Date: 8/3
Time: 3:30 p.m.-5:30 p.m. (CDT)
Place: Jaguar Training Center
Practice attire: Helmets and shorts, no pads
Offensive Player of the Day: Jordan McCray, Jr., WR, Marietta, Ga.
-Offensive coordinator Kenny Edenfield on McCray: "Jordan made that last play down on the goal line that put him up today. He scored on the last play of the day to help us win the game."
Defensive Player of the Day: Bull Barge, Sr., LB, Moultrie, Ga.
-Defensive coordinator Greg Stewart on Barge: "I thought Bull came out did a good job today. He had a lot of energy and was leading our defense, which is what we expect him to do. I thought he did what I expected of him on the first day as a senior leader."
Play of the Day: During the second series of the 7-on-7 skeleton drill, Jahmmir Taylor was able to come up with a 45-yard touchdown reception from Cole Garvin just in front of the left side pylon. Sophomore corner back Jay Woods looked as if he were going to come up the interception just in front of the goal line, but Taylor kept his concentration on the deflection and made the grab falling to the ground.
Team period highlights: There was a 16-play team period during the final segment of practice. The Jaguars also went through two 7-on-7 skeleton drill periods that went a combined 33 reps.
Miscellaneous Notes
-Friday's practice was the first fall camp practice for the Jaguars under first-year South Alabama head coach Steve Campbell
-The South Alabama quarterback trio of Garvin, Cephus Johnson and Evan Orth connected on a nine of 11 pass attempts during a portion of the second 7-on-7 skeleton period. Garvin also had touchdown passes to Taylor and Jalen Tolbert during the segment.
-Tolbert led the receivers during the period with three receptions and Taylor had a pair with seven other receivers also catching a pass.
-The Jaguar defense recorded three of its four pass break ups and three coverage sacks during the two 7-on-7 skeleton drill sessions.
-During the two 7-on-7 periods, Sterrling Fisher and Barge paced the unit with three stops apiece, while Darian Mills and Marice Fluellen had two. Barge and Mills also had a pass break up with the former recording his during the first segment and the latter registering his in the second.
-Roy Yancey and Fluellen also recorded interceptions in the two periods.
-During the lone team period of the day, Tolbert, McCray and Jalen Wayne had two receptions apiece.
-Malcolm Buggs and Jeremiah Littles were each credited with two tackles during the 15-minute team period.
-McCray capped off the first day of camp and closed out the team segment with a 20-yard touchdown reception from Orth when he out-jumped the defender in the left corner of the end zone.
-All practices are closed to the general public.
Head coach Steve Campbell
-On the first practice of the season: "It was a really good first day. The guys were moving around on both sides of the ball. I thought the enthusiasm and effort were good, and that we had good retention from the spring and from the things that we are allowed to do with them over the summer. There were a lot of rough edges, which is what you would expect on the first day back out, but there were also a lot of positive things. To me, you can tell that we've made progress from where we were at in the spring. We haven't put the pads on yet, but I like the way the guys were running away out there. If you can't get them to run around without the pads, it's going to be tough when the pads are on."
-On the improvements from the spring: "The tempo is not where we want it to be yet, but it was a better tempo than we had in the spring. I thought there was some retention also from a knowledge standpoint. We didn't have everything in today from the spring; we probably ran 80 percent of the stuff we installed during those 15 practices, but by practice four, we will have all of it in. We are ahead of where we were at during the spring and that was a positive for us."
-On the benefit of being in the Jaguar Training Center: "Today wasn't a scorcher outside, but we were able to get in a good practice in without being out in the Mobile heat. A lot of times when you practice this time of year, it's a hundred degrees with humidity. Today we were able to get two-and-a-half hours in and the guys were moving around really well at the end of practice. Our conditioning was good and being in this indoor facility really helped."
-On the quarterbacks: "It's good that we have two quarterbacks that I think are really good players. I liked the way Evan [Orth] played during the spring. In baseball, you can't have too many good pitchers and in football it's the same way with the quarterback position. Quarterback is a very important position, but so is left guard. We'll let the best player play and if there's two really good ones there, which I think is possible, we'll see how it plays out. I'm glad that there's some competition, it means you've got some guys you feel good about."
Senior QB Cole Garvin
-On the first day of camp: "It was fun today. The indoor facility was nice and cool, so we were able to get after it a little bit better. We had a good first day today."
-On the excitement: "There was excitement out there with the newness of everything, but we're getting accustomed to it."
-On how the team got better from the spring: "We were watching film [from the spring] and it was clear that we didn't know what was going on. Today, it was like night and day. Everybody seemed to know what they were doing out there and there were very few mistakes. In the spring it seemed like we had one every play, but know those are cut out."
Senior LB Bull Barge
-On the first day of preseason camp: "After today there is a lot of energy in here. We happen to be in new gear, the facility is way more than we expected and with the way we attacked today, everything just feels real good right now. We came out today and showed we are ahead of the curve, everybody was stepping up. We thought we had a lot of work to do, but now we feel that we just have to tune up the small things and this new look and new energy might take us a long way."
Redshirt freshman QB Cephus Johnson
-On the opening of preseason: "I'm just soaking it all in right now, taking it one day at a time and just trying to get better with my team. I'm enjoying the new facility and the new gear."
-On the energy the team felt on Friday: "There is a new energy in the team, we are much more cohesive now. We hung out more during the summer and getting extra work in together."
-On the team's improvement since the spring: "We got a lot better, I agree with coach. A lot of guys who played in the spring are much more comfortable in the system, they are much more relaxed."
-On the battle to be starting quarterback: "I just take it one day at a time. Whether Cole [Garvin] or I is the starter, I am still learning from him and Evan [Orth]. They are doing a great job teaching us young quarterbacks the little things, and Coach [Kenny] Edenfield is doing a great job helping us out too."
Up next: South Alabama will be back on the practice field Saturday from 3:30-5:30 p.m. at the Jaguar Training Center.
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).
Join the Jaguar Athletic Fund (JAF) Priority Fund, the unrestricted giving option of the University of South Alabama Athletics. Contributions to the Priority Fund directly support all 17 sports in addition to various support programming. For more information on how you can join visit: http://jaguarathleticfund.com/sports/2013/3/13/Gridiron Club.aspx?id=22
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