USA Makes Statement Against Lamar
The Jaguar offensive line lines up against the Lamar defense. They helped Kendall Houston rush for 166 yards, the new single game record for Jaguar running backs, and did not allow a sack in the game.
South Alabama went on the road to Beaumont, Texas to begin their season-defining three game stretch and came home with a big win and a huge statement, 26-0. The Lamar Cardinals had averaged just over 341 yards per game but were held to a season low of 161 yards of total offense as the Jaguar defense came out ready for a big fight.
The Jags were quite conservative with their play calling in the game. After losing your first string running back to a season ending ACL tear, it was good play calling on Coach Gregory and Coach Jones’ part. While the scoreboard did not show what the Jaguar faithful were used to, it was definitely a resounding win.
The defense would score the only touchdown in the first half and the offense would only score one touchdown in the game. The rest of the scoring rested on the foot of Lawson McGlon who was officially 4-for-5 in the game but did make a kick that was nullified by a penalty. So a position that, at the beginning of the season, looked like it could lose a close game turned out to be the one that put the game out of reach.
“We sputtered somewhat on offense when we got the ball into the red zone, but we moved the ball well between the 30s,” said Coach Joey Jones after the game. “We had to settle for four field goals, but when you’re on the road sometimes that happens. I’m really proud of Kendall and the way he came in for Brandon after we lost him last week. He really stepped up and ran like a Division I running back tonight.”
“We know that UC Davis is a very good team. They’ve beaten San Jose State and won their conference last year,” Coach Jones stated on their upcoming opponent. “They’re a very sound team, we are going to have to go out to California and see what we’ve got. But, our kids are real excited about that. We’re trying to take this thing with baby steps, and we’ve taken some big steps already. It’s a great win, but where we stand I don’t know. At the end of the year I think we’ll be able to look back and see where we are as a team. All I know is that we came on the road, and were on the bus for six hours. The kids did a great job being focused, and we played a great ballgame. It’s a big win for our program.”
“You have to play great defense on the road, and we did that tonight,” Coach Jones commented. “I’m real proud of the staff and players. They played lights out tonight. They knew this was their first big challenge, and answered that call.”
The Jaguars did not come out of the game unscathed. Unfortunately Chris Brunson suffered a broken ankle in the first half of the game against Lamar and will be out for the remainder of the season. Brunson was also a backup to Trey Clark, the center, who suffered a sprained ankle but should be okay. Coach Jones will probably try Brian Krauskopf in practice until Clark’s ankle is better and to give him experience in case he is needed in a game situation.
The Jags travel to Davis, California to face the Aggies of UC-Davis in a 4pm (Central, 2pm Pacific) game against their second of three consecutive FCS teams and their second in a row on the road. For a more detailed breakdown of the game, continue below.
The Jaguar defense came out with a vengeance. They held Lamar to 105 yard passing on 15-of-36 attempts and 56 yards on 27 rushing attempts. They only allowed 12 first downs, just one of them on the ground while forcing four fumbles.
The opening drive by the Jags saw Kendall Houston start in place of the injured Brandon Ross. His first three carries went for nine, seven and seven yards respectively. However the drive would stall at the Lamar 43 yard line. A Scott Garber punt would pin the Cardinals back at their own six yard line.
The Cardinals would begin their series with two consecutive rushes by Octavious Logan. Logan would gain three on his first carry but would have Charlie Higgenbotham cause a fumble on the second. The Higgenbotham forced fumble would be recovered by Josh Chestang and returned 11 yards for a touchdown. With the Lawson McGlon PAT, the Jags lead 7-0 with 10:33 left in the first quarter.
On the ensuing kickoff, Octavious Logan fielded the kick and fumbled at their own 13 yard line. However Logan would recover his own fumble at the 19 yard line. The drive was only five plays for 12 offensive yards but had three penalties, a facemask on the Jags and a false start and holding on the Cardinals.
On the Jaguars second offensive series, T.J. Glover caught a pass and lost seven yards back the Jaguar eight yard line. Then a run by Glover gained all but one yard back but the Jags would be flagged for holding putting the ball at the Jaguar seven yard line. Kendall Houston would gain about seven yards to give the offense some breathing room. However a dropped pass by Jereme Jones would bring Garber out to punt again.
Lamar would go three and out on their next series. South Alabama’s third drive would bring in C.J. Bennett at quarterback. His first pass would be completed to Courtney Smith for 15 yards. Two big runs by Houston of 11 and 29 yards would put the Jaguar offense on the Lamar 12 yard line. The Jags would stall out on the Lamar five yard line and McGlon would drill a 22 yard field goal to put the Jags up 10-0 with 2:43 left in the first quarter.
Neither team would score in the second quarter, but the Jaguar defense had to turn it up a notch to keep the Cardinals off the board. With 12:42 left until halftime, the Jags would start a drive at their own 38 yard line. A Houston rush and a 15 yard completion from Bennett to Corey Walden would put the Jags at the Lamar 46 however, the Jags could not keep the drive alive and was forced to punt from the Lamar 41. But the long snapper would snap the ball over Garbers head, forcing him to chase after the ball. Once he picked it up, he tried to punt it away still but was blocked and went out of bounds at the Jaguar 36 yard line.
Lamar would lose three yards and face a 3rd down and 13 but would keep the drive alive when Anton Graphenreed was flagged for interference, giving the Cardinals a first down at the Jagaur 18. Another first down would put the Cardinals at the South Alabama seven yard line. But after bending as far as they could without breaking, they started to rebound. A stop for a loss, followed by an incomplete pass and a holding penalty would back the Cards up to the 14 yard line. The Lamar field goal attempt would go wide left leaving the Jags shutout intact.
South Alabama’s offense would take over possession of the ball their own 20 yard line. After a seven yard completion from Sim to Courtney Smith followed by a 13 yard run by Houston to the South Alabama 40 yard line. Then T.J. Glover would scamper for 28 yards to the Lamar 32 yard line. However the drive would come to an abrupt end at the Lamar 19 when Houston fumbles the ball away to the Cardinals.
The ensuing Lamar possession would go three and punt again. But the South Alabama offense would only be able to muster one first down before being forced to punt. Another bad snap by the long snapper would rush Garber to get the kick off would only net about 34 yards.
Lamar’s possession would start at their own 18 yard line with 2:10 until halftime. A pass for a loss of seven yards would be compounded with a five yard personal foul penalty, pushing the Cardinals back tot he six yard line. A three yard loss on a rushing attmept would spot the ball at their own three yard line. A six yard run would give the Cardinal punter more room to work. But the kick, being fielded at the USA 46 would be returned about 25 yards, near the Lamar 29 yard line. However a personal foul would be assessed from the end of the run putting the Jags at the 14 yard line.
But with only nine seconds left until halftime, South Alabama would kick the field goal. The first attempt from 31 yards out was good, however an illegal procedure penalty would back McGlon to the 19 yard line. The second attempt would be missed laving the score 10-0 at halftime.
The second half was a continuation of the first half, hard nosed defense from South Alabama. The defense held the Cardinals to a three and out on their opening possession of the second half. Jereme Jones would return the punt 14 yards to the South Alabama 43 yard line.
Sim would hand off to Kendall Houston on the first two plays for big runs of 22 and 15 yards. Then on first and ten from the Cardinal 20 yard line, T.J. Glover rush would lose four yards. Two consecutive passes by Brennan Sim to Courtney Smith would gain 6 and 3 yards respectively. Coach Jones would send on McGlon, who would make the 32 yard field goal to stretch the Jaguar lead to 13-0 with 10:06 left in the third quarter.
The kick-off bug would hit Michel Chapuseaux again by booting the kick-off out of bounds. Lamar would take the ball at their own 40 yard line. After three first downs on the drive, Lamar was first and ten on the Jaguar 25 when quarterback Andre Bevil would fumble the ball and South Alabama’s Romelle Jones would recover it at the Jaguar 29 yard line.
Three consecutive rushes by Kendall Houston would go for seven, two and nine yards respectively. On the third rush, Lamar would be flagged for a personal foul. So after the 15 yard penalty was enforced, the Jags had the ball on the Cardinal 38 yard line. Sim would find Corey Walden open for 25 yards down to the Lamar 13 yard line. Santuan McGee would take the handoff for 12 yards, coming up just shy of the goal line. But on the next play Sim would connect with Ellis Hill for a one yard touchdown pass. McGlon would add the PAT and the Jags extended their lead further to 20-0 with 4:19 left in the third quarter.
Lamar would start their next drive at their own 29 yard line. The Cardinals completed their first pass for 12 yards and a first down. After an incomplete pass on first down, a Kwabena Asante rush for six yards would all but be nullified by a five yard false start penalty. Another incomplete pass later and the Cardinals were forced to punt.
T.J. Glover would call for a fair catch at the USA 17 yard line. Then a personal foul on the Jaguars would back them up to the nine yard line. Kendall Houston would take the Sim handoff 12 yards to the 21 yard line. Sim’s pass to Ralph Turner was too high but Paul Bennett would be flagged for a personal foul and back the Jaguars up 10 yards to the 11 yard line. Sim would run for three yards and Houston would run for four more before Scott Garber came on to punt the ball out of bounds at the Lamar 24, a punt of 58 yards.
After an incomplete pass by Marcus Jackson, Bevil would be sacked with a forced fumbled by Jake Johnson which Randon Carnathan would recover at the Jaguar 20 yard line with 30 seconds to play in the their quarter. Glover would run for no gain on first down. Then Houston would rush for three yards and Sim would run for four more to bring up fourth down. McGlon would make the 30 yard field goal to make it 23-0 with 13:32 left in the game.
Chapuseaux’s kickoff would be fielded at the 2 and returned 21 yards to the 23 yard line. But on the first down play Asante would run for nine yard but Ken Barefield would force the fumbled which would be recovered by Justin Dunn at the Cardinal 36 yard line. A run by Ralph Turner would lose five yards, then a run by Sim would lose one more yard to set up a 3rd and 16 for the Jags. Sim’s pass to Courtney Smith would go incomplete forcing another USA punt. The Garber punt went 36 yards and a fair catch was made at the Lamar six yard line.
The Cardinals next possession would last five plays and cover 15 yards before punting. With 9:29 left in the game, South Alabama would mount their final drive of the game starting at their own 44 yard line. Houston would rush for one yard, then CJ Bennett would connect with Courtney Smith for 18 yards and a first down at the Lamar 37 yard line. Ellis Hill would lose two but Glover would get those two back on back-to-back rushes. Then Bennett would find Glover open for five more yards to the Lamar 32.
On fourth down and five yards, the Jags went for it being between comfortable field goal range and punting distance and C.J. Bennett came up huge with a 14 yard scamper to pick up the first down at the Lamar 18 yard line. An illegal chop block would penalize the Jaguars 15 yards back to the 33 yard line for first and 25. Bennett would find Jereme Jones open for 11 yards then Lavender Bryant for another five on consecutive passes. Then Bennett would call his own number for five more yards for a fourth down and four at the Lamar 12 yard line. Lawson McGlon would cap off the game with a 29 yard field goal for the final score of 26-0.
Kendall Houston finished the game with 166 yards on 21 carries and T.J. Glover carried the ball eight times for 32 yards. Courtney Smith caught 7 passes for 59 yards and Corey Walden caught two for 40 yards. C.J. Bennett went 13-for-16 for 109 yards with no sacks while Brennan Sim went 6-for-10 for 35 yards and the lone touchdown pass. Scott Garber averaged 41.2 yards per punt, and of his five punts, three were downed inside the 20.
The defense held Kwanbena Asante to 29 yards on 11 rushes while also holding Andre Bevil to 15-of-35 passing for 105 yards.
Defensively, Charlie Higgenbotham lead the team with six tackles and a forced fumble. Ken Barefield was close behind with four, all solo and a forced fumble as well.