MOBILE, Ala. – C.J. Bennett marched the University of South Alabama football team’s offense 70 yards in five plays for a touchdown on the opening series of the program’s second spring scrimmage Friday, but the Jaguar defense bounced back by not allowing another point on each of the next nine possessions.
Ellis Hill and Santuan McGee would add rushing touchdowns in the second half of the event, held at the practice fields on campus, however both drives covered 50 yards or fewer as the defense surrendered less than four yards per play after giving up 334 total yards on 87 snaps. That included allowing 123 yards on 63 carries.
“I thought it was a good day overall, I don’t really care who won what on offense and defense because all we are looking at are individuals,” said Jaguar head coach Joey Jones. “I think we were much more physical today, [strength and conditioning coach] Justin Schwind and his staff have done a great job in the weight room in the offseason. You can tell the guys are stronger and faster, so the hits are a little more severe than they were last year.”
Justin Harris would lead the unit with nine total stops and a fumble recovery, while Alonzo Long tacked on seven tackles and Gabriel Mass had five. The Jags were credited with 14 tackles for loss including nine sacks, with Cori Barnett posting two sacks, Jesse Kelley and Blake Lawley added a pair of stops for loss each, and Mass was credited with 1½ tackles behind the line of scrimmage.
“We are where we hoped to be defensively at this point,” defensive coordinator Bill Clark explained. “We talked the other day about what are the fundamentals that we look for, which are tackling, pursuit to the football, getting off blocks and knowing your assignment, just playing your butt off. We have seen that.
“We push the enthusiasm and are pulling for each other, we’re fighting. You saw today where coach put the ball on the 30; that’s a tough situation defensively, but it can happen in a game, so how do we respond? For the most part, we feel real good.”
The day opened with Bennett going 4-of-4 on the first drive for 68 yards. On third-and-four from the offense’s 36-yard line, he hit Richard Ross on a crossing pattern for a gain of 19 yards, then followed with an 18-yard pick up to the left side on a completion to Bryant Lavender. Bennett and Lavender would hook up again on the next snap as well for a 27-yard touchdown pass.
Bennett would finish the morning 10-of-15 passing for 112 yards with a score and an interception.
On the next drive, Myles Gibbon found Corey Waldon for a 29-yard gain on third and long, but on fourth-and-one Bryson James stopped Hill at the line of scrimmage to end the possession.
That would start a string of four three-and-outs forced by the defense on the next five drives, with the only first down recorded by the offense during that span on a 17-yard Bennett completion to Jeremé Jones. On the final march starting on the offense’s half of the field, Johnny Lockett ran for 18 yards on four straight carries after Gibbon completed a 13-yard pass to Greg Hollinger to get the unit in scoring position, however a 48-yard field goal attempt sailed wide left.
Hill — who would carry 17 times for 55 yards to lead the Jags in both categories — would score on a five-yard run to the left on the first series following a break. The key play of the 50-yard drive was a 48-yard completion from Gibbon to Tyrome Bivins on a post pattern to set up first-and-goal.
Gibbon was 4-of-8 passing for 99 yards as USA picked up 211 yards through the air in the scrimmage.
The defense got turnovers on two of the next three possessions with Harris’ fumble recovery and a bad snap for the offense, but after another three-and-out Gibbon would drive the unit back into the red zone before Lawson McGlon converted a 20-yard field-goal attempt. On third-and-10, the quarterback scrambled for a 16-yard gain, while Lockett picked up another first down with a 12-yard carry. Gibbon gained seven more yards after rolling to his right on third-and-four, and after Lockett moved the ball to the one-yard line with a five-yard carry, Lawley and Mass recorded back-to-back stops to keep the offense out of the end zone.
Lockett carried nine times for 41 yards, but left with an injury on his final run. Santuan McGee chipped in with 27 yards on seven attempts and Julien Valentin added 16 more on the ground.
“I thought Johnny had some good runs, though he got banged up at the end,” commented Jones. “He showed some spark out there.”
McGee and Hill combined to rush seven straight times for the unit’s final touchdown, which came on a 30-yard drive. Hill’s 16-yard run was the biggest play of the possession, which McGee capped by scoring from three yards out on third-and-goal.
Bivins’ catch was the longest play of the day, giving him the most yards for a USA wideout. Lavender finished with two catches for 45 yards, and Ross caught a team-leading three passes for 23 yards. Hollinger and Jeremy Roberts also caught multiple balls.
“I like where we are at, we are a much, much tougher football team than we were at any point last year,” observed offensive coordinator Greg Gregory. “We’re much more physical even though we are missing some guys; when you’re missing [Shaun] Artz and [Chris] Brunson and [T.J.] Glover, that’s three potential starters or top backups who will play a lot.
“A lot of our guys were out today, but I’m pleased with where we are because we are a tougher running football team and I think we’re better at quarterback. C.J. is a really good player, and Myles has had a really good spring and closed the gap; not because of C.J., but because he’s gotten better in the pocket, which he needed to do.”
In between periods, the Jaguars worked on virtually every aspect of special teams. Situations covered during the scrimmage included punt returns, punt coverage, kick returns and kickoff coverage, while USA also attempted several field goals near the end of the day in addition to those during the course of the scrimmage.
Overall with just one week of practice remaining, Jones knows that his program has made progress to this point during spring drills.
“I think we have found some guys who are working themselves into No. 2 spots [on the depth chart],” he stated. “I don’t know that our No. 1s have changed a lot, but we are finding guys who can play behind those starters. That’s real important in the spring, because we don’t have time to evaluate them in the fall, so they have taken advantage of that.”
With spring break beginning after classes conclude later in the day, the Jaguars will not be back on the field until 7:45 a.m. on Tuesday, March 22. They will work out three times that week before the annual spring game, which will kick off at 2 p.m. at Ladd-Peebles Stadium on Saturday, March 26.
“Any time you are off for 10 days, you’re going to be concerned where they are going to be mentally when they get back,” Jones said. “But, we challenged them to come back ready to practice — our kids have always done that, I’ve always trusted them.
“When they come on this field it’s time to work, and they know that. Because of my past experience with these guys, I think they will come out ready to go.”
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).
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