Date: 8/21
Time: 7:15-8:45 p.m. (CDT)
Place: Hancock Whitney Stadium
Scoring Plays (drive information)
-Terrion Avery 1-yard run (13 plays, 70 yards)
-Frankie Onate 25-yard field goal (18 plays, 63 yards)
-Diego Guajardo 21-yard field goal (10 plays, 37 yards)
-Jamel Thomas 15-yard pass from Chance Lovertich (5 plays, 40 yards)
-Todd Justice 3-yard pass from Tanner McGee (8 plays, 70 yards)
-Caullin Lacy 14-yard pass from McGee (5 plays, 70 yards)
Play of the Day: Midway through the scrimmage Jaden Voisin leaped at the last second to deflect a pass and prevent a completion just yards short of the goal line.
Key Statistics
-Passing: Chance Lovertich 10-of-18, 69 yds, 1 TD; Desmond Trotter 5-of-10, 34 yds, 1 INT; Tanner McGee 3-of-5, 30 yds, 2 TDs
-Rushing: Tony Brown 5-46; Terrion Avery 8-34, TD; Desmond Trotter 5-33; Caullin Lacy 2-33; Jared Wilson 7-25; Carlos Davis 5-24; AJ Phillips 5-22
-Receiving: Jamel Thomas 3-28, 1 TD; AJ Phillips 2-21; Caullin Lacy 2-17, 1 TD; Cade Sutherland 2-17
-Defense: Latarius "Kado" Carr 3-6—9 TT, 1 TFL; Keon Voisin 3-3—6 TT, 1 INT; Nathan Dunaway 1-5—6 TT; Zeke Chapman 1-4—5 TT, 1 TFL; Brock Higdon 3-1—4 TT, 1 TFL, 1 sack; Yam Banks 3-1—4 TT
-Special teams: Frankie Onate 1-1 FG, 25 long; Diego Guajardo 1-1 FG, 21 long; Jack Brooks 7-45.4 avg punting
Miscellaneous Notes
-This was the final full scrimmage of the fall for South.
-The Jaguar offense gained 253 yards on the ground while totaling 386 yards on the night, running 88 plays in 90 minutes.
-USA's defense recorded six tackles for loss — highlighted by Higdon's sack — intercepted one pass and broke up two others.
-The offense scored on both of its first two possessions, with each march down the field including a double-figure play total.
-The defense responded with an interception, a three-and-out and a fourth-down stop to prevent points on each of the next three drives, however, as Keon Voisin picked off a pass near midfield to end one possession on the snap prior to Higdon getting in the backfield to make a play.
-Twice in the middle of the scrimmage South's offense was able to gain a first down and move the chains after starting from its own two-yard line.
-Five Jag running backs contributed at least 20 yards to the ground attack, with Brown pacing the unit after picking up 32 yards on the next-to-last play of the night.
-It was the second straight scrimmage that Thomas has caught multiple passes, as well as the second time in three scrimmages since the start of camp that he has reached the end zone.
-McGee led the Jaguars on a pair of 70-yard scoring drives while running the offense over the final four possessions of the evening.
-USA quarterbacks combined to complete 18-of-33 throws with Trotter posting 67 yards of total offense to lead the group.
Head coach Steve Campbell
-On what he saw in the third scrimmage: "I was pleased with what I saw. We let the older guys practice more on the offensive side of the ball and I thought their execution was good. I saw areas where we had cleaned some things up. Defensively, we played a lot of our younger guys and I saw some good stuff there; hopefully, we've been able to develop some depth. We were able to keep the ball off the ground, there weren't a whole lot of busts and I feel we did a better job penalty-wise. The third scrimmage was much better than the first two. Now we'll flip the page and get ready for Southern Miss."
-On where he feels his team is at: "I think we're ready and where we need to be to start our preparation [for the season opener]. We went close to 70 plays [tonight] with the older guys and the younger guys probably got 35 to 40 plays, so we've had three 100-play scrimmages. I do think that is a key factor this year because we missed four to five scrimmages during spring training. We've competed against each other a lot during camp, and both sides have shown a lot of improvement during the course of camp."
-On Caullin Lacy contributing this season: "Caullin's going to be a really good player and help us. In high school, you could see the type of player he was going to be. Coach French [Faith Academy's head coach] did a great job of utilizing Caullin's skill set at running back, quarterback and in the return game; his skill set in high school was so diverse that you knew that he was going to make an easy transition to this level. The two weeks of walkthroughs that we had really helped with a lot of the young guys and Caullin took full advantage of those. He'll be ready to help week one. It's not very often that a true freshman can come in and has the ability and be able to learn the system, but Caullin has done that because he's a very smart guy."
-On Brock Higdon: "Brock has probably gained 20 to 25 pounds since he got here. He's very hard to block in passing situations. He's long and uses his arms well, and he's also very quick for a guy his height."
Redshirt Freshman DL Brock Higdon
-On what he saw tonight from a defensive standpoint: "We had our threes and fours switching out and taking reps for a lot of the time. The coaches wanted to see what guys they could put out on the field. We came out and held our own against the ones and twos for a time. We still have a lot of areas to get better at, but a lot of the young guys were able to get on the field."
-On how he feels he's improved since last season: "I would say my ability to knock someone back and get off the ball better. The main thing I'm focused on is putting on weight on so I can play on first and third downs."
-On his opportunity to play on third down: "Coach has told me that third down is going to be a big down for me, he needs me to come in and be able to bring a lot of 'juice' to the defense. I feel like I've improved rushing the passer and being able to read the slide of the protection from the offensive linemen."
Freshman WR Caullin Lacy
-On how he's learning his role: "I'm learning and I know I can get better. I'm able to make plays now since I've learned some things."
-On the adjustment of moving to wide receiver: "I've been playing this game my whole life. After playing running back in high school, I just have to get used to my new role."
-On the possibility of contributing and his skill set: "I was hoping to have the opportunity. I bring speed, agility and the ability to make something out of nothing-type plays."
Sophomore QB Desmond Trotter
-On what he saw from the offense in the third scrimmage: "I feel like we executed better tonight compared to the previous two scrimmages. Our offensive line did a really good job giving us time in the backfield; we were able to execute and make plays."
-On how he feels three scrimmages into the preseason: "I feel really good actually, I feel more confident than I did last year. We are making more plays down the field and our offensive line is holding up well."
-On Caullin Lacy: "Caullin's a very explosive player, we try to get the ball in his hands any time we are able to because he's probably the fastest guy on the field. You just try to give him a chance with the ball in his hands when you can."
-On his approach and how things are coming together now less than two weeks from the opener: "Everything's coming together pretty well, we're ready. We've been preparing since June to play this game. With all the uncertainty about not know whether or not we were going to have a season, now with it actually close, you feel excited. You get to play college football this year."
Up next: The Jags will go through a mock scrimmage, which will begin Saturday at 9:30 a.m. at Hancock Whitney Stadium.
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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