Southern welcomes Arkansas-Pine Bluff for lone game at A.W. Mumford this spring season

Southern coach Dawson Odums has constantly reminded his players to be appreciative of the chance to play football this spring. That goes double for the home-field advantage.

The Jaguars’ home schedule for the 2021 spring will be short and sweet: One game at 1:30 p.m. Saturday against Arkansas-Pine Bluff. The game will be streamed online on ESPN3.

The Jaguars (1-0) got a taste of what pandemic football feels like last week at Alabama State. A crowd reduced by 75%, only the home band in the stands and none of the SWAC game-day energy. If his players are embracing the season, the message is hug a little tighter this week.

“It’s always great to play at home,” Odums said. “We’re excited for however many fans they let in, for the Human Jukebox to be playing, for a chance to play at A.W. Mumford Stadium. I know our guys will embrace that. It’s our only one so I hope we play better. The ultimate goal is to get a ‘W’ and there’s no better place to get one than in your home stadium.”

In eight seasons under Odums, Southern is 23-8 at home against SWAC opponents and has won 16 of the last 17 there. Southern was scheduled to play at home twice but Alcorn State opted out of the spring season and that game will move to the fall 2021 schedule when the Jaguars are scheduled to play at home six times.

Charles “Doc” Gamble had to wait 26 years to get his shot at a college head coaching gig and then had to wait a little longer.

For now, Southern will have to make do with just more than 6,000 fans in the stands, no halftime show, no gameday ticket sales and no tailgating.

“I tell the players if it’s loud you have to block it out,” Odums said. “If it’s not you have to create your own energy. No matter how many are there, we have to have a vision that there’s 28,000. We’re playing for Jaguar Nation and Southern University. That’s the mindset we have to have when we take the field.”

Odums is hoping the coaching axiom about teams making their biggest improvement from Game 1 to Game 2 holds true. The Jaguars played well at times in the opening victory against Alabama State but had three turnovers and had to survive a potential game-tying field goal at the end.

Improvement is the hope for quarterback Ladarius Skelton, who completed 10 of 22 passes for 135 yards and a key touchdown while rushing for 72 yards and another score. Skelton had an unforced error when he dropped the ball while scrambling, but did more right than wrong.

“They know how to win; when you know how to win, those close games that come down to the wire usually work out in your favor,” first-year UAPB coach Charles “Doc” Gamble said. “(Skelton) has won at every stop. He knows how to win. When you know how to win, the ball seems to bounce your way. They’ve had a chance to get their kinks worked out and we haven’t.”

Odums said he’s not sure what to expect from the Lions, whose opener against Texas Southern was postponed until April 24 because of weather damage to the campus. Skyler Perry, a New Orleans native and former Karr quarterback, threw for 784 yards and eight touchdowns in 2019 as part of a two-quarterback system with Gamble as his position coach.

Perry will have his top five receivers back from 2019, led by Harry Ballard. That group combined for 139 receptions for 2,675 yards and 25 touchdowns. Omar Allen is inexperienced but rushed for 224 yards in 2019. 

The offensive line boasts a pair of All-SWAC players in tackle Mark Evans and guard Atondre Smith, part of a group that allowed the second fewest sacks (18) in the league in 2019. UAPB had eight games with more than 400 yards of offense.

Defensively, the Lions are led by end Xavier Mitchell, who had five sacks and 10 tackles for loss in 2019.

Odums is hoping for another big game from end Jordan Lewis, who had five sacks, 11 total tackles and a forced fumble in Southern’s opener.

“We played very well on defense in the first half,” Odums said. “We were locked in, communication was pretty good. We missed some fits which you would expect early on. But a lot of mistakes that happened can be corrected.”

Southern defensive end Jordan Lewis came off the ball like a sprinter out of the blocks in the Jaguars’ victory at Alabama State last Friday.

The only thing better for Southern University than getting onto the football field for the first time in 447 days was walking off of it with a…