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!