Here’s how Jack Abraham overcomes a height disadvantage at QB for Southern Miss

If you saw Jack Abraham play for the first time in the Southern Miss win over Jackson State on Saturday, you likely noticed that he’s not the tallest of quarterbacks.

He’s listed at 6 feet, 204 pounds and his offensive linemen tower above him on the field.

If there is a disadvantage to Abraham’s height, it didn’t show up on Saturday. He completed 21 of 27 passes for 242 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions.

While he’s certain see more pressure in this Saturday’s 6 p.m. home game against Louisiana-Monroe, USM offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson doesn’t expect Abraham’s height to hold him back going forward.

“I never believed in that deal with quarterbacks,” Dawson said. “I’ve had 6-foot quarterbacks that were the best I’ve had and I’ve had some 6-3 guys that were really good too. I’ve always believed at quarterback you see through lanes. Even if a quarterback is 6-3, O-linemen are 6-5, 6-6. You’re not always seeing over them. You’re seeing through them.

“I was 5-11 ¾ my whole life so I say 6 feet. It was hard for me. There are certain people that just have a knack for seeing through lanes. I had a hard time seeing and I’m not nearly the quarterback the guys I’m coaching are. If you watch that game close, one of the things that Jack does as good as any quarterback I’ve had is he has good pocket presence. He moves through little crevices to get to open spots really good.”

Overall, Dawson gave Abraham’s performance a thumbs up.

“I was hoping the game would match the practice, and it did,” he said. “There was some uneasiness going into a game with a guy that hasn’t played. He did what I saw in practice. He was accurate with the ball. It went to the right place and it was out on time. There were probably two communication issues in the course of the game, but that was probably more my fault than his fault. We executed pretty good with the first group.”

When will Maberry return?

Redshirt freshman running back Darius Maberry didn’t play in Saturday’s 55-7 victory as he strives to reach 100 percent health after suffering a knee injury in December.

That doesn’t mean he won’t take the field soon.

“We’re not down on him,” Dawson said. “He’s coming off a deal where we want to get him to feeling 100 percent comfortable before getting him in a game. We talked about it before the game. Darius has the tools, the ability to be special.

“He’s close. He probably could have played Saturday. I was probably a little more careful than I should have been.”

Watkins’ health status

Redshirt sophomore receiver Quez Watkins was running with a limp toward the end of his big game on Saturday, but head coach Jay Hopson isn’t concerned with his injury.

“He’s good,” Hopson answered Monday when asked about the receiver’s health.

Watkins pulled in eight passes for 138 yards and three touchdowns along with an 81-yard punt return for a score.

Bobby Collins celebration

Former players, coaches, cheerleaders and support staff who worked with former USM coach Bobby Collins are invited to attend a fish fry at 6 p.m. on Friday at the Canebrake Lake Clubhouse in Hattiesburg.

A reception will also be held in the M-Club Room on the USM campus at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday before the ULM game.

To RSVP for the fish fry or game tickets, contact Amanda Raynes at amanda.d.boutwell@usm.edu or call (601) 266-5299. The deadline for reservations is Tuesday.

Ground game

Senior running backs Tez Parks and T’Rod Daniels never quite got going Saturday against a Jackson State defense that stacked the box and Hopson acknowledges that they’ll need more out of the ground game this Saturday against ULM.

Hopson was encouraged by what he saw in a pair of freshmen seeing their first action in the second half.

“I thought Trivenskey (Mosley) and Steven (Anderson) ran good,” Hopson. “We’re really pleased with how they ran as two freshman running backs. I definitely look forward to get them getting more touches.”

Mosley ran 12 times for 49 yards to lead the team and Anderson had 33 yards on four carries.

Younger Qbs

Both Hopson and Dawson gave freshman quarterback Tate Whatley high marks for his performance off the bench.

He completed a single pass for 5 yards and ran four times for 41 yards, including a 15-yard touchdown.

Dawson was less than pleased with the three turnovers on offense after Abraham left the game, but he liked the way Whatley responded after a failed exchange with Mosley led to a fumble recovery by JSU.

“The next time he got in, we went down the field and scored,” Dawson said. “That was a positive. He looked calm.”

This story was originally published September 3, 2018 at 2:29 PM.