South Alabama will hold the first of two football scrimmages on Saturday morning, as the Jaguars hit the halfway point of their first spring under head coach Major Applewhite.

How much the scrimmage will resemble a regular game remains to be seen, however. Because the majority of freshman signees and potential post-spring transfer portal additions have not yet arrived, the Jaguars began practice March 21 with only around 65 scholarship players.

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Offseason surgeries and injuries suffered in the spring have reduced that number even farther. There are certain positions that might not be able to field two full units, Applewhite said.

“Right now, we’re like a lot of teams, we’re not ‘numbered up’ to where we can go have a tremendously long scrimmage,” Applewhite said Tuesday. “So we’re going to have to take a good look at that (Tuesday and Wednesday) and then obviously after Thursday’s practice to see how we can best get reps to see the people that we need to see. Not that there’s anybody we don’t need to see, but there are certain people that have played a lot of reps. We need to see more of the younger guys.”

South Alabama scrimmages are closed to the general public. The Jaguars will scrimmage a second time on April 13.

• The Jaguars recently got some good news regarding two players who entered the offseason with their futures in limbo.

Defensive lineman Maurice Strong and safety Keith Gallmon have both been granted a seventh season of eligibility by the NCAA, Applewhite said. Strong missed the entire 2021 season due to a broken leg, while Gallmon missed all of 2022 after tearing a pectoral muscle and all but two games in 2023 when he tore the other.

Strong redshirted as a true freshman in 2018, then received an extra year of eligibility due to COVID in 2020. The Raiford, Fla., native has played extensively on the defensive line the last two seasons, and is challenging for a starting job at defensive tackle this spring.

Gallmon was one of the more durable players in the Jaguars’ program for four years, contributing on special teams as a true freshman and starting every game at safety from 2019-21. The Mobile native was injured during fall camp in 2022 and in Week 2 in 2023, and is sitting out this spring while he continues to recover from surgery to fix the second torn muscle.

• One player who has enjoyed an excellent spring and might be poised for a breakout in 2024 is wide receiver Jeremiah Webb, a former South Dakota transfer who broke into the starting lineup at the end of last season.

Webb was a recruiting afterthought when he joined the Jaguars program in the summer of 2022, and didn’t see the field that season until he played a handful of snaps in the New Orleans Bowl. After leading receiver Caullin Lacy left the South Alabama for the NCAA transfer portal after the 2023 regular season, Webb started the 68 Ventures Bowl and caught a 49-yard pass during the Jaguars’ 59-10 victory over Eastern Michigan (he also caught a 3-yard touchdown pass late in a blowout win over Louisiana-Monroe earlier in the season).

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Starting receivers Jamaal Pritchett and Javon Ivory are back this spring, but the third receiver spot is up for grabs. The 5-foot-11, 192-pound Webb has been competing with former junior college transfer Shamar Sandgren and others for reps, and has certainly caught the attention of his coaches.

“He has a mature approach to his craft,” Applewhite said. “He understands who he is athletically. He’s doing a great job of preparing himself and executing in his technique. You can tell he takes pride in the fundamentals of wide receiver play. It’s fun to watch him develop.”

Prior to his arrival in Mobile, Webb was perhaps best known in college football circles for catching a 57-yard Hail Mary touchdown pass to beat archrival South Dakota State in the 2022 regular-season finale. The play, which resulted in a 23-20 victory for the Coyotes, was Webb’s first career touchdown.

Here’s video, though the South Dakota announcers initially credited the touchdown to Caleb Vander Esch because Webb handed him the ball after scoring:

• Kickoff time for South Alabama’s April 20 spring game has been set for noon at Hancock Whitney Stadium.

Gates will open at 11 a.m. and admission is free. In addition, the Jaguars’ annual “yard sale” of surplus apparel and equipment will also begin at 11 a.m. and extend as long as supplies last.