The Southern University Jaguars were considered Pre-Season favorites to repeat as the Southwestern Athletic Conference West Division Champions. The Jaguars, with a current record of 1-2 through the first three games of the season, haven’t looked like the front-runner who will play for the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Football Championship at the end of the season. The Jaguars’ offense through 3 games is averaging 18.33 points per game, 5.5 yards per rushing attempt, and 5.01 yards per passing attempt.
The Jaguars have a deep running back room led by newcomer Trey Holly, Mike Franklin, Barry Remo, and Jason Gabriel. The Jaguars have been able to rush the ball with no problem, keeping the offense ahead of the sticks until they are penalized during the game, causing them to deviate from their offensive game plan. The Jaguars are averaging 65.67 yards per game in penalties. That is a recipe for disaster that would stop teams’ scoring drives, forcing them to give the ball back to their opponent.
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Goach Graves has decided to split the play-calling duties with current Offensive Coordinator Mark Frederick and Southern University Jaguars quarterback Coach Fred McNair. McNair, the former Head Coach at Alcorn State University, called plays while he was the Head Coach. McNair’s uptempo, misdirection offense should be a boost for the Jaguars’ offense to exploit mismatches on the field. The speed they have at the running back position will provide opportunities to get their playmakers on the edges, stretching opposing teams’ defenses to play sideline to sideline. Their dual-threat quarterbacks will add an extra element to the offense, forcing them to make quicker decisions with the ball when they drop back to throw passes.
Fred McNair called plays for Alcorn State University from 2016 to 2023. If Coach McNair can unlock the Jaguar quarterbacks’ playmaking ability like he did with Felix “Triggerman” Harper at Alcorn State University in 2019, when the offense averaged 33.62 points per game, the Jaguars could find themselves in contention to win the SWAC West Division for a fifth time in seven years. Southern University will meet Jackson State in three weeks and hopes to find a way to beat the Tigers to give themselves a chance to take a step further to reaching the ultimate goal, which is playing for the SWAC Football Championship with the possibility of moving on to play for the HBCU National Championship.