Southern football making progress as spring practice nears final week

Southern football making progress as spring practice nears final week
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Southern football coach Eric Dooley said his team is making progress as spring practice moves toward its final week. The team will hold its final scrimmage at 10 a.m. Saturday prior to the Blue and Gold spring game April 1.

The Southwestern Athletic Conference West Division champions added 13 transfers to the squad, and Dooley said the mixture of returnees and new faces is delivering results.

“I’m starting to see the chemistry on both sides of the ball, and special teams as well,” said Dooley, who went 7-5 in his first season on The Bluff. “We’re not doing a lot of unit work on special teams, but offensively and defensively some of the guys we brought in that are midyear enrollees are starting to gel with the rest of the group. I’m starting to see some execution on both sides.

“I thought the guys picked it (Dooley’s system) up well last year. It’s simple to keep up with and learn it. The guys are more into it. There were things we had to ask them to do; now they do it on their own.”

The Jaguars went through their first scrimmage last Saturday and were better in at least one area of concern — penalties. The Jaguars were the third-most penalized SWAC team last year with 104 for 856 yards, a 71.3 yards per game average.

“When you go back and look at some things, you see some hidden penalties,” Dooley said. “This week I want to see more of the team be able to continue what they did last Saturday. They both made plays. The defense came out fast and the offense finished strong.

“One of the things I like to see is one side is not dominating practice. The offense will have its days and the defense will have its days. It’s going back and forth competing.”

Harold Blood continues to impress in the quarterback competition with Noah Bodden, Dylan Mehrotra and Chris Tucker. Dooley said he expects to name a starter by the end of spring practice.

“Blood is seizing the moment and opportunity,” Dooley said. “He’s doing some great things that make you open your eyes and say, ‘Wow!’

“He has grown since the last spring; you can see that. Even since the fall he has gotten better. When you see the opportunity to be that guy, you have to take advantage of it.

“Those guys are working all together. Dylan is making some good plays, he’s finding his own. Noah is making good plays as well. At the end of the spring, I’ll know who the starting quarterback is.”

Rowdy Robens

Punters and kickers often are the outliers on a college football team. They hang out with the long snappers and sometimes the holders away from the main action, waiting for the full special-teams sessions to come.

Southern punter Robens Beauplan isn’t one of those type of players. Beauplan gets right into the action during stretching to raise the team’s emotional level at the beginning of the practice with loud, vocal encouragement.

“He’s very involved,” Dooley said. “That’s what I like about him. He’s kind of different. Most of the time those guys (specialists) sit off by themselves and do a lot of things by themselves. But they’re right in the middle of the team and I like it. It tells us how close we are as a team.”

Gone

Wide receiver Rudy Dyson is no longer with the team, Dooley said. Dyson, a transfer from Tulane, was the team’s fourth-leading receiver with 14 catches for 263 yards and two touchdowns last season.

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Mary founded Scoop Tour with an aim to bring relevant and unaltered news to the general public with a specific view point for each story catered by the team. She is a proficient journalist who holds a reputable portfolio with proficiency in content analysis and research. With ample knowledge about the Automobile industry, she also contributes her knowledge for the Automobile section of the website.

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