Date: 8/22
Time: 2:45-4:50 p.m. (CDT)
Place: James A. and Frances H. Yance Football Practice Facility
Practice attire: Full pads
Offensive Player of the Day: Jamarius Way, Jr., WR, Belle Glade, Fla.
-Offensive coordinator Bryant Vincent on Way: "Jamarius comes out here with a passion and a purpose to get better every day, every rep. He brings a lot of energy to the football team, and he has an attitude about improving that is contagious. It's a pleasure to have guys like him out here daily."
Defensive Player of the Day: Zach Befort, Sr., DL, Wichita, Kan.
-Defensive coordinator Kane Wommack on Befort: "Zach is the guy again — I've bragged on him before — but he continuously provides such great depth for our defense between him and Tre Alford rolling in. He has grown so much since he's been here, he just executes at a high level and almost never misses an assignment whenever he is out there. I'm very proud of him."
Play of the Day: On one of the final plays of the Jags' seven-on-seven skeleton passing drill period, Way was able to leap over the cornerback in front of him to complete a 10-yard touchdown catch from Dallas Davis; that came three snaps after Andrew Reinkemeyer made a one-handed grab for a reception on a Cole Garvin throw.
Team period highlights: The opening team period of the afternoon featured the offense running third-down plays for 10 minutes, while later in the day there was a 10-minute period during which the unit worked on run and play-action pass calls.
Miscellaneous Notes
-Today's workout was the first for the Jags since Saturday morning's scrimmage after practice was cancelled Monday due to weather issues.
-Way finished with three receptions during the 7-on-7 passing period, as he was the lone Jaguar to catch more than one pass.
-During one stretch of that period the South defense was credited with three consecutive coverage sacks.
-In the middle of the session both the offense and defense used a pair of periods to begin installation of game plans for USA's season-opening contest at Ole Miss.
-Specials teams work included a period on covering kickoffs and a punt coverage period, with both lasting just over five minutes.
Head coach Joey Jones
-On how the team responded to having an extra day off: "The tempo today was just what we needed. The defense came out there and really gave a good look, the offense got much better on third down. It was great tempo and you could see both sides getting better, the confidence is really building right now."
-On the third-down period: "Early in the period the offense was dominating, especially the ones, on third-and-three and -four. The defense picked it up on third-and-five and -six, so it was a little bit of back and forth. But I liked the tempo and that we're getting a little more crisp on offense, we're starting to put it all together; I'm seeing some good things."
-On beginning preparation for the season opener: "It would be ridiculous of me to say that these kids are not looking forward to game week because it's been three-and-a-half weeks of camp. They've worked hard and done some good things, I'm proud of them, but it is always refreshing to start looking at an opponent and start game planning. As a coach you love that part of it, planning offensively, defensively and on special teams to have a chance to win a ball game. Everybody is getting excited at this point."
-On the decision who will start the season at quarterback: "We're going to go with Cole Garvin. Cole has had a great camp — so have Dallas Davis and Evan Orth — but right now we feel like the best decision for our football team is to go with Cole. Dallas' arm really never got back completely healthy until a couple of weeks ago, so his timing is just a little bit off. We feel that we have really good players at quarterback, and it is just like any other position that he does not have the job for the year; it's a week-to-week thing just like it is with receivers and linebackers. This is a situation where they have to perform to keep their job, but Cole has won it right now."
Up next: USA will hold a one-hour special teams practice on campus Wednesday afternoon beginning at 3:30 p.m.
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).
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—USA—
