South Alabama Win Homecoming Match Up Against Louisiana-Monroe
Offensive line and tight ends coach Chase Smith talks with the Jaguar offensive line with the rest of the offense seated along with them during the Jags 33-23 win over Louisiana-Monroe.
South Alabama (3-4, 2-1 SBC) defeats Louisiana-Monroe (3-4, 3-2 SBC) 33-23 in a game that saw a number career highs being broken, a career record being tied, and another career record being broken.
It all began with Xavier Johnson breaking the career rushing record on his second carry of the game, when he broke a 33 yard run on the opening drive of the game. Johnson would end the game with 99 yards on 11 carries.
Sam Harris had career high with eight catches and 141 yards. Dallas Davis threw for a career-high 3 touchdowns in the game and for 317 yards, the most by a Jaguar quarterback this season.
Jeremy Reaves moved into a tie for interceptions in a career with Tyrell Pearson, with his sixth.
The South Alabama offense, led by Dallas Davis, rolled up 549 total yards, 317 through the air and 232 on the ground. Most of the rushing yardage came in the second half as the Warhawk defense held the Jags to 97 yards in the first half.
The Jag defense had problems stopping the Warhawks in the first half. They allowed 312 total yards in the first half, including 239 on the ground. But defensive coordinator Kane Wommack made some great halftime adjustments and held Louisiana-Monroe to only 68 yards rushing and 106 yards passing in the second half.
The Jags only trailed once in the game after Marcus Green took a reverse 74 yards to the Jaguar 1 yard line, followed by a touchdown run by Ben Luckett put ULM ahead 20-17 at the 6:00 mark of the second quarter.
The Jags were driving but Davis threw into triple coverage, the ball was tipped and then intercepted. The Jaguar defense forced a three-and-out to give the ball back to the offense with 1:33 left in the half.
Davis drove the Jags 80 yards to regain the lead behind his arm and the Jaguar receiving corps. The drive culminated with a beautiful catch in the end zone by Sam Harris on 3rd and goal at the 5 yard line.
“Our kids came out and played well tonight, we really grew up as a football team,” said head coach Joey Jones in his post game press conference. “Our offense was able to put up over 500 yards and was 7-of-12 on third downs, so there were a lot of improvements. Our kids played their guts out, I’m excited about the way they played. I’ve known we had a good football team this whole time. We’re looking forward to our next ball game.
“We played a tough schedule early and I knew we had a good football team. We’ve won the last two and our guys want to win a conference championship, and the only way you can do that is win them one game at a time. We can’t look ahead. We’re not a dominant type of team where we are going to beat everyone 55-0, but we are going to have to play good, solid football and win the fourth quarter; that’s what we’ve got done the last couple of weeks.”
Jones commented on Harris’ play in the game, “I don’t believe anyone offered him a scholarship out of high school. He’s probably the most competitive young man I’ve ever coached. He doesn’t say a lot but when the lights are on, he’s going to play and compete. That’s why he’s a great player.”
South Alabama will travel to Atlanta for a Thursday night game against Georgia State that’ll be aired by ESPNU starting at 6:30pm and radio pregame will start at 4:3pm locally on 99.5FM The Jag and 96.1 FM. Both teams will have a short week going into the game