MOBILE, Ala. – In the final practice prior to the Red & Blue Game, the University of South Alabama football team moved indoors Thursday and turned its attention to Saturday’s contest that will mark the end of the spring season.
Forced into Jaguar Gym due to inclement weather in the area, USA went through 25 minutes of special teams drills in helmets and shorts before breaking off into teams to go through scripts for the spring contest. The Jags worked out approximately 45 minutes in all.
“I think the concerns we had [going into the spring] were the offensive line and the secondary,” Jag head coach Joey Jones commented. “I feel really good about our first offensive line; now we have to continue to develop depth there. The secondary is another area where I feel like we have gotten better, and we’ve got a couple more guys coming in this summer who might be able to help us there too.
“The three things we concentrated on this spring — and will continue to work on — were leadership, discipline and toughness,” he continued. “We’ve been preaching all spring that you don’t always wins games, you lose games; teams that make mistakes end up losing games. We became a more disciplined team this spring, and I think we have developed some leadership on this football team — you see it in the locker room, in the weight room and on the field, and we’re real proud of that. I think we’ve been a pretty tough team, and will continue to do that.
“Overall, as a team, there was so much more focus.”
The Ladd-Peebles Stadium parking lot will open for tailgaters at 10 a.m. Saturday, and gates will open at 1 p.m. — one hour prior to kickoff — with both free and open to the public. Prior to the game, the USA College of Medicine will hold its annual Gumbo & Chili Showdown beginning at 11 a.m. in the East parking lot; cost of admission for the event is $10.
Seating will be available in the West stands and both end zones, and limited concessions will be sold on the West concourse. The West concourse is also where members of the USA Athletic Ticket Office will be located for individuals interested in purchasing season tickets and selecting their seats for the 2012 campaign, as well as the USA Bookstore staff — which will be selling JagWear merchandise — and Springdale Travel, which will have information available on “Runnin’ With the Jags” in the fall.
Following the game, fans will have a 30-minute period on the field in order to obtain autographs from the Jaguars and members of the USA coaching staff.
The contest will include 10-minute quarters in the first half featuring a regular game clock, and a running clock in the second half when the quarters will be 12 minutes in length.
“It’s going to be a short game, the clock will be running,” observed Jones. “It will probably be about half a game with the amount of plays we run.”
The Blue squad will be quarterbacked by the trio of C.J. Bennett, Brandon Bridge and Logan Rogers, with the backfield also including Demetre Baker and J.J. Keels at running back. Akkem Appleton, Tyrome Bivins, T.J. Glover, Jeremé Jones and Bryant Lavender highlight the receiving corps, with Wes Saxton leading a quartet of tight ends.
The Red offensive backfield will include quarterbacks Trey Fetner, Myles Gibbon and Kolt Peavey, as well as running backs Terrance Timmons and Julien Valentin. The team’s receivers include Corey Besteda, Jake Howton, Anthony Ingram and Corey Waldon, and Kennedy Helms and Greg Hollinger among the tight ends.
The two returning starters on the offensive line — Trey Clark and Melvin Meggs — will play for the Blue team, as will Drew Dearman and Tremain Smith among others. James Elliott will center the Red offensive line, which also includes Shaun Artz, Shane Doty, DaMon Husband, Chris May and Darius McKeller.
Up front, the Red defense will feature Randon Carnathan, Andy Dalgleish, Romelle Jones, Pat Moore, Anthony Taylor and Will Thompson. Cordivido Grice and Desmond LaVelle will anchor the team’s linebackers, while the secondary includes Qudarius Ford, E.J. May and Darrius Morrow at cornerback as well as safeties Terrell Brigham, and Charles and Maleki Harris.
Blue team linebackers include Logan Bennett, Clifton Crews, Ben Giles and Jake Johnson, with Ceasare Johnson, Alex Page and Montavious Williams featured on the line. The Blue’s cornerbacks include Eddy Cabrera, Jonathan Cameron and Charles Watson, with Alonzo Long and Dionté McDuffy at safety.
Michael Chapuseaux and Scott Garber will handle the placekicking and punting duties, respectively, for both squads.
“The spring game is for the players. They have been working hard in the spring and spent a lot of hours beating on each other,” Jones stated. “Now we’re choosing teams with separate offenses and defenses, so the teams will be a little bit watered down. The goal is really for them to have fun — we’re not even going to watch the film for evaluation purposes — going against each other, which is really what it is all about because they have done enough work.
“It will also be a showpiece for our fans to see what kind of players we have had out there this spring.”
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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