Date: 4/1
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: John Tank Miller, So., RB, Panama City, Fla.
-Offensive coordinator Major Applewhite on Miller: "With this competition wide open — losing Carlos [Davis] has given all of these guys an opportunity to look at it as a clean slate — everyone is giving great effort. Tank is explosive and has great feet, and he a lot more power than you would expect from a smaller guy. He has shown the ability to get out of the backfield and use his hands, and is a dangerous guy in space; I really love his vision and his ability to make people miss in the hole. He has to continue to develop and work throughout the spring and fall camp, but right now I am very pleased with how he is doing."
Featured Defensive Player of the Day: Trey Kiser, So., ILB, Sulphur, Okla.
-Defensive coordinator Corey Batoon on Kiser: "Trey is a newcomer who has a really good football IQ and plays really fast. He is starting to get comfortable in the system, and we are now getting to see his physicality really show. He loves the game, he is always up here trying to learn and digest more. We are really glad we have him, he is going to bring some real depth and leadership to the position and is pushing for a role this coming season."
Play of the Day: On the final play of the afternoon, with the offense at the defense's two-yard line, Chris Henderson was able to break through and stop the runner in the backfield before he could get to the edge and reach the end zone.
Team period highlights: The first of three team periods saw South's offense focus on the run game — including running plays coming out off of its goal line — with the unit also working on calls against the blitz and in the red zone later in the day.
Miscellaneous Notes
-During the first 50 minutes of the workout USA went though individual periods, group drills and nearly 10 minutes of installing plays both offensively and defensively.
-The two main special teams periods of the day concentrated on punt fundamentals and scheme.
-In addition to recoding the defense's lone takeaway of the day with an interception in the second team period, Jaden Voisin also recorded a stop behind the line of scrimmage with the offense in the red zone at the end of the session.
-Charles Coleman III was credited with a sack and an additional tackle for loss in the final two team periods of the workout.
-Jaguar quarterbacks Jake Bentley, Desmond Trotter and Tanner McGee combined to throw six touchdown passes with the offense running plays in the red zone at the end of the team's 7-on-7 period.
-Bentley also connected with Jalen Tolbert — who shared the team lead with four receptions on the afternoon — for a 41-yard score early in the second team period.
-A.J. Phillips matched Tolbert with four catches to lead South's running backs in the pass game, while Jacob Hopper paced the team's tight ends after hauling in three balls.
-Other Jag defenders who posted tackles for loss in the practice included A.J. DeShazor, Wy'Kevious Thomas and Quentin Wilfawn, with Carlos Johnson contributing a sack as well.
-During a brief period featuring the field goal/PAT unit, Diego Guajardo and Frankie Onate combined to make 7-of-8 attempts highlighted by the former hitting from 49 yards out.
-All practices are closed to the general public.
THEY SAID IT
Head coach Kane Wommack
-On the team's chemistry through two weeks of spring practice: "I think something that I am most excited about is watching our players and coaches interact with one another, and watching our team start to take on the vision that we have for this program. The chemistry they are starting to build with one another is the key to success. Scheme and the fundamentals of what we do are obviously important things — and we need to have an urgency about those in the spring — but the key is that camaraderie and that openness to be able to have hard conversations with each other and trust that we are all on the same page at the end of the day. I think that is what we are seeing this spring."
-On the energy of the offense thus far in the spring: "I think the guys are excited to learn a new system and have a little bit more on their plate in terms of the scheme and what we are asking them to do, there are some really challenging things that we are putting on them right now. We have put a heavy load on them installing things, and I think that brings an energy to practice and finding a way to get better. They are learning their plays every night, guys are coming in to talk to coaches and have one-on-one meetings and to watch film together. I think our quarterbacks are doing a good job of leading the way offensively, and that naturally brings a great energy to practice. But we always have to challenge them to just get better from one play to the next, and to focus on that regardless of what happened the play before."
-On what he wants to see in Saturday's scrimmage: "I would certainly like to see the effort and the tempo that we play with, you want guys to strain physically up front and you want everyone to play with tremendous effort on both sides of the ball. We've put so much in over the last eight days that once we get on the other side of this scrimmage a great deal of our offensive and defensive schemes will be in. So we are going to limit our game plan and focus more on what a traditional game day plan would be as opposed to the whole catalogue of what we've installed up to this point. I'd like to see an urgency from our guys to lock in to the few things we are going to do on Saturday and do them at a very high tempo."
Up next: The Jaguars will conduct their first scrimmage of the spring Saturday at 10 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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