South Alabama Falls To Georgia Southern 20-17 In 2OT
The South Alabama Jaguars fall in heartbreaking fashion in double-overtime to Georgia Southern 20-17 in an ugly game.
The Eagles (2-3, 1-1 SBC) tried everything to give the game away, but the Jaguars (1-5, 0-2 SBC) just couldn’t capitalize down the stretch. It was blind side pressure on quarterback Cephus Johnson that ultimately set up the Eagles for their game-winning field goal attempt in the second overtime period.
You may be asking ‘how ugly was it’?
Well, let me tell you some numbers. The Jags only had 4 first downs in the game to GSU’s 22. The Jags finally surpassed the 100 yards of total offense about midway through the third quarter. They ended the game with 242 total yards of offense to GSU’s 383. USA only managed 48 yards rushing to 305 for the Eagles. USA threw the ball for 194 yards while the Eagles gained 78 through the air.
Georgia Southern ran 83 offensive plays and held the ball for 40:38. The Jags only ran 39 offensive plays and possessed the ball for 19:22.
USA was 0-of-10 on 3rd downs. That’s right zero, zilch, nada, nothing, nil.
GSU was 5-of-18 on 3rd down and converted their only 4th down attempt.
Georgia Southern was the first to get on the scoreboard with a 46 yard field goal at the 11:03 mark in the second quarter. But their lead would not last long.
On the first play from scrimmage for the Jags, Johnson lofted a ball up and over the Eagle defense and right into Kawaan Baker’s arms for a 75 yard touchdown to take a 7-3 lead only :11 seconds after GSU broke the scoreless tie.
After a three-and-out by the Jags offense and a 25 yard punt by Jack Brooks gave Georgia Southern excellent field position at the USA 42. After an incomplete pass to start the drive, GSU rushed six consecutive times and found the end zone to retake the lead 10-7 with 1:11 left in the third quarter.
After punting back and forth, the Jags started at their own 20 yard line after a touchback when Tra Minter took the second down handoff 20 yards to the Jaguar 40 yard line. Then Johnson loaded up and tossed it deep for Jalen Tolbert, who hauled it in and scoring his first career touchdown on the 60 yard play with 5:41 left in the third quarter.
The Jags were looking to put the game away when Johnson lofted another deep pass to Kawaan Baker, but this time Baker had to slow down for the ball ever so slightly which allowed the Georgia Southern defenders to bring him down at the GSU 31 after a 43 yard gain. However the Jags would not be able to keep the chains moving and had to settle for a 45 yard field goal by Frankie Onate at the 4:24 mark in the fourth quarter giving the Jags a 17-10 lead.
After Diego Guajardo’s kickoff went out of bounds, the Eagles then methodically marched the ball down the field with runs of 14, 9, 16, and 22 on consecutive plays to get to the Jaguar 4 yard line. They finally punched it in on 3rd and goal at the 1 to tie the game at 17-all with :20 left in regulation.
South Alabama won the overtime coin toss and elected to go on defense first. The Jags defense bent but didn’t break. The Eagles got to the Jaguar 5 yard line before going in reverse via penalties for illegal formation then an illegal forward pass.
The 32 yard field goal was hooked left giving the Jags the opportunity to score and end the game.
The Jags offense went backwards with a loss of a yard by Minter followed by a false start putting the ball at the 31 yard line. Onate’s 45 yard field goal attempt was blocked to go to the second overtime period.
This time the Jags went on offense first and on the first play Randy Wade beat the left tackle and got to Johnson stripping the ball before he could throw it and the Eagles pounced on it.
The Eagles were content to just run the ball mostly between the hashmarks until the last run put it on the left hash, the same position of the missed field goal just minutes before.
However this time it split the uprights for the 20-17 final score.
Minter was held to 45 yards on the ground and just 8 yards receiving. Kawaan Baker led the receivers with 126 yards and a touchdown on four receptions. Tolbert had the one catch for 60 yards and a touchdown.
Shai Werts threw the ball 17 times and completed nine of them. But he was also the games leading rusher with 102 yards on 20 carries. JD King rushed for 72 yards on 22 carries.
South Alabama will have 13 days to get ready for their trip to Troy for the 2019 Battle for the Belt. Troy will play on Saturday and will have 10 days to prepare.
While the Jags finally found a deep pass threat, they had some significant issues in other offensive phases of the game. They couldn’t run, they couldn’t convert third downs, and they were significantly out-snapped and out-possessed by their opponent.
“We did some good things, but obviously not enough to win the game,” head coach Steve Campbell said after the game. “It’s very disappointing.”
“We couldn’t generate any kind of a running game, and that was the difference,” Campbell said. “We could not run the football. We had a hard time blocking their defensive front and linebackers.”
On a bright note, the Jags defense held up very well considering the situation.
Now the Jags have a bye week and 13 days to prepare for their in-state rival.
They are going to need it.
Go Jags!