Let spring football begin!

Let the spring season begin on the bluff. The Southern University Jaguars Football Team is wasting no time preparing for the fall football season.
After a great regular season run that ended with a loss in the 2022 SWAC Championship Game against Jackson State, the Jags want more for the upcoming 2023 season, which is to Win the SWAC Championship. With the new transfer players and returning players stepping up in positions, they are making strong efforts to meet their goal, as a scrimmage was held recently. While it was a cold Saturday morning in the A.W. Mumford Stadium the Jags came to lay it all out on the field. With both sides of the football offense and defense came to play, However, one thing that looks to be back is the “dog day” defense of Southern which was the key for them last year.
The Jags’ defense put on a show during the scrimmage showing how physical they’ve become as a unit. When it comes to red zone defense, the Jags did not let up against their offense, forcing interceptions and fumbles from sideline to sideline, also having multiple pressures and sacks on the Quarterback making their defensive presence known.
After having a chance to speak with Derrick Williams, a junior linebacker from Miami, Florida, he stated, “I feel like we got out there today, I feel like the Jags got better today on both sides of the ball and when both sides of the ball get better the jags can only do one thing which is move forward, we got after it today.”
As the spring game approaches, their dominance on the field continues to level up. On the offensive side of the ball, they showed improvement and some new faces throughout the scrimmage, but one of the biggest questions coming into the spring was the quarterback position, with Harold Blood being the front-runner QB1 for the Jags’ offense. Blood showed great arm strength and leadership on the field. He also showcased his talents by using his legs, which caused him to extend some plays to his receivers. This can also be a concern going into the fall with the offensive line not being able to pass protect against a good pass rush defense.
On the other hand, the big boys up front are not to be played with their run game, as the running backs Jerodd Sims and Kobe Dillon cleared some ground today with their elusiveness and vision. They are both agile and run the ball with a lot of strength. However, the scrimmage revealed some simple and destructive mistakes for the jaguar’s offense with turnovers, particularly penalties, fumbles, and mental mistakes. After the scrimmage, I had the privilege to speak with the 2nd-year head coach of the Jaguars, Eric Dooley, he spoke on some of the things that were good and bad about the scrimmage stating, “We came out having about 40-50 plays wanting to see the guys executing at a high level, I thought both sides of the ball came out with a lot of energy, I thought defense got out to a fast start and offense did catch up and got into a rhythm, were still not satisfied and have more work to do, we just have to keep working and getting better each day.”
Going forward, the jags look like they are chasing after one goal, a championship. Jag Nation will be ready to see a good spring game and bring home a SWAC championship this season.