South Alabama Falls To Texas State 45-38 In Regular Season Finale
South Alabama couldn’t overcome their three turnovers and eight penalties as they fall at home to Texas State 45-38 at Hancock Whitney Stadium in front of a sparse crowd. The loss ended the Jags hopes at a Sun Belt Conference West Division title and clinched it for Louisiana-Lafayette.
The Bobcats (7-5, 5-3 Sun Belt Conference) outscored the Jags (6-6, 5-3 SBC) 14-3 in the fourth quarter. Gio Lopez threw two interceptions and lost a fumble, the last turnover was a pick-six that sealed the game for the Bobcats. It also knocked Lopez out of the rest of the game with an apparent injury.
After Gio got up holding his throwing arm and limping, the training staff quickly attended to him on the sideline as head coach Major Applewhite and offensive coordinator Rob Ezell had to decide if he was able to continue. The decision didn’t take long and Bishop Davenport came in from the bench.
Davenport drove the Jags down for a field goal on some key runs and sharp passes. He converted a 4th and 9 with a pass that Jamaal Pritchett was able to catch with fully extended arms. However, the offense wouldn’t be able to punch it in the endzone and coach Applewhite opted to take the field goal and try for an onside kick. The onside kick failed and allowed the Bobcats to run out the clock.
The Jags took a 28-21 lead into halftime after an opening half with several big plays.
Texas State won the coin toss and opted to receive the ball. They drove down the field and scored on an 9-yard touchdown run by Jordan McCloud. It only took South Alabama five plays to answer and it was Fluff Bothwell who did when he broke a 51-yard touchdown where he broke several tackles en route.
South Alabama would take the lead when Jordan McCloud’s pass was intercepted by Blayne Myrick and returned 33 yards for a touchdown.
The Bobcats tied it up on an 8-play, 75-yard drive capped off by a 9-yard touchdown run by Brad Jackson. Then they took the lead in the second quarter on another 8-play, 60-yard drive with the final 33-yards covered by Ismail Mahdi for the touchdown.
The Jags tied it up again on a 17-yard touchdown pass from Lopez to Jamaal Pritchett with just under four minutes left in the half. After forcing a three-and-out and a very short punt, the Jags were set up for a go-head score at the Texas State 25. It only took two plays and Gio ran to the left corner to take a 28-21 lead.
After a stop by both teams, Texas State had the ball with 45-seconds left in the half. They got to the Jags 14 with 12-seconds left when McCloud completed a pass over the middle for 4-yards, but the play took too long and they couldn’t line up quickly enough to even try to run another play since he couldn’t spike the ball.
After forcing a three-and-out on the Bobcats first possession of the second half and a shanked punt, the Jags took over at the 50-yard line looking to pad their lead with another score. However, Lopez was rolling out to his left and tried to force a ball downfield and overthrew his receiver and was intercepted. That led to a 65-yard drive by the Bobcats to tie up the game at 28-all.
The next Jaguar possession ended with a fumble when Lopez was spun around while being sacked and he tried to get the ball out but lost control of it instead.
Texas State capitalized on the turnover with a 32-yard field goal. The Jags defense was able to keep them out of the endzone with the help of a personal foul when Jaden Williams threw a punch at Lardarius Webb (but wasn’t ejected from the game).
South Alabama only needed three plays to answer. Two pass completions set up Fluff Bothwell to take it the final 29-yards for a 35-31 lead going into the fourth quarter.
The Bobcats responded with a 12-play, 90-yard drive capped off by an 18-yard touchdown pass to Joey Hobert to go up 38-35 with 11:39 left in the game.
On the ensuing possession the Jags were driving when Lopez was hit while he was throwing the ball, the ball was tipped up, intercepted, and ran back 60-yards for their final touchdown.
“It’s just disappointing,” South Alabama coach Major Applewhite said. “There were some spots in the game where I thought we played really well situationally on defense, some third downs, some red-area opportunities. But by and large, just too many explosive plays, too much time of possession.”
“Offensively, same thing.” Applewhite said. “I thought we played well at times, but you can’t win many games with (three) turnovers. I mean, those are obvious statements, obvious reasons for the loss. But proud of the way our guys continued to play.”
Stats
Gio Lopez finished 16-of-23 for 190 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. He also ran for 29-yards on 7 attempts. Bishop Davenport went 5-of-7 for 40 yards off the bench while running for 19 yards on four carries.
Jamaal Pritchett had 10 catches for 85 yards and a touchdown. DJ Thomas-Jones had 5 catches for 59 yards. Jeremiah Webb had 3 catches for 53 yards.
Fluff Bothwell finished with 81 yards on just 6 carries with two touchdowns. Bullock added 18 yards on 10 carries.
Jaden Voisin paced the team with 14 total stops, 2 solo with an interception. Courtney McBride Jr was the only Jag to record a sack.
| South Alabama | Texas State | |
| Total Yards | 377 | 530 |
| Passing Yards | 230 | 248 |
| Rushing Yards | 147 | 282 |
| 3rd Downs | 3 of 11 | 10 of 17 |
| 4th Downs | 3 of 3 | 1 of 1 |
| Turnovers | 3 | 2 |
| Penalties | 8 – 59 | 8 – 85 |
| Time of Possession | 24:35 | 35:25 |
Next
The Jags will know on December 8th, if not a little sooner, which bowl game will select them and who they will be facing.
“I’m proud of our team, proud of the way we’re fighting,” Applewhite said. “But there’s obviously plenty of stuff for us to go back and focus on through bowl practice to get prepared.”
Until we know when and where we’re playing, Go Jags!
Preview: A Season Finale Cat Fight Between Jaguars and Bobcats
Kickoff: Friday, November 29, 2:30pm
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
South Alabama punched their bowl ticket with a win last Saturday at Southern Miss. But they also kept their chances alive to win the Sun Belt Western Division title. In order to realize that, they need some help this week from Louisiana-Lafayette’s cross-state rival Louisiana-Monroe.
But first, the Jags have to take care of their own business and get a win against Texas State in order to keep those dreams alive.
The Jags (6-5, 5-2 Sun Belt Conference) and Texas State (6-5, 4-3 SBC) will meet at Hancock Whitney Stadium on Senior Day for South Alabama. If they win, they can sit back on Saturday and watch how the Sun Belt Conference divisions play out. Both division crowns will be determined this weekend.
What is South Alabama facing when the Bobcats come to town for a good ole cat fight? Let’s get familiar with the Bobcats head coach and take a look through the season stats for both teams.
Texas State
GJ Kinne is completing his second season at the helm in San Marcos. He has already taken Texas State to new heights in his short time in charge. He led them to a FBS program record 8 wins in his first season and their first-ever appearance in a bowl game.
When he took over the program, they had not had a winning season in 9 years. In an age of NIL and the transfer portal, Kinne brought in 53 scholarship newcomers and 71 total new players over the spring and summer of 2023. They got the programs first-ever win over a Power-5 program when they defeated Baylor to start the 2023 season. They tied for 2nd place in the west division and earned a 45-21 win over Rice in the Servpro First Responders Bowl in Dallas, TX for their first bowl win.
Kinne and his staff have overhauled the Bobcat offense since arriving in San Marcos. They were the nations most improved offense in 2023 with a 15-point improvement in scoring offense and finished 14th in the nation in scoring and total offense.
Offense
The Bobcats ranks 1st in Scoring Offense and Total Offense, 2nd in Offensive Efficiency, 3rd in Passing Offense, and 4th in Rushing Offense in the conference.
| Stat | Average per game |
| Points | 36.4 |
| Total Offense | 469.3 |
| Passing Offense | 267.1 |
| Rushing Offense | 202.2 |
| Time of Possession | 30:13 |
| Penalty Yards | 59.6 |
| Stat | Cumulative for Season |
| 3rd Downs | 61 of 138 (44.2%) |
| 4th Downs | 12 of 20 (60%) |
| Red Zone Scoring Attempts | 35 of 42 (83.3%) |
| Red Zone Touchdowns | 29 of 42 (69%) |
| Penalties – Yards | 71 – 655 |
| Fumbles – Lost | 18 – 8 |
Jordan McCloud, the former JMU quarterback, now leads the offense in San Marcos. So far this season he is 226 of 327 (69.1%) for 2,672 yards with 28 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He also adds 249 yards on 62 carries with 6 touchdowns.
McCloud spreads the ball around pretty well as you’ll see. Joey Hobert leads the team with 59 catches for 581 yards and 7 touchdowns. Jaden Williams leads the team with 644 receiving yards on 48 catches with 6 touchdowns. Kole Wilson has 40 catches for 567 yards and 4 touchdowns. Chris Dawn Jr has 30 catches for 370 yards and 6 touchdowns.
Ismail Mahdi leads the Bobcats rushing attack with 844 yards on 163 attempts with 3 touchdowns. Torrance Burgess Jr has 344 yards on 54 carries with 2 touchdowns. Lincoln Pare has 315 yards on 48 carries with 5 touchdowns.
Defense
The Bobcats ranks 1st Forced Fumbles, 2nd in Defensive Effenciency, 3rd in Total Defense, and 3rd in Scoring Defense, Rushing Defense and Passing Defense in the conference.
| Stat | Average per game |
| Points | 23 |
| Total Offense | 345.3 |
| Passing Offense | 197 |
| Rushing Offense | 148.3 |
| Time of Possession | 29:47 |
| Penalty Yards | 43.9 |
| Stat | Cumulative for Season |
| 3rd Downs | 58 of 162 (35.8%) |
| 4th Downs | 12 of 23 (52.2%) |
| Red Zone Scoring Attempts | 32 of 37 (86.5%) |
| Red Zone Touchdowns | 21 of 37 (56.8%) |
| Penalties – Yards | 65 – 483 |
| Fumbles – Lost | 18 – 7 |
Jordan Polk leads the team with 56 total stops, 28 solo, with 3.5 Tackles for Loss and a sack. James Neal is next on the team with 47 total stops, 23 solo, with 1.5 TFLs
Kalil Alexander leads the team with 5.5 sacks and also adds 7 TFLs. Steven Parker leads the defense with 9 TFLs with 5 sacks.
Trez Moore leads the Bobcats with 2 interceptions.
Special Teams
Lars Rau is averaging 38.1 yards per punt over his 20 attempts, with 16 fair catches, 4 downed inside the 20 and a 58-yarder as his long.
David Nunez is averaging 38.9 yards per punt over his 13 kicks with 7 fair catches, 9 downed inside the 20, and 3 touchbacks with a long of 52 yards.
Mason Shipley is 11-of-15 placekicking with a long on the season of 60 yards and is 44 of 46 on extra point attempts.
South Alabama
Offense
The Jags currently sit 3rd in the conference in scoring offense, 3rd in rushing offense, and total offense. Nationally the Jags are 25th in rushing offense and scoring offense, 23rd in total offense, 45th in time of possession. But they are also 3rd nationally in Passes Had Intercepted (3), 13th Turnovers Lost (8), and 6th in Punt Returns (17.5).
| Stat | Average per game |
| Points | 34.5 |
| Total Offense | 439 |
| Passing Offense | 241.8 |
| Rushing Offense | 197.2 |
| Time of Possession | 30:00 |
| Penalty Yards | 72.1 |
| Stat | Cumulative for Season |
| 3rd Downs | 55 of 135 (40.7%) |
| 4th Downs | 8 of 14 (57.1%) |
| Red Zone Scoring Attempts | 43 of 50 (86%) |
| Red Zone Touchdowns | 32 of 50 (64%) |
| Penalties – Yards | 91 – 739 |
| Fumbles – Lost | 10 – 5 |
After last weeks win Gio Lopez is now 189 of 288 (65.6%) for 2,367 yards, 17 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. He also has 436 rushing yards on 75 carries with 6 touchdowns.
Jamaal Pritchett became the fourth Jaguar receiver in the past five seasons to surpass 1,000 receiving yard mark and only the 3rd player ever to do so (Caullin Lacy and Jalen Tolbert twice). He has 1,041 yards on 81 catches with 8 touchdowns on the season. Jeremiah Webb is second on the team with 414 yards on 27 catches with 3 touchdowns. Devin Voisin has 28 catches for 332 yards.
Fluff Bothwell leads the rushing attack with 753 yards on 106 carries with 11 touchdowns. Kentrel Bullock has 684 yards on 125 carries with 6 touchdowns.
Defense
The Jags defense stacks up pretty good in the several categories in the conference. They are 2nd in Rush Defense, 4th in 3rd down defense, 4th in red zone defense, 4th in scoring defense and 6th in 1st down defense and 5th down defense, and 6th in total defense.
Nationally the defense ranks 18th in passes intercepted (13), 40th in turnovers gained (17), and 44th in rushing defense (127.6).
| Stat | Average per game |
| Points | 23.6 |
| Total Offense | 385.8 |
| Passing Offense | 253.7 |
| Rushing Offense | 132.1 |
| Time of Possession | 30:00 |
| Penalty Yards | 45.8 |
| Stat | Cumulative for Season |
| 3rd Downs | 56 of 155 (36.1%) |
| 4th Downs | 11-23 (47.8%) |
| Red Zone Scoring Attempts | 30 of 37 (81%) |
| Red Zone Touchdowns | 17 of 37 (45.9%) |
| Penalties – Yards | 56 – 155 |
| Fumbles – Lost | 11 – 4 |
Blayne Myrick leads the team with 82 total stops, 38 solo, with 2 sacks and 7 Tackles for Loss. Jordan Scruggs and Jaden Voisin are next on the list with 60 total stops each.
Courtney McBride Jr leads the team with 4 sacks and also 8 TFLs.
Jaden Voisin leads the team with 4 interceptions but Wesley Miller has 3 after his pick-six last week. Lardarius Webb Jr has 2. Scruggs, Amarion Fortenberry, Ty Goodwill and Chrystylle Caldwell each have an interception.
Special Teams
Aleksi Pulkkinen is averaging 40.7 yards per punt with 19 fair catches, 16 downed inside the 20, and 2 touchbacks. His 67-yard boot continues to be the long.
Laith Marjan is 15-of-16 with his only miss coming from 50+ yards and a season long of 49 yards.
Keys to the Game
Don’t beat yourself
Just one more regular season game left with a lot left to play for in this game. They cannot afford to set themselves back with preventable penalties. When you watch the game with Red, White & Blue glasses its easy to feel that the Jags keep coming up on the short end of the penalty game. They just have to play as cleanly as possible, don’t let frustrations get to them if they do get penalized, and hope for the best. If they can avoid setting the offense back with holds and false starts this week, I think the offense will be able to put plenty of points on the board against the Bobcats.
Solid Special Teams
The Jags played a better on special teams last week, lets keep that momentum going this week. Don’t let the Bobcats gain any momentum from good return or a good play in special teams.
Turnovers
South Alabama has a turnover margin of +9, they have intercepted opponents 13 times and recovered 4 fumbles on the season. Texas State has a turnover margin of -5, they have forced 18 fumbles, recovering 7, and intercepted opponents 5 times. But offensively they have thrown 11 interceptions and lost 8 fumbles.
Watch for turnover opportunities in this game.
Prediction
South Alabama hosts their regular season finale after two weeks on the road. Both teams will have one less day to prepare for the game since it’ll kickoff at 2:30pm on Friday, the day after Thanksgiving.
The Jags are a 1.5-point underdog at home to the Bobcats, which is basically a toss-up.
South Alabama will be without probably their best offensive lineman, Reed Buys, who tore his ACL against Southern Miss. When he has been out of the lineup, the Jags have struggled somewhat because they prefer to shuffle the offensive line a bit and move a more experienced guy into the right guard position then fill in on the left side. Since Lopez is a left-handed quarterback, the right side of the line is protecting his back.
Hopefully they can get starting offensive line plenty of reps this week to be ready on Friday. Perhaps the home underdog status will motivate them to come out firing on all cylinders.
Texas State will have plenty of motivation on their own. They come in after a somewhat embarrassing loss to a 3-8 Georgia State team in a very high scoring affair.
No matter how you cut it, I think this is going to be a great one for a Friday afternoon when there’s not going to be many games on to watch.
I think the Jags win outright.
Go Jags!
Jags Get Bowl Eligible With 35-14 Win Over Southern Miss
South Alabama earns bowl eligibility for a third-consecutive season after a 35-14 win over Southern Miss in Hattiesburg.
The Jags (6-5, 5-2 Sun Belt Conference) keep their hopes alive for a Western Division championship with the win over Southern Miss (1-10, 0-7 SBC) but will need some help in order to get to the championship game.
USA powered themselves to the win in the second half outscoring the Golden Eagles 21-3. They opened the half with a 4-play, 75-yard drive capped off by a 40-yard touchdown pass from Lopez to Jamaal Pritchett.
Late in the third quarter, Wesley Miller caught John White’s 3rd down pass in stride and returned it 57-yards untouched for his first career touchdown to go up 28-11.
Connor Gibbs added a 28-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter, but it would be the last points the Golden Eagles would muster.
Fluff Bothwell took the offense on his shoulders after the offense had been stuck in neutral after the opening half touchdown drive. He broke a 59-yard run then finished the drive off on the next play with a two-yard touchdown, his 11th of the season, to put the game away.
Southern Miss took the opening kickoff and drove right down the field on the jaguar defense to open the scoring. On the extra point the Golden Eagles lined up in the swinging gate formation but they actually ran the play and converted to 2-point conversion to take an 8-0 lead.
The Jag defense found its feet after the opening drive and kept the Golden Eagles bottled up for most of the rest of the opening half.
Early in the second quarter the Jags finally got on the scoreboard when Gio Lopez found Kentrel Bullock on a screen pass and he took it 21 yards for the touchdown. After a three-and-out, the Jags got the ball back and dove down the field for a go-ahead score. This time Lopez connected with Jeremiah Webb down the middle of the field for a 32-yard touchdown to make it 14-8.
The Jags defense turned away a scoring attempt late in the half with a huge sack to put them out of field goal range. The Jags were pinned deep and Southern Miss used all three of their time outs to force the Jags to punt with :13 seconds left. Aleki Pulkkinen’s punt was downed at the Jags 41 with just four seconds left in the half. USM sent on their field goal unit and Connor Gibbs easily made a 59-yard field goal as time expired to cut the Jags lead at halftime to 14-11.
Stats
| Stat | South Alabama | Southern Miss |
| Total Yards | 380 | 306 |
| Passing Yards | 193 | 137 |
| Rushing Yards | 187 | 169 |
| 3rd Downs | 3 of 10 | 6 of 18 |
| 4th Downs | None | 1 of 3 |
| Time of Possession | 21:13 | 38:47 |
| Penalties – Yards | 7 – 69 | 3 – 20 |
South Alabama
Lopez finished 15 of 24 for 193 yards and three touchdowns.
Pritchett had 102 yards on 8 catches with a touchdown. Webb had 50 yards on 3 catches with a touchdown. Bullock had 28 yards and a touchdown.
Fluff Bothwell had 104 yards on just 6 carries with a touchdown. Bullock added 54 yards on 14 carries.
Southern Miss
Tate Rodemaker went 15 of 27 for 108 yards and a touchdown. John White was 5 of 8 for 29 yards with an interception.
Kenyon Clay had 5 catches for 39 yards. Davis Dalton had 3 catches for 24 yards and a touchdown.
Deke Clark had 115 rushing yards on just 12 carries. Clay had 48 yards on 11 carries.
Next
South Alabama will host Texas State for a 2:30pm kickoff on Friday, November 29th at Hancock Whitney Stadium. The Jags will be looking for some help to get into the conference championship game if they can take care of their own business against the Bobcats.
Preview: South Alabama Looking To Get Bowl Eligible On The Road At Southern Miss
Kickoff: Saturday, November 23, 2pm
Venue: M. M. Malone Stadium, Hattiesburg, MS
TV/Streaming: ESPN+
Radio: 96.1 fm The Rocket, Sports Talk 99.5 fm, iHeartRadio App
Thunderjags on X (formerly known as Twitter): @USAThunderjags
South Alabama went into Lafayette and did what no other Sun Belt team has been able to do this season: defeat the Cajuns. The once blemish free conference record for the Cajuns now has a chip in it and the Jags hopes for West Division title, like the Undertaker, has risen from the coffin yet to be completely dead and buried for the season.
The Jags (5-5, 4-2 Sun Belt Conference) now just needs one more win to get bowl eligible in head coach Major Applewhite’s first season at the helm and for the third consecutive season.
They travel to Hattiesburg to take on the ailing Southern Miss Golden Eagles (1-9, 0-6 SBC). They enter on an eight-game skid and only managing 3 points in each of their last two games (37-3 vs Marshall and 58-3 vs Texas State). Their only win of the season has come against FCS Southeastern Louisiana 35-10.
What are the Jags facing when they get to “The Rock,” let’s dig into the opponent some along with the season stats to this point.
Southern Miss
Head coach Will Hall was dismissed the day after the Golden Eagles lost at home to Arkansas State 44-28 and a 14-30 record overall in Hattiesburg. Since his dismissal, USM has only managed to put 21 total points on the scoreboard across their last three games.
Reed Stringer is serving at the interim head coach. Before being tapped for the interim position he was in his fourth season as the assistant head coach and general manager. He was in his seventh year overall with the Golden Eagle program. He joined the program in 2018 with coach Jay Hopson as an offensive quality control coach. He took over coaching tight ends in 2019 and made it through the chaotic 2020 season when Hopson stepped down and the Golden Eagles had three coaches. He remained on staff when Hall was hired.
Previously he spent seven seasons as an assistant head coach, recruiting coordinator and tight ends coach at Louisiana-Lafayette.
Southern Miss will honor just two seniors for their senior day on Saturday so they don’t really have that much upper level experience it seems.
Offense
| Stat | Average per game |
| Points | 14.9 |
| Total Offense | 281 |
| Passing Offense | 170.3 |
| Rushing Offense | 110.7 |
| Time of Possession | 26:09 |
| Penalty Yards | 51.9 |
| Stat | Cumulative for Season |
| 3rd Downs | 29 of 124 (23.4%) |
| 4th Downs | 11 of 23 (47.8%) |
| Red Zone Scoring Attempts | 18 of 25 (72%) |
| Red Zone Touchdowns | 14 of 25 (56%) |
| Penalties – Yards | 64 – 519 |
| Fumbles – Lost | 15 – 12 |
Ethan Crawford leads USM with pass attempts, he is 50 of 120 (41.7%) for 849 yards with no touchdowns and 7 interceptions. Tate Rodemaker leads the team with completions, going 65 of 107 (60.8%) for 643 yards, four touchdowns and five interceptions.
Larry Simmons leads the receiving corps with 318 yards on 20 catches. Tiaquelin Mims has a team leading 25 catches for 287 yards. They have four other receivers with between 10 and 13 catches each. Kyirin Heath leads the group with 2 touchdown catches.
Rodrigues “Dreke” Clark is the leading rusher with 468 yards on 104 carries with a touchdown. Kenyon Clay has 320 yards on 61 attempts with six touchdowns. Ethan Crawford has 211 yards on 97 carries and three touchdowns.
Defense
| Stat | Average per game |
| Points | 36.6 |
| Total Offense | 455.7 |
| Passing Offense | 221.8 |
| Rushing Offense | 233.9 |
| Time of Possession | 32:21 |
| Penalty Yards | 40.1 |
| Stat | Cumulative for Season |
| 3rd Downs | 54 of 132 (40.9%) |
| 4th Downs | 12 of 17 (70.6%) |
| Red Zone Scoring Attempts | 41 of 46 (89.1%) |
| Red Zone Touchdowns | 28 of 46 (60.9%) |
| Penalties – Yards | 63 – 541 |
| Fumbles – Lost | 8 – 3 |
Tre’ Pinkney leads USM with 67 total stops, 33 solo, with 3.5 tackles for loss and .5 sacks. Chris Jones is next on the team with 46 total stops, 25 solo, with 2.5 TFLs and one sack with an interception. Dylan Lawrence leads the team with a pair of interceptions. Jalil Clemons and Ryan Johnson co-lead the team with three sacks.
Special Teams
Bryce Lofton is averaging 44.96 yards per punt with 18 fair catches, 14 downed inside the 20, 14 punts of 50+ yards with a long of 57.
Connor Gibbs is 8 of 8 on field goal attempts with his longest of the season being from 54 yards out. Andrew Stein has attempted three field goals and has yet to put up between the uprights.
South Alabama
Offense
The Jags currently sit 3rd in the conference in scoring offense, rushing offense, total offense, and time of possession. Nationally the Jags are 25th in rushing offense and scoring offense, 23rd in total offense, 45th in time of possession. But they are also 3rd nationally in Passes Had Intercepted (3), 13th Turnovers Lost (8), and 6th in Punt Returns (17.5).
| Stat | Average per game |
| Points | 34.4 |
| Total Offense | 444.9 |
| Passing Offense | 246.7 |
| Rushing Offense | 198.2 |
| Time of Possession | 30:53 |
| Penalty Yards | 72.4 |
| Stat | Cumulative for Season |
| 3rd Downs | 52 of 125 (41.6%) |
| 4th Downs | 8 of 14 (57.1%) |
| Red Zone Scoring Attempts | 41 of 48 (85.4%) |
| Red Zone Touchdowns | 30 of 48 (62.5%) |
| Penalties – Yards | 84 – 724 |
| Fumbles – Lost | 10-5 |
Gio Lopez ranks 17th nationally in total offense, 24th in yards per pass attempt, 25th in completion percentage and passing efficiency. He is 174 of 265 (65.9%) with 2,174 yards, 14 touchdowns and three interceptions.
Jamaal Pritchett leads the team in catches with 73, receiving yards 939, and touchdowns with seven. he ranks 7th nationally in receptions per game, 8th nationally in Receiving Yards and Receiving Yards per game, 28th in Receiving Touchdowns, and 33rd in All-Purpose yards.
Jeremiah Webb is next on the list with 364 yards on 24 catches with two touchdowns. Devin Voisin has 332 yards on 29-8 catches. Devin Voisin has 332 yards on 28 catches. Shemar Sandgren has 176 yards on 16 catches with a touchdown.
Fluff Bothwell leads the team in rushing yards with 649 on 100 carries with a team-leading 10 touchdowns. He ranks 30th nationally in rushing touchdowns and 41st in total touchdowns. Kentrel Bullock is right on his heels with 630 yards on 111 carries with six touchdowns. Gio Lopez is running fourth on the team with 427 yards on 70 carries and six touchdowns.
Kentrel Bullock ranks 42nd nationally in rush yards per carry.
Defense
The Jags defense stacks up pretty good in the several categories in the conference. They are 2nd in Rush Defense, 4th in 3rd down defense and red zone defense, 5th in scoring defense and 6th in 1st down defense and 4th down defense, and 7th in total defense.
Nationally the defense ranks 19th in passes intercepted (12), 34th in turnovers gained (16), 40th in Punt Return Defense (5.38), and 44th in rushing defense (127.6).
| Stat | Average per game |
| Points | 24.5 |
| Total Offense | 393.8 |
| Passing Offense | 265.4 |
| Rushing Offense | 128.4 |
| Time of Possession | 29:07 |
| Penalty Yards | 48.4 |
| Stat | Cumulative for Season |
| 3rd Downs | 50 of 136 (36.8%) |
| 4th Downs | 10-20 (50%) |
| Red Zone Scoring Attempts | 28 of 34 (82.4%) |
| Red Zone Touchdowns | 16 of 14 (47.1%) |
| Penalties – Yards | 53 – 484 |
| Fumbles – Lost | 10 – 4 |
Blayne Myrick leads the team with 75 total stops, 33 solo with 6 TFLs and a sack. Jordan Scruggs is next with 53 total stops, 26 solo, with 3 TFLs and an interception.
Jaden Voisin, who broke the record for career interceptions as a Jaguar last week, now ranks 7th nationally in total interceptions on the season with 52 total stops, 30 solo.
Special Teams
Aleksi Pulkkinen is averaging 41.3 yards per punt with 14 fair catches, 14 downed inside the 20, two touchbacks and two kicks of 50+ yards.
Laith Marjan is 15 of 16 placekicking on the season (93.75%) with his only miss coming from over 50 yards.
Keys to the Game
Don’t beat yourself
After playing a very disciplined first half, the Jags got a little too complacent in the second half and the offensive penalties creeped back in a little. Not necessarily the cause of all of the second half offensive woes, but they definitely didn’t help the cause. Just play more like the first-half team, not the second half team.
Play a complete game
It’s been a while since the Jags have really played a complete game. You have to go all the way back to the App State game for that. While they did end up winning big over ULM, they really didn’t play a complete game. The first half of that game wasn’t their best first half of football, by any means.
The last two weeks have seen the Jags play good first halves, but falter in the second half. They lost one against Georgia Southern but they held on to win last week against the Cajuns.
With just two games to go and a potential bowl game, now is the time to put everything together and get two big wins and hope for some help to get to the conference championship game.
Solid Special Teams
The special teams have had some problems over the last couple of weeks too. Miscommunication, turnovers, etc. Don’t give the other team an opportunity to seize momentum with a big play on special teams.
Prediction
The Jags roll into the game as a 22.5-point favorite over the Golden Eagles. The Southern Miss fanbase may just be ready for the season to be over and done with. They wouldn’t mind getting a couple of wins to end the season, but are they able to regroup at this point and execute at a high enough level to win.
Meanwhile my ability to predict what this team can and will do continues to be beyond my grasp. The only consistency is that I cannot consistently prognosticate which Jaguar team will show up to play. I’ll go ahead and apologize if my prediction does not pan out. But I think the Jags will cover the 22.5 point spread and earn bowl eligibility this week running their all-time record against the Golden Eagles to 5-0.
Go Jags!
South Alabama Stops Two-Point Conversion Late To Defeat Cajuns 24-22
South Alabama raced out to an early lead with touchdowns on their first three possessions of the game. But held off a second half surge and turned away a two-point conversion with under two minutes to go to earn a 24-22 win over Louisiana-Lafayette at Cajun Field.
The Jags (5-5, 4-2 Sun Belt Conference) scored all of their points in the first half and held a 24-3 lead at halftime. The Cajuns (8-2, 5-1) scored a potential game-tying touchdown with 1:16 left in the game, but the Jaguar defense kept them out of the endzone on the two-point try. Then the onside kick bounced out of bounds to allow the Jags to run out the clock.
Gio Lopez scored the first two touchdowns on short runs. The third touchdown came by Kentrel Bullock. Laith Marjan added a 35-yard field goal as time expired in the first half.
“We were just executing the offense,” Lopez explained after the game. “We weren’t trying to do too much. If the hole was open, we took it. We game-planned for two weeks and we just executed it.”
The second half was all Cajuns though despite starting quarterback Ben Wooldridge being knocked out of the game with a shoulder injury early in the third quarter.
“The first half was really beautiful. In the second half, we made our mistakes,” head coach Major Applewhite said. “We had a special teams error that resulted in a field goal. We have a bust on the defensive call that ended up in a big touchdown, brining it within eight. But we also did some good things. After the issue on the punt, we held them to a field goal. We did more the ball a little bit, obviously we need to sustain drives better in the second half; put points up on the board. But when it mattered, we got some first downs and took some time off the clock.”
The Cajuns drove deep into Jaguar territory twice and were turned away with only field goals for a 24-9 score in the fourth quarter.
The Jaguar offense couldn’t sustain any drives in the second half. After a punt with 9:30 remaining in the game, Chandler Fields found Dre’Lyn Washington for a 66-yard touchdown to shrink the Jaguar advantage to just one score, 25-16 with 8:28 left.
As the Jags were trying to burn clock, Lopez was picked off on a deep pass with 5:30 left in the game. The Cajuns then proceeded to drive 85 yards, aided by penalties for offsides and pass interference, to score to get within two points on a two-yard quarterback keeper off left tackle with 1:16 left. The two-point conversion was almost the same play with Fields running off left tackle, but this time Wy’Kevious Thomas was there to deny him the endzone.
Stats
| Stat | South Alabama | Louisiana-Lafayette |
| Total Yards | 353 | 413 |
| Passing Yards | 285 | 276 |
| Rushing Yards | 68 | 137 |
| 3rd Downs | 4-of-11 | 4-of-13 |
| 4th Downs | 1-of-2 | 3-of-4 |
South Alabama
Lopez finished the game 24-of-34 for 285 yards with an interception. He also ran for 34 yards and two touchdowns.
Jamaal Pritchett led all receivers with 170 yards on 11 catches. Shamar Sandgren had 3 catches for 41 yards and Jeremiah Webb added 31 yards on 4 catches.
Fluff Bothwell was held to 38 yards on 9 carries and Kentrel Bullock was held to only 24 yards on 9 carries.
Jaden Voisin led the defense with 10 total stops, 6 solo, with an interception that gives him the program record for career interceptions.
Louisiana-Lafayette
Ben Wooldridge was 8-of-13 for 91 yards and an interception before having to leave the game. Chandler Fields came in and went 14-of-17 for 185 yards and a touchdown.
Harvey Broussard led the Cajuns with 84 yards on 6 catches. Lance LeGendre led the Cajuns with 7 catches for 75 yards. Dre’Lyn Washington had one catch for 66 yards and a touchdown. Terrance Carter had 5 catches for 41 yards.
Bill Davis led the Cajuns with 50 yards rushing on 16 carries. Washington had 41 yards on 5 carries. Fields had 28 yards on 7 carries with a touchdown.
Next
The Jags will travel to Southern Miss for a 2pm kickoff in Hattiesburg, MS on ESPN+. If the Jags win, they will earn bowl eligibility for the third-consecutive season, a program first. A chance to win the SBC West Division is still alive but it will require the Jags to win out and get some help.
Preview: South Alabama Travels To Louisiana-Lafayette For West Division Showdown
Kickoff: Saturday, November 16, 6pm
Venue: Cajun Field, Lafayette, 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
The South Alabama Jaguars are back on the road this weekend for the first road game in over a month. They travel to Lafayette, LA to take on the West Division leading Ragin’ Cajuns for a very pivotal game as the end of the regular season is quickly approaching.
The Jags (4-5, 3-2 Sun Belt Conference) all but had their hopes to represent the west in the conference title game dashed two weeks ago. Georgia Southern took advantage of two opportunities given to them and seized control of the game for a 34-30 defeat of USA on November 2nd. A game the Jags should have won.
The Cajuns (8-1, 5-0) may be playing some of their best football of the season right now. They enter the game coming off of a 55-19 blowout of Arkansas State at Cajun Field last Saturday.
This is an opportunity for the Jags to earn a season-defining win and creep one game closer to bowl eligibility. They’ve already let two conference wins slip from their grasp this season. They held the lead against both Arkansas State and Georgia Southern when they held the lead late in the game. They cannot afford to let any more slip away as their path to earn bowl eligibility is narrowing by the week.
The Cajuns have a history of winning and their home stadium is a difficult place to play. Head coach Major Applewhite and the Jags have their work cut out for them this week. Hopefully coming into the game after an off week will work to their advantage.
Let’s dig into the opponent some along with the season stats to this point.
Louisiana-Lafayette
The Cajuns are under the direction of Michael Desormeaux, who is in his third season as head coach of the program. He was a former record-setting quarterback for Louisiana-Lafayette.
In both seasons as head coach, he’s led ULL to its fifth and sixth-consecutive bowl games, which is a school record. He has a career head coaching record of 21-15 (11-9 SBC) including his win in the 2021 New Orleans Bowl as interim head coach. However, he has lost both bowl games he’s coached since then.
He was named the head coach after joining the staff in 2016 and helped the program win four consecutive SBC West Division titles (2018-2021) and won its first outright SBC Championship in program history in 2021 when he was serving a Co-Offensive coordinator. His offense ranked 3rd in the Sun Belt in both scoring offense and total offense during the 2021 13-win season.
Desormeaux was the only member that Billy Napier retained from the previous staff when he was hired.
Offense
Ben Wooldridge is 177-of-258 (68.6%) for 2,301 yards with 17 touchdowns and 4 interceptions. Chandler Fields is 10-of-12 (83.3%) for 97 yards on the season in three games.
The Cajuns spread the ball around pretty equally. They have five players with 21 or more pass receptions and over 200 yards receiving on the season.
Terrance Carter has 558 yards on 36 catches (both lead the team) with four touchdowns. Lance LeGrendre has 515 yards on 27 catches with four touchdowns. Harvey Broussard has 271 yards on 18 catches for three touchdowns.
Similarly, the offensive backfield spreads the ball around a lot too. They have three running backs with over 400 yards rushing and over 50 carries each. Bill Davis leads the backfield with 585 yards on 98 carries with 5 touchdowns. Zylan Perry has 463 yards on 73 carries with two touchdowns. Dre’lyn Washington has 412 yards on 56 carries with 5 touchdowns. Ben Wooldridge has 190 yards on 56 carries with 5 touchdowns.
| Stat | Average per game |
| Points | 32.2 |
| Total Offense | 392.4 |
| Passing Offense | 216.7 |
| Rushing Offense | 175.7 |
| Time of Possession | 29:06 |
| Penalty Yards | 48.6 |
| Stat | Cumulative for Season |
| 3rd Downs | 68 of 167 (41%) |
| 4th Downs | 11 of 20 (55%) |
| Red Zone Scoring Attempts | 42 of 52 (81%) |
| Red Zone Touchdowns | 30 of 52 (58%) |
| Penalties – Yards | 79 – 632 |
| Fumbles – Lost | 27 – 12 |
Defense
KC Ossai leads the team with 76 total stops, 41 solo, with two tackles for loss, three pass breakups and 0.5 sacks. Carmycah Glass has 51 total stops, 30 solo, with 3.5 TFLs and 0.5 sacks.
Cameron Whitfield leads the team with five sacks and six TFLs.
Tyrone Lewis and Tyree Skipper are both tied for the team lead with four interceptions each.
| Stat | Average per game |
| Points | 28.6 |
| Total Offense | 385.8 |
| Passing Offense | 215 |
| Rushing Offense | 170.8 |
| Time of Possession | 30:51 |
| Penalty Yards | 48.9 |
| Stat | Cumulative for Season |
| 3rd Downs | 89 of 200 (45%) |
| 4th Downs | 23 of 31 (74%) |
| Red Zone Scoring Attempts | 48 of 58 (83%) |
| Red Zone Touchdowns | 37 of 58 (64%) |
| Penalties – Yards | 70 – 636 |
| Fumbles – Lost | 16 – 9 |
Special Teams
Nathan Torney is averaging 39.6 yards per punt with 10 fair catches, 5 downed inside the 20 and a long of 54 yards.
Kenneth Almendares is 19-of-21 placekicking (90.5%) with his only misses coming from 50+ yards. He does have a season long of 53 yards to his credit.
Jacob Bernard returns most puts for the Cajuns and he is averaging 5.8 yards per return. His longest was 32 yards.
South Alabama
Offense
The Jags currently sit 1st in the conference in scoring offense, 2nd in the Sun Belt Conference in rushing offense while 2nd in the conference in total offense and time of possession. Nationally the Jags are 15th in rushing offense, 21st in scoring offense, 14th in total offense, 35th in time of possession. But they are also 2nd nationally in Passes Had Intercepted (2), 5th Turnovers Lost (6), and 5th in Punt Returns (17.5).
| Stat | Average per game |
| Points | 35.2 |
| Total Offense | 457.1 |
| Passing Offense | 266.8 |
| Rushing Offense | 190.3 |
| Time of Possession | 32:29 |
| Penalty Yards | 44.4 |
| Stat | Cumulative for Season |
| 3rd Downs | 54 of 108 (50%) |
| 4th Downs | 7 of 12 (58.3%) |
| Red Zone Scoring Attempts | 40 of 43 (93%) |
| Red Zone Touchdowns | 27 of 43 (62.8%) |
| Penalties – Yards | 51 – 400 |
| Fumbles – Lost | 3 – 0 |
Gio Lopez is 150-of-230 (65.2%) for 1,889 yards with 14 touchdowns to 2 interceptions. Bishop Davenport is 28-of-48 (58.3%) for 293 yards with 1 touchdown.
Jamaal Pritchett continues to distance himself from the remainder of the receivers. He has 62 catches for 769 yards and 7 touchdowns. Devin Voisin has 27 catches for 326 yards. Jeremiah Webb has 333 yards on 20 catches with two touchdowns.
Fluff Bothwell barely holds the team lead in rushing yards with 611 on 91 carries while leading the team with 10 rushing touchdowns. He also ranks 1st in the conference with his 10 touchdowns and 10th nationally in rush yards per carry (6.77). Kentrel Bullock has 606 yards on 102 carries with 5 touchdowns. Lopez has rushed for 393 yards on 62 carries with 4 touchdowns.
Defense
The Jags defense stacks up pretty good in the several categories in the conference. They are 2nd in Rush Defense, 3rd in 3rd down defense and red zone defense, 4th in scoring defense and 1st down defense, 6th in 4th down defense, and 7th in total defense.
| Stat | Average per game |
| Points | 21.8 |
| Total Offense | 335.4 |
| Passing Offense | 173 |
| Rushing Offense | 162.4 |
| Time of Possession | 27:31 |
| Penalty Yards | 44.8 |
| Stat | Cumulative for Season |
| 3rd Downs | 51 of 111 (46%) |
| 4th Downs | 8 of 9 (88.9%) |
| Red Zone Scoring Attempts | 25 of 25 (100%) |
| Red Zone Touchdowns | 18 of 25 (72%) |
| Penalties – Yards | 44 – 403 |
| Fumbles – Lost | 6 – 3 |
Blayne Myrick paces the defense with 68 total stops, 28 solo, with one sack and 5 TFLs. Jordan Scruggs is next on the team with 49 total stops, 23 solo, with 3 TFLs and an interception.
Jaden Voisin leads the team with 3 interceptions. Courtney McBride Jr leads the team with 4 sacks and 6.5 TFLs.
Special Teams
Aleksi Pulkkinen is averaging 41.7 yards per punt with 13 fair catches, 13 downed inside the 20-yard line, two touchbacks and 2 50+ kicks and a long of 67 yards.
Laith Marjan is 14-of-15 (93.3%) with his only miss coming from 50+ yards out. He has a season long of 49 yards.
Pritchett is averaging 17.5 yards per punt return with one touchdown on the year.
Braylon McReynolds, after re-emerging for the Jags, showed up on kickoff returns and is averaging 25.3 yards per return over his three kick returns. Unfortunately, he fumbled in his second return attempt that gave Georgia Southern a big boost of momentum to get back into the game.
Keys to the Game
Don’t beat yourself
The Jags were mired with 13 penalties for 99 yards, with 10 of them coming from the offense. Six were false starts, three holding and one offensive pass interference. This was at home too, not on the road in a loud stadium in hostile environment.
While the officiating in the game, and the conference, is something that can easily be debated (look for more about this soon). You still have to play very disciplined football and you just cannot set your team back like that so many times.
That has to be cleaned up to compete against the Cajuns.
Turnovers
One key turnover very early in the fourth quarter solidly swung the momentum into Georgia Southern’s favor. After the Jags had taken a commanding 30-14 lead, but had just given up a touchdown after miscommunication on the kickoff gave the Eagles a short field. On the kickoff, Braylon McReynolds took the kickoff at the 3-yard line but fumbled the ball on the return giving the Eagles the ball at the Jaguars 21-yard line. Just a couple plays later they had cut the lead to a mere 3 points.
The Jags have a +7-turnover margin on the season while the Cajuns have a +8-turnover margin. The Cajuns have 9 interceptions while the Jags have 11 takeaways by interception. Since both teams protect the ball very well, but generate takeaways, if either team can force one it could prove to be big storyline in this game.
The Jags rank 2nd in the nation with only 2 interceptions thrown on the season.
Stretching the Defense
The Jags and Gio Lopez have not been very accurate taking deep shots downfield. From memory, it has seemed that Lopez has been overthrowing his receivers lately. It could be from his limited reps in practice due to his lingering turf toe injury. Hopefully with some extra rest his toe will be in better shape going into the game against the Cajuns and have allowed him more practice reps during game week.
If he can stretch the field on some deep passes, it will further open up running lanes and play action passes.
Prediction
After being favored over the last few games, the Jags now find themselves the underdog on the road. The Cajuns are a 7-point favorite to win.
The Cajuns lead the series 9-3 and have a 5-1 record at home. This game could have a lot of fireworks as these two teams are two of the top offenses in the conference. The Cajuns just edge out the Jags in total offense 457.1 to 455.1.
I don’t have the best feeling about this after watching what the Cajuns did last week against Arkansas State and the week before against Texas State. It really depends which Jaguar team gets off the bus for the game.
I think with an extra week to prepare, I think the Jags cover but Cajuns pull out the win.
Go Jags!
South Alabama Falls At Home To Georgia Southern 34-30
South Alabama had a nightmare of a fourth quarter. They allowed 20 points in the final stanza to fall 34-30 to Georgia Southern and continuing “the streak” of winning and losing in pairs.
“We have to play better,” said head coach Major Applewhite. “We were our own worst enemy. … We just did not play clean enough in the fourth quarter. Give them credit for coming back and winning the ball game, but we certainly made it a little bit easier.”
The Jags (4-5, 3-2 Sun Belt Conference) scored 27-unanswered points after the Eagles (6-3, 4-1 SBC) took a 14-3 lead around midway through the second quarter. South Alabama got a touchdown to answer when Fluff Bothwell took it in from 1-yard out. Laith Marjan added a field goal with just 7 seconds left in the half for a 14-13 deficit going into the locker room.
The opening drive of the second half was going well until the Jags got into the red zone. DJ Thomas-Jones caught a pass and was forced out of bounds at the 1-yard line, but Devin Voisin drew a flag for an offensive pass interference. This was followed by a flag for holding on Kenton Jerido. On 3rd and goal at the 25. Gio Lopez found Jamaal Pritchett but he could only manage 19 yards and head coach Major Applewhite settled for a 24-yard field goal by Laith Marjan to take a 15-14 lead.
The next South Alabama possession moved well again…until the Jags got into the red zone again. Jeremiah Webb was flagged for a false start on first down. But Full Bothwell was not going to be denied. He covered the 22 yards for his second touchdown of the game and his 10th of the season, to give the Jags a 23-14 lead at the 5:08 mark of the third quarter.
After a turnover on downs near midfield, the Jaguar offense moved the ball down the field quickly. Lopez connected with Devin Voisin at the 6-yard line, he advanced up to the field to the 3-yard line when he was hit and fumbled the ball forward into the end zone. Thankfully Pritchett was aware and fell onto the ball in the endzone for a touchdown to give the Jags a 30-14 lead with seconds left in the third quarter.
A sky kick on the kickoff was returned 25-yards by the up-man to the Jags 46-yard line. Starting the fourth quarter facing 2nd and 9, the Eagles decided to throw deep and quarterback JC French found Josh Dallas behind the defense for a 45-yard touchdown.
“We had a miscommunication on special teams,” Applewhite said about the kick. “It took the air out of the stadium when we gave them great field position and those are the type of things we can’t do down the stretch as a ball club and expect to win games.”
Braylon McReynolds returned the ensuing kickoff 18 yards before the refs ruled a fumble was recovered by Georgia Southern. The video replay seemed to show a Jag player falling on the ball cleanly then an Eagle jumped on and wrestled the ball away. But two plays later Georgia Southern was back on the board with another touchdown, cutting the Jags lead to 30-27 with only 50 seconds off the clock in the final quarter.
The next Jags possession started with yet another false start leading to the offense going three-and-out.
Georgia Southern was aided again by the guys in striped shirts when Reggie Neely, who was lowering his body for a tackle, was ruled to be targeting because the ball carrier lowered his head which led to a helmet to helmet hit.
(As an aside, when a defender lowers his body for a tackle and the ball carrier lowers his head for a hit, it should not be flagged as a targeting penalty.)
A few plays later quarterback Dexter Williams threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to Dalen Cobb to give the Eagles the final margin of 34-30.
The Jags following possession started with yet another holding penalty to get the behind the down and distance schedule. Gio Lopez threw deep right intended for Jeremiah Webb, who seemed to be cutting in and had to re-adjust to Lopez’s pass going to the outside, but the Eagles intercepted it at the Georgia Southern 34.
Bishop Davenport came in for Lopez after he went into the trainers’ tent after the interception for what seems to have been a concussion check. On 3rd and 6 at the Eagles 16, Davenport took a sack for a loss of 7-yards. On 4th & 13 the Eagles sent the house on a blitz. Davenport attempted to spin and move up in the pocket but was taken down for a 9-yard loss.
“It’s a tough situation,” Applewhite explained. “I mean, their ears are pinned back, they know exactly what the situation is and it’s not an ideal spot for Bishop. But we’ve got to somehow, some way, get the ball out.”
With all three timeouts left, the Jags just needed a defensive stop, but a flag for defensive delay of game all but sealed the game when the Eagles were able to gain just enough to convert a first down on 2nd & 4.
Stats
South Alabama
Gio Lopez finished the game 22-of-30 for 257 yards with a touchdown and an interception, only his second on the season. Bishop Davenport was 1-for-2 for 17 yards in relief.
Jamaal Pritchett led all receivers with 12 catches for 107 yards and a touchdown (on the Voisin fumble). Voisin finished with 5 catches for 66 yards.
Kentrel Bullock led all rushers with 101 yards on 17 carries. Lopez added 43 yards on 7 carries. Bothwell had just 31 yards on 6 carries with two touchdowns.
Georgia Southern
JC French was 22-for-27 for 198 yards and two touchdowns. Dexter Williams III was 3-of-5 for 33 yards and a touchdown.
OJ Arnold had 6 catches for 42 yards. Josh Dallas had 5 catches for 96 yards and two touchdowns. Dalen Cobb had 5 catches for 54 yards and a touchdown.
| Stat | South Alabama | Georgia Southern |
| Total Yards | 458 | 337 |
| Passing Yards | 274 | 231 |
| Rushing Yards | 184 | 106 |
| Penalties | 13 – 99 | 5 – 41 |
| 3rd downs | 5-of-12 | 7-of-16 |
| 4th downs | 1-of-2 | 3-of-4 |
| Time of possession | 28:08 | 31:52 |
| Turnovers | 2 (7) | 0 (0) |
Next
The Jags have a bye week before hitting the road for Lafayette, Louisiana to face the first-place Ragin’ Cajuns on Saturday, November 16.
South Alabama needs to find two wins over the final three games of the season in order to get to their third-consecutive bowl game.
Preview: South Alabama vs Georgia Southern
Kickoff: Saturday, November 2, 6:30pm
Venue: Hancock Whitney Stadium, Mobile, AL
TV/Streaming: ESPNU
Radio: 96.1 fm The Rocket, Sports Talk 99.5 fm, iHeartRadio App
Thunderjags on X (formerly known as Twitter): @USAThunderjags
#5 Jersey: TBA
South Alabama enters this week’s game with an even record overall and looks to both break some bad patterns and continue some good patterns when they host Georgia Southern on Saturday night at Hancock Whitney Stadium.
The Jags (4-4, 3-1 Sun Belt) comes in after winning their last two match-ups on the season, both at home. This will be the third and final game of a three-game home stand by the Jags. They also have a two-game streak going against Georgia Southern (5-3, 3-1 SBC).
They are also the only two wins the Jags have had in nine meetings between the two programs.
We also alluded to breaking a streak. Dating back to the 2023 season the Jags have had a curious pattern going. They tend to win and lose in pairs. It’s not a perfect pattern, it was technically broken by the win in the 68 Ventures Bowl.
Or was it just interrupted?
Head Coach Major Applewhite can have a testy side to him. Last week when a reporter brought up that his team was 3-0 in weeknight games but 0-4 in Saturday games, he didn’t seem very…entertaining of that question. This week the same reporter asked about “the pattern” as I have referred to it.
“This is about as much prosperity as we can handle,” Applewhite joked. “So, everybody brace themselves it’s time to go win three in a row.”
It’s good to see both sides of coach Applewhite, throwing some shade and also tossing out a laugh.
The Eagles come to Mobile tied for first place in the Sun Belt East Division and looking to keep it that way. But they are tied with Old Dominion who holds the tiebreaker based on their 47-19 head-to-head loss on Thursday, October 17. They will have a slight advantage over the Jags since they will be coming in with a couple extra days to prepare.
But enough of that, let’s take a look at some of the team stats.
Georgia Southern
Clay Helton is in his third season at the helm in Statesboro. He’s led the Eagles to back-to-back 6-7 seasons with losses in the Camellia Bowl (2022) and the Myrtle Beach Bowl (2023). He came to Georgia Southern after spending 11 years at USC in all. He started as the quarterbacks coach under Lane Kiffin then was promoted to offensive coordinator in 2013. He served at interim head coach when the previous interim head coach, Ed Orgeron, resigned following the hiring of Steve Sarkisian. In the 2015 season he served as the interim head coach again when Sarkisian took a leave of absence. USC then they promoted him to the head coach.
Helton went 46-24 over his time as head coach at USC and notably with a win in the 2017 Rose Bowl over Penn State.
Fans in Statesboro are getting a little itchy to get back to their winning way more like they had previously. Everything was looking up and up until their upset loss to Old Dominion.
Offense
Ryan Aplin has helped Helton transform Georgia State into a passing team. After setting just about every passing record for the Eagles in 2022, the 2023 season saw the Eagles finish in the top 20 nationally in passing yards per game with many of the records previously set falling again.
| Stat | Average per game |
| Points | 28.6 |
| Total Offense | 379.1 |
| Passing Offense | 252.1 |
| Rushing Offense | 127 |
| Time of Possession | 30:24 |
| Penalty Yards | 47.5 |
| Stat | Cumulative for Season |
| 3rd Downs | 50 of 112 (44.6%) |
| 4th Downs | 6 of 9 (66.7%) |
| Red Zone Scoring Attempts | 25 of 27 (92.6%) |
| Red Zone Touchdowns | 22 of 27 (81.5%) |
| Penalties – Yards | 45 – 380 |
| Fumbles – Lost | 16 – 7 |
JC French is 169 of 265 (63.8%) for 1,790 yards with 12 touchdowns and six interceptions. He is also the fourth leading rusher on the team with 138 yards on 68 attempts with one touchdown.
Dalen Cobb leads the team in catches with 37 for 434 yards and three touchdowns. Derwin Burgess Jr leads the team in receiving yards with 440 on 35 catches with three touchdowns as well.
Josh Dallas has 25 catches for 325 yards and a pair of touchdowns. LV Bunkley-Shelton has 20 catches for 216 yards. Tyler Fromm has 18 catches for 211 yards and two touchdowns as the final pass catcher with over 100 yards receiving for the season.
Jalen White leads the ground game with 393 yards on 92 carries with seven touchdowns. OJ Arnold has 253 yards on 43 carries with three touchdowns. David Mbadinga adds 145 yards on 35 carries with a pair of touchdowns.
Defense
Brandon Bailey is in his second season as defensive coordinator for Georgia Southern. In 2023 the Eagles finished top 30 nationally in passes intercepted, defensive touchdowns and tackles for loss.
In 2022 he was the youngest defensive coordinator in FBS while at the University of Buffalo. His defense finished 7th nationally with 28 turnovers, 7th nationally in interceptions with 13, and 2nd nationally with 15 forced fumbles. They were 4th in the MAC in scoring.
| Stat | Average per game |
| Points | 30.5 |
| Total Offense | 457.6 |
| Passing Offense | 272.5 |
| Rushing Offense | 185.1 |
| Time of Possession | 29:36 |
| Penalty Yards | 83.9 |
| Stat | Cumulative for Season |
| 3rd Downs | 51 of 110 (46.4%) |
| 4th Downs | 5 of 13 (38.5%) |
| Red Zone Scoring Attempts | 24 of 26 (92.3%) |
| Red Zone Touchdowns | 19 of 26 (73.1%) |
| Penalties – Yards | 69 – 671 |
| Fumbles – Lost | 8 – 3 |
Marques Watson-Trent (r-Sr LB) far and away leads the team with 77 stops, 34 solo. He also leads the team with 6.5 tackles for loss and is in a three-way tie for second on the team with 1.5 sacks. He is a big disrupter too with four forced fumbles, two quarterback hurries and a pass breakup.
Marc Stampley II (Jr DB) leads the team in sacks (2) and pass breakups (7), and is tied for the team lead in interceptions (2).
Special Teams
Alex Smith is averaging 43 yards per punt attempt with 20 fair catches, 15 downed inside the 20, 5 punts of over 50 yards, and a long of 63 yards.
Gavin Stewart is 7 of 9 placekicking for the Eagles with a long of 53 yards. He is 24 of 26 on extra point attempts.
South Alabama
Offense
The Jags currently sit 1st in the Sun Belt Conference in rushing offense and scoring offense while 2nd in the conference in total offense and time of possession. Nationally the Jags are 14th in rushing offense, 22nd in scoring offense, 19th in total offense, 29th in time of possession. But they are also 2nd nationally in Passes Had Intercepted (1), Turnovers Lost (4), and 3rd in Punt Returns (21.5).
| Stat | Average per game |
| Points | 36.3 |
| Total Offense | 454.8 |
| Passing Offense | 238.5 |
| Rushing Offense | 216.3 |
| Time of Possession | 31:41 |
| Penalty Yards | 70.5 |
| Stat | Cumulative for Season |
| 3rd Downs | 43 of 102 (42.2%) |
| 4th Downs | 6 of 10 (60%) |
| Red Zone Scoring Attempts | 32 of 38 (84.2%) |
| Red Zone Touchdowns | 24 of 38 (63.2%) |
| Penalties – Yards | 63 – 564 |
| Fumbles – Lost | 7 – 3 |
After a predominantly ground game last week Gio Lopez is 128 of 200 (64%) for 1,632 yards, 13 touchdowns and 1 interception.
Behind his career-high 11 catches last week, Jamaal Pritchett has 50 receptions for 662 yards and 6 touchdowns for the season. Second place on the team in receptions is Devin Voisin with 22 for 260 yards. Jeremiah Webb is third on the team in receptions with 17 but second on the team in reception yardage with 276 and a pair of touchdowns. DJ Thomas-Jones is second on the team in touchdown receptions with 3.
Fluff Bothwell continues to lead the Jags rushing attack with 580 yards on 85 carries with 8 touchdowns as a true freshman. His average of 6.88 yards per carry is 9th in the nation while his rushing touchdowns is 28th, but 1st among true freshmen.
Kentrel Bullock is not too far behind him with 505 yards on 85 carries with 5 touchdowns. Lopez is third on the team with 350 yards on 55 carries with 4 touchdowns. His 5.93 yards per carry ranks 38th nationally.
Defense
The Jags defense stacks up pretty good in the several categories in the conference. They are 2nd in Rush Defense, 3rd in 3rd down defense and red zone defense, 4th in scoring defense and 1st down defense, 6th in 4th down defense, and 7th in total defense.
| Stat | Average per game |
| Points | 23.6 |
| Total Offense | 401.7 |
| Passing Offense | 268.4 |
| Rushing Offense | 133.3 |
| Time of Possession | 28:19 |
| Penalty Yards | 47.3 |
| Stat | Cumulative for Season |
| 3rd Downs | 39 of 107 (36.5%) |
| 4th Downs | 4 of 11 (36.4%) |
| Red Zone Scoring Attempts | 22 of 28 |
| Red Zone Touchdowns | 13 of 28 |
| Penalties – Yards | 42 – 378 |
| Fumbles – Lost | 8 – 3 |
Blayne Myrick continues to pace the team with 58 total stops, 23 solo. He also has a sack, 5 tackles for loss, two pass breakups and a forced fumble to his resume. Jordan Scruggs is second on the team with 41 total stops, 19 solo, with an interception and a pass breakup.
Courtney McBride leads the team with 3 sacks. Tyler Thomas is next with 2 sacks.
Jaden Voisin’s three interceptions leads the team and is 14th nationally.
Wesley Miller’s interception against ULM ties him with Lardarius Webb for second on the team with two each.
Special Teams
Aleksi Pulkkinen averages 41.9 yards per punt with 13 downed inside the 20, 12 fair catches, 2 touchbacks, two kicks of 50+ yards and a season long of 67 yards.
Laith Marjan is 11 of 12 (91.7%) in field goals for the season, his only miss was from 52 yards. His season long is 49 yards. He is now officially 26 of 28 on extra points, but that counts as a miss against ULM was due to a poor snap and hold.
Jamaal Pritchett is still averaging 21.9 yards per punt return with the 1 touchdown on the season.
Keys to the Game
Turnovers
Georgia Southern’s defensive coordinator Brandon Bailey prioritizes defensive turnovers. They’ve forced seven interceptions but have only recovered three fumbles of the eight fumbles by opponents. On the other hand, the Eagles offense has turned the ball over 13 times (6 INT, 7 fumbles). Astonishingly, the Eagles have put the ball on the ground 16 times. So overall the Eagles are -3 in turnover margin.
South Alabama is very protective of the ball with only 4 offensive turnovers (3 fumbles, 1 INT). Defensively the Jags are pretty good at generating takeaways with 14 overall (11 INT, 3 fumbles) for a turnover margin of +11.
If past patterns continue, the Jags may have some opportunities to force some turnovers.
RTDB
The Jags found their offensive identity again last week: Run the damn ball.
In three of their four wins this season, the Jags have rushed for 300+ yards. The second half against ULM the Jags fully committed to the run and they ran all over the Warhawks.
The running back trio of Bothwell, Bullock and McReynolds were able to shoulder the run load and Gio only had to give the ball off. On passes, he stayed in the pocket more and didn’t move out immediately when he felt some pressure. Hopefully that was planned and not a change due to his lingering turf toe injury from week 1.
Getting the running backs rolling is a huge advantage for the Jags.
Pass Rush
Georgia Southern is predominantly a passing offense. Historically this has given the Jags problems. Generating a pass rush has been problematic in those instances. If they can get to the quarterback and make him uncomfortable, they can disrupt what they do and maybe force some more interceptions out of their quarterback.
Prediction
South Alabama is in the thick of the Sun Belt Conference West race. They have a chance to make another statement with a win. ULM entered with a darling storyline and the Jags were able to make a statement last week. Now they have a chance to knock off one of the eastern division leaders.
But it would also be nice to break “the pattern” and continue the current streak against the Eagles.
The Jags enter the match-up as a 6.5-point favorite. Once again, I have a feeling that the line is too high for whatever reason. I think the Jags win, but I don’t think they’ll cover. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again here, I’m completely open to them proving me wrong.
Go Jags!