Eagles Use Strong Running Game to Defeat Jags 28-6
Dropped passes, missed opportunities and inconsistent offensive play was the story for the second consecutive week for the Jaguars. The opportunities were there within reach, but they could not capitalize on them.
Brandon Bridge was 13-of-34 for 149 yards, a touchdown and two late interceptions while being sacked four times. Many of the incomplete passes were in receivers arms, but they could not be caught and it was frustrating to fans in the stands. Shavarez Smith led the receivers with four catches for 69 yards and the only touchdown of the game.
On the ground the Jaguars gained 147 yards with Kendall Houston leading the attack with 38 yards on seven carries. Jay Jones and Xavier Johnson both gained 37 yards on 12 and seven carries respectively.
The Jaguar defense played brilliantly at times, but were worn thin when the offense could not sustain a drive to give them a breather. Overall the defense allowed yards, 335 of them rushing on 52 carries. Georgia Southern quarterbacks were 6-of-11 for 85 yards and an interception.
The first quarter saw neither offense playing particularly well until the final play when GSU’s Matthew Breida went off left tackle and outran the Jaguar defense to the end zone for a 64-yard score and a 7-0 lead.
About five minutes into the second quarter the Eagles struck again on a 1-yard touchdown run by L.A. Ramsby. The highlight of their drive was a 48 yard pass completion from Kevin Ellison to receiver B.J. Johnson that was well defended by Qudarius Ford, but Johnson was able to haul in on the bounce.
The Jaguars responded late in the first half. Facing fourth and 1 at the GSU 28, Jaguar head coach Joey Jones called a time out to set up the offense. Shavarez Smith ran a short pattern near the right sideline and found a soft spot pass the first down marker, Bridge connected with him and Smith broke the tackle and sprinted 28 yards for the touchdown. Aleem Sunanon’s extra point attempt would be no-good, leaving the Jaguars trailing 14-6 at halftime.
Midway through the third quarter the Eagles extended their lead on a Breida touchdown from one yard out to make the score 21-6.
South Alabama had an opportunity to add to their score, but facing fourth-and-goal from the 7 yards line, Bridge suffered one of his four sacks to end the threat.
The Jags would a break when the Eagles field goal attempt would sail widel left, but again the Jaguar offense could not take advantage of that or any other opportunities the rest of the game.
GSU would score once more with 3:21 on a six yard touchdown run by Ellison for the final score of 28-6.
Breida led Georgia Southern on the ground with 187 yards on 21 carries and two touchdowns while averaging 8.9 yards per carry. Ellison added 96 yards on 16 carries.
B.J. Johnson caught five of the six completed passes for 76 yards. Kentrellis Showers caught the other complete pass for nine yards.
The loss drops the Jaguars to 1-2 overall and 0-1 in conference play. Georgia Southern evens their record at 2-2 overall and 1-0 in conference play.
South Alabama travels to Moscow, Idaho to face the 0-3 Vandals in the Kibbie Dome. Georgia Southern has a short week as they host Appalachian State on Thursday evening.
Jags Down ULL In Volleyball Conference Opener
The South Alabama Jaguar volleyball team started their Sun Belt Conference schedule with a 3-2 (25-23, 17-25, 25-14, 17-25, 16-14) win over ULL on the road.
Jessica Lewis led the team with 17 kills and two solo blocks. Mechell Daniel posted her fifth double-double of the season with 14 kills and 13 digs. Nikki Gittens tied a career high with 12 kills and led the team with five total blocks, one solo, as well as two service aces. Mallory Moore added 10 kills. Emily Hundt recorded her fourth double-double of the season with 44 assists and 10 digs.
SBC Defensive Player of the Week Abby Baker posted 25 digs.
The loss was the first for the Ragin’ Cajuns who are 10-1 on the season and 0-1 in Conference play. Meanwhile the Jags improve to 6-5 on the season and 1-0 in Conference play. They return to Mobile to host Georgia State on Sunday in a noon time match in Jag Gym.
Hannah Earns Offensive Player of the Week Honors
Charde Hannah of the South Alabama Soccer team added to the Jaguars list of weekly honors on Tuesday as she was named the Sun Belt Conference Offensive Player of the Week.
Hannah, a freshman from Tupelo, Mississippi, is the third Jaguar to earn the conference’s weekly honor after freshman Sophie Haywood and junior Nini Rabsatt-Smith swept the awards last week.
Hannah recorded three goals and an assist for seven points as the Jaguars sent 2-0 by defeating Mississippi State and Alabama A&M. She scored both goals in the win over the Bulldogs.
She currently ranks 16th in the nation in goals per match (.875) and 17th in points per match with 2.13. She leads the conference in both of those categories.
USA will try to extend their four-matching winning streak on Friday when they host North Florida at The Cage.
Jaguar Volleyball’s Baker Earns SBC Defensive Player of the Week Honor
Sophomore libero/defensive specialist Abby Baker was named the Sun Belt Conference Defensive Player of the Week on Monday by the Conference office for the first time in her career.
Baker helped the Jaguars to a 3-1 record at the Maroon Classic over the weekend as she had 81 digs for a 6.23 digs per set average in four matches. She did not commit a reception error in the 54 times she was served.
She ranks sixth in the conference in digs with 3.80 per set.
Baker is the first Jaguar to earn a defensive honor since Jenna Hassell on September 10, 2012 and only the third recipient of the honor is South Alabama history.
Baker and the Jags will return to action on Wednesday as they open conference play at Louisiana-Lafayette. They will then return home to host Georgia State on Sunday.
Maleki Harris Named Defensive Player Of The Week
South Alabama’s Maleki Harris earned Sun Belt Conference Defensive Player of the Week honors for his performance against Mississippi State on Saturday.
Harris, a 6’1″ 210-pound senior linebacker from Cordova, Alabama, was credited with a career-best 14 tackles, 6 solo, and a pair of forced fumbles both of which were recovered by the Jaguars. The first fumble came on a five yard tackle for loss on Mississippi State’s first snap after taking over at the USA 31 yard line on a turnover and keeping the score 7-0 late in the first quarter.
The second turnover came in the red zone at the five yard line to stop another scoring opportunity.
This was the second double-digit tackle game for Harris and it was enough to push his career over 100 tackles for his career.
South Alabama (1-1) will host Georgia Southern (1-2) for a 6:30pm kickoff on Saturday at Ladd-Peebles Stadium, the first of eight consecutive Sun Belt Conference games. Locally the game can be heard on Lite Mix 99.9FM and worldwide on iHeartRadio. The game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN3.
Paul Finebaum And Bleacher Report Both Pick South Alabama To Upset Mississippi State
Both Bleacher Report and Paul Finebaum think the Jaguars can upset the Bulldogs at Ladd-Peebles Stadium. What a time to be a Jaguar?!?
Wow. @finebaum just predicted a South Alabama Jaguar upset over Mississippi State! #jagnation #soldout pic.twitter.com/iSMj5AvNfz
— Joe Jones (@Whojoejones) September 10, 2014
Jaguar Soccer Sweep Weekly Conference Awards
After sweeping the weekend with a pair of shutouts, the South Alabama Jaguar soccer team also swept the weekly Sun Belt Conference awards as junior Nini Rabsatt-Smith and freshman Sophie Haywood were named SBC Players of the Week on Tuesday.
Rabsatt-Smith, originally from Montgomery, Alabama, earned the conference’s weekly defensive award. She scored her first goal of the season and added two assists in a four-point week. But she also played a key role in the two shutouts and the team’s fourth overall. She started the scoring against Southern Miss after intercepting a pass at midfield. She assisted on back-to-back goals against Southern as well.
Haywood, a native of Hull, England, earned the offensive award as she helped lead the Jags to back-to-back shutouts over the weekend. She posted her first career hat-trick and an assist against Southern Miss. Then, against Southern, she got the assist on the second goal of the match to tie her for second on the team with three assists this season.
In the two matches South Alabama only allowed seven shots total and have won four of their last five matches with all four wins coming via shutout.
This is the first time that Rabsatt-Smith or Haywood have earned Sun Belt honors. The last time the school swept the conference player of the week awards was on August 27, 2013.
The Jags travel to Mississippi State to face the Bulldogs on Friday, September 12 with the match getting underway at 7pm.
Phil Steele Updates 2014-2015 Bowl Projects
Phil Steele of Phil Steele Publications and his College Football Preview has updated their 2014-2015 Bowl Projections. They currently have three Sun Belt teams in bowl games.
In the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl they project Air Force and Louisiana-Lafayette, in the Raycom Camellia Bowl they project Central Michigan and Louisiana-Monroe and in the GoDaddy.com bowl they project Northern Illinois and South Alabama.
If USA were to go to the GoDaddy.com Bowl, they would have their postseason game held at their own home stadium and would be on January 4, 2015 and would be the final bowl game prior to the College Football Playoff Championship on January 12, 2015.
This is another historical moment in USA history. Heading into only their sixth season of football ever and only their second season of full FBS membership and bowl eligibility, they are being projected to be a bowl team. But don’t count your chickens before they hatch, they have 12 games this season before they can even look towards a potentional bowl game.
They cannot look ahead, they have to take each game on their own and if they take care of business each week, then selection for a bowl game will come on its own.
Jaguar Men’s Golf Sets Program Record With Four Academic Honorees
Staying on other sports than Football today, the South Alabama Men’s Golf team had a program-record four student-athletes earning Academic Honors on Wednesday. The Golf Coaches Association of America announced that four Jaguars earned Cleveland Golf/Srixon All-America Scholars recognition.
Seniors Lane Hulse and Blake Kelley earned the honor for the second consecutive time while juniors Michael Garretson and Tyler Klava earned the award for the first time in their first season of eligibility. It also marks the sixth consecutive season the Jaguars have had at least one individual honored with the award.
Garretson earned the Sun Belt Conference Golfer of the Year back in April and was joined on the First-Team All-Conference squad by Klava with Hulse being chosen for the Second-Team All-SBC honors.
Klava ranked second in the conference with a 72.72 stroke average while Garretson was third with a 72.74 stroke average and Hulse was 15th with a 73.85 stroke average. Garretson, Hulse and Kelley each participated in 13 events this season while Klava participated in 12 after missing the opening tournament due to injury.
In order to be eligible for selection as a Cleveland Golf/Srixon All-America Scholar, individuals must be a junior or senior academically and have competed in at least three full years at the collegiate leven and participated in 50% of their teams competitive rounds. In addition to posted a scoring average of below 76.0 at the NCAA Division I level, they must also maintain a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.2 or higher, be of high moral character and be in good standing at their college or university.
These four Jaguars were among 207 NCAA Division I student-athletes to be honored this season.
Six Individuals And Women’s Team Earn All-Academic Recognition
The University of South Alabama 2013-2014 Track and Field team had six student-athletes earn All-Academic honors from the US Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. Additionally, the women’s team was named one of the organizations All-Academic teams.
All six student-athletes earned All-Sun Belt Conference honors in their respective events this season while Kotze, Smith, Hixon and Beans all setting new Jaguar records in their events.
The women’s team were rewarded for finishing the season with a combined GPA of 3.29, which is well above the team-wide minimum required for All-Academic Team status, which is 3.00.
Jan-Louw Kotze, Connor Smith, and Patrick Rohr were honorees from the men’s team which included 496 student-athletes from 165 institutions. Leah Hixon, Kaitlyn Beans and Bobbie Williamson were among 727 women from 193 schools who were honored.
Kotze earned a 4.0 GPA through his sophomore year in exercise science while advancing to the NCAA Preliminaries in the discus for the second consecutive year and was just one spot shy of advancing to the national championship meet.
Smith earned a 3.48 GPA and was named to the list for the second-consecutive year. As a senior, he graduated with his degree in engineering while earning a spot in the regional preliminary round of the pole vault and finished 35th overall.
Rohr, also an engineering major, earned a 3.39 GPA as a sophomore and finished 44th in the regional competition.
Hixon led the lady Jags with a 3.85 GPA and earned her degree as a biology major while earning the honor for the second conecutive season. She finished 25th at the regionals in the javelin throw.
Beans earned a 3.58 GPA in her freshman year as a biomedical sciences major. She qualified for the NCAA Championships in the triple jump and finished 17th place nationally.
Williamson finished her career with a 3.36 cumulative GPA and earned her degree as a nurse major. She advanced to the regional competition in the hammer throw and was less than half-a-meter short of qualifying for the nationals as she finished in 13th place.