South Alabama Drops Sun Belt Conference Opener To Louisiana-Monroe 30-17
South Alabama played a somewhat better game than the previous two, but still wound up on the short end of a 30-17 score in Monroe, Louisiana. The Jags fall to 1-4 overall and 0-1 in Sun Belt Conference play. This was also the 12th consecutive road loss.
The Jags opened the game with a stop on defense and then led a 12-play, 90 yard drive for a touchdown to take an early 7-0 lead. But were unable to sustain the offensive momentum for the whole game.
ULM answered the Jaguars touchdown quickly with a tying touchdown and it only took 1:29 off the clock.
USA had a chance to regain the lead, but an overthrow by Cephus Johnson was intercepted in the end zone on the first play of the 2nd quarter.
The Jags were able to keep the Warhawks out of the end zone, but gave up a field goal off the turnover.
After being unable to sustain the drive and being forced to punt. The Warhawks used big plays to put another touchdown on the board. They only needed four plays to cover the 72 yards to take a 17-7 lead.
South Alabama drove down to the 4 yard line before stalling and having to settle for a field goal.
The Jaguar defense forced three-consecutive punts to open the second half, but then the Warhawks scored touchdowns on their next two possession all but putting the game away.
USA added a late touchdown to cover the spread. After being unable to recover the onside kick the game was over even though the Jags would get the ball one more time there was really no threat.
The South Alabama offense rolled up 263 yards rushing, with Tra Minter rushing for 150 of them on 19 carries. But they were hampered with penalties at the wrong time, though they were few at least.
The offensive line was outmatched, despit out weighing the ULM defensive line. Cephus was pressured and sacked on numerous occasions. Coach Steve Campbell, an offensive line guru, has yet to get the Jaguar offensive line to put together four quarters of good play.
“I thought we did some things better,” coach Campbell said after the game. “We ran the ball better, but we didn’t have any success through the air until late in the game when we had to spread it out and had to start throwing it. Disappointing loss, very disappointing.”
“We let too many opportunities slip away,” Campbell said. “We’re not there yet. We’ve got to keep grinding, keep pushing.”
Campbell and his team will have a short turnaround as they will play Georgia Southern on Thursday night at Ladd-Peebles Stadium with kickoff scheduled for 6:30pm. The game will be broadcast nationally on ESPNU.
South Alabama Opens Conference Play Against Louisiana-Monroe
In the past two games South Alabama has been outscored 77-9 and have fallen to 1-3 on the season. But the coaching staff is quick to tell you that the real season starts now. They have eight games remaining in the season and they are all conference games.
The coaches are correct.
If the Jags can make a huge turnaround in time, they can still get bowl eligible with five wins. Plus they still hold their own destiny in making the inaugural Sun Belt Conference Championship too.
But as much optimism the first game of the season against Nebraska gave the fans. The last two game have soured them as much or maybe more.
The offense has protected the ball better after turning the ball over several times in the first couple of games. However, the offense has been ineffective moving the ball the last two weeks. They seemed to have been starting to find their way late in the first quarter of the UAB game as Cephus Johnson was running the option pretty well. Cephus racked up 41 yards on six carries, unfortunately he had to leave the game with a concussion late in that first quarter.
After losing some offensive firepower last season both to graduation and to the transfer portal, the number of offensive play makers has dwindled. Tra Minter still leads the team rushing and in all-purpose yards while Kawaan Baker is a great possession receiver who is able to make big plays and has been effective at times running the jet sweep and snagging a touchdown here and there. It has made it hard to get the ball into those play makers hands.
USA’s defense could not get stops against Memphis or UAB. The Blazers controlled the ball for 39:58, wasn’t forced to punt until the 3rd quarter, and allowed them to convert all four 3rd down conversion on the opening drive of the second half, a drive that lasted almost nine full minutes.
As the Jags head into their first conference game of the season against Louisiana-Monroe, they enter ranked 117th of 130 FBS teams in total offense (322.5 yards per game), 119th in passing (146.5 yards per game, and 124th in scoring (16.75 points per game).
In head coach Steve Campbell’s press conference to begin the week, he said that the problem wasn’t the offensive strategy, but rather execution.
“We can draw up new plays, but it is still going to be about a little thing here and a little thing there,” Campbell said Monday. “It’s not what we’re doing, but how we are doing it. Obviously, we need to get the ball to Tra Minter and make sure that KB [Kawaan Baker] gets opportunities.”
The offensive line was manhandled by the Blazers on Saturday. They allowed four sacks and eight tackles for loss.
The Warhawks forced Florida State into overtime in a 45-44 loss to the ‘Noles. They scored 20 points against a good Iowa State team. But on the other side, they allowed 72 points to Iowa State.
South Alabama needs to get off to a fast start on both sides of the ball. They can’t afford to fall behind early and struggle moving the ball and scoring points. After the first drive of the second half against UAB, the Jags defense was able to get stops on the Blazers. Similarly, the Jags defense got stops in the second half of the Memphis game as well.
The defense needs to clamp down early. They could really use Tyree Turner, who is doubtful with an ankle injury suffered against Nebraska.
Offensively, the Jags have got to extend drives by converting 3rd downs and ultimately put points on the board. If it’s by running more option and play action passing then do it, because the RPO has not been working.
It’s running the same play over and over again and the opponents have gotten wise to it. I’m looking at you Kenny Edenfield, as the offensive coordinator you need some better scheming.
The coaching staff has reiterated their support of Cephus as the starting quarterback. But heading into the game he (concussion) and wide receiver Jalen Wayne (foot) are both listed as probable.
The current spread is ULM by 16 points. I’ve picked the Jags the last two weeks to cover and it hasn’t worked out for me. But also based on what I’ve seen the last two weeks, I don’t know if they can turn around everything that is wrong in just one week.
I think the Warhawks cover the 16 point spread, but a late surge by the Jags makes it close. The Warhawks allow 244 yards per game and nearly 6 yards per carry rushing.
South Alabama and Louisiana-Monroe kick off at 6pm in Monroe, LA. The game will be available to streamed on ESPN+ with a subscription. Play-by-play coverage will be aired on 99.5FM The Jag locally in Mobile and worldwide via iHeartMedia app on the web and smartphones.
Jags Take Another Thumping, Fall to UAB 35-3
South Alabama travelled to Birmingham for their final non-conference game of the 2019 season against the UAB Blazers and came home with a 35-3 loss.
Tyler Johnston III threw for 313 yards and three touchdowns on 22-of-27 passing while also running for 26 yards against the Jaguar defense. In all, the Jags defense gave up 514 yards of total offense.
In a game with few highlights for the Red, White, and Blue, Tra Minter led the Jags with 43 yards rushing and added three catches for 34 yards.
Nick Mobley, sophomore linebacker, led the defense with 10 stops. Keith Gallmon and DJ Daniels each had nine and eight stops respectively in the secondary.
The few highlights for the Jags this week is that they won’t make Sportscenter, C’mon Man, or You Had One Job segments this week with a botched point-after attempt that turns into two-points for the opposite team. They avoided a shut out by notching a field goal in the first quarter. Though they were shut out of the end zone. They did not turn the ball over and were only called for just four penalties.
Cephus Johnson had to leave the game early due to being diagnosed with a concussion, though he was visibly not happy about it on the sideline. He finished the game 3-of-5 passing for 7 yards and 41 yards rushing on six carries.
Tylan Morton came in and went 5-of-10 for 76 yards. Desmond Trotter saw some action late and his only pass attempt was incomplete.
Jalen Tolbert and Kawaan Baker both caught two passes for 23 and 22 yards respectively.
Blazer Spencer Brown carried the ball 18 times for 80 yards and two touchdowns.
With the non-conference slate finished, the Jags will need to regroup for the meat of your schedule.
“We start conference play next week and that gives everybody a chance to start over,” South Alabama coach Steve Campbell said. “Everybody is 0-0 and it starts a new season. We’ll learn from this one.”
“I thought we played better [defensively] in the second half” Campbell said. “Offensively, we didn’t put enough together to generate any touchdowns. This is now two weeks in a row that we haven’t played well offensively, so we have to go back and look at what we’re doing, and whether or not we have the right people at the right spots. We need to find a way to move the ball and score some points.”
Campbell spoke about how to turn things around going into conference play with eight games remaining. “We’ll go back to the drawing board and figure out a way to score some points offensively. Defensively, we did a good job of getting off the field in the second half. They [UAB] went on one [scoring] drive in the second half and that was a nine minute drive where they converted five or six third downs and we just couldn’t get off the field. We made them earn it in the second half and didn’t give them anything cheap. There’s some stuff for us to build off from this game. Our special teams played better.”
South Alabama will travel to Louisiana-Monroe. The Warhawks took Florida State to overtime before falling to the Seminoles. The Jags will have a week figure things out and do some soul searching as they still control their season.
The Jags and the Warhawks are schedule to kick off at 6pm in Monroe, LA. The game can be seen on ESPN+ with a subscription.
USA At UAB: The Battle of I65
South Alabama (1-2) will hit I65 and travel up to Birmingham to face off with UAB (2-0) for the first time in program history. These two schools had a home-and-home scheduled previously, but was cancelled when UAB abruptly shut down their football program in 2014.
UAB has since restarted their program and have found new success on the gridiron.
If this becomes a regular matchup (which I hope for) I think this would be great for both programs. The (real) Battle of I65.
If you’ve been around the Jaguar football program since it’s inception, the name Bill Clark should be familiar with you. Coach Clark was the defensive coordinator under coach Joey Jones from 2009 – 2013 when he left for a head coaching opportunity at Jacksonville State.
In all, there are 25 players and coaches with ties to the Mobile area that are a part of the UAB program. Former assistant coaches Bryant Vincent and Richard Owens are both on Clark’s staff. Quarterback Tyler Johnston was a standout player for Spanish Fort before signing with UAB.
Since UAB restarted their program in 2017 they are an undefeated 13-0 at home. Including a 13-3 record in 2018 with a bowl win over Northern Illinois in the Boca Raton Bowl.
The Jags come into the game after a 42-6 trouncing by Memphis in Mobile when Tra Minter, the Jags leading all-purpose yardage leader, was forced out of the game with a concussion early in the game. They also made ESPN and other lists for the botched PAT that was returned by Memphis for 2-points after the Jags only score of the game.
Here’s the PAT just in case you need a reminder.
I present to you: the worst PAT attempt in college football history courtesy of South Alabama. pic.twitter.com/myXZpsA6m1
— Eagle-Eyed Social Media User Dan Why-Ner (@DanWeiner) September 14, 2019
The USA coaches pulled Cephus Johnson in the third quarter against Memphis, but head coach Steve Campbell said that he will continue to be the guy behind center for the Jags. Cephus, on the bright side, has thrown for 393 yards and three touchdowns but on the down side he has thrown four interceptions, committed three fumbles and has only completed 53% of his passes. It’s unknown if Johnson may be on a “short leash” and could be pulled in favor of Tylan Morton or Desmond Trotter.
The Blazers have a 1-2 punch at running back with Spencer Brown and Jonathan Haden. They are licking their chops after watching USA allowing over 300 yards to Memphis last weekend. However the Blazer offensive line has not performed as well run blocking as they have pass blocking. They will probably test the Jaguar rush defense to see if they can get some early success because the Jaguar secondary has covered well with an interception in each of the Jags first three games and only allowing Memphis to throw for more than 200 yards.
The Jaguar offensive line has helped the Jags average over 199 yards per game, with the help of the big game against Jackson State. But the Jags pass protection has not been the best so far this season as they have allowed six sacks so far. They will be facing a Blazer defense that are sack-hungry and will be looking to put pressure on Johnson to try to force him into some bad decisions and to try to cause some fumbles.
The Blazer defense has held their first two opponents to 7-of-31 on 3rd down conversions, tallied 20 tackles-for-loss and eight sacks while holding them to an average of 89.5 yards per game rushing, but those two opponents have been Alabama State and Akron.
When your leading receiver is your running back, that says a lot about your receiver corps. Minter leads the team in receptions (9 for 80 yards) as well as rushing yards (242). Kawaan Baker is right behind him with one fewer catch (8) but has 184 yards receiving and two touchdowns. But when your two quarterbacks combine to have 6 interceptions only completing 50% of their passes, to say the Jags passing game is struggling is an understatement.
Meanwhile the Blazers have looked very good early with two players in the top eight of Conference USA in receiving yardage.
An additional factor is injuries. The Jags got pretty banged up against Memphis. Minter is expected to play as he was sighted at practice. However Riley Cole (undisclosed) and Roy Yancey (ankle) have also been dealing with injuries but have been practicing, so it sounds like they will play but will those injuries affect their effectiveness?
Officially Cole, Yancey, and Jalen Wayne are all probable to play. Minter was last listed as questionable. Tyree Turner and Patrick Rosette have been listed as doubtful. Max Charite and Shawn Jennings have been ruled out for the game. Meanwhile UAB only has one player listed as being out for the season.
The Blazers are an 11 point favorite in the game with an over/under of 48 points. But the Jags will have Minter back as he has reportedly cleared the concussion protocol and practiced with the team on Wednesday.
While I don’t feel good calling for the Jags to win out-right (as much as I’d love for it to happen). The Blazers have put up impressive numbers against two opponents that they should have a clear advantage against. Meanwhile the Jags gave Nebraska a scare before facing a possibly the best Group of Five team in Memphis.
I’ll be a homer and take the Jags to cover but I think UAB may run their home record to 14-0 since “The Return”.
The Jags and the Blazers are scheduled for a 2:30pm kickoff from Legion Field in Birmingham. The game can be viewed on the NFL Network.
Go Jags.
Jags Dominated By Memphis 42-6
The cat fight turned out to be a one-sided event as the Memphis Tigers (3-0) dominated all phases of the game against South Alabama (1-2) at Ladd-Peebles Stadium on Saturday.
USA looked to have made big strides leading into this season as they pressed Nebraska hard in a 35-21 loss in Lincoln to open the season, then a program record 413 yards rushing last week against Jackson State. But Memphis, from the American Athletic Conference, showed the Jags that they had not progressed as much as they may have thought, at least on September 14th.
The Jags were staring squarely at being shut out at home for the first time in program history, but a big play touchdown near midway through the fourth quarter saved the team from that fate. But they did suffer their worst home loss in program history to a non-Power 5 conference team.
Both teams opened the game with three-and-outs on offense, but Memphis eventually got their offense going as Kenneth Gainwell scored on a 5-yard run with 7:21 left in the first quarter. Kylan Watkins dove for an 18-yard touchdown pass from Brady White to make it 14-0 at the 14:18 mark in the second quarter.
Later in the second quarter after a big run by Watkins, the Tigers scored on a 4th and goal when White found Kedarian Jones for a 2-yard touchdown pass taking a 20-0 lead after the 2pt attempt on the swinging gate formation.
The Tigers added a 36-yard field goal with :39 left in the second quarter to close out the first half leading 23-0.
Of the eight first-half possessions by the Jaguars offense, six of them ended with punts. One ended by a fumble by Cephus Johnson and halftime ended the other.
The Tigers out gained the Jags in the first half 327 – 93. They out rushed the Jags 245 – 55.
Tra Minter left the game late in the first quarter after a vicious hit on an 8-yard jet sweep left him laying motionless for a couple minutes before he was helped off the field by the athletic trainers and visibly woozy. He will be in the concussion protocol this week and will have to clear that before he can be cleared to play again for the Jags.
Memphis opened the second half with a quick score that was sparked by a big play when safety DJ Daniels tipped a pass that fell right into tight end Joey Magnifico’s hands that went for 58 yards to the 4 yard line. White then connected with Antonio Gibson for the touchdown to take a 30-0 lead.
Memphis added a field goal early in the fourth quarter to take a 33-0 lead with 13:10 left in the game.
On the ensuing drive Tylan Morton ran for a 7-yard gain, but fumbled the ball and Austin Hall picked it up and returned it 48 yards for another Memphis touchdown making it 40-0 with 11:18 left in the game.
The Jags got the ball back and on the second play Morton connected with Kawaan Baker on an inside slant play which turned into a 74 yard touchdown. However on the PAT snap was bobbled and in an attempt to make a play, the ball was fumbled and Jacobi Francis took it the distance for 2-points for Memphis closing out the scoring at 42-6.
The Jags were held to 248 total yards of offense while Memphis rolled up 530 total yards. The Jags rushed for only 101 yards in the game compared to 312 for the Tigers and the Jags only managed 147 yards passing to 218 by the Tigers.
USA only converted 5 of 15 3rd down attempted, but Memphis only converted 7 of 15 attempts.
I guess the positive point in the game was the Jags were only flagged three times for 30 yards. Memphis was flagged 10 times for 100 yards.
Cephus Johnson was a mere 5-for-14 for 42 yards before he was pulled midway through the third quarter. Tylan Morton was 4-for-12 for 105 yards, a touchdown and an interception.
Johnson led the Jags with 37 rushing yards on 14 carries, followed by Jared Wilson who had 28 yards on 10 carries.
Jalen Tolbert caught four passes for 37 yards. Kawaan Baker caught two passes for 84 yards and the lone Jaguar touchdown.
Brady White went 12-for-20 for 209 yards, three touchdowns and an interception. Connor Adair completed both of the throwing attempted for 9 yards.
The Tigers had a pair of runners go over the century mark with Kenneth Gainwell rushing for 145 yards on 16 carries and a touchdown. Kylan Watkins added 113 yards on 11 carries.
Damonte Coxie caught three passes for 81 yards to lead the Tigers receiving corps.
The Jags visibly struggled at the line of scrimmage, which Jaguar head football coach Steve Campbell noted in his post game comments. “We had a hard time running the ball and we had a hard time stopping the run,” Campbell said. “If you aren’t able to run the ball, you become one dimensional on offense. We had a chance to hit a play or two early and we didn’t, so all they did was tighten up defensively, and we struggled to run the ball. Memphis rushed the ball for 312 yards and we were only able to rush it for 101 yards and most of that I believe came in the fourth quarter. We got beat on the line of scrimmage.”
Campbell also noted the loss of Minter in the game. “It hurt because we are a young football team,” he said. “Tra is someone we look to for a lot of leadership on offense. Jared {Wilson] stepped up for us a little bit, but it hurt to lose Tra because he does a lot for us.”
South Alabama will travel to Birmingham for the first game of a home-and-home series between the two programs and the Jags final non-conference game of the season. UAB is coached former South Alabama defensive coordinator Bill Clark. He is joined by former Jaguar offensive coordinator Bryant Vincent as well as former assistant coach Richard Owens.
The Jags and the Blazers are set for a 2:30pm kickoff at Legion Field. The game will be televised on the NFL Network. Radio coverage can be heard on 99.5 The Jag locally in Mobile and on the iHeartMedia app.
A Cat Fight: Jags vs Tigers
South Alabama (1-1) exploded for a school record 413 yards rushing last week against Jackson State. Though it was against a FCS school, that amount of rushing yards is still quite a feat.
The Jags welcomes a more formidable opponent to Ladd-Peebles Stadium in the Memphis Tigers (2-0).
This one should be a cat fight from the beginning.
A year ago in Memphis, the Jags were only down by four points 31-27 late in the third quarter before the Tigers pulled away for a 52-35 victory. However UM got a big shot in the arm to start the 2019 season by knocking off Ole Miss 15-10 at home. They followed that up with a 55-24 win over FCS Southern University.
The Tigers quarterback Brady White may be one of the best quarterbacks the Jags will see this season. Against Southern, he went 17-of-21 for 337 yards and two touchdowns in only three quarters of work. Against Ole Miss he went 23-of-31 for 172 yards. That’s a 77% completion clip through the first two games.
While the Tigers will with without their starting running back Patrick Taylor, they have a freshmen in Kenneth Gainwell who started his first game last week and rushed for 85 yards. Also gone is Darrell Henderson, who went for 188 yards and two touchdowns in last years game as he left school early for the NFL draft (LA Rams).
The Jags will look to keep a Memphis streak alive, for each of the last three seasons the Tigers have dropped their first road game of the season. In 2016 it was Ole Miss, in 2017 it was UCF and last year it was Navy.
Can USA make it four in a row?
The Jags defense is currently ranked 24th nationally in passing yards allowed. Additionally their rushing defense has been playing pretty well so far and are looking to atone for their performance a year ago.
Tra Minter will be a focus for the Memphis defense. He averages 216.5 all-purpose yards per game, which is third in the nation. He was the majority of the Jags offense last week against JSU. The Tigers have yet to allow a 100 yard rusher this year, but Minter will be their biggest test yet.
Now with a clear #2 back behind Minter in Jared Wilson, the Jags have what looks like a nice 1-2 punch with a change of pace.
Concerning things from last week was the continued turnover problem with Cephus Johnson. Granted it was only his third start but with six total turnovers in two games, four interceptions and two fumbles, including two that resulted in defensive touchdowns and two other that occurred in the opponents red zone, protecting the ball will have to be a premium.
Johnson has been exploited because he had locked into a receiver early allowing the defenders to read his eyes. But the two fumbles came from backside pressure that he never felt.
The other concerning thing from last week was discipline. When they traveled to Nebraska, the Jags were very disciplined and commit few penalties. But at home against JSU, the Jags were flagged 11 times for 101 yards and had three players ejected for targeting, including two on back-to-back plays. Fortunately it was an FCS opponent and didn’t really hurt them against an over-matched opponent. But against another FBS school, it could very well cost them the game, especially if it were to be Riley Cole again.
Injuries:
Jags will be without WR Jalen Wayne, LB Kade Koler and LB Patrick Rosette. RB Jalin Buie is out for the season with a knee injury. Defensive lineman Tyree Turner is questionable for the game.
Memphis will be without RB Patrick Taylor and DB Chis Claybrooks. DL O’Bryan Goodson is questionable.
Line:
Memphis is favored by 19 points. I think the Jags have be good opportunity to keep this game close into the fourth quarter and sneak out a win. I’ll take the under in this game.
The game is scheduled to kick off at 2:30pm at Ladd-Peebles Stadium. The game will be aired on ESPNU and can the radio broadcast can be heard on 99.5FM The Jag locally in Mobile and through the iHeartRadio app online.
A Long Goodbye To Ladd-Peebles Stadium
We haven’t posted any updates about Hancock Whitney Stadium since it they began construction, but we’re changing that today.
Saturday afternoon the Jags held their final season opener at Ladd-Peebles Stadium. A stadium that has had it’s ups and downs over the years.
Many fans are quick to voice their displeasure with Ladd. Yes it’s old, the concessions are basically high school fare, and many are scared to venture into the parking lot because of the surrounding neighborhood.
However, if it wasn’t for Ladd-Peebles Stadium I don’t know if South Alabama football would have began when it did. USA did not have any facilities for football. The club football team played at the track across from the Mitchell Center with bleacher seating for maybe a couple hundred fans. A sunken bowl that could have been turned into a small football stadium along the lines of my high school.
USA was able to start by building a new football field house and a practice facility without having to build a stadium until 10+ years into football.
But now we have Hancock Whitney Stadium taking shape in front of the Jaguars Football Field House where the former intramural fields were placed.
The ‘Cock will be the home of Jaguar football and it’s rising fast. What was once only dream and a goal, is finally coming to fruition. A brand new, state of the art 25,000 seat stadium on the campus of South Alabama.
No more will the neighborhood around Ladd intimidate fans from coming out to a game. No more parking in people’s yards and hoping that nothing happens to your car while you’re cheering on the Jags. No more parking at the mall and taking a shuttle through the same neighborhood and being dropped off near Williamson High School. Also no more poor concessions, poor sound system, rental video boards, metal rattling on big 3rd downs, and lack luster student attendance.
Okay, that last one may still happen. Even Alabama has problems getting students to show up and stay the entire game. Not anything against the students, sometimes its more about the party than the game.
And some may miss the metal rattling underfoot because now the fans will have to make noise by yelling and not by stomping their feet.
Probably the low point of Ladd was when Mississippi State visited on a very hot day with a packed stadium leading to attendees having problems getting water. Some stations ran out completely, some stations did not have cool water. USA took the brunt of the criticism at first but it was the group running concessions at Ladd that failed everyone. After that, USA began allowing attendees to bring in up to two bottles of water per person in a soft-sided cooler.
That was eventually stopped but was in affect for Jackson State and will be allowed once again for the 2:30pm match-up against Memphis on Saturday, September 14.
Lets take a moment to look at the highlights from Ladd-Peebles Stadium. Of course the Jags first ever football game against Hargrave Military Academy and their first ever score when Myles Gibbon hit Courtney “Quick Six” Smith for a 60 yard touchdown down the near sideline. Also the Jags first win over a ranked opponent when they downed San Diego State 42-24.
In 2020, we will welcome The ‘Cock into the family with The Mitch, The Stank, The Cage, and Jaguar Field. We still need a better name for Jaguar Field that falls in line with the others facilities.
The ‘Cock is rising on campus.
Go Jags!
Jags Set School Record Rushing In 37-14 Win Over Jackson State
As many strides the South Alabama football team and coaches made last week in their narrow defeat in Lincoln, Nebraska to the Cornhusker, they stepped backwards almost as much.
Plagued by mistakes in all phases of the game, the Jags (1-1) did figure out that they could lean on the running game after they wore down FCS Jackson State (0-2) defense.
The Jags put up a school-record 413 yard rushing on 60 carries as they ground out a 37-14 win over the Jackson State Tigers. Tra Minter led the attack with 189 yards and two touchdowns on just 16 carries, though one of them was a 49 yard touchdown on a backwards pass that counted as a rushing attempt. Freshman Jared Wilson carried 12 times for 95 yards showing his raw power on a number of attempts.
The Jags mistakes started early when on back-to-back plays the Jags lost Riley Cole and Rocelle McWilliams on targeting penalties. Luckily they occurred in the first half thus they will be able to play against Memphis next week. The loss of those two next week would have been devastating. But then they lost a third player to targeting in the second half and will miss playing time against Memphis.
The offense had three turnovers, two of them were red zone interceptions and the other was a fumble at the 1 yard line.
After playing very disciplined against the Cornhuskers, the Jags were penalized 11 times for 101 yards. A flashback to last season.
The Tigers looked to score on the games first possession, but their special teams woes continued as their field goal attempt sailed wide right.
The Jags made it 7-0 when Cephus Johnson carried it two yards into the end zone with 8:31 left in the first quarter.
The Tigers tied the game with 3:26 left in the opening quarter when Derrik Ponder connected with Warren Newman.
Just two plays later Johnson found Minter on a behind-the-line swing pass which he took 49 yards. However a high snap fouled up the extra point attempt leaving the Jags lead at 13-7.
It was starting to look like Jackson State was going to be able to make it to halftime only down by six points, but Jags drove 90 yards in 8 plays in only 1:48 highlighted by a 36 yard run by Minter and capped off by a 3 yard touchdown pass from Johnson to Kawaan Baker. Head coach Steve Campbell called for a two-point attempt but Johnson’s pass fell incomplete leaving the Jags lead at 19-7 at halftime.
USA came out in the second half with a focus on running the ball and stopping the Tigers running attack.
And they did, holding JSU to only 40 yards after halftime: 20 yards rushing and 20 yards passing.
With all the problems passing, the Jags ran the ball 60 times of their 79 offensive snaps.
Keshawn Harper ran 10 time for JSU gaining 75 yards on the ground. With Tyson Alexander added 44 yards on four carries and Jordan Johnson added another 39 yards on nine carries as the JSU Tigers rushed for 142 yards on the Jags.
Derrick Ponder went 15-of-26 for 123 yards, a touchdown and an interception.
Nine Jags carried the ball to combine for 413 yards rushing and four touchdowns, including Tylan Morton’s first touchdown as a Jag.
Johnson went 11-of-18 for 120 yards, two interceptions and a touchdown. Tylan Morton completed his only passing attempt for 5 yards.
Seven Jaguars caught passes with Minter leading the way with 33 yards on four catches. Kawaan Baker added 41 yards on two catches and the only receiving touchdown of the game.
As mentioned, the Jags rushed for 413 yards as they rolled up 538 yards of total offense against Jackson State with 29 first downs and going 10-of-15 on 3rd downs.
The Jaguar defense tightened up eventually and only allowed 265 total yards to the Tigers, 142 of them on the ground. They also held the Tigers to a mere 1-of-9 on 3rd down.
After the game, coach Campbell was proud for getting a win but noted they made “some youthful and immature mistakes” that need correcting. He also mentioned that they worked hard on penalties and targeting fouls. He mentioned they did well last week but they regressed this week.
Typically you’d like to make your biggest improvement between week 1 and week 2,” Coach Campbell said. “But honestly I can’t say that we did that.”
Campbell noted that the Jags hurt themselves with turnovers against Nebraska. “We would have won the game if we hadn’t turned the ball over, so this week after turning it over twice in the air we didn’t want to do it again this week.”
Jalen Thompson’s interception broke the school career record. “It was one of the goals I set coming out of high school,” Thompson said. “It’s been a journey, a roller coaster so that interception was for my mom and my family because they sacrificed a lot. Over the last four years, it’s been a journey and getting that interception meant the world to me.”
Jackson State head coach John Hendrick noted that they did not play with with a few of their key starters so as not to expose them to injury against the Jags. But he saw that his team has a good offense that can move the ball and a defense that can stop people.
While the Jags are now 1-1 on the season, they have a lot of work to put in this week in preparation for Memphis, who upset Ole Miss in the first week of the season 15-10.
The Jags will host Memphis on Saturday, September 14 with kickoff scheduled for 2:30 pm and will be broadcast on ESPNU.
USA Hosts FCS Jackson State In Home Opener
South Alabama opens their home slate against FCS Jackson State, the final season playing in Ladd-Peebles as their home stadium.
The Jags come off of an inspring effort against then #24 Nebraska in Lincoln, falling short of their upset bid, 35-21. They will find themselves on the other side of the coin, they don’t want to be upset by Jackson State, who is coming off of a 36-15 road loss to Bethune Cookman in the 2019 MEAC/SWAC Challenge.
Jackson State played three quarterbacks in their first game, but head coach John Hendrick announced that Derrick Ponder will be the starter going forward. He finished 8-of-21 for 130 yards, but had a fumble in the fourth quarter when the Tigers were moving the ball.
Despite the loss and rotating quarterbacks, they ran up over 500 yards of total offense, 233 of them came on the ground in a three-headed rushing attack. Coach Hendrick challenged his offense to execute better, with all those yards they had ample opportunity to score.
The Jags won most of the statistical categories against the Cornhuskers, but the game is won or lost with the points put on the board.
The Jags settled in with Cephus Johnson taking snaps with 231 passing yards and two touchdowns, but also had two interceptions and two fumbles, one for a touchdown in the endzone.
The Jaguar defense held the Huskers to 276 yards of total offense and only 98 yards rushing.
The Jags has more talent across the board than the Tigers. The offense needs to continue to get Cephus confortable early with short, high-percentage passes and RPO’s. The JSU defense will look to disguise coverages and try to force Cephus into making mistakes.
The two fumbles by Cephus last week all came from his backside, where he never seemed to feel the pressure. Look for JSU to try to bring pressure to see if they can recreate that pressure and try to get some turnovers.
The Jags will look to better their protection from last week and getting more players involved to build depth as they prepare for Memphis next week and the fast approaching conference schedule. USA controlled the line of scrimmage pretty well against Nebraska, this week they look to get those rushing yards that eluded them last week. The rushing attack will feature Tra Minter but with Jalin Buie out for the season with a knee injury, the coaches will look to get more touches to the other guys to build depth at a position that has been pretty thin the last couple of seasons.
The Jags are a 27.5 point favorite. With their talent anything would probably be a disappointment. I think the Jags cover as they look to further forget the frustrations from last season.