MOBILE, Ala. — Preseason practice for the University of South Alabama football program will begin under the lights, as the Jaguars will take the field for the first time this fall at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the fields on campus.
USA will also work out at 6:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday before receiving a day off to close out the weekend. The Jags’ first full week of drills will see the squad practice in the mornings as in years past, with sessions for five straight days beginning at 7:15 a.m.
“We’re very excited. We’ve had a chance to get away from each other a little bit this summer because we can’t practice,” Jag head coach Joey Jones observed. “But you can see the look in everyone’s eyes, they are ready to go. I know the players and coaches are looking forward to this year, so it is a pretty exciting time.”
The Jaguars will take part in three fall scrimmages, with the first two slated to be held on back-to-back Saturdays — Aug. 11 and 18 — at 8 a.m., while the final one will take place on the morning of Thursday, Aug. 23; that’s one week prior to USA’s season-opening matchup with Texas-San Antonio at Ladd-Peebles Stadium.
The Jags will practice twice on Thursday, Aug. 9 and Thursday, Aug. 16, and will be off on Sunday, Aug. 12, Monday, Aug. 20 — the first days of fall semester classes — and Saturday, Aug. 25; they will also have a team exercise off campus on Friday, Aug. 17.
The opening of camp marks the culmination of the efforts of 100-plus individuals in the program, who began training for the 2012 season when the spring semester started in January. “We challenged our kids back in January when they returned to school — we needed to have a great offseason through the spring and a great spring training, and the summer was very critical for our chances to be successful in the fall,” commented Jones. “I think they have done what they needed to do. They were challenged early, and I think they followed through. What I am most pleased with is that we have leadership with 13 captains who have groups underneath them that we have been meeting with weekly; I have really seen our leadership grow in the last six months, it has been incredible.
“We’ve finally got more older individuals too, guys who have been around the program four years. So our leadership has started to stand out, which I think will have a positive effect on this team.”
USA has recorded a winning record in each of its first three seasons of competition after concluding the 2011 campaign with a 6-4 mark, going 23-4 overall during that span.
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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