South Alabama Commits Five Turnovers, Fall To The Cajuns 33-20
The South Alabama Jaguars fell back to earth on Saturday. Louisiana-Lafayette came into Hancock Whitney Stadium and forced five turnovers in route to a 33-20 defeat of the Jaguars. The Jags fall to 4-4 overall and 2-2 in conference play while the Cajuns improve to 5-3 overall, 2-2 in conference play.
Anything that could go wrong for the Jags, did go wrong.
Cater Bradley was sacked five times with three fumbles and threw two interceptions accounting for all of the Jags 5 turnovers. One of the Cajuns field goals hit the right upright and miraculously fell across the crossbar.
South Alabama had the opportunity to put the first points on the board. They had the ball 4th and 1 at the Cajuns 6 yard line. Opting to keep the offense on the field, La’Damian Webb’s run up the middle lost a yard against the Lafayette defensive push which resulted in a turnover on downs.
The Cajuns proceeded to drive 93 yards in 15 plays, which was capped off by a 33 yard touchdown pass by Zeon Chriss to Jacob Bernard with 12:58 left in the second quarter.
On the third play of the Jags ensuing possession Bradley was sacked and fumbled it away to the Cajuns at the Jags own 41 yard line. The Cajuns scored with a 3 yard touchdown pass to finish off the seven play drive.
The Jags offense went three-and-out on the next possession. The snap to Jack Brooks was very low, he was able to pick it up off the ground and was barely able to get it away and it only went 9 yards. The Jags defense kept them out of the end zone, but with a 20-yard field goal the Cajuns were able to take a 17-0 lead into the halftime locker room.
South Alabama started the second half with a quick score. Bradley connected with Jamaal Pritchett for a 6 yard touchdown with 11:53 left in the third quarter.
Louisiana-Lafayette answered with a 42-yard field goal. The kick high the right upright and somehow fell across the crossbar giving the Cajuns a 20-7 advantage.
South Alabama’s offense only needed three plays to answer. A two yard run by Webb set up Bradley to connect with Caullin Lacy for a 62 yard gain. Then La’Damian Webb went untouched for a 25 yard touchdown, which tied him for the season record for most rushing touchdowns.
The Jags were then trailing 20-14 with 6:09 left in the third quarter.
The Jags called a safety blitz while Zeon Chiss ran the zone-read perfectly. The defense bit on the quarterback letting Jacob Kibodi get through the defensive front and go for a 56 yard touchdown. The Cajuns lined up for a two-point conversion, but an offensive pass interference call negated a conversion. Then Kenneth Almendares’ long extra point missed wide left leaving the Cajuns with a 26-14 lead.
Another Jaguar drive ended with a sack fumble on Bradley. But this one was picked up and returned 45 yards for a scoop-and-score touchdown with 1:07 left in third quarter.
The first two possessions by the Jags in the fourth quarter both ended with interceptions. The first was tipped and intercepted by a diving, outstretched defender. The second was on a 3rd and 7 pass at the Cajun 9 yard line. Pritchett was crossing in the end zone but Tyrone Lewis jumped in front and took the ball away.
The Jags weren’t finished. They got the ball with 1:14 left in the game and quickly drove down the field. Bradley connected with Pritchett for a 39 yard touchdown down the left sideline with :16 left.
On the two point conversion, Bradley’s pass was low and fell incomplete. But he was hit and rolled on the floor clutching his left knee in pain. He was helped off the field and all the way to the trainer’s tent.
After the game head coach Kane Wommack said that the early report on Bradley’s injury was positive, but it’s too early to be certain.
“He tweaked his knee in the end there,” coach Wommack commented. “He’s such a competitor and he’s trying to make something happen…It’s going to be pretty sore. He got dinged up, similar to the injury he’s been dealing with all season, but it just got tweaked.”
If Bradley is unable to play on Thursday, Wommack and offensive coordinator Major Applewhite will have to choose between sixth-year senior Desmond Trotter or true freshman Gio Lopez. Trotter has experience starting for the Jags, he was the starter in the 2020 season. Lopez can play in one more game and still redshirt for the season.
Stats
South Alabama
The Jags finished with 498 total yards of offense, with 381 passing and 117 rushing. The Jags were 6-of-14 on 3rd down attempts and 2-of-4 on 4th down attempts. They were flagged eight times for 71 yards.
The big difference was the 5 turnovers. Bradley was sacked five times total, three of them resulted in fumbles lost to the Cajuns. Bradley also had a pair of interceptions.
The Cajuns dominated with a 34:44 to 25:16 time of possession.
Bradley finished the game 29-of-49 for 381 yards, his second most passing yard in his Jaguar career, with two touchdowns and two interceptions.
Jamaal Pritchett led all receivers with 168 yards on 11 catches with of the Jags passing touchdowns. Caullin Lacy continues his 100 yard receiving streak with 131 yards on 7 catches.
La’Damian Webb finished with 96 yards on 16 carries with a touchdown. Kentrel Bullock had 32 yards on 6 carries.
Quentin Wilfawn set a new record for most stops in a game. He had 15, 7 of them solo, with a sack and 4.5 tackles for loss. Jaden Voisin, James Miller and Khalil Jacobs all finished next in line with eight stops each.
Lafayette
The Cajuns finished with 348 total yards of offense, 145 passing and 203 rushing. They were also 6-of-14 on 3rd down attempts. They were flagged six times for 40 yards.
Zeon Chriss was 13-of-17 for 145 yards and two touchdowns.
Terrance Carter les the Cajuns with tree catches for 36 yards. Peter Leblanc had two catches for 37 yards.
Jacob Kibodi ran for 119 yards on 23 carries with a touchdown. Kre’lyn Washington finished with 52 yards on 12 carries. Zeon Chriss finished with 30 yards on 10 carries.
Jalen Clark led the Cajuns with 10 total stops, five solo. Cameron Whitfield was in the backfield the whole game, he finished with 3.5 sacks. Antoine Baylis had 1.5 sacks.
Next
The Jags have a short turnaround. They will travel to Troy for the Battle of the Belt in a Thursday night nationally televised game. The game is slated for a 6:30 pm kickoff at Veterans Memorial Stadium on ESPN2.
South Alabama Hosts Ragin’ Cajuns In SBC West Showdown
Kickoff: Saturday, October 28, 4pm
Venue: Hancock Whitney Stadium, Mobile, AL
TV/Streaming: ESPN+
Radio: 96.1 fm The Rocket, Sports Talk 99.5 fm, iHeartRadio App
Thunderjags on X (formerly known as Twitter): @USAThunderjags
#5 Jersey: Reggie Smith (he will be wearing #50 due to jersey numbering restrictions for offensive linemen)
South Alabama returns to the field after having 11 days off and only it’s second game in 21 days in a pivotal Sun Belt Conference Western Division showdown against Louisiana-Lafayette on Saturday.
Over the last two games the Jags have been on a tear. They have won them by a combined scored of 110-10. They won their first game in Monroe, LA 55-7 and then continued their unbeaten streak against Southern Miss 55-3 on a nationally televised Tuesday night game.
The Ragin’ Cajuns start a two-game stretch for the Jags in determining if they have what it takes to contend for the SBC West title.
Currently the Jags are tied with Texas State and Troy on top of the Western division standings at 2-1 in conference play with the Cajuns and Arkansas State right behind them at 1-2. The Jags have games remaining against all the teams mentioned down the stretch. But the immediate two are the Cajuns then a short turnaround to play Troy on Thursday night on the road in the Battle for the Belt.
But they can’t look ahead, the Jags are 0-0 this week and need a win.
Hall of Fame
But before the game, as part of the Hall of Fame weekend, South Alabama’s first head coach Joey Jones will be inducted into the University of South Alabama Hall of Fame. Jones along with Charde Hannah (women’s soccer), Kevin Hill (baseball) and Daniel Leitner (men’s tennis) will all be inducted at 10am at the Moulton Bell Tower and Alumni Plaza then they will also be honored at halftime of the game.
Jones was the architect of the football program starting in 2008 and fielded the first team in 2009. They began the program with 19-consecutive wins, joined the Sun Belt conference in 2012 and reached their first bowl game in 2014. Jones was selected as the SBC Coach of the Year in 2013. His career record at USA was 52-50 with two bowl berths. He is currently the director of player personnel at Mississippi State University.
Hannah was a two-time All-SBC and was named MVP of the 2014 and 2015 SBC tournament championships. The Jags won the championship all four seasons she was with USA.
Hill was a first-team All-American in 2016 and was named SBC Pitcher of the Years twice. He won the SBC pitching Triple Crown as a junior with a 10-0 record, 1.73 ERA, and 107 strikeouts. Only playing for USA for three seasons after transferring from junior college, Hill’s 326 strikeouts and 298.2 innings pitched are 6th in program history. His 22 wins are 9th in program history.
Leitner was SBC Player of the Year in 2014 and 2015. He was named to the All-Conference team three consecutive years and was Sun Belt Player of the Week eight times, five of them in his senior season.
South Alabama (4-3, 2-1 SBC)
The Jags have a turnover margin of +3 so far this season. They have given the ball away nine times on the season so far, six by interception and three by fumble. So far, the Jags have only fumbled the ball five times on the season in total, only losing three of them to their opponent. The defense has taken the ball away 12 times through seven games. They’ve forced nine fumbles, recovering six of them and also intercepting six passes.
The Jags have also played fairly clean football over the last two weeks. On the season they have been flagged 49 times for 430 yards, which is an average of 61.43 penalty yards per game.
Offense
After outscoring the opponents the last two weeks by a combined score of 110-10, the Jags have really bolstered their point differential on the season. On average the Jags are racking up 35.4 points, 448 total offensive yards, 271.86 passing yards, 176.1 rushing yards per game with an average time of possession of 30:42.
They are converting 46-of-94 (48.9%) on 3rd down and 7-of-12 (58.3%) on 4th down situations. They continue to be perfect in the red zone for the season by scoring on all 27 trips, with only five of them being field goals.
Carter Bradley is 138-of-205 passing for 1,775 yards, 11 touchdowns and 5 interceptions. Gio Lopez got in some extra work against Southern Miss and is 10-of-15 for 128 yards with a passing touchdown and a rushing touchdown with only one interception.
Caullin Lacy continues to distance himself from the field with 48 catches for 826 yards and six touchdowns on the season. Lacy now ranks 3rd in the nation in receiving yards and tied for 17th in receiving touchdowns. His average of 118 yards receiving per game ranks him 2nd behind Malik Nabers of LSU (122.6).
Jamaal Pritchett, who had a standout performance against Southern Miss, now has 24 catches for 373 yards and a touchdown. Lincoln Sefcik has 16 catches for 152 yards and a touchdown. DJ Thomas-Jones has 11 catches for 136 yards.
La’Damian Webb seems to be back in full form after a 20-carry performance against the Golden Eagles. He now has 578 yards on 103 carries with 12 touchdowns on the season. Webb ranks 2nd in the nation in rushing touchdowns only trailing Blake Corum of Michigan by one touchdown. His rushing yards places him in the top 50 in the nation.
Kentrel Bullock has 343 yards on 68 carries with three touchdowns. Marco Lee Jr adds 186 yards on 39 carries and two touchdowns.
Defense
After the dominant performances the last two weeks the defensive stats are really looking impressive.
On average the defense is allowing 19.4 points, 312.4 total yards, 198.14 passing yards, and 114.3 rushing yards per game. Opposing teams have an average time of possession of 29:17 per game.
Opponents are converting 32-of-92 (34.78%) of their 3rd down attempts and 3-of-8 (37.5%) of their 4th down attempts on the season.
Trey Kiser leads the defense with 44 total stops, 19 solo, with two pass breakups and a quarterback hurry. James Miller is right behind him with 43 total stops, 14 solo, with a quarterback hurry and a forced fumble.
Kiser also leads the team with 6 tackles for loss. Khalil Jacobs has 5 TFLs. Quentin Wilfawn has 4.5 TFLs.
Brock Higdon leads the team with 3 sacks. Jamie Sheriff and Maurice Strong Jr both have two sacks each.
Jaden Voisin leads the team with two interceptions. Strong Jr, Yam Banks, Wesley Miller and Marquise Robinson each have an interception. Sheriff leads the team with 5 quarterback hurries and Higdon is behind him with three.
Special Teams
Diego Guajardo is now 9-of-12 on the season on field goal attempts. He missed a 52 yard attempt to start the season and his other two misses have been from 40+ yards. He has a long of 46-yards this season.
Jack Martin’s best friend has been the kicking net on the sidelines over the last two games. He has not seen the field for a punt since the September 30th game against James Madison. He is still averaging 40.68 yards per kick on 19 attempts with 10 fair catches, 7 downed inside the 20 and two kicks of 50+ yards.
ULL (4-3, 1-2 SBC)
The Cajuns are a -5 turnover margin on the season. they have turned the ball over 15 times, seven by interception and eight by fumble. They’ve actually fumbled 17 times on the season and lost 8 of them. Their defense has taken the ball away 10 times, recovering four of their opponents 7 fumbles and six interceptions.
The Cajuns have been flagged 41 times for 345 yards on the season. They are averaging 49.3 penalty yards per game.
Offense
The Cajun offense is averaging 32.9 points, 425 total yards, 209.4 passing yards, and 215.6 rushing yards per game with an average time of possession of 29:04.
They are converting 39-of-90 (43%) of their 3rd down attempts and 7-of-12 (58%) of their 4th down attempts on the season.
They have been in their opponents red zone 31 times on the season and have scored on 23 (74%) of those trips with 17 of them (55%) being touchdowns.
Zeon Chriss is 77-of-119 (64.7%) passing for 906 yards, eight touchdowns, and 5 interceptions. Ben Wooldridge, who’s only appeared in three games, is 39-of-69 (56.5%) for 508 yards, five touchdowns and only one interception.
Robert Williams leads the Cajuns receiving corps with 289 yards on 22 catches with three touchdowns. Jacob Bernard has 241 yards on 19 catches. Neal Johnson has 163 yards on 15 catches. Peter LeBlanc also has 15 catches for 209 yards with three touchdowns.
Jacob Kibodi leads the Cajun rushing attack with 466 yards on 64 attempts with five touchdowns. Zeon Chriss is right with him with 446 yards on 57 carries with 5 touchdowns as well. Dre’lyn Washington has 272 yards on 41 carries with a touchdown. Zylan Perry has 113 yards on 34 carries and a touchdown.
Their rushing attack ranks eighth in the nation with Zeon Chriss as their #2 rusher on the team.
Defense
K.C. Ossai leads the Cajun defense with 49 total stops, 25 solo, with two tackles for loss, a sack, two quarterback hurries, two forced fumbles and a blocked kick. Jasper Williams is next in line with 44 total stops, 23 solo, with two sacks, and 3.5 TFLs. Tyrone Lewish has 41 total stops, 17 solo, with ½ sack, an interception and two pass breakups.
Kendre’ Grant leads the defense with five sacks, a pass breakup, a quarterback hurry, two fumble recoveries and two forced fumbles. Jordan Lawson has 4 sacks, 4.5 TFL’s, and three quarterback hurries. Tyler Guidry has 3 sacks, 5.5 TFLs, an interception, a pass breakup and a forced fumble.
Tyree Skipper leads the Cajuns with two interceptions with four other players tied for 2nd with one interception each.
Special Teams
Kenneth Almendares is 7-of-8 of his field goal attempts this season, his long is from 46-yards. His only miss is from 40+ yards.
Leo Thomas is averaging 42.4 yards per punt across his 25 attempts. He long for the season is 52 yards with 12 fair catches, 8 downed inside the 20, 3 kicks of 50+ yards and two touchbacks.
Injuries
No key injuries to note. Josh McCulloch is currently listed as the starter on the two-deep roster for the game. Maybe this is the week he finally returns from the knee injury that’s been hampering him since mid-September leading up to the Oklahoma State game. However, we won’t know for sure if McCulloch is a go until game time.
Keys to the Game
Quarterback Containment
Zeon Chriss rushed for a game high 119 yards in the Cajuns homecoming loss last week to Georgia State. Including a 34 yard run on 3rd and 6 on their final drive in their attempt to win the game.
The Jags defense has struggled defending against a dual-threat quarterback. The losses to Central Michigan and James Madison were both to teams with quarterback with dual-threat capabilities.
Against Central Michigan, the Jags were up 14-0 before Jase Bauer came in and led the Chippewas come-from-behind win.
If South Alabama wants to continue to their winning streak and remain at bunched at the top of the Sun Belt Conference Western Division, they will have to keep Chriss in check.
Continued Consistency
The Jags have been executing at a very high level over the last two games. The only thing you can knock on their play over the last two games were late in the first half against Southern Miss. The Jags had a couple of opportunities for touchdowns that were squandered. They had a few attempts to punch the ball into the end zone from at or inside the one-yard line and couldn’t convert. Then a costly false start when they were lining with the offense on fourth down, led them to a field goal.
They had another drive stall the field goal attempt by the usually reliable Diego Guajardo missed wide right leaving points on the field.
But outside of those and a couple other instances in the last two games, the Jags have almost been the embodiment of consistency over the last two games.
They need to keep striving to hit that mark this week (and the rest of the season).
Continue To Involve Other Receivers
Caullin Lacy was slotted in at the clear #2 receiver with Devin Voisin expected to be the #1. But when Devin went down with a season-ending injury, Lacy has stepped into the #1 position and has excelled.
Lacy has gone over 100-yards receiving in all but one game this season. He only managed 60 yards in the season opener at Tulane.
Jamaal Pritchett broke out in the Jags game vs Southern Miss last time out. He showed his speed and ability to avoid defenders.
Pritchett and other pass catchers will need to play big roles down the stretch this season with the meat of the SBC West coming up over the last few games.
Prediction
South Alabama is a 10.5-point favorite against the Cajuns. After the last two weeks, it’s hard for Jag fans to not nod their head in agreement with that.
Last time I was nervous about the Southern Miss game and that was a big whiff.
Call me what you want, but I’m nervous about this game too. Dual-threat quarterbacks have been kryptonite against the Jags defense historically (and this season). Head coach Kane Wommack, defensive coordinator Corey Batoon, and secondaries coach Jay Hopson have all done a great job correcting issues in the back side of the defense. Ricky Fletcher has stepped up his game noticeably. Jaden Voisin continues to play like the leader of the unit he is.
Lafayette seems to have improved in the second season under head coach Michael Desormeaux. Though they currently sit at 4-3 overall, they played Minnesota close and were one play away from potentially upsetting Georgia State, however an interception in the end zone with 30 seconds left derailed that comeback.
I feel that the Jags win I don’t think they cover the spread.
Go Jags!
South Alabama Dominates Southern Miss 55-3
It was a record setting night for the South Alabama Jaguars.
The Jaguar offense recorded a new program record 647 total yards of offense as well as a record setting seven rushing touchdowns. La’Damian Webb tied his program record with four rushing touchdowns.
Southern Miss (1-6, 0-4 SBC) didn’t cross the 50 yard line until the 3rd quarter and finally surpassed 100 yards of total offense with under 6 minutes left in the game.
The Jags scored touchdowns of their first four possessions; the first three were La’Damian Webb before Kentrel Bullock added one for himself. The fifth possession was field goal. With an attempt to put points on the scoreboard with just one second on the clock, Diego Guajardo’s 41 yard attempt missed wide right.
Guajardo came back with a 39-yard kick on South Alabama’s first possession of the second half.
Southern Miss broke the shutout with a 32-yard field goal with 5:40 left in the third quarter to make it 34-3.
South Alabama responded with a 3-play scoring drive. A pair of passes to Lincoln Sefcik went for 24 and 20 yards respectively then Webb capped it off with a 16 yard touchdown run for his 4th of the game.
After getting the ball back on downs, head coach Kane Wommack started sending in the subs. Walk-on running back Dorian Smith took his first collegiate carry 29 yards for his first career touchdown to make it 48-3 with 1:20 left in the 3rd quarter.
Freshman Gio Lopez had his fourth appearance of the season and gave Jaguar fans a glimpse of the future with a 20-yard touchdown run to finish off the scoring with 13:47 left in the game. It looked like Lopez had a 27-yard touchdown run later in the game, but a penalty for holding wiped it off the board.
“This was probably one of the more dominating performances I’ve been a part of,” head coach Kane Wommack said after the game. “Arguably our most dominating performance since I’ve been here.”
“We’re really starting to lean into how we’re supposed to start the game,” Wommack said.
Stats
South Alabama
South Alabama put up 647 yards of total offense, 360 passing yards and 287 rushing. They were 7-of-11 on 3rd down and held a 31:15 to 28:45 time of possession advantage.
Carter Bradley finished 21-of-27 for 319 yards. True freshman Gio Lopez was 2-of-4 for 41 yards with an interception late in the game.
“We’re starting to see things click, for sure,” Bradley said. “I think it’s just preparation. Our coaches are doing an unbelievable job of getting us prepared and guys are buying into it.”
Jamaal Pritchett led all receivers with 122 yards on five carries. Caullin Lacy led all receivers with nine catches for 103 yards, extending his streak of consecutive 100-yard games to six. Four other receivers caught passes in the game.
La’Damian Webb rushed for 102 yards on 20 attempts with the four touchdowns. Kentrel Bullock finished with 58 yards on nine carries with a touchdown. Dorian Smith had two carries for 34 yards and a touchdown. Marco Lee Jr has 26 yards on six carries. Gio Lopez was credited with one carry for 20 yards and a score. Jarvis Durr had three carries for 20 yards, Bradley had 19 yards on two carries, and Jonathon Carter had one carry for 8 yards.
Khalil Jacobs led the team with seven total stops, four solo, with three tackles for loss and a forced fumble. James Miller had six total stops, one solo, with a TFL.
Jordan Norman, Maurice Strong Jr both had a sack in the game. Carlos Johnson Jr and Brock Higdon both has ½ sack.
Strong Jr got the only takeway with an interception for the Jag defense.
“It was just about being consistent for us,” defensive lineman Wy’Kevious “Bubba” Thomas said after wearing the honorary #5 jersey this week. “If you show consistency throughout the week of practice, it’s easy on game day.”
Southern Miss
The Golden Eagles only managed 149 total yards of offense, a mere 46 passing and 103 rushing. The Jags defense held them to only 1-of-13 on 3rd down and 1-of-2 on 4th down attempts. They were only penalized four times for 25 yards.
Billy Wiles was 2-of-5 for 5 yards as the starting quarterback. Holman Edwards came in and went 5-of-15 for 41 yards and an interception.
Frank Gore Jr was the leading Golden Eagle receiver with 22 yards on two catches. He also had the longest play from scrimmage with a 20 yard pass reception.
Tiaquelin Mims had two catches for 4 yards. Tyquan Henderson had the second most receiving yards on the team with 9 on just one catch.
Kenyon Clay finished as the leading rusher for USM with 60 yards on 10 carries. Gore Jr finished with 27 yards on 12 carries. Rodrigues Clark was the only other player with positive rushing yards with 13 on five carries.
Swayze Bozeman finished with 12 total stops, 8 solo, with a TFL. Dylan Lawrence had nine total stops, 6 solo. MJ Daniels got the only takeway from the Jags with an interception of Gio Lopez in the fourth quarter.
Next
The Jags will take the field next on Saturday, October 28th for a 4pm kickoff against Louisiana-Lafayette. The Ragin’ Cajuns are currently 4-2, 1-1 in conference play, and are set to host Georgia State at Cajun Field this Saturday.
Preview: South Alabama Hosts Southern Miss Tuesday Night Nationally Televised Showdown
Kickoff: Tuesday, October 17, 6:30pm
Venue: Hancock Whitney Stadium, Mobile, AL
TV/Streaming: ESPN2
Radio: 96.1 fm The Rocket, Sports Talk 99.5 fm, iHeartRadio App
Thunderjags on X (formerly known as Twitter): @USAThunderjags
#5 Jersey: Wy’Kevious “Bubba” Thomas
Half of the regular season schedule is in the books. Through the first six games of the season we’ve seen some of the best play from the Jaguars, but we’ve also seen some of the worst. They’re record is an even split across the board: they are 3-3 overall and 1-1 in Sun Belt Conference play.
After back-to-back losses, South Alabama went to Louisiana-Monroe. They had never won in Monroe but this time they did in emphatic fashion. They took the Warhawks out behind the woodshed by the score of 55-7.
The next test for the Jags will be the Southern Miss Golden Eagles. In the three meetings between the two programs, the Jags have yet to lose to USM. They’ve won two in Hattiesburg and one in Mobile.
Both teams come into the game on Tuesday night with a little extra rest. Both teams last played on October 7th and have a semi-bye week. They don’t get a full two weeks between games, since they were picked up by ESPN to play a nationally televised mid-week game.
Southern Miss (1-5, 0-3 SBC)
Southern Miss head coach Will Hall are in the midst of a five-game losing streak in his third season at the helm. They opened with a 40-14 win over Alcorn State then dropped games to #4 Florida State, Tulane, Arkansas State, Texas State and Old Dominion.
They come to Mobile for only the fourth meeting between these two programs looking for their first conference win of the season and their first win against the Jags.
Offense
Despite the record, Southern Miss remains a team that you cannot take lightly. Frank Gore Jr is one of the best all-around backs in the country. He has 3,288 career rushing yards and 58 career receptions to go along with seven career touchdown passes.
The Golden Eagles average 23.7 points, 356 total yards of offense, 213.8 passing yards, and 142.2 rushing yards per game.
They are converting 36-of-94 (38.3%) on 3rd down attempts and are 7-of-16 (43.8%) on 4th down attempts. They hold a 33:16 to 26:44 advantage on average time of possession per game too.
Of their 25 trips into the red zone, they have scored 22 times, but 11 (50%) have been field goals.
Sophomore Billy Wiles is 107-of-200 (53.5%) passing for 1,254 yards with 7 touchdowns, and 5 interceptions. His rushing stats don’t look so good because of sack yardage, but he has gained 122 yards on the ground yet he only has a net yardage of 14 for the season with a touchdown run. Quarterbacks have been sacked 14 times on the season.
Frank Gore Jr has only attempted one pass on the season and it was incomplete.
Jakarius Caston leads USM with 334 yards on 21 catches with three touchdowns. Latreal Jones leads the team with 23 catches with 324 yards and a touchdown. Tiaquelin Mims has 18 catches for 209 yards and a touchdown. Chandler Pittman adds 13 catches for 111 yards to round out the list of receivers with over 100 yards on the season.
Gore has 10 catches for 50 yards and a touchdown as the last player with double-digit receptions on the season. He leads the team rushing with 397 yards on 103 carries with four touchdowns. Gore has rushed for over 100 yards in two of his last three games.
Rodrigues Clark has 356 yards on 50 carries with two touchdowns.
Defense
The ‘Nasty Bunch’ defense has not been as nasty as their predecessors.
They have allowed an average of 35.3 points, 395.3 total yards of offense, 207.2 passing yards, and 188.2 rushing yards per game.
Opponents are only converting 26-of-71 (36.6%) of their 3rd down attempts and 4-of-7 (57.1%) on 4th down attempts.
They have 17 sacks on opposing quarterbacks on the season for a loss of 105 yards though.
Safety Dylan Lawrence leads the team with 36 total stops, 13 solo, with a sack. Fellow safety Jay Stanley is right behind him with 34 total stops, 18 solo, with ½ sack, a team leading two interceptions, 3 pass breakups, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery. Linebacker Hayes Maples is third on the team in total stops with 24, 9 solo, with 1.5 sacks.
Linebacker Jalil Clemons leads the team with three sacks.
Special Teams
Placekicker Andrew Stein is 13-of-15 (86.7%) on the season with a long of 52. His only two misses have come in the 40 yard zone.
Bryce Lofton is averaging 38.5 yards per punt with 10 fair catches, 7 downed inside the 20, and a long of 50 yards.
South Alabama (3-3, 1-1 SBC)
The Jags put together a consistent game last time out. The offense consistently moved the ball and the defense didn’t allow any big plays to note.
Offense
The Jag offense is averaging 32.2 points, 414.8 total yards of offense, 257.1 passing yards, and 157.7 rushing yards per game.
They are converting on 39-of-83 (46.99%) on 3rd down and 7-of-12 (58.3%) on 4th down attempts. They hold a slight advantage in average time of passion with 30:36 to their opponents 29:23.
USA continues to hold a perfect record when getting into the red zone. They have scored on all 20 trips, with 16 of them coming as touchdowns.
Carter Bradley is 117-of-178 (65.7%) passing for 1,456 yards, 11 touchdowns and 5 interceptions. Gio Lopez is 8-of-11 for 87 yards and a touchdown, with most of that work coming last time out against ULM.
Caullin Lacy has stepped up as the Jaguars leading receiver. He has 39 catches for 723 yards with 6 touchdowns. He is averaging just over 18.5 yards per catch. He is third nationally in receiving yards. He has a five-game streak of 100+ receiving yard games entering this game.
Jamaal Pritchett is next with 19 catches for 251 yards and a touchdown. Tight end DJ Thomas-Jones has 9 catches for 103 yards. Fellow tight end Lincoln Sefcik has 12 catches for 88 yards and a touchdown.
Kentrel Bullock has 84 yards on 10 catches with a touchdown while fellow running back La’Damian Webb has 12 catches for 66 yards.
Webb leads the team with 476 yards rushing on 83 carries with 8 touchdowns. His eight rushing touchdowns has him tied for 3rd in the national rankings, while his yards ranks him 33rd.
Bullock has 285 yards on 59 carries with two touchdowns. Marco Lee Jr has 160 yards on 33 carries with two touchdowns as well.
Defense
The Jag defense is allowing an average of 22.2 points, 339.7 total offensive yards, 223.5 passing yards, and 116.2 rushing yards per game. Opponents are converting 31-of-79 (39.2%) of their 3rd down attempts and 2-of-6 (33.3%) of their 4th down attempts.
Opponents have scored on 14 of their 19 trips into the Jags red zone, with only 9 of them scoring a touchdown.
Trey Kiser leads the defense with 39 total stops, 18 solo. He also leads the team with 6 tackles for loss too.
James Miller is second on the team with 37 total stops, 13 solo, with 1.5 sacks. Jaden Voisin has 34 total stops, 13 solo, with a team-leading two interceptions.
Brock Higdon leads the team with 2.5 sacks.
Yam Banks, Wesley Miller, and Marquise Robinson all have one interception each.
Special Teams
Diego Guajardo is 7-of-9 on the season with a long of 46. He missed a 52 yard attempt in the season opener against Tulane and a 43 yard attempt last time out against ULM.
Jack Martin is averaging 40.7 yards per punt with 10 fair catches, 7 downed inside the 20, two kicks of 50+ yards and a long of 53.
Injuries
Outside of the players that were lost for the season, head coach Kane Wommack anticipates that the players that are banged up will potentially be available against USM. Josh McCulloch has missed the last four games with a knee injury. Safety Mike Harris didn’t play against ULM due to an undisclosed injury.
Braylon McReynolds, Devin Voisin, Keith Gallmon Jr and Ed Smith are all considered out for the season. McReynolds has an outside chance to return late in the regular season and/or potentially for post-season play.
Keys to the Game
Consistency
The Jags have only played consistent ball for all four quarters in two games this season. Both were big wins (33-7 over Oklahoma State and 55-7 over ULM). When they play with consistency, the Jags are a powerhouse. They can beat any team in the conference.
But they have yet to play consistent ball in back-to-back games. This is an opportunity to do just that on national television.
Offensive Line
This is one of the keys to the game for at least the last two games. Even though Southern Miss haven’t shown it on the scoreboard, their defense has caused a bit of havoc on the season. They’ve collected 17 sacks of opposing quarterbacks and 32 tackles for loss.
They know that they have to attack at the line of scrimmage. They also know that the Jags have had some games where the offensive line hasn’t played very well either.
They’ll try to draw up some schemes to limit the Jaguar rushing attack and apply pressure on Carter Bradley.
Composure on the National Stage
The Jags have a somewhat bad history with nationally televised games. They have played flat and haven’t brought the same energy that they’ve had in other games not broadcast on a national platform.
I don’t know if it’s something to do with preparing to be seen nationally or just that the extra pressure has resulted in them playing tight historically.
This could be one of those games that, if the Jags don’t come to play for all 60 minutes, they could be on the bad end of an upset.
Prediction
Coach Wommack said that he and his staff spent a lot of time before the season planning out how they would navigate their two mid-week games. Getting off the usual Saturday game cadence and adjusting the schedule for a Tuesday night game with a couple extra days between can disrupt the rhythm of a team.
Hopefully the attention to detail helps the team play to their standard and ability.
South Alabama is a 15.5 point favorite against the Golden Eagles.
I think coach Hall and Southern Miss will throw everything they have at the Jags in order to find that first elusive conference win of the season. They’d also love to break that winless streak against the Jags too.
I think the Jags win, but I also think that Southern Miss will fight and cover the spread as their window to bowl eligibility is closing quickly. A loss to the Jags leaves them needing to win out with games against Mississippi State and Troy to close out the regular season.
Go Jags!
Jags Win In Dominant Fashion Over ULM 55-7 For First Win At Malone Stadium
This is the South Alabama team we thought would show up this season.
They went into Monroe Louisiana and dominated from beginning to end in a 55-7 drumming of the Warhawks. Carter Bradley threw for 303 yards and three touchdowns and La’Damian Webb ran for 100 yards and a score.
Caullin Lacy added to him impressive season and extended his streak of 100-yard games. He finished with 7 catches, 156 yards and a touchdown.
South Alabama (3-3, 1-1 SBC) took the opening kickoff 75 yards in 10 plays and 4:03 for the opening touchdown and just never looked back. At the end of the first quarter the Jags had more points (14) than ULM (2-3, 0-2 SBC) had total yards (8).
The Warhawks, down 31-0, took the ensuing kickoff and drove 75 yards in 11 plays to score with no time remaining in the half for their only points of the game.
The second half was all Jags in a shutout. The only time the Warhawks really got a scent of points in the second half, they got to the Jags 16, but they would turn the ball over on downs after a sack.
South Alabama kept burning the clock but the Warhawks couldn’t stop the Jags. Gio Lopez tossed a touchdown pass to Jeremiah Webb the first touchdowns in both players careers.
Stats
South Alabama
The Jaguar offense put on an offensive display. They had 589 total yards of offense, 387 yards passing and 202-yard rushing. They converted 7-of-13 of their 3rd down attempts and all three of their 4th down attempts.
They kept their red-zone scoring streak this season intact with six scores on six trips, though one of them was a field goal.
The offense possessed the ball 36:30 to ULM’s 23:30.
Carter Bradley went 20-of29 for 303 yards and three touchdowns. Gio Lopez was 7-of-10 for 84 yards and a touchdown.
Caullin Lacy led all receivers with 7 catches for 156 yards and a touchdown. Brandon Crum had 1 catch for a 3-yard touchdown. Jeremiah Webb also had one catch for a 3-yard touchdown. Nine other Jags caught passes in the game.
As mentioned earlier, La’Damian Webb ran 19 times for 100 yards and a touchdown. Marco Lee Jr added 49 yards on 11 carries for a touchdown. Kentrell Bullock had seven carries for 38 yards and a touchdown.
Trey Kiser led the Jags with nine total stops, 3 solo with ½ sack. James Miller and Khalil Jacobs both finished with six total stops.
Jaden Voisin and Wesley Miller both had interceptions in the game.
Louisiana-Monroe
The Warhawks only managed 250 yards of total offense, 112 yards passing and 138 yards rushing. They converted 7-of-15 on 3rd down and were 0-for-2 on 4th down attempts.
Jiya Wright was 13-of-28 for 112 yards, a touchdown, two interceptions, and five sacks.
Tyrone Howell was held to only four catches for 41 yards with the Warhawks only touchdown. However, Howell missed some time after getting shaken up on the second play of the game that ended with a Jaguar interception. Nolan Quinlan caught three passes for 29 yards.
Wright finished as the leading rusher with 53 yards on 13 carries. Bennett Galloway had 45 yards on six carries. Hunter Smith had 19 yards on six carries.
Next
South Alabama has a few extra days to rest and prepare for their next game. They’ll host Southern Miss at Hancock Whitney Stadium on Tuesday, October 17th.
The Golden Eagles fell to 1-5 and 0-3 in conference play and enter the game with a five-game losing streak.
Preview: South Alabama Heads To Louisiana-Monroe To Face Division Foe
Kickoff: Saturday, October 7, 6pm
Venue: Malone Stadium, Monroe, LA
TV/Streaming: ESPN+
Radio: 96.1 fm The Rocket, Sports Talk 99.5 fm, iHeartRadio App
Thunderjags on X (formerly known as Twitter): @USAThunderjags
#5 Jersey: Jaden Voisin
UPDATE:
Well, this was embarrassing. My day job had me sleep deprived and working long hours this week. South Alabama is a 10.5 point favorite over ULM. With this realization, I am concerned. As I wrote originally, it depends which South Alabama team gets off the bus. They could come out and play like they did at OSU and easily cover. But I could see a Jaguar team that gives up too many big plays, especially to Howell, and drop another game.
My heart tells me the Jags win, but don’t cover the spread.
South Alabama (2-3, 0-1 SBC) have dropped their last two games since their big 33-7 win over Oklahoma State in Stillwater. In those last two losses the Jags have allowed too many explosive plays on defense and the offense has struggled moving the ball consistently.
The Jaguar defense has already allowed more touchdown plays of over 40 through five games this season than they allowed all of last season. After allowing only six touchdowns of over 40 yards in 2022, they have given up seven already this season, with three of them coming last week at James Madison.
Last season the Jags held off Louisiana-Monroe 41-34 in Mobile. However the Warhawks scored on two explosive plays, a pair of touchdown passes that went for 75 and 83 yards. Those were the two longest plays that the Jags allowed in the 2022 season.
Tyrone Howell, the recipient of both of those touchdown passes, is coming off of a three-touchdown performance last week against Appalachian State. The Warhawks lost that game 41-40 on a walk-off field goal.
South Alabama is winless in their four trips to Malone Stadium. ULM tends to play good football at home, they generate their own energy on the sidelines and behind their fans.
Head coach Terry Bowden’s team looks to have improved from last season. Offensive Coordinator Matt Kubik returned to fill the position he left in 2019 after Rich Rodriguez left after just one season to assume the head coach position at Jacksonville State. Under Kubik’s direction the offense seems to have improved. They put up 471 yards of total offense against what is normally a strong defense in App State. They currently rank second in the conference with 205.5 yards rushing per game.
The Jags defensive woes have not come on the ground necessarily. That has been the strong point of the defense going back to last season even.
Tyrone Howell had 244 yards and three touchdowns last season against the Jags. So the Jags secondary know what they may be facing on Saturday in Monroe.
ULM (2-2, 0-1 SBC)
Offense
The Warhawks are averaging 21 points, 343.8 total yards, 138.3 passing yards, and 205.5 rushing yards per game.
They are converting 14-of-52 (26.9%) of their 3rd down attempts and 5-of-7 (71.4%) of their 4th down attempts.
Jiya Wright is 35-of-64 (54.7%) passing for 432 yards, 4 touchdowns and 3 interceptions on the season. Hunter Herring is 16-of-30 (53.3%) passing on the season with 121 yards and a touchdown in two games.
Howell leads the team with 23 receptions, the only receiver in double-digits receiving) for 234 yards and four touchdowns. Dariyan Wiley has nine catches for 136 yards and a touchdown.
“Tyrone Howell is probably the best receiver we faced a year ago and he had a career day against us,” defensive coordinator Corey Batoon said in the Jaguars Monday media day. “We understand how good he is, because we saw it live last year. So it will be a tremendous challenge for us.”
Hunter Smith leads the team with 258 yards rushing on 32 carries with two touchdowns. Isaiah Woullard has 247 yards on 39 carries with a touchdown. Jiya Wright has 143 yards on 33 carries and a touchdown. Hunter Herring has 68 yards on 13 carries in two games.
Defense
Michael Batton leads the team by a far margin with 35 total stops, 11 solo, with ½ sack and 1.5 tackles for loss. Simion Hines is second on the team with 23 total stops, 13 solo. Then four other Warhawks are bunched up with 22 stops each. James Smith leads the team with 2.5 sacks on the season, four TFLs, and three quarterback hurries.
AJ Watts and Ja’Terious Evans both lead the team with two interceptions each. Max Harris and Austin Goffney both have an interception as well.
Special Teams
Derek McCormick is 3-of-4 on the season placekicking. His only miss was a blocked kick.
Braxton Builbeau is averaging 38.96 yards per punt with a long of 59 yards, 7 fair catches, 6 downed inside the 20, two kicks of 50+ yards and one touchback.
South Alabama (2-3, 0-1 SBC)
Offense
The Jags are averaging 27.6 points, 380 total yards, 231.2 passing yards and 148.8 rushing yards per game.
They are converting 32-of-70 (45.7%) on 3rd down attempts and 4-of-9 (44.4%) on 4th down attempts on the season.
Carter Bradley is 97-of-149 (65.1%) passing with 1,153 yards, 8 touchdowns and 5 interceptions on the season.
Caullin Lacy leads the team with 32 catches for 567 yards and 5 touchdowns. Jamaal Pritchett has 17 catches for 226 yards and got his first career touchdown last week. Lincoln Sefcik has 9 catches for 65 yards and a touchdown.
La’Damian Webb leads the team with 376 yards on 64 carries with 7 touchdowns. Kentrel Bullock has 247 yards on 52 carries with a touchdown. Marco Lee Jr has 111 yards on 22 carries with a touchdown.
Defense
James Miller continues to pace the defense with 31 total stops, 12 solo, with 1.5 TFLs. Trey Kiser and Jaden Voisin are next with 30 stops each.
Jamie Sheriff and Brock Higdon are tied for the team lead with 2 sacks each. Trey Kiser leads the team with 5 TFLs.
Yam Banks, Marquise Robinson, and Jaden Voisin all lead the team with 1 interception each.
Special Teams
Diego Guajardo is 5-of-6 on the season with a 42 yarder as his longest of the year. His only miss came in the season opener against Tulane from 52 yards.
Jack Martin is averaging 40.68 yards per punt with 10 fair catches, 7 inside the 20, two kicks of 50+ yards with a long of 53.
Keys to the Game
Explosive Plays
In all three of the Jaguar losses the defense gave up big, chunk plays or explosive plays as they are also referred as. The first two scored by James Madison were touchdown passes of 48 and 44 yards. Then their last touchdown was a 66 yard pass.
“You can’t give up explosive plays for touchdowns,” head coach Kane Wommack said in his Monday press conference. “I think that put us in a really challenging situation… We dug ourselves in a pretty deep hole, really defensively (against JMU) with those three explosive plays.”
“We’re not going to reach our potential as a football team until we stop doing that” he continued.
Against Central Michigan They only game up one explosive play touchdown, but it was huge 3rd down pass that went for 70 yards to start the fourth quarter. In that game it was more complicated than just explosive plays. It was a combination of that with poorly timed penalties, the inability to stop Jase Bauer running the ball, and 3rd down conversions.
But back to start the season at Tulane they had three touchdown passes of 47, 47 and 48 yards.
If the Jags want to get back into the win column more consistently this season, the explosive plays in the secondary must be reduced or eliminated.
Offensive Line
James Madison and Tulane both exposed the Jaguar offensive line. The Jags struggled to establish the run and Carter Bradley was consistently under pressure. The offense starts up front with the line, and right now they are struggling.
James Madison’s front seven lived up to their billing too. They got into the backfield and caused havoc. They consistently moved the line of scrimmage into the Jags backfield, they got a number of sacks, and Bradley had a number of passes batted at the line. One of the batted passes was caught and returned for a touchdown.
Hopefully the offensive line that showed up to play at Oklahoma State reemerges and reestablishes themselves as the Jaguar Standard beginning this week.
Consistency
This goes from top to bottom on both sides of the ball. Consistency in executing the offense, in tackling, in coverage, just in everything.
Against Central Michigan the Jags went down the field on their first two possessions and held a 14-0 lead early only to go cold on both sides of the ball.
Against James Madison the Jags went down 14-0 in the first quarter and were down 17-0 before they put points on the board. Even against Tulane the Jags opened the game with a turnover and were down 10-0 in the first quarter.
It looked like that in the second half of the Southeastern Louisiana game the Jags found their way. It seemed to be confirmed in the 33-7 thrashing of Oklahoma State. However the play in the last two games have shown that the problems still persist.
But it’s not a case where they’re not fixable. If anything, SLU and OSU show what this team is capable of when they play up to their standard.
Injuries
No major injuries of note came out of the James Madison game. It’s still unknown if Josh McCulloch will return to play this week but it’s looking doubtful. Adrien Strickland, who appeared to get a poked in the eye against James Madison, came back to play later in the game and will be ready to suit up on Saturday as well.
Several players seem to be banged up, which is a kind of expected after five consecutive weeks of play. So next week quasi bye week can get here fast enough.
Prediction
The Jags defense has been plagued this season by dual threat quarterbacks. Jase Bauer, Jordan McCloud and now they will face another in Jiya Wright leading a resurgent ULM offense. Add to that Tyrone Howell’s playmaking ability and the Jags defense has a big test ahead of them.
Additionally they are facing down starting conference play 0-2.
So far this series has been all about the home team. While South Alabama holds the advantage overall at 5-4, all 5 wins have come in Mobile while every loss has been in Monroe.
The Jags hold their destiny in their own hands in conference play. This is their first divisional game, if they can run the table in the division; they will have a spot in the conference championship game in December.
But it has to start this Saturday.
South Alabama is a 10.5 point underdog against the Warhawks. I think the Jags cover the points with a chance to win. But it all depends on which team gets off that team bus in Monroe.
Go Jags!