South Alabama has switched up the schedule for its second scrimmage of the preseason, opting to go under the lights at Hancock Whitney Stadium.

The Jaguars will begin their scrimmage at 5:30 p.m., rather than 9:20 a.m. as originally scheduled. Head coach Kane Wommack said the time change is for two reasons — to beat the heat and to simulate several of South Alabama’s early-season games, which begin the late afternoon or later.

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“I think some of it is simulating a game-like experience for Sept. 2,” Wommack said. “You’re going have a night game. We’re going to go through all of our pre-game routines. We do it on the second scrimmage, and then we do it again in the mock game, just so the guys understand the expectation leading into kickoff.

“And then some of it is to make sure that we get some of the heat that we’re going to see in a pre-game, both in the first game of the season, and then two of our first four games are at home at four o’clock. So we want to make sure that we get out there in a similar timeframe so the guys get to feel what that’s going to be like.”

South Alabama ran 110-plus plays in its first scrimmage, which took place inside the Jaguar Training Center. The Jaguars’ offense appeared to have the edge for most of the day, which the defensive players on the team took a little personally.

“We’ve just got to focus on us and not worry about what the offense comes out with,” defensive end Jamie Sheriff said. “We just have to come out as a D-line and dominate. Everybody swarm to the ball — ‘Swarm D’ mentality. We just have to come out and just be us and play to our standard.”

Despite the absence of leading rusher La’Damian Webb due to a nagging injury that has limited him throughout camp, South Alabama ran the ball particularly well in the first scrimmage. The Jaguars totaled 233 yards on the ground, which made offensive line coach Gordon Steele particularly happy.

“First and foremost, you’ve got a lot of guys back that have played a lot of snaps around here,” Steele said. “And then just taking over the mentality of being a run first-team — physicality, playing with our pads, knocking people off the ball. That style of play is who we want to be and what we preach every day.”

South Alabama’s scrimmages are closed to the general public.

• Wommack said he was thrilled at the news that former South Alabama head coach Joey Jones will be inducted into the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame later this year. Jones hired Wommack as his defensive coordinator in 2016, giving the then-28-year-old Wommack his first FBS coaching job.

“I absolutely love Joey Jones, personally and professionally,” Wommack said. “He gave me a tremendous opportunity at 28 years old as defensive coordinator, let me make my mistakes. I grew under him tremendously. No one knows exactly the amount of work and effort that Joey Jones put into this program. And we’re all now able to walk on the foundation that he laid for this for this place.

“He had a vision and knew how great this place could be, but it took years of work and effort to get us to a position where we could compete at the highest level. This is really special to be able to honor him for all the work that he’s done, to get us to this point.”

Jones went 52-50 in nine years as South Alabama’s head coach, starting the program from scratch in 2009. Now director of player personnel at Mississippi State, he is part of a four-person Hall of Fame class that will be inducted on Saturday, Oct. 28, the day the Jaguars host Louisiana.

• Generating a more-consistent pass-rush has been one of the focuses of preseason camp after the Jaguars totaled just 28 sacks in 13 games a year ago, ranking them in the bottom half of the Sun Belt Conference.

The Jaguars moved inside linebacker Quentin Wilfawn to the “Wolf” outside linebacker position, in hopes of generating more pressure on the quarterback. Wommack said he is seeing on consistency from the team’s “Bandit” defensive ends, including Sheriff and Brock Higdon.

“I think we’ve taken a step forward there,” Wommack said. “And that was something that in our self-scout and off-season studies, we saw, here was a team that was fourth in the country in rushing defense, but typically has always been top 25 in sacks and (tackles for loss), and we were way off that mark.

“And so we just want to be mindful of creating havoc in the backfield, and a lot of that needs to come without having to bring pressure. And I think we’ve got the personnel that can do that.”

Sheriff led the team in 2022 with six sacks, while Higdon chipped in four in a part-time role. Higdon said he and his defensive line teammates have been concentrating on working together as a unit.

“Personally, I’ve got to win the one-on-ones,” Higdon said. “I’m also working into more of an every-down kind of guy. As a group, just we want to come dominate. We didn’t like how we came out and started our first scrimmage and we kind of wan to control the run on the perimeter too, not just inside the box. And we want to be more dominant and be the group that everyone notices.”

After Saturday’s South Alabama takes Sunday off from practice before returning to the field on Monday. Fall semester classes begin next Wednesday.

South Alabama opens the 2023 season on Sept. 2 at 24th-ranked Tulane. That game kicks off at 7 p.m. on ESPNU.