Pair Of Jaguars Earn Weekly Player Of The Week Honors After Regular Season Finale
South Alabama claimed both the Sun Belt Conference Offensive and Defensive players of the week in the final week of the 2013 regular season. On Monday, the conference office announced that Jay Jones was selected as the Offensive player of the week and Pat Moore was selected the defensive player of the week.
The Jaguars defeated Sun Belt Conference Co-Champion Louisiana-Lafayette 30-8 with Jay Jones rushed for a career best 105 yards on 19 carries. Pat Moore recorded a career-high seven tackles in the win.
South Alabama concluded its first season competing as a full member of the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision with an overall record of 6-6 and a 4-3 record in conference games. Their conference record was good enough to tie for third place in the conference. While the overall record was good enough to qualify for postseason play, they along with several other Conference teams were not selected for bowl games.
Jones, a 5’9″ 190-pound junior from Horn Lake, MS. rushed for over 100-yards for the second consecutive game It was the fifth time this season that he led the team in rushing yards. He has also rushed for 737 yards on the season and ranks second in the school’s season record list. He ranks sixth in the league in rushing with an average of 61.4 yards per game.
With his effort, the Jags gained 363 yards of toal offense and controlled the ball for almost 36 minutes of the game. As the Jaguars built a 17-0 lead in the first quarter, he gained 53 yards including rushes for 27 and 28 yards on their first touchdown drive.
Moore, a 6’3″ 260-pound Southaven, MS native, recorded seven tackles included a pair of tackles for loss as the defense held Lafayette to a season-low 212 yards of total offense which was also the fewest allowed by USA this year. He totalled five tackles in the first three quarters while helping the Jaguars defense hold ULL to only 95 total yards.
This is the second time Moore has been honored with a weekly honor as he was selected as Special Teams Player of the Week on October 22, 2012. He finished the regular season tied for third in the conference with 13.5 tackles for loss and tied for fith with 5.5 sacks.