Jags Host Bobcats To Open Sun Belt Conference Play

September 14, 2018 · By · Filed Under Football 

Saturday evening the Jaguars will open Sun Belt Conference play when they host Texas State at Ladd-Peebles Stadium starting at 6pm.

The Steve Campbell led Jaguars come in 0-2 with a four-point loss to a talented Louisiana Tech team and a blow-out loss to the high-flying Oklahoma State Cowboys on the road.

One reason Campbell was to improve the Jags standing in conference play. That starts this weekend.

All indications points to yet another week of quarterback rotation with seniors Evan Orth and Cole Garvin and redshirt freshman Cephus Johnson. So far Garvin (La. Tech) and Orth (OSU) have started a game, but I wouldn’t make it three-for-three with Johnson starting, at least not yet.

Campbell stated in his weekly radio show that he and offensive coordinator Kenny Edenfield is looking for one of the three to step forward and separate themselves from the other two quarterbacks and becomes “the guy.” So far the USA offense is averaging 113.5 passing yards per game. But the Bobcats has a reputation of allowing big plays in the secondary.

The Jags defense has allowed over a thousand yards of offense in their first two games. Their opponents average almost 200 yards per game rushing and over 300 yards per game passing. They give up a healthy 4.3 yards per rush and 14.7 yards per completion. But the numbers are a little misleading with the huge numbers put up by the Cowboys last weekend.

Offensively the Jags are averaging a decent 3.7 yards per rush and 8.1 yards per pass completion.

One of the concerns the Jags will have on Saturday is sophomore quarterback Willie Jones III. While it was against an FCS opponent, he completed 62% of his passes and rushed for 107 yards for his first win as a starter. But the Bobcat offense is still searching for consistency.

These two teams have not met since 2015 when the Jags fell in San Marcos 36-18 in a soggy Texas night when TSU scored 19 unanswered points in the second quarter to take command and cruise to victory.

Two key injuries from last weekend, both are likely gone for the season. Long snapper Andrew Zink tore his ACL and linebacker Roy Yancey suffered a broken leg.

Both teams come in struggling and both teams want to start off their conference schedule with a win. The old adage of ‘whoever wants it more will win’ comes to mind. USA made the Louisiana Tech game quite interesting late and beat the spread. Now the Jags are a 10.5 point favorite at home. I’d love for the Jags to cover but you never know what you’re going to get in a cat fight. I think the Jags will win, but the Bobcats will keep it a little closer than the spread.

Go Jags!

Big Stats:

  • The Jags are only converting 20% of their 3rd down attempts.
  • USA quarterbacks have thrown 3 interceptions.
  • USA has fumbled the ball three times and lost it twice.
  • USA has been flagged 19 times in two games with an average of 83.5 yards per game of penalty yards.
  • USA has not attempted a field goal yet this season.
  • USA has gone for it 7 times on 4th down.
  • USA has converted 4th down attempts 4 times, or 57% of the time.
  • USA has 7 sacks defensively.
  • USA has intercepted the opposition 5 times.
  • Opposing teams are averaging the same amount of penalty yards 83.5/game.
  • USA’s defense has forced three fumbles, but only recovered one of them.
  • Kawaan Baker has scored 5 of the Jaguars 6 touchdowns on the season.

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    Comments

    2 Responses to “Jags Host Bobcats To Open Sun Belt Conference Play”

    1. Huan on September 16th, 2018 8:13 am

      Nice to see a comeback win

    2. Brian on September 17th, 2018 7:26 am

      Definitely nice to finally have another comeback win. Made it worth sitting in the hot, sticky weather for sure!