Southern tight end Dillon Beard emerges as a threat in Jaguars' 38-21 loss at ULM

MONROE, Louisiana -- Heading into Saturday's season opener at ULM, quite a few parts of Southern's offense were known commodities.

Senior running back Lenard Tillery was the workhorse of the unit. In a 38-21 loss at Malone Stadium, that proved to be true; Tillery did his part, running for 161 yards on 26 carries.

Senior wide receiver Willie Quinn was key to the passing game. That, too, was true: He had nine catches on 15 targets.

What wasn’t so obvious about the offense was tight end
Dillon Beard’s role in it all.

Beard, a first-year starter, only caught 10 passes last season for 102 yards and a pair of scores as the third option to starters Montrell Jones and Bradley Coleman.

But Jones and Coleman are gone, along with nearly every other bit of experience the Southern receiving corps had last season. Quinn and Randall Menard are the only returning receivers who recorded a catch last season, and Menard missed Saturday’s game with a lingering hamstring injury.

CONTINUE READING