The Southern Jags had a rough game last Saturday against rival Jackson St. in the BoomBox Classic, but not all hope is lost as SWAC Play has not even started yet. Instead, that begins this week when Southern travels to Houston to take on the Prairie View Panthers, where the Jags will get a chance to redeem themselves after the lackluster performance the previous week.
“I love my team. I love the feedback because this is an honest team. They don’t say what I want them to hear. They tell me what they did or didn’t do well and how they feel. That’s what you want as a coach. The thing that was most encouraging was that those guys felt the pain of losing a game we felt like we had a shot of winning.”
Southern University Head Coach Terrence Graves
In terms of the future of the team, one of the most important plays in last week’s loss to Jackson St was a sack that starting quarterback Czavian Teasett took in the 2nd quarter. After the play, he left the game with an ankle injury and never returned. X-Rays fortunately came up negative, but Teasett has not been cleared to play at this point. For now, original week 1 starter Noah Bodden will be taking back the reigns.
“He’s a competitor. He was like ‘Coach I want to practice today,’ and well, I’d like to see that.”
Southern University Head Coach Terrence Graves
Luckily for the Jags, that doesn’t seem to be the end of the world. Bodden had originally won the starting job, but after a rough start against Savannah St in week 2, Czavian Teasett took over and won the right to start in week 3. However, when Teasett went down in the Jackson St. game, Bodden came in and showed a lot of promise in relief. Mistakes were made, but he also made a number of plays that give the Jags a lot of hope for what he can do in future weeks.
“For any quarterback, to come in to a rivalry game after you’ve been replaced, it says that he was prepared mentally, so that speaks to his maturity and leadership. He gave us an opportunity to come back and win the ball game, so that’s all you can ask for.”
Southern University Head Coach Terrence Graves
The other main concern coming out of the Jackson St. loss was the drop off in defensive performance compared to the previous weeks. The Jags were outrushed by 172 yards in this game, a lot of which can be attributed to their poor rushing defense. They allowed 201 yards rushing in that game, a stark contrast from their otherworldly statistical showings in the first two games. That performance is not up to the standard of preseason SWAC player of the year Ckelby Givens or the rest of that defensive front.
“Our guys were pressing too much. When your guys are trying to make plays and trying to do things other than what they need to do, then that happens. I think what happened with us is the guys were reading the newspapers and seeing how good we were defensively. Jackson St. read it as well, and they stepped up to the challenges. Life humbles you sometimes. But I’ll say this, this is why I love my guys. Our defense feels some type of way about it, so we’re going to do everything in our power to correct it.”
Southern University Head Coach Terrence Graves
Of course, a rushing differential that dire is not just due to the rushing defense. The offensive line and ineffectiveness in the run game also shoulders plenty of the blame. In the Jackson St. loss, the Jags offense totaled only 21 total yards rushing and 1.4 yards per carry. However, Coach Graves believes in the team’s ability to improve and find ways to effectively run the ball in the future.
“So many times, when things don’t seem to be working the way they are perceived to work, people want to throw the baby out with the bathwater, but you got to stay with it. You got to keep your hand to the plow, you got to keep pushing.”
Southern University Head Coach Terrence Graves
Moving on to this week, the Jags kick off conference play on the road at Prairie View. One of the focal points for this Panthers team is Shemar Savage, a gigantic wide receiver (6’4″, 220 lbs) who has had a great start to the season so far, averaging over 20 yards per catch. He’s a big play through the air waiting to happen, but this Jags defense hasn’t let that happen yet to this point. As disappointing as the overall performance was against Jackson St, the secondary still played a statistically strong game, maintaining what has been a very high level of play so far this season. The Jags have allowed only 107 yards per game through the air this season, fewer yards than Shemar Savage has averaged against FCS competition just on his own. Winning the matchup between Savage and this Jags secondary is one of the biggest keys to winning this game.
“He’s a good football player. We just got to make sure that we do what we need to do to stop players like that. We just have to try to contain him. He presents some things that we have to pay attention to.”
Southern University Head Coach Terrence Graves
You can see the entire press conference from Coach Graves below. To see more coverage of the Southern Jags as well as all other football in the area, make sure to stick around at https://gridironfootballusa.com/
