Preview: South Alabama Opens Conference Play At Louisiana
Kickoff: Saturday October 1, 4:00pm
Venue: Cajun Field, Lafayette, LA
TV/Streaming: ESPN+
Radio: 96.1 fm The Rocket, Sports Talk 99.5 fm, iHeartRadio App
#5 Jersey: Desmond Trotter
Thunderjags Twitter: @USAThunderjags
South Alabama (3-1) took another big step forward last Saturday against Louisiana Tech (1-3). Though they opened the game with a big play, it was called back due to a penalty. But they didn’t let the adversity affect them.
If anything, they used it as motivation.
They took the opening possession and marched 80 yards over six plays in just over two minutes to put the points back on the board. Then after the defense held La. Tech to a 3-and-out, Caullin Lacy returned the punt 57 yards for a touchdown. He was also named the Sun Belt Conference Specials Teams Player of the week for that. From there, they mostly cruised to a 38-14 win.
Yet the game was still full of adversity.
The Jags were flagged for 14 penalties, totaling 131 penalty yards. It also saw a targeting penalty called down from the press box when Brock Higdon was seemingly pushed into the quarterback. Head coach Kane Wommack appealed the subsequent disqualification in the first half of the next game, however his appeal was denied.
That game is now behind them, as is their non-conference slate of game. Now they face the next test of their season: conference play.
What better way to start your conference schedule than to begin with the perennial powerhouse in your division. The Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns have won the Sun Belt Conference Western Division championship the last four years (2018-2021), they shared the 2020 conference championship with Coastal Carolina due to Covid cancellation of the championship game, and they won the 2021 conference championship game versus Appalachian State in Billy Napier’s final game as head coach before leaving for the University of Florida.
Louisiana-Lafayette (2-2, 0-1 SBC)
The Ragin’ Cajuns are led by first year head coach Michael Desormeaux. He played college football for the Cajuns before a short-lived career with the Jacksonville Jaguars and Calgary Stampeders. He spent six seasons in the high school coaching ranks, three of them as a head coach, before making the jump to collegiate coaching.
He joins the Cajuns in 2016 as running backs coach, then served as tight ends coach for four seasons. Last year he was co-offensive coordinator and tight ends coach before being selected as head coach.
The Cajuns opened the season with a pair of wins over Southeastern Louisiana (24-7) and Eastern Michigan (49-21), both at home. However, they’ve come up short the last two contests against Rice (21-33) and Louisiana-Monroe (17-21), both on the road.
Offense
The Cajuns aren’t the Cajuns of the last few years. Quarterback Levi Lewis is gone and they return only one major contributing running back from a year ago. Chris Smith led the team rushing last season with 855 yards on 153 attempts. He had a career outing against Arkansas State when he ran for 238 yards on 24 carries with two touchdowns.
After Smith, they only return one other running back who saw action last season. He only had eight carries for 14 yards though.
As a team the Cajuns are averaging 27.75 points, 340.5 total yards, 233.25 passing yards, and only 107.3 rushing yards and 27:48 time of possession per game.
They are converting 40% of their 3rd down attempts (22-of-55) and 25% of their 4th down attempts (2-of-8). They are winning big in the turnover margin so far with a +9 turnover margin (3 turnovers to 12 takeaways). They have already logged nine interceptions through four games this season.
Of their 13 trips into opponents red zone, they have scored on 10 of those trips, with eight of them being touchdowns.
Chandler Fields leads the quarterback duo going 50-of-88 for seven touchdowns, and two interceptions. Ben Wooldridge is 30-of-45 for 350 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions.
Michael Jefferson leads the receiving corps with 17 catches for 259 yards and two touchdowns. Johnny Lumpkin and Chris Smith are the only other players to log double digit receptions (10). Lumpkin has 99 yards and three touchdowns while Smith has 91 yards. John Stephens Jr is the only other receiver with over 100 yards receiving (103 to be exact) with one touchdown.
Chris Smith leads the rushing attack with 157 yards on 35 carries with two touchdowns. Terrence Williams is the only other rusher over the century mark with 104 yards on 29 carries. Three other players have double-digit carries, Jocob Kibodi (19 for 96 yards), Dre’lyn Washington (17 for 65 yards and a touchdown), and Chandler Fields with 16.
Defense
Opponents are averaging 20.5 points, 372.3 total yards of offense, 241 passing yards, 131.3 rushing yards and 31:58 time of possession per game against the Cajuns.
They are converting just over 44% of their 3rd down attempts (26-of-59) and just under 43% of their 4th down attempts (3-of-7). The defense has taken the ball away from their opponents 12 times, nine of them interceptions and three fumbles.
Opponents have been in the red zone 13 times and came away with scores 12 of those trips, ten of them coming as touchdowns.
Jourdan Quibodeaux is the leading tackler with 31 total stops, 12 of them solo from his linebacker position. Kam Pedescleaux is right behind him with 30 total stops, 18 solo with a forced fumble and an interception. No player on defense has more than one interception on the season.
Special Teams
Preston Safford is 2-of-4 on the season on field goals, his longest make is 36 yards. His two missing came from a 50+ yard attempt and a 40+ yard attempt.
Rhys Byrns has punted 19 times with an average of 45.3 yards per punt with two touchbacks, five fair catches, 6 downed inside the 20 and four kicks of 50+ yards.
Eric Garror has returned 9 punts, one of them for a touchdown.
South Alabama (3-1, 0-0 SBC)
For the second-consecutive season the Jags have started the year 3-1. However the one loss last season was to the very opponent they face this weekend, Louisiana-Lafayette.
In that game the Cajuns jumped out to a 20-0 lead before the Jags began their rally. They shut out the Cajuns in the second half. Diego Guajardo has his worst outing at a Jag that night with a blocked extra point, missing a second extra point, and missing a 37-yard field goal with 1:06 left in the game to take the lead and possibly win.
The Jags may have lost 18-20, but they made a statement to the Cajuns and to the Sun Belt Conference that they were ready to play.
Offense
In only his second season at the helm, coach Wommack and offensive coordinator Major Applewhite have transformed the Jaguar offense into something powerful.
The Jags rank 44th nationally in total offense, 61st nationally in rushing offense, and 35th in passing offense. But most of all they are tied for 29th nationally in scoring offense, something that Jag fans would not have believe two years ago.
On the season the Jags are averaging 38.75 points, 449.5 total yards, 284.25 passing yards, and 165.3 rushing yards, and 33:39 time of possession per game.
They are converting just over 46% of their 3rd down attempts (25-of-54) and 33% of their 4th down attempts (1-of-3). They have turned the ball over 4 times, three of them interceptions and only one fumble, which places them at +6 turnover margin on the season.
Of their 19 trips into the red zone, the offense has scored 16 times, only three of them being field goals.
Carter Bradley is 83-of-124 for 1,029 yards, 10 touchdowns and three interceptions on the season. Desmond Trotter, in only two games of action, is 12-of-14 for 108 yards.
Jalen Wayne leads the receiving corps with 22 catches for 309 yards and three touchdowns after being held mostly in check by Louisiana Tech last week. Caullin Lacy has 18 catches for 258 yards and two touchdowns. Devin Voisin, who has come on of late, has 16 catches for 152 yards and a touchdown. La’Damian Webb has 11 catches for 118 yards and a touchdown, some of those come by a jet sweep like play that counts as a forward pass.
Webb leads the rushing attack with 388 yards on 68 carries with five touchdowns. Terrion Avery currently resides as second on the team in rushing with 82 yards on 21 carries. Braylon McReynolds has 79 yards on 15 carries. Omni Wells has 46 yards on 12 carries. Marco Lee adds 39 yards on 15 carries with two touchdowns.
However it was released this week that Avery is no longer on the team. Additionally offensive linemen Antawn Lewis and Anterrious Gray are both no longer with the team. How much that affect the team down the stretch will remain to be seen. Both Lewis and Gray both have experience as starters in 2021 but were beat out at their positions to begin the season. Both came to USA as Division I transfers and are fifth-year seniors.
But the offensive line group started the season with 21 players, so they should have enough bodies but will the loss of experience come back to haunt them some? We’ll have to wait and see.
Defense
The Jags defense is picking up from where they left off last season. They rank 27th nationally in total defense, 67th nationally in passing yards allowed, and 17th nationally in rushing defense, and are tied for 37th nationally in scoring defense.
Jaden Voisin leads the defense with 20 total stops, 11 solo, with three tackles for loss, two pass breakups and a quarterback hurry. Jalen Jordan is right behind him with 19 stops, 10 solo. Trey Kiser is next with 18 stops, 14 solo, a sack and a fumble recovery. Quentin Wilfawn, who missed last weeks game due to injury, comes in 4th with 17 stops, 13 solo, with 1.5 tackles for loss. CJ Rias leads the team with two sacks.
Despite only recording one tackle last week, Yam Banks was a huge force for the defense against La. Tech. He accounted for three of the five takeaways. He picked off two passes, returning one for a touchdown, and recovered a fumble.
Special Teams
Diego Guajardo is a perfect 5-for-5 on field goal attempts on the season with a season long 48 yarder, has only missed one of his 19 extra point attempts.
Jack Brooks has punted 17 times this season with an average of 43.4 yards per kick. He has a long of 58 yards, four punts of 50+ yards, one touchback, one fair catch, seven downed inside the 20 yard line.
Braylon McReynolds has returned 6 kickoffs for an average of 21.5 yards per return.
Lacy has fielded six punts with one returned 57 yards for a touchdown last week against La. Tech.
Keys to the Game
Establishing the run
The Cajuns have had a lot of success making teams lean towards the pass over the run. They have been able to pick off nine passes through four games, which is worth noting for sure.
The Jags have had a lot of success this season running the ball. This has really helped the offense be more balanced and more efficient in across the board.
It all starts with the offensive line though. But it also helps a lot to have a dynamic running back like La’Damian Webb who manages to seemingly never go down on the first hit.
Cleaning up the mistakes
Last week the Jags were hit with 14 penalties. They were flagged for 10 against Nicholls to start the season and they had nine against Central Michigan the week after that. But then two weeks ago in their last second loss to UCLA the Jags only committed four penalties.
In a close game, penalties can mean a win or a loss. A poorly timed flag can move you out of field goal range or make a 3rd or 4th and short into a 3rd or 4th and long for the offense. A 3rd and long can turn into a 3rd and short, or a 3rd down stop can turn into a 1st down for your opponent, all by the drop of a yellow hanky.
I tend to think of penalties in four categories: strategy, mental mistakes, aggressive play, and frustration. Strategic penalties are like taking a delay of game before a punt or a defender committing pass interference when they would have been beat for a touchdown.
Sometimes you’re going to get a penalty from aggressive play, they just happen sometimes. You don’t want them to, but sometimes they come with the game. Mental mistakes, or lack of good execution, should only happen occasionally but they can and should be worked on and corrected. Penalties out of frustration are the worst in my book. They are overly aggressive play, they are taking pot shots when its just not needed. These can escalate quickly and can rob you of your players and lead to a string of penalties.
In the end, you strive to commit zero penalties but you particularly want to avoid penalties in key situations. When you are averaging almost 10 flags per game, at some point it’s going to bite you in the rear if you don’t get it cleaned up.
Winning On the Road
Last year the Jags were 1-5 on the road. From 2018 through 2020 the Jags road records were 0-6, 0-6, and 2-3. South Alabama has not won three games on the road in a single season since 2014.
It’s time to get that monkey off the back.
This team has the feel of something special. They’ve already gone on the road once and won against a fellow Group of 5 school in Central Michigan. They also went across the country and went toe-to-toe with a Power 5 school in UCLA and outplayed them for the majority of the game only to lose on a field goal as time expired.
The culture is different. The play is different.
It takes a different mentality to win on the road. You’re out of your normal routine and out of your comfort zone. You’re in a stadium with mostly fans cheering against you. It takes extra focus to tune out all of the distractions and to focus on the fundamentals of your assignments each play.
It seems that this team has that about them. They have the talent, they have the focus, and they have the preparation and gameplan each and every week.
But they also have a swagger about them too. Not a pompous air, but they exude that they know they have a winning gameplan, that they feel that they have out worked their opponent all week and are ready to execute at a high level each and every play. They have an air about them that they are ready for that next step.
Now is the time to take that next step forward for the program.
Prediction
This Jags team has a different feel about them. They don’t let their emotions get too high and they don’t let them get too low. They know they have business to take care of and winning one game is not the goal.
They wanted to win against UCLA but they didn’t let the loss affect them. They came back the next week and was quick to jump on La Tech from the opening kick.
But there’s more to Louisiana-Lafayette. It’s a big personal. They have been the western division champ for the last four seasons. They are the bar in the West, even if coach Napier is no longer there.
The Cajuns lead the series 8-2 with wins in the last six consecutive meetings. The Jags are also 0-5 at Cajun Field in Lafayette.
What better way to signal to the west and the entire Sun Belt Conference that the Jaguars of South Alabama are here and ready to play. This could be the win that, when we write the season retrospective to close the book on the 2022 season, we point to this game and say “that was the changing of the guard.”
Last season was very nearly a Jags win. Some unfortunate plays on special teams in wet conditions was the difference between a loss and a win.
Cajun fans have their hands hovering over the panic button after dropping games to Rice and Louisiana-Monroe. As we have seen many times the scripted quarterback rotation just doesn’t seem to work as well as some coaches tend to think it will.
I think the Cajuns will compete hard to keep from dropping three consecutive games. The loss to Rice ended the national longest active winning streak. The loss to ULM snapped a 16-game winning streak against Sun Belt Conference West Division opponents and the back-to-back losses are the first since the final two games of the 2018 season. Plus it’s their homecoming game.
The Jags are an 8.5 point favorite on the road against the Cajuns. I think South Alabama will win and cover, 31-21.
Go Jags!