South Alabama’s first scrimmage of preseason camp on Saturday was arguably the best performance by a Jaguars offense in either a spring or fall scrimmage since Kane Wommack took over as head coach in 2021.

The Jaguars unofficially totaled 578 yards and 28 first downs in a little over 110 snaps at the Jaguar Training Center, and moved the especially ball well early on and in the scrimmage-ending red zone period. Still, offensive coordinator Major Applewhite saw plenty of room for improvement.

RELATED: Additional observations from South Alabama’s first preseason scrimmage

“We had too many penalties — nine penalties,” Applewhite said. “In course of a real game with 14-15 drives, you’re going to come off the field and that’s really going to hurt you. The positive of the penalties is, more than half of them were prior to snap — alignments, false start, things that we control. I saw good ball security from the 1 and 2 unit. We had one fumble by a freshman, that I think was a good learning experience for him to help him understand the intensity of third-and-5 and what’s going to happen with the ball and how people are coming after it. But I saw good ball security, minus that one.

“I saw good strain by a lot of our players, but we’ve got to have 11 playing hard all the time. There’s too many times on tape where I saw nine or 10 playing really hard, but I saw one not playing hard. In terms of just changing in and out of tempo and our eyes and our communication, we need to continue to improve on that as well. But I did think the guys came out ready to go.”

Though starting quarterback Carter Bradley and veteran backup Desmond Trotter are known commodities, Applewhite got an extended look Saturday at true freshman Gio Lopez and redshirt freshman Bishop Davenport on Saturday. Lopez and Davenport, who transferred in from Utah State transfer over the summer, split time with the third-team offense.

Lopez completed 7 of 18 passes for 54 yards with an interception, and ran for 27 yards on two attempts. Davenport was 3-for-10 for 30 yards passing and added a 9-yard run.

“(Lopez) had the ability to go through spring practice, so he’s 15 days ahead,” Applewhite said. “It’s kind of unfair to compare those two, but I was very pleased to see the way both of them operated. In terms of their signals and the way they operated, both of them did really well.”

The Jaguars recovered defensively after some trouble early in the scrimmage, and largely dominated the action in the middle periods. South Alabama picked up two turnovers, three sacks and six tackles for loss, allowing only a handful of “explosive” plays (defined as 25 yards or more).

“I thought we played with a good effort,” defensive coordinator Corey Batoon said. “The perimeter fits, we’ve got to continue to get better on that. I thought it was very physical inside and on the perimeter. We did a pretty good job of not giving up explosion plays. … But I like, not necessarily just in the scrimmage, but in the first nine practices, I think the physicality is where we need it to get to. It’s been a really good camp in regards to the back and forth. It’s not one side dominating, which is a sign of a veteran team. So I like where we’re at right now.”

• South Alabama will face a ranked team in its Sept. 2 season-opener, as Tulane checked in at No. 24 in the initial Associated Press poll released Monday.

Tulane is the only Group of 5 team in the AP preseason Top 25, though Texas-San Antonio (64 points), Boise State (17), Troy (10), Toledo (4), Coastal Carolina (3), South Alabama (1), James Madison (1) and Liberty (1) all received votes. The Green Wave went 12-2 a year ago, beating USC in the Cotton Bowl.

South Alabama is 1-6 all-time vs. Top 25 teams, with the lone victory over No. 19 San Diego State in 2016. The Jaguars last played a ranked team in 2020, when they lost to No.15 Coastal Carolina and No. 25 Louisiana in back-to-back weeks.

1/25

• South Alabama returns both starting deep safeties this season in free safety Jaden Voisin and rover Jalen Jordan, but also welcomed back three-year starter Keith Gallmon this fall. Gallmon the starting free safety for the Jaguars in 2021, missed all of last season with a torn pectoral muscle suffered in preseason camp.

That’s created an interesting dilemma for the Jaguars’ defensive staff, which has to get all three on the field. Jordan has been the primary first-team rover during preseason camp, though South Alabama has begun to experiment with combinations where Gallmon and Voisin are on the field together.

“We have three starters for two positions,” Wommack said. “I think they’re all going to play a ton. I would say that Keith is more suited for the free safety position. Jalen Jordan is probably a little more suited for the rover and we feel like Jaden Voisin can do a little bit of both. But honestly, I think if you had to ask any of those guys to go out there and play, I think they would execute with a ton of consistency. So it’s nice to be able to have that experience back there.”

Voisin led the team in tackles last season with 84, while Jordan had 57 stops. Gallmon was second on the team with 59 tackles in 2021.

• There were scouts from eight NFL teams at South Alabama’s practice Monday, which learned observers tabbed as an unofficial record for a non-Pro Day workout.

Teams represented were the Chicago Bears, Green Bay Packers, Seattle Seahawks, New York Giants, Denver Broncos, Washington Commanders, Cleveland Browns and one other unidentified team. Wommack said he’s seen more NFL scouts during the first nine practices this preseason than in the previous two years combined.

“I talked to the players about it — ‘there is an expectation within this program, and there should be with you,’” Wommack said. “When you’re doing great things on the field, individuals are going to get recognized. And that’s exactly what we’re seeing with preseason accolades. That’s exactly what we’re seeing from these scouts showing up in higher numbers than what we’ve ever seen before. And so it’s exciting. But whether you’re working for collective accolades, individual accolades or NFL opportunities, it’s all about how well you finish.”

South Alabama has had a player selected in each of the last three NFL drafts, including cornerback Darrell Luter by the San Francisco 49ers this year. Among the players on this year’s team considered pro prospects are quarterback Carter Bradley, running back La’Damian Webb and safety Yam Banks.

South Alabama is back on the practice field Tuesday. The Jaguars scrimmage for the second time in preseason camp on Saturday.