Saturday, October 13, 2007

Good start goal of SU offense


By JOSEPH SCHIEFELBEIN, Advocate sportswriter

Jackson State at Southern
WHEN: 6 p.m. today.
WHERE: A.W. Mumford Stadium (25,500).
TV: CST (Tape-delayed 3:30 p.m. Sunday).
RADIO: KQXL-FM, 106.5.
RECORDS: Southern 5-1, 3-1 SWAC; Jackson State 3-2, 30.
LAST MEETING: Jackson State 31, Southern 28, 2006.
SERIES: Jackson State leads 26-22.

Once Southern gets rolling in a football game, there might not be a better team in the Southwestern Athletic Conference.

SU coach Pete Richardson has lauded his team for playing hard for 60 minutes. The impressive part of that is, this is a team that is thin on the offensive line and inexperienced all over.

The concern, though, is not in the finishes but in how Southern starts.

The Jaguars (5-1, 3-1 SWAC), who host Jackson State (3-2, 3-0) at 6 p.m. today in A.W. Mumford Stadium, have scored three first-quarter touchdowns in six games this season.

And that includes breaking a 90-yard touchdown run on their first offensive play of the year.

“We have to be ready to go from the time the ref blows the whistle,” Richardson said.

SU has been outscored 48-18 in the first quarter. SU’s best scoring quarter is the second, with 61 points.

The Jaguars have outscored the opposition a staggering 79-23 in the second half. Of those 23 points, six have come from three safeties, and one of the two touchdowns came in the final minute. They also gave up a field goal after a fumble.

“We have to pick up our intensity as far as getting off to a good start,” Richardson said. “That’s part of my responsibility, to get them ready to go and get them focused so we can get off to a good start.

“I wish I had a magic wand that I could figure it out.”

The last two home games have had the Jaguars stuck in their worst starts.

SU fell behind Alabama A&M and Tennessee State a combined 55-12. After falling back by 21 and 22 points, the Jaguars eventually outscored both teams 57-12 — rallying for a 41-34 win over TSU but losing 31-28 to A&M.

“We’ve been talking the whole season about slow starts,” wide receiver and team co-captain Gerard Landry said. “Last week, we got off to a slow start and it came back to bite us in the end.”

Slow starts haven’t been exclusively the domain of the offense. The defense’s worst quarter has been the first one — at least in two games (A&M and TSU accounting for 41 of the 48 first-quarter points against SU this season).

For its 20 first-quarter points, Tennessee State set up a 1-yard score with a 60-yard flea-flicker, scored on a 61-yard pass play on a third-and-12 and broke a 49-yard touchdown run.

For its 21 first-quarter points, Alabama A&M quarterback Kelcy Luke didn’t throw an incompletion and the Bulldogs never needed a third down. And two wide receivers teamed on a 55-yard TD pass.

“We have to stop giving up the big plays and putting ourselves in the doghouse,” SU free safety and team co-captain Jarmaul George said.

Southern scored on its second possession against A&M — after a 50-yard kickoff return to the A&M 45-yard line and a 37-yard pass to running back Darren Coates to convert a third-and-11. But Landry said he never felt the offense found its rhythm.

“We still weren’t playing with that momentum,” Landry said. “You watch film, we were like lackadaisical. We have to get it pumping from the first play.”

“What stood out more than anything last week was we had key penalties in some areas when we had a little momentum going,” SU offensive coordinator Mark Orlando said.

Playing at home could be an issue.

“Any time you have a young football team, that’s part of the learning process, especially playing at home,” Richardson said.

Then again, of the six teams Southern has played so far, A&M and TSU had the best quarterbacks and best overall offenses.

Jackson State, with elusive quarterback Jimmy Oliver and a deep running game led by Erik Haw, is on par with A&M and TSU.

Jackson State’s defense, likewise, may be better than A&M’s.

“They’re a real physical defense,” SU quarterback Bryant Lee said. “They might be one of the best defenses we’ll face all season. Basically, they all like to come after the quarterback and shut down the run.”

After losing a week ago, Southern is in a must-win situation to keep up in the Western Division with No. 25 Grambling (4-1, 4-0).

The Jaguars have lost five straight October games and are 1-7 in the month since 2005.

“We’re going to have to get out to a good start,” Richardson said. “We can’t afford to fall behind by a couple touchdowns and expect to dig our way out every game. We have to get focused and get ready to go because we’re going to play against a fine football team.”

The idea is to mate a better start to the strong finishes.

“It’ll gradually get easier and easier for us, instead of us having to play comeback all the time,” Lee said.

The idea is to not wait until the team breaks a good sweat.

“Focus. From as soon as the kickoff, we have to get on our horses, right then and there, no holding back, nothing, just let it all out,” George said. “We can’t fall behind early in the game.”

Southern University Human Jukebox Marching Band 2007

No comments:

Post a Comment