JACKSONVILLE, Alabama — The Jacksonville State football team held its final scrimmage of the spring on Saturday afternoon at Burgess-Snow Field, getting in about 100 plays of live work between the Gamecocks' offensive and defensive units.
The Gamecocks practiced in front of an estimated 3,000 fans that included the Marching Southerners, cheerleaders, families and former players, providing an atmosphere that new Jacksonville State head football coach Rich Rodriguez wished his Gamecocks lived up to in the scrimmage.
"We had a good atmosphere today," Rodriguez said. "We had a few folks here, and we appreciate the Marching Southerners coming over, as well as the cheerleaders. And it was a pretty nice day, but you wouldn't think it because some of the effort wasn't quite what I thought it would be, and I don't know if it was nerves or just thinking too much, but we've a pretty good spring and have one more practice next week to get some stuff straightened out and then, of course, we will have all summer."
The Gamecocks had more big plays on the defensive side of the ball on Saturday, something that has been the story for much of the spring. But that is something Rodriguez said is common at this point and nothing that can't be corrected.
"The defense looked pretty good, but it's hard to evaluate," he added. "We were so gross offensively, it was hard to evaluate if our defense was that good or if our offense was just that bad. There were times today and during the spring where it went back and forth a little bit, which is probably what you'd want it to be. And typically the offense will be further behind because there is a little bit more thinking, but I didn't see anything that we can't fix if the guys will pick up the pace a little."
The brightest spot in the scrimmage came from the kicking duo of Alen Karajic and Brenton King. The two combined to go 6-for-6 in field goal tries, with King connecting on kicks of 46, 39 and 50 yards and Karajic putting kicks of 34, 39 and 34 yards through the uprights.
"Our kickers did some good things, and they've kicked really well all spring," Rodriguez mentioned. "That was probably the biggest positive of today. We're kicking with the wind a little bit, but we have a good competition going on, and both of those guys are pretty talented. I feel good about that."
The Gamecocks will hold their 15th and final practice of the spring on Tuesday morning, and then the work to get ready for the 2022 season will pick up. As practice winds down and workouts ramp up, leadership is something that Rodriguez expects to switch hands from his coaching staff to his players as the summer gets going.
"I never really worry about leadership during practice because that's what the coaches are there to do," he said. "Now going forward in the summer workouts, that's where the leadership is going to take place. We have one more practice on Tuesday, and then the summer is when we try to identify the leaders and put them in a position to kind of control the player-ran stuff in the summer."
Rodriguez and his staff will continue to build the Gamecocks roster as they gear up for summer classes to begin. With JSU moving from FCS to FBS, its scholarship limit will go up, meaning there is more of an opportunity to bring more players in before fall camp starts at the end of the summer.
"Right now we've got about 40 new guys coming in," he said. "And I think by the time it's all said and done in a month, we might be up to 50. So half the roster is going to be new coming into camp, but we've got enough good players with us now to have success if they have a great summer."
The 2022 season will start in Montgomery against Stephen F. Austin in the nationally televised Montgomery Kickoff on August 27. The schedule will feature four home games and a full slate of ASUN Conference games before the Gamecocks move to Conference USA for the 2023 season. Season tickets are on sale now in the JSU Ticket Office. Fans can purchase tickets by calling 256-782-8499 or online at www.jsugamecocksports.com/tickets.