By RANDY ROSETTA, Advocate sportswriter
The Southern University football team wrapped up its second week of preseason work by running through a controlled scrimmage for a little more than 90 minutes Saturday at Mumford Stadium.
And while the results will be more meaningful after the Jaguars coaches break down tape of the day’s work, the up tick in intensity was an important barometer.
Southern has gone 4-5 and 5-6 the last two years, the first losing seasons in coach Pete Richardson’s long and distinguished career.
That hasn’t sat well with the veteran players who were around for better times — the Jaguars were 12-1 in 2003 and 8-4 in ’04 with 6-1 records in the Southwestern Athletic Conference both years.
“It’s real important that we have a lot of energy and intensity going into this season if we want to turn things around,” SU veteran receiver Gerard Landry said.
“I think the way we’ve approached things going back to last spring has been with a lot of urgency because we want to be better than we have been.”
Richardson said he was pleased with the first extended scrimmage of training camp, especially with the effort and lack of major injuries.
“I thought we did well with carrying out assignments and guys knowing where they need to be,” Richardson said. “We still have some work to do with conditioning, but I liked the mental toughness, the ability to push through the heat and the knowledge of assignments that I saw out there (Saturday).”
Defense holds upper hand
The Southern University football team wrapped up its second week of preseason work by running through a controlled scrimmage for a little more than 90 minutes Saturday at Mumford Stadium.
And while the results will be more meaningful after the Jaguars coaches break down tape of the day’s work, the up tick in intensity was an important barometer.
Southern has gone 4-5 and 5-6 the last two years, the first losing seasons in coach Pete Richardson’s long and distinguished career.
That hasn’t sat well with the veteran players who were around for better times — the Jaguars were 12-1 in 2003 and 8-4 in ’04 with 6-1 records in the Southwestern Athletic Conference both years.
“It’s real important that we have a lot of energy and intensity going into this season if we want to turn things around,” SU veteran receiver Gerard Landry said.
“I think the way we’ve approached things going back to last spring has been with a lot of urgency because we want to be better than we have been.”
Richardson said he was pleased with the first extended scrimmage of training camp, especially with the effort and lack of major injuries.
“I thought we did well with carrying out assignments and guys knowing where they need to be,” Richardson said. “We still have some work to do with conditioning, but I liked the mental toughness, the ability to push through the heat and the knowledge of assignments that I saw out there (Saturday).”
Defense holds upper hand
The Jaguars defense is expected to be a strength in 2007 and Saturday’s performance gave an early indication why.
SU’s defense turned in several stops behind the line of scrimmage and was able to neutralize the Jaguars offense’s short passing game for the most part. That didn’t surprise nor disappoint Landry.
“I’m very confident that our defense is going to be one of the best in the SWAC,” he said. “We have a lot of leaders on that side of the ball and they are going to play a big role for us this year.”
Southern returns eight starters from a defense that struggled at times in 2006, but still managed to lead the SWAC in pass defense, surrendering 139.7 yards a game.
Good first impressions
While much of the scrimmage was rather mundane as the players’ familiarity with the respective schemes superseded the chance for sharp execution, there were a handful of plays that earned some oohs and aahs — two involving freshmen who were high school teammates at Clinton (Miss.) High School.
Running back Amonte’ Harper ripped off the best run of the scrimmage when he blasted for a 20-yard gain on an inside delay. Moments later, freshman linebacker Corey Ray delivered a pair of pad-popping licks on consecutive plays.
Day off
Southern will be off today and then return to practice at 9 a.m. Monday. The Jaguars will practice again Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon before classes begin Thursday.
Running back Amonte’ Harper ripped off the best run of the scrimmage when he blasted for a 20-yard gain on an inside delay. Moments later, freshman linebacker Corey Ray delivered a pair of pad-popping licks on consecutive plays.
Day off
Southern will be off today and then return to practice at 9 a.m. Monday. The Jaguars will practice again Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon before classes begin Thursday.
No comments:
Post a Comment