MTSU to Conference USA
Multiple outlets are posting that Middle Tennessee has accepted an offer to join Conference USA. This comes on the heels of the announcement that Tulane and East Carolina were joining the Big East. However East Carolina is only joining the conference in football.
They have also mentioned FAU as a possible target to fill the empty 14th slot left when Maryland and Rutgers announced that they were leaving the Big East recently.
The Sun Belt faced conference realignment last season when FIU and North Texas accepted offers to join Conference USA. The Sun Belt then extended offers that were accepted by Georgia State and Texas State to fully join the conference in all sports including football. They also added Texas-Arlington, however they do not sponsor football and was an addition to replace Denver.
Georgia Southern recently voted to possibly join the FBS ranks and have expressed interest in joining the Sun Belt before. Other possible targets to join the Sun Belt that have been tossed around is Appalachain State and Lamar University.
Watch for more conference realignment dominoes to fall if MTSU or FAU decides to check out the pastures on the other side of the fence.
Turnovers Key In Loss To Middle Tennessee
Head coach Joey Jones speaks with sideline reporter Pat Greenwood heading into halftime against Middle Tennessee on Saturday, November 17, 2012.
South Alabama has had problems with turnovers throughout the season. It bit them again against Middle Tennessee.
Even though the Jags turned the ball over four times, three interceptions and a fumble, they stayed within on score of a Middle Tennessee team that is tied atop the conference standings.
For the season, the Jags have 14 interceptions and 15 fumbles and continue to rank last in the Sun Belt Conference turnover ratio. They were -9 in turnover ratio coming into the the game, but leave with a -13 turnover ratio.
“No doubt,” coach Joey Jones said acknowledging the turnovers impact in the game. “We can’t do that and win. We talk about it, we work on it. You know, it’s part of the game that happens sometimes but bottom line, if we don’t take care of the football we’re not going to win. And that’s very simple and we’ve got to (take care of the ball) to have a chance to beat these teams.”
Four turnovers against Texas-San Antonio to begin the season lead to a loss. Four more turnovers against Troy lead to a loss. Four turnovers in a loss to Florida International. Four turnovers against Nicholls State yet they were able to win the game.
“It’s always frustrating because you coach and you work every day to not turn over the ball and when you do bad things happen,” Jones continued. “But even with all that we had a chance to win the game. If we make a drive in the fourth quarter, we’ve got the ball with three minutes left. But we don’t drive down and score and (turnovers were) obviously a big part of the game.”
When Coach Jones was asked if the frustration level rises when his team still had a chance to win the game despite a large number of turnovers, he said “Sure. Let’s be honest. If we were playing horseshoes we’d be in pretty good shape because we’ve been close a lot. But we’re not. We’re in a game where you’ve got to win on the scoreboard to win the ballgame and we haven’t done that. So it’s frustrating from that standpoint.”
South Alabama will travel to Louisiana-Lafayette for a 4pm kickoff against the Ragin’ Cajun’s which will be aired on ESPN3.
Another Good Practice On Thursday Prior To MTSU
Jaguar Head Coach Joey Jones was pleased once again with the Jaguars final practice prior to the game against Middle Tennessee on Thursday.
“It was really good,” Jones said. “I think they understand how good Middle Tennessee is and because of that our preparation has been better. Now we’ve got to carry that to the game. We practiced well, now we’ve got to go out there and play well.
The Jags will have a brief walk-through session on Friday.
Earlier this week Jones noted that the offensive preparation and work for MTSU has been very good. He also mentioned that the team was adding a new wrinkle or two to the offense.
“I feel good about the plan,” Jones said. “They run around and do a lot of different things defensively and we’ll have to make some checks and some good calls during the game. I think we’ve got that planned out. The coaching staff has done a great job of preparing the players for those checks during the game because they do so many multiple things.”
Good news for the Jaguar defense who has suffered several injuries this season. Linebacker Clifton Crews has been given medical clearance to play against MTSU. He suffered a concussion in the second quarter of the Jaguars game against North Texas when he took a knee to his helmet. He practiced with the team on Thursday but his progress will continue to be monitored closely and a final decision will be made on game day.
Coach Jones Pleased With Wednesday’s Practice
The Jaguar offense looks to the sideline for play adjustments against UTSA.
The Jags hit the practice field for a two-hour practice on Wednesday in what head coach Joey Jones said was a “good day” of work. As the Jags continue to prepare for Middle Tennessee State, coach Jones commended the work that his team produced on Wednesday. He also commended them for their hard work and determination that they approach preparing for each and every game this season.
“It was a good day,” Jones said. “I just want to commend our young men. They just have a great attitude and they’re really working hard through this situation where people are looking at our record and tend to think that things are not going well. But they’re working hard through it.”
“They really have a great attitude, a winning attitude,” Jones continued. “I talked with them today and I said, ‘Guys, y’all are winners in my book’ and I firmly believe that. They’ve had a great attitude about what they’re doing and they’re working hard and getting better.”
Coach Jones felt that the execution of the offense was better during practice on Wednesday. “We put some new wrinkles in and they were executing those new wrinkles pretty well,” he said. “And our offensive line, to me, has really come a long way. They’re becoming cohesive. We’ve had to move some guys from tackle to guard and guard to tackle and making those moves it doesn’t seem like we’ve missed a beat. That means we’re starting to mature as a line to be able to do that.”
“Defensively, I thought we were flying around and doing a good job of understanding that (Middle Tennessee has) some great skill players. They have a couple of great receivers and a great running back. If we don’t contain those guys and get in the right position we won’t stop those guys. I thought today we worked on that and did a very good job.”
South Alabama and Middle Tennessee kick off at 2:30pm on Saturday at Ladd-Peebles Stadium. The Jaguar Seniors will be honored in a pre-game ceremony for Senior Day.
Jags Still Holding Onto Postseason Baseball Hopes
While the Jags lost five of the last six games of the season, at least they sent the seniors out on a winning note against Troy. After dropping the first two games at home, the Jags won 11-10 on Saturday’s Senior Day.
The season ending losing streak took the Jags from first place to fifth place and will open the Sun Belt Tournament against fourth seeded Florida International on Wednesday at 9am. FIU started the Jaguars losing streak with a three game sweep in Miami.
However, an interesting note about this is that the last time the Jaguars won the Sun Belt Tournament in 2005 the Jaguars lost five of their last six regular season games.
The Jags need to win the SBC Tournament in order to get a bid to the NCAA Tournament.
The eight participants in the Tournament in order of their seeding are: 1) Florida Atlantic, 2) Lousiana-Lafayette, 3) Middle Tennessee, 4) Florida International, 5) South Alabama, 6) Troy, 7) Arkansas State and 8) Western Kentucky. As usual with baseball tournaments, this is a double elimination tournament.
Go Jags!
