Jags Fall 28-10 in Battle For The Belt
South Alabama got a glimpse of their future quarterback, but dropped their sixth-consecutive Battle for the Belt to Troy 28-10. The loss puts the Jags under .500 on the season at 4-5 (2-3 in Sun Belt play) while the Trojans improve to 7-2 (4-1 SBC) and take a 9 games to 3 lead over the Jags in the series.
Carter Bradley went down on the final play against Louisiana-Lafayette on a rather pointless two-point conversion try. Though Bradley was coy in the Monday press conference, he didn’t suit up and true freshman Gio Lopez got the start in Troy. With a short-turnaround from Saturday to a Thursday night game, Bradley was unable to recover and be ready to play.
Though Lopez played well, it was obvious that the playbook was simplified for him. Also the Jaguar offensive line had problems protecting him as the game wore on.
After trading punts Quentin Wilfawn forced a fumble which Jamall Hickbottom recovered at the Troy 44 yard line. La’Damian Webb scored a few plays later on a 2 yard run to put the Jags up 7-0 at the 10:13 mark of the first quarter.
The second quarter was all Trojans.
After a missed 50 yard field goal attempt by Diego Guajardo on the left hashmark that just didn’t move right, the Trojans capitalized. On the fourth play of the drive, Gunnar Watson threw deep for Chris Lewis and he hauled it in one-handed for a 47 yard touchdown to tie the game.
After starting at their own 4 yard line, the Trojans put together a 12-play, 96 yard drive capped off by a 26 yard touchdown pass to Lewis again for a 14-7 lead over the Jags.
South Alabama started the fourth quarter facing a 4th and 2 at the Troy 43 yard line. Lopez rolls to his right and is able to get the ball away despite being completely smothered by the Trojan defense. Caullin Lacy caught the pass for 5 yards and a first down. On the next play, Lopez scrambled out of two tackles and threw it down field on a heave that Jamaal Pritchett hauled in going out of bounds at the 3 yard line.
Unfortunately the Jags cannot put it in the end zone. After a false start, Lopez ran for 7 yards to the 1 yard line. On 3rd & goal at the 1, Webb ran to the left and ran into a gaggle of players, he backpedaled and was eventually brought down for a 10 yard loss. The Jags settled for a 29 yard field goal to narrow their deficit to 14-10 at the 11:47 mark of the fourth quarter.
The Trojans just bled the clock.
The Trojans couldn’t punch the ball in on three attempts from the 1 yard line. On 4th down, Kimani Vidal ran right and was tackled at the goal line. The play was ruled a touchdown without a review despite how it looked like he may have been kept out of the end zone.
With the Jags down 21-10 with 3:12 left in the game they had Lopez throwing the ball. After a pair of incompletions, Lopez tried to get the ball Javon Ivory but the throw was a little high and behind him and went off his fingertips and was intercepted.
The South Alabama defense had the Trojans 4th and 7 at the 29, Watson threw the ball up to Lewis and he came down with his third touchdown of the game to put the bow on the Jaguar loss.
“I think, when you look at the game, obviously missed execution is really the thing that they did a better job than we did,” head coach Kane Wommack said. “Situationally, we can’t let them bleed us for two massive drives at very critical moments in the game. Didn’t get off the field some on third down defensively at critical moments and obviously didn’t finish well enough in the red zone.”
Stats
The Jags were out-gained by the Trojans 400-252 in total yards, 271-155 in passing yards, and 129-97 in rushing yards for the game.
While the Trojans were only 5-of-14 on 3rd down, the Jags were 0-for-10 on 3rd down.
Also the Jags lost the time of possession game 24:22 to 34:38.
Lopez finished 17-of-27 for 155 yard with an interception.
Caullin Lacy extended his streak of consecutive games with a catch to 34. He had nine catches for 89 yards, with 77 yards after catch. Pritchett caught six for 59 yards.
La’Damian Webb had 53 yards rushing on 15 carries with a touchdown, his 14th of the season and setting a new single-season record for rushing touchdowns. Lopez ran for 39 yards on nine carries. Kentrel Bullock has 2 carries for 5 yards before leaving the game in the first half with a rib contusion.
Quentin Wilfawn led the defense with 11 total stops, 6 solo, with a sack, two TFLs and a forced fumble. Jaden Voisin and Trey Kiser were next with 9 stops each. Kiser had two TFLs.
Gunnar Watson finished 19-of-27 for 271 yards with three touchdowns.
Chris Lewis had four catches for 120 yards with three touchdowns. Deshon Staudemire had six catches for 81 yards.
Kimani Vidal rushed for 125 yards on 24 carries with a touchdown. The other Trojan backs combined for 15 carries and 4 yards.
Irshaad Davis had 11 stops, 2 solo, for the Trojans. Jordan Stringer had 10 stops, 2 solo. Reddy Steward came away with the only interception of the game.
Was playing Gio the best call? We will never really know. Would Desmond Trotter have given us a better chance to win? Again we’ll never know. The coaches believed Lopez was our best shot to win and that’s what we have to go on. But he did make some big plays in the game.
With three games left and needing at least two wins to get bowl eligible, the Jags need to heal up quickly. Kentrel Bullock left the game and didn’t return. Jaden Voisin also left the game and didn’t return. Voisin is a leader in the Jaguar secondary while Bullock is a good #2 to Webb.
Next
Arkansas State comes to Mobile on Saturday, November 11 for a 4pm kick to start a two-game home stand, a game the Jags really need to win. Let’s hope the home crowd provides more energy in the stadium than it did against the Cajuns.