South Alabama Falls to A-State 45-10
South Alabama did not have an answer for Arkansas State’s Fredi Knighten on Saturday. The conference’s leader in total offense showed why he tops that category as he threw for 186 yards and rushed for 80 more. He accounted for three touchdowns in the game as well.
South Alabama’s offense struggled to move the ball the whole game. They only managed 22 yards of total offense in the first half and only had 35 total yards late in the third quarter before Terrance Timmons pass reception and run gained 50 yards.
The Jaguars defense played a very good first quarter against the Red Wolves, but they could not keep the flood gates closed for long. A 17-point onslaught in the second quarter firmly put the game in A-State’s favor.
USA entered the game with a laundry list of injuries to starters. They lost starting running back Jay Jones a couple games ago against Georgia State, but they entered Jonesboro without quarterback Brandon Bridge, tight end Wes Saxton, offensive lineman Drew Dearman, linebacker Maleki Harris, and cornerback Qudarius Ford.
A number of other players saw little to no practice time such as Clay Machen and center Joseph Scelfo.
But matters go worse towards the end of the first quarter when wide receiver Marvin Shinn suffered a broken leg on a 4th down pass play into the end zone.
An uncharacteristic number of turnovers also plagued the Jaguars on Saturday. Three interceptions and a lost fumble led to 17 points for the Red Wolves.
Davin Hawkins led all players with 14 total stops.
Matt Floyd went 8-of-20 for 86 yards and two interceptions filling in for the injured Bridge before being pulled late in the game in favor of Hunter Vaughn. Vaughn went 1-of-5 for 4 yards passing but led the team with 38 rushing yards.
The Jaguar offense posted a season-low 201 yards of total offense, most of which came late in the game.
Berron Tyson rushed for 34 yards while Xavier Johnson added 28 yards on the ground. Braedon Bowman, Cameron Broadnax and Shavarez Smith each caught two passes.
“They [Arkansas State] came out and just played hard,” South Alabama head coach Joey Jones said after the game. “We had a lot of guys [eight starters] out; it makes a difference even if it shouldn’t have. I just don’t think we played very well, we didn’t run it or throw it well on offense. Defensively, we weren’t our usual self. We had three starters out on that side of the ball including Maleki [Harris], who is our team captain and our quarterback out there. They were on the field entirely too much.
“I think it’s going to come down to us and Texas State for that third bowl game,” Jones continued. “I told the kids that we have to put this one behind us. It’s a loss and a bad loss, but we have to do something about next week. We want to go to a bowl, and our kids will bounce back. They’re hurting right now, but they’ll bounce back tomorrow.”
The Jaguars have the week to get ready for Texas State (5-4, 3-2 SBC) who are also looking to reach bowl-eligible status. They came up short against conference leading Georgia Southern in a 28-25 loss at home. USA needs to get as many injured players back as possible and find reserves to step up and fill those positions if any of them cannot go against the Bobcats.
Jags Face Georgia Southern In SBC Semifinals This Evening
The Sun Belt Championships will continue today with the semifinals.
The first match of the day at 4pm will be #2 Troy versus #3 Texas State. The winner will earn a spot in the championship match on Sunday.
The Jaguars will continue their defense of their Sun Belt Conference Tournament championship as they face the #4 seeded Georgia Southern Eagles at 7pm at The Cage. The winner will earn the other spot in the championship match on Sunday.
The Jags and Eagles met on the pitch on October 17 in Mobile with the Jaguars earning a 2-0 win. Charde Hannah scored both goals for USA in that match.
Preview: South Alabama at Arkansas State
The Jaguars travel to Jonesboro for their next-to-last Sun Belt Conference game of 2014 needing one win to be bowl eligible. But the coaches want at least two more wins to feel that they are in a more comfortable position for a bowl game.
Injury List Looming Large
The South Alabama football team are nursing a laundry list of injuries to key starters as they prepare for their road trip to Jonesboro, Arkansas to face defending co-Sun Belt Champion Arkansas State on Saturday.
On the offensive side of the ball, quarterback Brandon Bridge is considered an game-time decision after he suffered two injuries in the last two weeks. He suffered an AC Joint injury to his non-throwing shoulder against Troy that brought him out of the game just before halftime, but he was able to return in the second half though visibly in pain at times.
Last week against Lafayette, he injured his right ankle in the third quarter and did not return to the game.
Tight end Wes Saxton sprained his left ankle against Troy two weeks ago and only played briefly against Lafayette and is considered questionable against Arkansas State and will also be a game-time decision.
Center Joseph Scelfo re-injured his right ankle against the Cajuns but was able to return and finish the game. While he has not practiced this week, he is listed as probably against the Red Wolves.
Offensive lineman Clay Machen is expected to be ready for the game on Saturday after being sidelined with a lower back injury. However the news for left guard Drew Dearman is not as good. He suffered a concussion against the Cajuns and has not cleared the test protocols to be cleared to play. Currently Dearman is listed as doubtful for Saturday’s game.
Defensively two key players are injured. Linebacker Maleki Harris, the team’s second leading tackler, will miss the game with a knee injury. He had 50 tackles, 5 tackles for loss, five pass breakups, three forced fumbles, an interception and a fumble recovery.
Cornerback Qudarius Ford is a game-time decision with a right knee injury. He has not practiced this week and missed a game earlier in the season with a concussion. He has 27 tackles and five pass breakups.
A-State Preview
J.D. McKissic is questionable for the game against the Jaguars. McKissic is the Red Wolves leading receiver with 43 catches for 512 yards on the season and averaging 64 yards per game. If he cannot go they will look to Tres Houston and Dijon Paschal among others to step up and fill his cleats.
Key an eye on junior running back Michael Gordon, he’s the Red Wolves leading rusher with 680 yards on 79 carries. Gordon tied the conference record for most rushing touchdowns in a game (5) against Idaho. He is known to break long runs and the Jaguars defense can be suspect against the run. Fredi Knighten, the quarterback, is the next in line with 467 yards on 138 attempts.
Also keep an eye on freshman defensive end Ja’Von Rolland-Jones. He was named the SBC Defensive player of the week for his five tackles for loss and four sacks against the Vandals. He with Chris Stone makes for a solid pair of defensive ends.
Arkansas State struggled against Idaho last week even though they forced eight turnovers. They will look to capitalize on any and all turnovers that go their way this week.
Jags Win If
In order for the Jaguars to win, and this has been said week in and week out, the offense must play more consistently. In order to do so they have to be able to hit on some of their vertical passes. In most of their wins they have used it to prime their offense and keep the opposing defense honest. But when they can’t, the entire team struggles (see Georgia Southern, Mississippi State, Lafayette, Georgia State and Troy).
This game is hard to predict with the injury situation. If Bridge doesn’t start, how ready is Floyd to take over the offense? He has kept his cool whenever he’s been in the game previously, especially last week when he was two yards short of leading the Jaguars back into the lead towards the middle of the fourth quarter.
A-State is about a 3.5 point favorite at home, the Jaguars have typically played their best on the road, and the players seem focused and ready to pounce on the Red Wolves.
Jags Win Exhibition Game Over UM 69-52
The University of South Alabama men’s basketball team opened their season with an exhibition game against University of Mobile at the Mitchell Center last night. Sophomore Ken Williams led the Jags with 19 points, 13 of them in the first half, as they pulled away in the second half for a 69-52 win.
USA started slow but used a 7-0 run midway through the second half to pull away.
Freshman Taishaun Johnson scored 14 off the bench, seven of them from the charity stripe. Junior John Brown added 13 in his Jaguar debut as well.
The Jags led out of the gate behind Williams and Brown’s three-pointers in the first two-plus minutes, but a shooting slump midway through the first half allowed the Rams to take a 15-13 lead. But they could only hit once from the field for almost 11 minutes.
Sophomore Georgi Boyanov broke the slump with a three at the 6:53 mark to ignite a 19-6 run to take a 32-23 lead at the half.
The Jaguars season officially opens on November 14 against Carroll (Montana) at the Mitchell Center. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:05pm.
Jags Defeat UALR 2-1, Advance To Semifinals Against #4 Georgia Southern
Charde Hannah showed why she was named both the freshman and Offensive player of the year in the Jaguars first match of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament last night at The Cage. Hannah scored both goals against eighth seeded Arkansas-Little Rock to lead the Jags to a 2-1 win in the opening round.
She opened the scoring in the ninth minute of the match when she followed her own miss from the right side and put it back into the net. That was how the score remained through halftime.
The Trojans evened the score shortly after halftime after a pair of shots were blocked before reaching the Jaguars goalkeeper. But a pass over the defense found Linnea Kogsta open and she was able to get it by Sarah Hay in the 49th minute.
Less than two minutes later, the Jaguars responded to regain the lead. Freshman Rio Hardy hit a through-ball which Hannah was able to get away from the defender and safely place into the right side of the net in the 51st minute.
“I thought it was a close and well-fought game,” South Alabama head coach Graham Winkworth said. “Arkansas-Little Rock are an extremely organized team and a very well-coached team. I have a lot of respect for my friend (Adrian Blewitt) over there. His team came out, were excellent and gave us a lot of scares.
“We’re fortunate to go through and I was pleased with our performance but a lot of credit needs to go to Little Rock as well.”
Hay had two saves, one in each half as her record improved to 14-1-1 on the season. The #1 seed Jags (17-2-1) advance to face #4 seed Georgia Southern on Friday at 7pm at The Cage in the semifinals. The winner will advance to the SBC Championship match on Sunday and will face the winner between #2 Troy and #3 Texas State.
Jaguar Soccer Sweeps SBC Individual Awards, Places 7 On All-SBC Teams
Freshman Charde Hannah became the second Jaguar and second SBC player ever to win both Freshman of the Year and Offensive Player of the Year awards in the same season. Photo: usajaguars.com
South Alabama women’s soccer team dominance in conference play has yielded them a sweep of the individual awards and seven players named to the All-Sun Belt Conference teams at annual SBC Awards Banquet on Tuesday. The Jags set new records with seven student-athletes earning spots on the All-SBC teams, they also set a record with five student-athletes earning first-team recognition. Additionally, USA becomes the first school in conference history to outright sweep the major individual awards.
Freshman Charde Hannah received both the league’s Offensive and Freshman of the Year awards. Junior Nini Rabsatt-Smith earned the Defensive Player of the Year award and head Coach Graham Winkworth was awarded the Sun Belt Coach of the Year.
The Jaguars had five players on the All-SBC First-Team, a new school record, which included Hannah, Rabsatt-Smith, Rio Hardy, Sophie Haywood and Steffi Hardy. They also had Monique Autmon and Danielle Henley who were named to the All-SBC Second-Team.
Hannah makes the second consecutive Jaguar player to win both the freshman and player of the year awards in the same season. Lauren Allison accomplished the feat in 2013. Prior to Hannah and Allison, no SBC school has ever claimed both the freshman and player of the year in the same season.
Monday Press Conference – ULL Recap, Previewing ASU
Head Coach Joey Jones speaks to his team after the conclusion of practice.
The University of South Alabama held their weekly press conference. Head coach Joey Jones was joined by tight end Braedon bowman and defensive back Montell Garner on Monday to recap their game against Louisiana-Lafayette and to preview their upcoming conference game at Arkansas State this weekend. Below are highlights of press conference.
Head coach Joey Jones’ opening statement.
“All year long we’ve talked about getting over the previous game whether we won it or lost it, we’re going to move on to the next one, so I don’t think it will be a problem getting our guys ready [for Arkansas State]. They understand what we need to do to get prepared for the next ballgame. The Louisiana-Lafayette game was real physical on both sides, there was a lot of great defense out there. They did a good job defensively of bending but not breaking against us, they didn’t give up too many big plays. We got down there late in the fourth quarter and didn’t punch the ball in the end zone, we just didn’t make plays like we could have, so the challenge to our team is to continue to improve there. We’ve been making those pretty much all year long but didn’t come through on that one.
“Next week is a new challenge for us, we’ve got another great team to play in Arkansas State. They are very, very good and explosive on offense and they play great defense so it’s going to be a challenge for our guys to go up there, but we are looking forward to it.”
Jones talked about how the ULL and Arkansas State offenses differ.
“I think they are a lot different. Offensively UL-Lafayette is a big power team and Arkansas State works more on the perimeter, they throw the ball out there a lot and try to get their running backs outside on the edges. They have a real athletic quarterback who is as good as any runner at the position that we’ve faced other than the guy at Georgia Southern, but he can throw it as well. They are more of a true spread team.”
He then talked about the opportunity the team has with its next two conference games against Arkansas State and Texas State.
“The next two weeks are our last two [Sun Belt] conference games. We’re sitting here at 4-2 and would like to finish strong. To win these two would ice bowl game possibilities, that’s big for our guys — they want to get that done and understand what is at stake.”
Jones fielded a question about the quarterback situation. Brandon Bridge came out with an ankle injury and Matt Floyd led the team down to the 2 yard line before a turnover kept them out of the end zone.
“I think Matt (Floyd) is a winner, and that he will come in and do well if need be. We’ll see how it goes this week, we don’t know how it will end up with injuries, but all I know is that I feel real comfortable with either one of them. It’s good you can say that as a head coach that you believe your back-up guys can come in there and play.”
He spoke about the Jaguar defense next.
“We play with a lot of passion over there, [defensive coordinator] Coach [Travis] Pearson and his staff have done a great job with them. They play hard, and our defensive front has played very well. We knew we had some really good starters coming back, our concern coming into the season was depth. But we’ve fixed some of those depth issues, obviously our starters on the defensive front are probably a little bit better than our backups, we’ve got guys who can rotate in there and play. Other than [linebacker] Maleki [Harris] getting hurt we’ve been injury free on defense as well, which has helped.”
Then the focus turned to the offense.
“We are struggling on third down, we were 4-of-15 last week; you have to convert third downs in order to keep drives alive. On deep-play balls we’ve had a lot of guys open for touchdowns and not been able to convert some of those. When you play Arkansas State and Louisiana-Lafayette you better hit some of those big plays, they can change the game. It just comes down to execution, it’s not a matter of any secret X’s and O’s or some special play. It is just a matter of throwing and catching the ball most of the time.
“When you throw a long ball the percentage chances are less than a five-yard pass, so we have to hit some of those because if we can make some big plays with this offense, and we’re very capable of doing that, it’s going to make a difference in the game. You look at the Appalachian State game earlier in the year, we had a couple of big pass plays that just broke the ice where things started flowing very well. Sometimes that’s all it takes to get that going for our offense, and if we do that we can be a really good offensive football team.”
Tight end Braedon Bowman talked about bouncing back from the loss.
“We just have to execute on offense. We can’t get down into the red zone three or four times and come out with three or six points. We have to put it in the end zone. And we just need the defense to get the ball back quickly for us so we can keep scoring.”
Previewing Arkansas State
“They have a good offense that can put up a lot of points. Offensively, we need to execute our plays and keep the ball out of their offense’s hands. They have a powerful offense as well. We just need to move the ball and put it in the end zone.”
Bowman then talked about how physical the game against the Cajuns was.
“It was tough. Their ends squeezed hard, and they had some big linebackers that really filled the gaps hard. Running the ball was difficult. It was a physical game.”
Reflecting on the offense, Bowman finished by saying.
“I feel like we’re so close to the offense exploding. We left a lot of points out on the field (last week) that could have easily been a swing here or there. Our coaches will put together another great plan for us this week.”
Defensive back Montell Garner on bouncing back from the loss to ULL.
“From a defensive standpoint, we just have to keep chopping wood. We just have to do whatever is necessary to keep them (Arkansas State) out of the end zone.”
Garner on the defense.
“We’re taking good coaching, and one thing about being a good defense is you have to be consistent. You have to be disciplined and play sound in the gaps. We practice those things and we watch a ton of film. We’re real students of the game to where once we get into the game, we know what’s going on. We just have to continue to be consistent and play disciplined. We demand turnovers on defense – they change the ballgame.”
Talking about how physical the game was against the Cajuns.
“It was a very physical game. It’s just the mindset you have to have. You know they like to run the ball so you know it’s going to be a physical game. They try to bring it downhill, and you have to hit them in the mouth. It’s just the mindset that we all have to have defensively. We have to prove that week-in and week-out. Our coaches prepare us, and you have to overcome adversity and understand you’re never really out of a game.”
Previewing Arkansas State
“They have a running back with good speed, so we’re going to have to knuckle up and tackle. They live off the play-action deep ball and big plays, so we’re just going to have to be disciplined.”
Finally, Garner spoke about the defensive unit’s improvement throughout the season.
“We know what to expect when we see guys line up in formations. We see it on film and if everyone does their assignment according to how the defense is set up, it builds a wall. We really just key off of everyone doing their assignment and going 110 percent.”
South Alabama and Arkansas State will kickoff on Saturday in Jonesboro, Arkansas at 2pm. The game can be heard locally on 99.9FM with pregame starting at 1:30pm. You can also watch the game online on ESPN3.com.
South Alabama Set To Host SBC Soccer Championships Starting Wednesday
The Sun Belt Conference women’s soccer championships begin on Wednesday, November 5th on the campus of the University of South Alabama. The Jaguars (16-2-1, 8-0-1 SBC) earned the #1 seed with their regular season championship and enter the tournament with a 15 match unbeaten streak.
Here are the seeds for the 2014 bracket:
- South Alabama – 25 pts., 8-0-1
- Troy – 18 pts., 6-3-0
- Texas State – 16 pts., 5-3-1
- Georgia Southern – 16 pts., 5-3-1
- Appalachian State – 15 pts., 5-4-0
- Georgia State – 13 pts., 4-4-1
- UL Lafayette – 13 pts., 4-4-1
- UALR – 7 pts., 2-6-1
Wednesday’s Matches:
M1 – 10am (CT) #6 Georgia State vs #3 Texas State
M2 – 1pm – #7 UL Lafayette vs #2 Troy
M3 – 4pm – #5 Appalachian State vs #4 Georgia Southern
M4 – 7pm – #8 UALR vs #1 South Alabama
Friday November 7:
M5 – 4pm – M1 Winner vs M2 Winner
M6 – 7pm – M3 Winner vs M4 Winner
Sunday, November 9:
M7 – 1pm – Championship match between M5 Winner and M6 Winner (Broadcast on ESPN3)
USA Men’s Cross Country Win SBC Championship
The University of South Alabama men’s cross country team won the Sun Belt Conference Championship on Sunday. Christoph Graf and Michael Pienaar finished first and second in the 8k race held at Battleship Memorial Park.
This is first conference title for the Jaguars since 2006 and their eighth overall for the program.
The women finished 7th place in the team competition in the 5k held earlier in the day.
In addition to the conference championship, the Jags picked up several awards. Graf was named the meet’s Most oustanding Performer, Pienaar was named the conference’s Freshman of the Year. Coach David Barnett was named the Sun Belt Coach of the Year.
The men’s race was close throughout the entire 8k with Graf and Pienaar both in the lead pack during the race. Graf’s victory was his second of the season, his first was at the Azalea City Classic in his Jaguar debut on September 13. He finished with a time of 24:26.6.
Pienaar posted his third top-5 in as many races and less than three seconds behind Graf.
Both Graf and Pienaar were honored with first-team all-conference honors.
Patrick Rohr finished 13th with a time of 25:16.5 which was good for third-team all-SBC honors, his third consecutive year to earn all-conference honors for the Junior.
Robert Mann and Joe Gratton finished 18th and 19th place respectively with Mann finishing with a time of 25:38.3 and Gratton finishing one second later. Justin Housley (28th), Daniel Carter (30th) and Buddy Soto (38th) also competed for the Jaguars.
Nicole Durham led the lady Jaguars as she finished 19th with a time of 17:50.5. Ivy Chastain finished 28th with a time of 18:19.2. Ashley Heitling (41st), Alivia Bryars (44th), Joanna McCoy (45th), Shannen Weyer (47th), Kayla Wheeler (54th) and Kristin Parry (64th) also competed for the Jaguars.
The postseason will continue on November 14 with the NCAA South Region Championships that will be hosted at Florida State University in Tallahassee.
Jags Fall To Cajuns In Lafayette 19-9
Louisiana-Lafayette’s Elijah McGuire gained over 150 yards in the second half as he gained 229 all-purpose yards to lead the Cajuns to a 19-9 win over the Jaguars in Lafayette Saturday evening.
The Jaguar defense had held McGuire to just 23 yards rushing through three quarters before he broke free for a 33-yard run on the Cajun’s first drive of the fourth quarter. That drive would lead to a Lafayette field goal to take a 12-9 lead over the Jaguars.
Matt Floyd would lead the Jaguar offense down the field to answer the Cajun score with completions of 26 and 41 to Braedon Bowman and Marvin Shinn respectively. But on a third-and-goal from the Lafayette 2 yard line a miscommunication on a zone read play resulted in a fumble that would be recovered by Christian Ringo for the Cajuns to end the scoring threat.
The turnover would result in the Cajuns driving 91 yards for a game-sealing touchdown. McGuire would figure prominently in the drive again with a 31-yard catch and an 8 yard touchdown run to cap off the drive. The Jaguars would be unable to mount another threat with under five minutes remaining.
The Cajuns would open the scoring after the Jaguar defense held them to a field goal in the opening quarter.
South Alabama would answer answer early in the second quarter with a 20-yard field goal. Then later in the quarter, Bridge would connect with Shavarez Smith for a 58-yard gain on a 3rd-and-8 and two plays later they would find the end zone for a 9-3 lead after a failed extra point.
Leading 9-6, the Jags would have an oppotunity to extend their lead, but Aleem Sunanon’s 49-yard attempt would be hooked left of the uprights as time expired.
Xavier Johnson led the Jaguars on the ground with 43 yards on 10 carries. Kendall Houston rushed for 42 yards on 15 carries. Louisiana’s McGuire rushed for 116 yards on 18 carries and a touchdown. Terrance Broadway added 54 yards rushing for the Cajuns on 11 carries.
Brandon Bridge was 16-of-27 for 177 yards and a touchdown. Matt Floyd came in after Bridge injured his ankle and went 4-of-8 for 93 yards.
Shavarez Smith caught eight passes for 116 yards to lead the Jaguar receivers. Braedon Bowman caught three for 54 yards, Jereme Jones also caught three passes for 35 yards and a touchdown. Shinn caught two for 51 yards.
McGuire caught nine passes for 90 yards with James Butler adding four passes for 91 yards for the Cajuns.
Terrance Broadway went 16-of-28 for 216 yards through the air.
Terrell Brigham led the defense with 10 total stops, nine solo. Jerome McClain had the lone Jaguar sack.
USA fell to 5-3 overall and 4-2 in conference play. Lafayette improved to 5-3 overall and 4-0 in conference play.
The Jags will look to earn bowl eligibility next Saturday when they travel to Jonesboro to face Arkansas State (5-3, 3-1 SBC) for a 2pm kickoff.