Jaguars must regroup for PV

 
The Jaguars had the chance to control their own destiny last Saturday.
After Southern defeated Texas Southern at home two weeks ago, another win against Western Division frontrunner Arkansas-Pine Bluff would have made their Southwestern Athletic Conference title run possible.
The SU coaches knew it. The players knew it and the 13,500 fans in A.W. Mumford Stadium last weekend knew it.
However, it didn’t happen.
The Golden Lions drubbed the Jaguars 50-21, dropping Southern 3-4 overall and 2-3 in league play.
UAPB gained 510 yards of total offense, including 214 rushing yards and five rushing scores, which tied for the most scores allowed by the Jaguars this season.
“We missed a lot of tackles,” linebacker Corry Roy said, who has 25 tackles and three sacks so far this season. “That’s something we have to work on. Every team pretty much does the same thing. We just got to tackle.”
On Saturday, the Jaguars play in Shreveport, where the Panthers present a much more difficult test for SU.
Prairie View’s 52-37 victory over Alcorn State helped them move up a spot in the West Division, tied second with the Jaguars.
PV is ranked third in total offense (374.9) and fourth in rush offense (185.3). But the Panthers display an offense that average 24.9 points a game, which also is third.
“They been winning, you got a team that’s found their stride,” SU interim head coach Dawson Odums said.
PV remains the league’s most penalized team, averaging 97.0 yards a game.
Odums described the Panthers offense as “very talented” and said, “we have to be able to stop some of their skill guys.”
Odums said that this season, the SWAC is “unpredictable” and Prairie View has built confidence, coming off back-to-back wins over Grambling and Alcorn.
“It’s not like we’re lacking for confidence,” Odums said. “We just played a bad football game, but I really believe our guys will get ready to go.”
With the Jaguars preparing for Saturday, Odums said the defense needs defensive back Virgil Williams closer to the ball, who started at safety against UAPB.
“It takes away from his skill when we put him that far away from the football,” said Odums. “Its not Virgil’s fault. He had limited reps back their at safety and he did the best job he could.”
In the loss against UAPB, the Jaguars defense allowed 7.5 yards per play, recovered two fumbles and allowed five touchdowns inside its own 20-yard line.
“I don’t think we pursued to the ball well,” Williams said. He added that the defense would return to its original form when they line up against the Panthers.
The Panthers’ three running backs – Fred Anderson, Courtney Brown and Spencer Nelson – combined for 197 rushing yards and two scores against Alcorn. Anderson became the only player in the conference to rush more than 100 yards.
“He did a good job, the guys were down field blocking for him,” PV head coach Heishma Northern said. “We’re a team that goes running back by committee. We have a slasher, we got a guy that’s sort of a bruiser and we got a that will make you miss in the phone booth.”