Jags Fall To Cowboys 55-13; Prepares To Open Conference Schedule Against Texas State
South Alabama’s defense focused on stopping the Oklahoma State running game, and held them to 164 yards, but Taylor Cornelius in only his second start threw for 428 yards and a touchdown as the Jags fell 55-13 in Stillwater.
In his first career start, Evan Orth went 14-of-25 for 119 yards and a touchdown.
Kawaan Baker led the Jags with 40 yards rushing and a touchdown while adding three catches for 29 yards and another touchdown.
USA scored both of their touchdowns in the first half, the last being with 2:57 left in the half to cut the Cowboy lead to 24-13. But the Cowboys answered to go into the locker room with a 31-13 lead.
With the Cowboys gaining 730 yards of offense the previous week, 430 of it on the ground, the Jags focused on one dimension and had some pretty good success in the first half by allowing only 38 yards.
The Jag defense did pick off two passes, one in the end zone by Bull Barge and another by Tobias Moss that needed video review in order to confirm it. But they allowed Tylan Wallace to catch 10 passes for 166 yards and a touchdown as well as allowing Tyron Johnson to catch 5 passes for 137 yards.
In the end, the Jags defense allowed the Cowboys to gain 617 yards of offense. Only two of their nine scoring drive took more than two-and-a-half minutes off the clock.
The Cowboys clamped down on defense in the second half allowing the Jags only 65 yards after halftime.
Again, the Jags heavily penalized with 12 flags on the night.
Head coach Steve Campbell pointed out again that all the mistakes on the field were correctable. “…that starts out on the practice field,” Campbell said. “It starts with having a great day on Sunday and then a great day on Tuesday. You’re not going to waste a day because if you do, you’re going to play someone who isn’t wasting that day. We cannot have a wasted day. We’re looking forward to getting into Sun Belt play against Texas State. We know that they are going to be a really good football team. For me, [the season] kind of starts over and we are 0-0, and a week from now we need to be 1-0. We need to get ready and go win a football game, and that’s where our focus will be.”
Texas State brings an athletic quarterback and the team rushed for over 300 yards against Texas Southern. Their receivers have good speed and they have a sizable running back that runs with power.
Offensive coordinator Kenny Edenfield and coach Campbell both said it was too early to make a determination about the quarterback position, but they both mentioned they would like for one guy to step up to be “the guy.”
South Alabama returns home to host Texas State at Ladd-Peebles Stadium to open their Sun Belt Conference schedule with a 6pm kickoff on Saturday, September 15. The line opens with the Jags an 11-point favorite.