South
Alabama may be ready to hit the field under the new spread offense under the
direction of Robert Matthews the new offensive coordinator. Matthews come from
Southern Miss by way of Oklahoma State two offensive powerhouses.
Let’s take a look
at scrimmage day action:
The
tone was set at the University of South Alabama football team’s first full
scrimmage of fall camp Saturday when C.J. Bennett marched the Jaguar offense
down the field 65 yards in 11 plays, resulting in a one-yard touchdown run by Demetre Baker.
South
Alabama quarterbacks got in on the action as needed, four Jags quarterbacks
combined to complete 27-of-39 attempts for 280 yards on the day, with the
offense recording four touchdowns and a field goal in the hour-and-a-half
event, which took place at the practice fields on campus. Bennett was
4-of-5 passing on the opening march, throwing for 90 yards overall, while Ross
Metheny collected 106 yards and Kolt Peavey added 77 through the air.
Seventeen
of South Alabama players recorded at least one reception, with Cameron Broadnax
posting three for 35 yards and Greg Hollinger finishing with a game-high 43
yards on two catches. Jeremé Jones, Bryant Lavender and Wes Saxton
tallied multiple receptions as well.
South
Alabama head coach Joey Jones which is going into his fifth season as South,
seem disappointed a little in special teams, but overall upbeat and proud of
his team.
“Overall
it was good, the offense came out and made some plays today when they had
to. Right now we’re beat up on defense — we held out three starters
inside and some other guys are banged up — but I know that we are going to be
really, really good; we have some great athletes over there, and once we get
those guys back we’re going to be in great shape.”
In
great shape they seem to be. This new Sun Belt Team seems to be preparing to
win games this fall and prove all the critics wrong about their last place
finish. Hard work in these preseason practices is preparing the team for
success. There is room for improvement as it is with all teams.
Coach
Jones said the defense is beat up, but there is enough experience on South
Alabama defense to carry the weight come the next three weeks. Ben Giles and
Bryson James paced the first-team defense with six stops apiece, and Anthony
Taylor chipped in with four tackles including 1½ behind the line of
scrimmage. Jesse Kelley led all players with eight tackles, and Terrell
Brigham and Philip Press were both credited with five stops as well.
An
18-yard completion from Bennett to Lavender on third-and-two moved the offense
across midfield on its opening possession, which was immediately followed by a
12-yard gain by Terrance Timmons. After an incompletion, Bennett
connected with T.J. Glover for a pickup of 24 yards, setting up Baker’s score.
Baker
and Timmons would both finish the day with 26 yards on the ground, with the
unit racking up 124 rushing yards total.
South
Alabama new transfer quarterback Ross Metheny guided the offense into
field-goal range, with completions of 13 yards to Saxton and 15 to Broadnax,
though the drive stalled at the defense’s 32-yard line. In fact, the
defense did not let the offense get more than five yards past midfield on the
next four possessions, though Julien Valentin scored on a two-yard run just
before a short break to cap a 10-play, 65-yard drive.
On
the offense’s next possession, Metheny used three straight completions to get
the unit inside the defense’s 10-yard line before finding Hollinger in the end
zone for an eight-yard touchdown pass. Hollinger would also set up the
final touchdown with a 35-yard completion from Bennett, which would lead to the
latter’s five-yard scoring pass to Kendall Houston.
Aleem
Sunanon tacked on a 43-yard field goal to close out the scoring on the
offense’s ensuing drive.
“It’s
tough to know exactly how each individual did. What we are looking to do
is find our depth chart, the guys who we are really going to give reps to;
we’ll know more after watching film,” Jones explained. “It was a good day
overall, but I was a little disappointed in special teams. We have to
practice better there. It’s almost like we came out here for an offensive
and defensive scrimmage and we weren’t ready for special teams.
“We’ve
got to change that, and that starts with me.”
The
Jaguars will have Sunday off — their first break in seven days — before
returning to practice Monday morning.
