Date: 8/16
Time: 3:30 p.m.-5:30 p.m. (CDT)
Place: Jaguar Training Center
Practice attire: Shells (Helmets and shorts)
Offensive Players of the Day: Jalen Tolbert, R-Fr., WR, Mobile, Ala. and Troy Thingstad, Jr., OL, Mobile, Ala.
-Offensive coordinator Kenny Edenfield on Tolbert and Thingstad: "We have a young receiver who missed all of spring ball while he was rehabbing; Jalen has really come on, he made some good plays today. The other person who has been unsung and nobody has talked about much is Troy. He just gets better every day, he's doing a good job and trying to put on weight, he's doing everything we ask. I think the more he plays the better he is going to get."
Defensive Player of the Day: Sean Brown, Jr., DL, Pleasant Grove, Ala.
-Defensive coordinator Greg Stewart on Brown: "Sean has done a good job up front at nose tackle and come to work every day. He has been a steady hand, I believe he is going to be a big-time factor for us this fall."
Play of the Day: With the offense facing a fourth-and-one situation during the second team period, Jaguar linebacker Bull Barge came up and filled the whole to make the stop short of the first-down marker.
Team period highlights: There were four team periods during Thursday's practice. There were two different 10-minute periods working on the option, while there was also a five-minute segment working on third- and fourth-down situations. South closed out the day with a 17-play, 15-minute team period.
Miscellaneous Notes
-In the skeleton drill segment midway through practice, the quarter backs combined to go 13-of-19 with two touchdowns. South's QBs hit nine of 10 pass attempts at one point during the segment.
-Jamarius Way and Sam Harris each had a score during the period with Way's going for 36 yards, while Harris' was a short score in the right corner of the end zone.
-After being unable to convert on its first two opportunities during the third- and fourth-down team period, the offense closed out the segment by converting five of the final six snaps to hold a 5-3 advantage.
-Of the 16 plays run during the third team segment, 11 of the 16 snaps were run plays. South's quarterbacks connected on all five of their pass attempts during the segment.
-After missing their first four attempts during the final team period, South's quarterbacks converted their final six pass attempts.
-Like Wednesday, the first two series of the final team period began on the offense's own two-yard line.
-Tobias Moss was in on all four plays during the third series of downs during the final segment, recording three solo tackles and one assisted stop.
-All practices are closed to the general public.
Head coach Steve Campbell
-On today's practice: "I was really pleased with today's practice; I thought we got better on both sides of the ball. The guys flew around real well and executed. The dog days of camp had begun to set in the last couple of days and we had had some mental fatigue, but today the guys really fought through it. I thought we stepped up and the communication was a lot better, along with the ball security and the protection. There are always things you need to work on to get better, but the effort was there and attention to detail was better. Today was a good day and one of our better days of camp. We made a big stride and I was pleased."
-On what the team needs to get better at heading into the second scrimmage: "Communication and tempo. Our tempo wasn't great in the first scrimmage wasn't where we want it to be, but you don't always expect that after one week of practice. Two weeks into camp, we need [the tempo] to be close to where it needs to be because we have a football game two weeks from the second scrimmage."
-On the team's conditioning: "I've said this before, but we've got in my opinion the best strength and conditioning staff. Coach [Lance] Ancar does a tremendous job of getting the guys in shape. They worked extremely hard in the summer. We ran during the heat of the day, starting off slow so the guys could get acclimated to it. The guys have handled the heat and humidity really well and we've been able to run a bunch of plays in practice; that's a testament to how Coach Ancar runs his strength and conditioning program."
Up next: South Alabama will practice on campus at the Jaguar Training Center Friday from 3:30-5:30 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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