After a big win where Southern played their most complete game of the season against Alabama A&M, and a week where all of Southern’s rivals in the race to win the SWAC west fell and cleared the path for a potential shot at the SWAC championship, there is a lot that can threaten to distract the Jags going into next week’s game against Bethune-Cookman. However, in a season that Head Coach Terrence Graves has described as a “rollercoaster”, he is making sure that the team stays focused on the task at hand.
“We’re moving in the right direction. We want to get off that rollercoaster, and get on that escalator, heading up.”
Southern Head Coach Terrence Graves
Because Alcorn St. and Arkansas Pine-Bluff fell last week, Southern now has a chance to clinch the SWAC West and punch their ticket to the SWAC championship game as early as this week, if enough things break their way. This has been a good season for the Jags, who now have a chance to win the conference. Things have not been as kind to the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats, who now stand at 2-7 and own the ignoble honor of having the worst statistical defense in the conference. All that means is that the Jags have a lot more to lose in this game, which threatens to be a game in which Southern overlooks a team and gets upset. Coach Graves wants to avoid this, emphasizing that “Paper does not always tell the story.”
“Don’t look at records. The quickest way to get yourself beat is looking at records and thinking they are not a good football team. They are a very good football team. Coach Woody and that staff have been doing a great job building and turning that program around, so it’s important that we’re locked in and focused this week.”
Southern Head Coach Terrence Graves
A large part of the reason why the Jags are in this high stakes situation in the first place is because of Zae Teasett, who became the first QB to play an entire game for the Jags this season in the victory over Alabama A&M. In doing so, he won SWAC offensive player of the week. The Jags don’t win the game if Teasett doesn’t get the offense rolling in the 2nd half, and it’s clear that this team’s success is heavily dependent on them having on offense. Southern is 5-0 this season when scoring 20+ points, and 0-4 when scoring fewer than 20 points.
“He played well. He missed a few throws, missed a few reads, but all in all he commanded the offense. He did the things that we wanted him to do, made some plays. With Zae, he’s never too high or too low. I don’t care about how much you scream at him or whatever, he’s going to be Zae. He’s the quarterback that we expected him to be.”
Southern Head Coach Terrence Graves
Another large part of the offense’s success has been the ability to move the ball on the ground. In last week’s game, a backfield that had seen an even split between 3 different players – Kendric Rhymes, Kobe Dillon, and CJ Russell – saw a shift towards a lead back. Kobe Dillon had 19 of the team’s 30 carries, being a steady engine for the offense to rely on to continue moving the ball. It’s a deserving spot for the senior from Ferriday, as he has battled with injuries throughout large stretches of his career in the past. Coach Graves said that this was the healthiest Dillon has been all season, which has been attributed to some great work in the weight room.
“I take the weight room very seriously. I thank my strength and conditioning coaches as well. This is the strongest I’ve been since I got here.”
Southern RB Kobe Dillon
On the defensive side of the ball, the Jags still largely saw their usual success last week, but they also gave up more yards on the ground than they would like to. QB Xavier Lankford especially found some success scrambling, as he totaled 93 yards on the ground just by himself. Next week’s matchup poses a similar test, as Bethune-Cookman’s QB, Cam’Ron Ransom, also has dual-threat capabilities. If the Jags want to win the game, curtailing the running quarterback is a good place to start.
He’s probably more athletic [than Lankford]. He’s a guy that you have to pay attention to. They have some good skill guys. They have some weapons, so we have to make sure we do what we need to do, make our assignments, wrap up and tackle well.
Southern Head Coach Terrence Graves
Southern finally returns home this week after a pair of long road trips, hosting Bethune-Cookman this Saturday at 2:00 PM. You can check out the full interviews of Head Coach Terrence Graves, DT Zak Yassine, RB Kobe Dillon, S Herman Brister III, and QB Zae Teasett below.
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