By JOSEPH SCHIEFELBEIN, Advocate sportswriter
So far, so good.
That’s the assessment of Southern’s offensive line after one game, a 33-27 win over Florida A&M.
The line lost five veterans to academic issues since the spring, and sophomore center Ramon Chinyoung still has yet to be cleared. Yet the Jaguars were still able to have a balanced outing, running for 238 yards and passing for 215.
SU allowed two sacks, with one of those coming as quarterback Bryant Lee took too much time checking through his progression of receivers, what’s known as a “coverage sack.”
SU (1-0) plays Mississippi Valley State (1-0, 1-0 Southwestern Athletic Conference) at 4 p.m. Saturday at Soldier Field in Chicago.
“What we’re going to need is to develop the chemistry, and that will bring confidence,” Southern coach Pete Richardson said. “But that’s going to take time.
“They held up well at times. We did some things, offensive scheme-wise, and that helped them out a great deal. The more reps they get, the better they’ll be. They’ll just have to be fortunate to stay away from any type of injuries.”
The Jaguars went with a mix-and-match line.
Senior tight end Trent Thomas moved inside to left tackle. &hellip Junior Rafael Louis moved from tackle to left guard. &hellip Junior Reuben Oliver, who has mainly been a tackle, started at right guard Saturday, with redshirt freshman Rodrell Stewart spelled him. &hellip And senior Demarcus Stewart worked at center, where he started last season, but taking him away from guard, necessitating the move of Oliver.
The only lineman who stayed put was junior right tackle Myles Williams.
The line cleared the way for a 90-yard touchdown run on the Jaguars’ first offensive play, helped SU overcome an eight-point halftime deficit with 21 unanswered points and stood its ground for a game that lasted 3 hours and 45 minutes.
“They did real well,” Lee said. “They had a couple of missed assignments here and there. I told the receivers before the game, they say the offensive line is real thin and weak, but we have to ride with them and roll with them until the wheels fall off.”
Roberts does OK
Valley sophomore quarterback Paul Roberts was 15-for-27 for 153 yards and one touchdown, a pretty 15-yard toss to Abner Brown along the left side of the end zone, in Saturday’s 16-9 win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
He was also sacked four times.
“My biggest concern was at quarterback,” Valley coach Willie Totten said. “He made some mistakes early, but he held his composure. We knew Pine Bluff would be a very physical team. We tried to stay base and let the quarterback get his feet wet.”
Roberts was 17-for-33 for 233 yards, two touchdowns and four interceptions last season. He started twice, though once (against Alabama A&M) just for a quarter as Aries Nelson was being disciplined. Nelson, the SWAC’s preseason offensive player of the year, had started the previous three seasons.
“It’s different being a backup and now being a starter,” Totten said. “&hellip Our quarterback has to grow up fast.”
Midwestern ties
Southern has one player from Chicago: true freshman LB Sir Edward Staten from Homewood-Flossmoore. The Jaguars also have other Midwesterners in injured WR Corderious Gregory (Cleveland) and true freshman DE Ted Jones (Akron).
Valley has three players from Chicago: starting RB Johey Hargrett, second-team All-SWAC OL Thaddeaus Coleman and OL Taylor Bryant. The Delta Devils have seven others from the Midwest: FB Markeef McBride (Milwaukee), DE Fred Poole (Cleveland), DB James Harris (Cleveland), DT Austin Robert (Columbus, Ohio), LB Kevin Golden (University Heights, Ohio), DL Issac Jones (Grand Rapid, Mich.) and OL Tilden Trotter (Grandview, Mo.).
Notes
Richardson is 11-3 in SWAC openers in his 14 seasons (losing in 1996, 2000 and 2005). He’s also 88-27 (76.5 percent) against members currently in the SWAC — even after going 8-10 the last two seasons. Valley’s two kickers are from Hawaii (Zack Gilarski) and England (Jamie Witworth). SU’s total of four rushing TDs Saturday was its most since notching four against Lincoln in 2003. Valley DT Ronald Green was on The Sports Network’s preseason football championship subdivision All-American third team, with SU FS Jarmaul George on the second team.
So far, so good.
That’s the assessment of Southern’s offensive line after one game, a 33-27 win over Florida A&M.
The line lost five veterans to academic issues since the spring, and sophomore center Ramon Chinyoung still has yet to be cleared. Yet the Jaguars were still able to have a balanced outing, running for 238 yards and passing for 215.
SU allowed two sacks, with one of those coming as quarterback Bryant Lee took too much time checking through his progression of receivers, what’s known as a “coverage sack.”
SU (1-0) plays Mississippi Valley State (1-0, 1-0 Southwestern Athletic Conference) at 4 p.m. Saturday at Soldier Field in Chicago.
“What we’re going to need is to develop the chemistry, and that will bring confidence,” Southern coach Pete Richardson said. “But that’s going to take time.
“They held up well at times. We did some things, offensive scheme-wise, and that helped them out a great deal. The more reps they get, the better they’ll be. They’ll just have to be fortunate to stay away from any type of injuries.”
The Jaguars went with a mix-and-match line.
Senior tight end Trent Thomas moved inside to left tackle. &hellip Junior Rafael Louis moved from tackle to left guard. &hellip Junior Reuben Oliver, who has mainly been a tackle, started at right guard Saturday, with redshirt freshman Rodrell Stewart spelled him. &hellip And senior Demarcus Stewart worked at center, where he started last season, but taking him away from guard, necessitating the move of Oliver.
The only lineman who stayed put was junior right tackle Myles Williams.
The line cleared the way for a 90-yard touchdown run on the Jaguars’ first offensive play, helped SU overcome an eight-point halftime deficit with 21 unanswered points and stood its ground for a game that lasted 3 hours and 45 minutes.
“They did real well,” Lee said. “They had a couple of missed assignments here and there. I told the receivers before the game, they say the offensive line is real thin and weak, but we have to ride with them and roll with them until the wheels fall off.”
Roberts does OK
Valley sophomore quarterback Paul Roberts was 15-for-27 for 153 yards and one touchdown, a pretty 15-yard toss to Abner Brown along the left side of the end zone, in Saturday’s 16-9 win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
He was also sacked four times.
“My biggest concern was at quarterback,” Valley coach Willie Totten said. “He made some mistakes early, but he held his composure. We knew Pine Bluff would be a very physical team. We tried to stay base and let the quarterback get his feet wet.”
Roberts was 17-for-33 for 233 yards, two touchdowns and four interceptions last season. He started twice, though once (against Alabama A&M) just for a quarter as Aries Nelson was being disciplined. Nelson, the SWAC’s preseason offensive player of the year, had started the previous three seasons.
“It’s different being a backup and now being a starter,” Totten said. “&hellip Our quarterback has to grow up fast.”
Midwestern ties
Southern has one player from Chicago: true freshman LB Sir Edward Staten from Homewood-Flossmoore. The Jaguars also have other Midwesterners in injured WR Corderious Gregory (Cleveland) and true freshman DE Ted Jones (Akron).
Valley has three players from Chicago: starting RB Johey Hargrett, second-team All-SWAC OL Thaddeaus Coleman and OL Taylor Bryant. The Delta Devils have seven others from the Midwest: FB Markeef McBride (Milwaukee), DE Fred Poole (Cleveland), DB James Harris (Cleveland), DT Austin Robert (Columbus, Ohio), LB Kevin Golden (University Heights, Ohio), DL Issac Jones (Grand Rapid, Mich.) and OL Tilden Trotter (Grandview, Mo.).
Notes
Richardson is 11-3 in SWAC openers in his 14 seasons (losing in 1996, 2000 and 2005). He’s also 88-27 (76.5 percent) against members currently in the SWAC — even after going 8-10 the last two seasons. Valley’s two kickers are from Hawaii (Zack Gilarski) and England (Jamie Witworth). SU’s total of four rushing TDs Saturday was its most since notching four against Lincoln in 2003. Valley DT Ronald Green was on The Sports Network’s preseason football championship subdivision All-American third team, with SU FS Jarmaul George on the second team.
Southern University Human Jukebox Band
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