Date: 3/8
Time: 3:30-5:30 p.m. (CST)
Place: James A. and Frances H. Yance Football Practice Facility
Practice attire: Helmets and shorts, no pads
Offensive Player of the Day: Jamarius Way, Jr., WR, Belle Glade, Fla.
-Offensive coordinator Kenny Edenfield on Way: "One thing Jamarius did today was he caught the deep ball well. I think he got a little fatigued, I don't think he is used to running as much as we ran him today, so we have to get him in a little better shape — which will come — but he caught the ball really well down the field today. I am excited about that."
Defensive Player of the Day: Bull Barge, Jr., LB, Moultrie, Ga.
-Defensive coordinator Greg Stewart on Barge: "I thought Bull had a great day. We stretched them early in some of our drills and took them to the limit, he did a great job of handling that and battling back; he ended up showing a lot of energy. Bull was our guy today, which he is supposed to be as one of our leaders."
Play of the Day: On the opening play of the second of two team periods, Way caught a pass from Dallas Davis despite the coverage of the cornerback.
Miscellaneous Notes
-In addition to a pair of catches in team periods, Way recorded long gains on completions from both Cole Garvin and Evan Orth during half-line skeleton passing drills.
-Jalen Thompson ended the first team period by picking off a pass, and Spencer Perry recorded an interception midway through the second team period of the practice.
-The Jaguar defense also got sacks from Chris Henderson and Tyree Turner during the second period of team drills.
-Darian Mills was credited with three passes broken up on the afternoon, with junior-college transfer Travis Reed adding a pair.
-During the second half of practice, Jahmmir Taylor caught a total of five passes to match Way for most on the team while Cade Sutherland hauled in four balls.
-Davis led South quarterbacks completing 8-of-15 attempts, although Orth connected on each of his first seven throws.
Head coach Steve Campbell
-On the first day of spring drills: "It was a good first day, anytime you get out here in the spring it's fun because you've been without football for a couple of months. It was good to be out here with the guys for the first time, there was a lot of energy and a lot of enthusiasm, I like the way that they worked. We have a lot of rough edges, which is exactly what you would expect after one day with the new group, but I'm encouraged because I saw some guys who can definitely make plays on both sides of the ball. We have to get better each day, if we make improvements between day one and day two we will have accomplished our goal."
-On how the team handled the details of practice: "I thought the effort was good. Right now we are identifying what the little things are, we are a long way from getting the little things right. What we're trying to do right now is install the overall scheme — let's get the big things done right — because you'll start seeing the little things when we go full gear and get into scrimmages. We think we're working on little things, but then you put pads on and all those things you thought you were doing well — pad level, hand placement — all show up when you turn on the black light."
Junior S Malcolm Buggs
-On the beginning of spring practice: "It feels great, we've been putting in a lot of work this offseason changing our mentality. The way we are coming together as a team, the comradery, is great. I'm glad we're out here playing together."
-On changing the team's mentality: "It's changing the way we approach everything, whether it's the weight room, the classroom, meetings; things on and off the field. We want to make sure we have a positive mindset going into everything."
Junior WR Jamarius Way
-On returning to practice: "It's great to be back out here, it's that time of the year to play football and compete against my teammates. Today was the first day, but it felt like day five; we are on top of things and a lot of new guys were getting the system."
-On the intensity of the Jaguars' first spring practice: "It's a good thing, there was a lot of talk coming into spring practice about who was going to do what to each other and now we are out here doing it."
Up next: South is scheduled to return to the practice field Saturday at 9:45 a.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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