started practice with specials teams work with the kicking game. This was followed by individual and group workouts. They did some double team work on offensive linemen, tight ends and receivers for the quarterbacks.
The offense then came together and worked against the defense with the inside and outside running game and also running the play-action pass.
After the team took a break from the heat, the offense and defense worked against each other with particular emphasis on packages and scenarios for about 30 minutes. Later in the team drill, the offense worked on picking up the blitz.
Rounding out the practice was the quarterbacks working on ball security and special teams working on punt coverage. Special teams is where many young players will be focusing in order to make trips on the road. Once they secure a position on special teams, then they can work into the playing rotation.
Coach Jones noticed the increased intensity and the early improvement the Jags have shown. “When you put the pads on for the first day, it’s always that way,” head coach Joey Jones said. “We have a bunch of competitive young men. They love the game and love to be physical. My job a lot of the time is pulling them back, which is good. You don’t want to have to push them forward; you want to pull them back. That’s the kind of kids we have. If we can learn to practice every day and practice with that great effort, we can be a really good football team. I like our attitude.”
Coach Jones continued talking about the team by saying, “I’ve noticed that defensively we’re getting off of blocks and running to the football very well. Offensively, we’re picking up blitzes better. The last couple of years, it seemed like every time we ran blitz period we were just getting killed on offense. Our offensive line is doing a much better job of picking that up so far. But we’re improved on both sides of the ball right now.”
Coach Jones singled out a few new additions to the program when he spoke after practice. “B.J. [Scott] looked really good out there. He has a knack for getting to the football. He has a great feel for the game. And I thought Demetre Baker looked good running the ball today. He looked a little better to me today than he did in the spring. He’s a powerful back and his vision is getting better.”
Al.com’s Tommy Hicks had a write-up about Demetre Baker, the Georgia transfer, who is moving back to running back after converting to linebacker for the Bulldogs. You can read his article here.
Preseason camp will continue Saturday morning with another 6:15am practice.