Date: 3/23
Time: 3:30-5:30 p.m. (CDT)
Place: Jaguar Training Center
Practice attire: Uppers (helmets and shoulder pads)

Featured Offensive Player of the Day: Jacob Hopper, Fr., TE, Boaz, Ala.
-Offensive coordinator Major Applewhite on Hopper: "Jacob has done a great job in terms of understanding what we want to do, our tight ends position will be a part of this offense and just like last year we will have a couple of two tight-end sets.  We can move him out as a wide receiver because he can play in space.  He's done a really good job with his learning curve, he has spent a lot of time with [assistant] Coach [Rob] Ezell who has brought him along.  I'm encouraged by his athleticism and his size, he has a good frame, and he can catch the football.  It's really encouraging watching all of these guys, we have some athletic guys at the position who I am excited to see as we start installing more for them."

Featured Defensive Player of the Day: Devin Rockette, Sr., CB, Oxford, Miss.
-Defensive coordinator Corey Batoon on Rockette: "Devin is a guy who I have a relationship with going back to when I worked at Ole Miss, I knew him at Oxford High School.  He is very talented — he has great speed and quickness, and a high football IQ — and also very physical, and he continues to make plays out here.  Watching film from last fall you can see he has the ability to make plays in space and to run, and that speed factor allows him to be able to recover when he is not in the best position which is really beneficial.  I'm anxious to see how he continues to progress, he has had a great attitude and wants to be better every day."

Play of the Day: During South's second team period, Terrion Avery was able to slip through a hole in order to break a long run down the right sideline.

Team period highlights: The three team periods of the afternoon concentrated on the run game, run-pass option calls and running plays on first downs.

Miscellaneous Notes
-During the first 50 minutes of the workout — which was moved indoors due to rain — South went through individual, group and installation periods.
-The Jaguars' two main special teams periods for the day were focused on kickoff coverage fundamentals and schemes, with USA also using a period to continue to work on field goal/PAT preparation.
-Jared Wilson, AJ Phillips, Avery and John Tank Miller handled all the carries during the first team period, with Kelvin Johnson and A.J. DeShazor posting stops behind the line of scrimmage in that segment of practice.
-Both Rockette and Darrell Luter Jr. intercepted passes during the next team period, while Yam Banks added two sacks and CJ Rias and Carlos Johnson recorded one each for the Jag defense
-Jake Bentley found Jalen Tolbert for a 35-yard touchdown to open that period, one of five receptions that the junior wideout posted on the day.
-Cade Sutherland matched Tolbert with five catches in the practice as they led a contingent of 12 individuals who hauled in more than one pass.
-Bentley, along with Desmond Trotter and Tanner McGee, combined to complete 20-of-24 attempts during 7-on-7 skeleton passing drills, with Dallas Gamble forcing one of the incompletions with a pass break up.
-DeShazor added both a sack and a pass break up in the final team period of the day.
-Charles Coleman III and Doug Sullivan were also credited with sacks in the last period while Gallmon deflected a pass as well.
-All practices are closed to the general public.

THEY SAID IT
Head coach Kane Wommack
-On Tuesday's practice: "There is always a transition from the first two days of acclimation to putting pads on, I was really excited about the energy that the guys brought.  The most exciting thing is that over three practices — when you go from practice one to two and practice two to three — the things that we have emphasized I have seen immediately corrected the next day.  If we can do that, we'll get to where we want to go as a program."
-On the team's quarterbacks: "I love the urgency of our quarterbacks right now.  That all stems from Major Applewhite, I think he does a phenomenal job of creating an urgency in that room, he is a tremendous teacher not just in the fundamentals of quarterback play but more so in how to play the game.  One of our offensive identities is to own situational downs — red zone, two-minute drill, third-down execution — in order to have the ability to be great when the game matters most, those are the things that he is already teaching them now."
-On Keith Gallmon: "Keith brings such a great energy to the room.  He's a really sharp football player, hopefully we can continue to build off his knowledge and understanding.  Understanding situational downs carries over defensively as well, when you have a guy like Keith who has played a lot of football and understands different concepts and situations that's always going to make your team better.  The goal is to see how many one-on-one conversations can our leaders have with younger guys who they have to bring along because we're going to need them during the season."

Up next: South has a 3:30 p.m. practice scheduled to take place at the James A. and Frances H. Yance Football Practice Facility Thursday.
 
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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—USA—