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!
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