Claws Out: South Alabama Travels To Georgia State For Final Road Game Of Season
The South Alabama Jaguar football team (1-9, 0-6 SBC) plays in their final road game of the 2019 season on Saturday when they take on the Georgia State Panthers (6-4, 3-3 SBC) in Atlanta.
Of the two remaining games of the season, this game may be the more likely of the two for the Jags to not only get their first FBS win of the season, but also break a 14-game road losing streak dating back to the 2017 season.
Over the last two games the Jaguar offense has shown signs of life behind the direction of redshirt freshman Desmond Trotter. The team missed a go-ahead field goal against Texas State in the final two minutes of the game. Then against Louisiana-Lafayette, who had the top scoring defense in the conference, the Jags rolled up 351 yards rushing and 27 points.
Tra Minter has been a workhorse all season long but with the emergence of Carlos Davis, the Jags rushing attack has found someone to compliment Tra and to build around going forward.
With Georgia State’s defense allowing over 200 yards rushing per game, offensive coordinator Kenny Edenfield will look for a repeat performance in rushing production from the ULL game.
But the Jaguar offense cannot be one-dimentional.
Trotter will eventually need to throw the ball effectively. Though he’s only made two starts in his career in college, he has yet to pass for 200 yards or more. Last weekend against ULL, he only attempted 15 passes and only had 2 passing yards at halftime.
While the offense has started finding it’s way, the defense has regressed. They allowed 373 yards passing to Texas State two weeks ago and then 255 yards rushing to ULL last weekend. But all season the defense has struggled getting off the field on 3rd down but have allowed a number of 3rd and longs to be converted lately.
The Jaguar defense will face a quarterback who was committed to head coach Steve Campbell’s staff at Central Arkansas, he didn’t follow him along to Mobile when Campbell was hired. Instead he chose to go with the Panthers.
Dan Ellington has completed 64% of his passes for 1,901 yards, 19 touchdowns and six interceptions on the year.
But that’s not the most remarkable note about Ellington. Despite suffering a torn ACL, he started against Appalachian State and is listed as probable against the Jaguars. Though the Panthers lost 56-27, they held a 21-7 lead early in the game.
Part of Ellington’s danger is his ability to run, which has been neutralized by his injury. How much mobility he has will be see on Saturday.
Expect the Jaguar defense to turn up the pressure if he mobility is limited. Last week against App. State, Ellington threw two interceptions and eventually gave way to redshirt freshman Cornelious Brown in the second half when App State started taking control of the game.
The Jags will be without defensive lineman Tyree Turner and tight end Khameron Taylor. Offensive lineman Joshua McCulloch is questionable to play. Defensive lineman Jordon Beaton is listed as probable.
If the Jags are going to get an FBS win this season, this may be their best opportunity of the two remaining games. Between an injured starting quarterback and an inexperienced backup, coupled with a defense that allows over 200 yards per game rushing, the numbers game sure looks good for USA.
The Panthers are favored by 10 points. Not only do I think the Jags will cover, but I think they will win outright.
The Jags and the Panthers are scheduled to kickoff at 1pm in Atlanta at Georgia State Stadium. The game can be streamed on ESPN+ and radio coverage will begin at 11am on 99.5 FM The Jag and 96.1 FM in Mobile and worldwide on the iHeartMedia app.
Go Jags!