The downpour and lightning that delayed dzܳٳ’s spring showcase by 40 minutes weren’t an inconvenience.
To Marshall Faulk, the delay was a gift.
The first-time head coach and former NFL great gathered his team after a brief 12-minute warmup period on Saturday at A.W. Mumford Stadium. Before fans saw the Jaguars resume play, Faulk explained why his team should be grateful for the break.
“We've been blessed with this,” Faulk said. “This could happen in Mississippi, this could happen in Florida, this can happen to us. And we got a chance to see how we’re going to respond. Respond well. And that's what they did. They came out and they responded well.”
His players outlasted Mother Nature and competed hard on the field. Here are three observations from the Jaguars' performance Saturday.
Southern head coach Marshall Faulk gives directions during the spring showcase on Saturday, April 4, 2026 at A.W. Mumford Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Staff photo by Michael Johnson
STAFF PHOTO BY MICHAEL JOHNSON
Quarterback battle
Faulk wants to name a starting quarterback as early as possible. The showcase was a significant part of his staff’s evaluation process of Ashton Strother and Wyatt McCauley.
The first signal-caller to trot on the field with the first-team offense was Strother. While the junior from last season was solid overall, some of the issues that hurt him in 2025 returned at the start of the showcase.
He escaped the pocket on the left side and threw an interception a few plays after his first completion of the day. He threw a second interception on a play-action play in which he was pressured. His 20-yard pass went directly to a defensive back.
Strother elevated his performance after the halfway point of the showcase. He moved the ball down the field better and threw two touchdown passes. The first was to Kobe Brown. The returning wideout executed a dig route and sped down the field for 70 yards. The second touchdown was to Matthew Berenji, a transfer from Long Beach City College in California, on a slant route for 20 yards.
McCauley, who spent his freshman season at Long Beach City College, displayed his superior speed outside the pocket a few times. His longest carry was for 16 yards.
McCauley connected on short throws and no deep passes. While he didn’t have any turnovers, he jumped on top of a fumble at the opposing 15-yard line. He botched the handoff to Barry Remo, who had the most rushing yards among the Southern running backs last season.
One of McCauley’s best throws was a 14-yard out to tight end Jermaine Minor, who made a contested catch.
Faulk gave a diplomatic answer when asked for his opinion on the quarterbacks.
“It's hard to evaluate it until I look at the film,” he said. “Because that battle is heated right now, they're really in it, I don't want to just say, ‘So and so did this.’ I really think they deserve and they've earned the right for us to watch the film and then give you guys feedback.”
Aggressive defense
One of the first comments Faulk made was about how impressed he was with the way his third-team defense “held their own” in a two-minute drill against the first-team offense at the end of the showcase. The group forced a turnover on downs.
That stand was a carryover from the entire event. Defensive coordinator and former NFL cornerback Todd Lyght, who will call plays this season from the box, had his group ready to bring pressure.
“We're not going to be a bend-but-don't-break type defense,” Faulk said. “As you saw, we're gonna come after you. We came after our own offense, and that's what coach Lyght brings. "They'll play various coverages, combos and mix it up.”
Ty Lee, a sophomore safety, had the first interception. He jumped in front of a receiver and kept hold of the ball after being undercut in the air.
Another standout was incoming freshman Jylon Jackson. He had an impressive pass breakup, tracking the football and nearly getting an interception on a 10-yard pass from Strother. On the next drive, Jackson intercepted a pass.
Concerning penalties
One negative from the day was penalties. There were drives with multiple false starts and other offensive penalties.
Faulk didn’t downplay the issue.
“I'm concerned with it. I got a book full of it. It's literally the first thing I'm (going to) address,” Faulk said. “One of the things that you can't do is beat yourself, and the pre-snap penalties, zero tolerance for that. The penalties within the play, we'll talk about those. Some of those are, you know, times you get beat, you grab a guy.
“But it's the pre-snap penalties … we can't beat ourselves. It’s those things that are not forced errors that we can't do.”
The defense played cleaner than the offense, which wasn’t the case last year when the Jaguars had the second-most penalties (107) and were third in penalty yards per game (71.4) in the SWAC.