Date: 8/19
Time: 3:15 p.m.-5 p.m. (CDT)
Place: Jaguar Training Center
Practice attire: Shells

Offensive Players of the Day: Hadon Merchant, Jr., OL, Fairhope, Ala., and Jalen Wayne, Jr., WR, Mobile, Ala.
-Offensive coordinator Kenny Edenfield on Merchant and Wayne: "I think that our wideouts have been improving steadily, yesterday Jalen was just okay but today he stepped up big time and made some plays.  I also think Hadon has been doing a really good job on the offensive line."

Defensive Player of the Day: Jamie Sheriff, Jr., DL, Terry, Miss.
-Defensive coordinator Greg Stewart on Sheriff: "Jamie's new but he comes to work every day.  I see him making plays — including tackles for losses and sacks — and he plays hard every snap.  We're pleased to have him on board and excited about seeing him making a bunch of plays this fall."

Play of the Day: Facing a third-and-seven situation on the second play of the final team period, sophomore quarterback Desmond Trotter's pass was just out of reach of a defender. Junior receiver Jalen Tolbert leaped in the air and snagged the ball just past the line to gain and raced down the middle of the field untouched for the offense's first first-down of the period.

Team period highlights: Practice was highlighted by three different team periods which lasted 10 minutes each. The first two worked on the option and the RPO offense, while the final focused on third down situations.

Miscellaneous Notes
-South's quarterbacks combined to complete 14 of their 18 pass attempts during the 7-on-7 skeleton drill and completed at least one pass to nine different receivers.
-The QBs closed out the 10-minute period by hitting six of their last seven in the red zone, which included four touchdowns. The lone incompletion was a pass break up by junior safety Dewayne Betts Jr.
-Freshman receiver Caullin Lacy recorded one of the four scoring passes in the session and led all receivers with three receptions.
-Jalen Wayne, Devin Voisin and Jamel Thomas also has scoring receptions during the drill.
-Along with the skeleton drill and team periods, the Jaguars also conducted three different special teams segments working on punting, kickoffs and field goals. Diego Guajardo and Frankie Onate were both 2-of-2 on their attempts.
-South's offense ran 18 plays during the first team periods with 13 of those on the ground. Out of the four pass attempts, three were completed.
-In the second team period, the offense continued to work on its run-pass-option offense as 10 of the snaps were on the ground, including a nice 40-yard run by Trotter as he pulled the ball and beat the defender to the edge and raced around the right end before picking up the big gain.
-Sophomore safety Keith Gallmon was credited with three stops, including one behind the line of scrimmage during the period.
-For the second-consecutive day, the Jags devoted a 10-minute period to working on various third-down situations. Of the 16 plays run during the final team period, the offense was successful on 11 of them.
-South's quarterbacks connected on seven of their nine pass attempts during the session all but one of those completions making the necessary yard to gain.
-All practices are closed to the general public.

Head coach Steve Campbell
-On Wednesday's practice session: "I thought we had a good day today, the guys came out and battled hard.  We executed our third-down package well; I liked the way the defense got after the quarterback and I liked the way that quarterbacks executed.  We gave them a lot of different scenarios, I thought the guys were able to handle them.  There is still a lot of improvement we need to make, but all in all it was a good work day."
-On the season opener being two weeks away: "It's been a long spring and summer with everything that is going on, but tomorrow will be T-minus two weeks until game time.  We're starting to notice that feeling in the air; we don't have the Jaguar Marching Band playing in the background to get you in that mood, but it is feeling more and more like football season.  We have to keep taking it one day at a time and being diligent in what we're doing."
-On Jalen Tolbert: "It's great to know that you've got a guy that if they man cover him he has a chance to hurt the defense.  The last game of the year against Arkansas State they manned us up, we were able to attack that and he went and made plays — he's been doing that ever since.  Jalen had a great summer and is having a great fall camp, our quarterbacks are doing a good job of getting him the ball, and he is getting downfield and making plays."

Junior LB Nick Mobley
-On what the defense did well in practice today: "It was good, everyone was moving around well.  The tempo is getting faster and faster each time we practice.  We're getting better, I think we'll be able to show that against Southern Miss and from there the sky's the limit."
-On the focus of improvement defensively since last week's scrimmages: "We can be as good as we want to be if we continue on the straight and narrow.  We need to keep our focus in order to become a really good defense."

Junior WR Jalen Tolbert
-On the Jaguar offense at this point in preseason camp: "A lot of younger guys are stepping up and making plays, and the older guys are continuing to make plays.  Our quarterbacks are out there competing each and every day, they are making sure the others are getting better.  I think we are stronger offensively this year, we should be able to make a lot more plays and adjustments in game to help us win."
-On what the wide receivers did different at today's practice: "Coach just talked to us and told us to focus better and make sure we were taking care of our one-on-one blocking assignments.  We came out here and did that and were able to make more plays."

Up next: South Alabama will return to the practice field Thursday from 3:30-5:30 p.m. at Hancock Whitney Stadium for one final practice session before Friday's third scrimmage.

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/WeAreSouth_JAGS. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

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