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!