South Alabama Falters In Second Half, Falls 27-24 To Tulane In Hancock Whitney Stadium Opener
South Alabama came out strong, but faltered down the stretch for a 27-24 loss to Tulane in their first-even game at Hancock Whitney Stadium.
The Jags didn’t get the start that they wanted. Desmond Trotter fumbled at the one yard line on their second play from scrimmage after recovering a fumble from the Green Wave. Then followed that by turning the ball over on downs on their second possession before their first punt of the season on the third possession.
But on the fourth possession, and their first of the second quarter, they struck paydirt for the first-ever score in Hancock Whitney Stadium history. Chance Lovertich connected with Kawaan Baker for a 34 yard touchdown to put the Jags in the lead.
Tulane quickly answered four plays later when Cameron Carroll took it in from six yard out. However a missed PAT left the Jags with a 7-6 advantage.
Lovertich would throw the Jags down the field with a pair of completions to Jalen Tolbert for 15 and 41 yards then a 13 yard touchdown toss to Jalen Wayne capped it off for a 14-6 advantage.
South Alabama took the opening kickoff of the second half and scored on a 2-yard run by Carlos Davis to go up 21-6 with 12:15 left in the quarter.
Trotter made an appearance in the third quarter, but after a hard hit he took himself out while holding his right shoulder. This was the same shoulder injured in the Jags win over Southern Miss.
Tulane turned the ball over on downs when Tyjae Spears was stopped on 4th and 1. The Jags got down to the Green Wave 22 before going backwards. Lovertich ran for a loss of 3, had a pass dropped, then was sacked for a loss of 6 more yards. Diego Guajardo added a 49-yard field goal to stretch the lead out to 24-6.
Tulane answered back with a 6 play, 60 yard drive taking 2:31 off the clock. Pass completions of 21 and 16 yards started the drive, then Carroll ended it with a 12 yard touchdown run with 5:07 left in the 3rd quarter.
Tulane opened the 4th quarter with a touchdown to cut the Jaguar advantage to 24-19.
After that, the Jaguar just couldn’t do anything.
Tulane’s offensive line manhandled the Jaguar defensive front and the Tulane defensive front did the same with offensive line and put pressure on Lovertich the rest of the game.
Tulane took the lead with 3:18 left in the game on Amare Jones’ 16 yard touchdown run. On the first 2-point attempt, Keon Howard’s pass would go incomplete but AJ DeShazor would be flagged for roughing the passer. On the second attempt, Howard would connect with an wide open Tyrick James to take a 27-24 lead.
The Green Wave dialed up the pressure and Lovertich threw two incomplete passes sandwiching an 11 yard sack.
The Jags forced a punt with 1:38 left, but the Jags were flagged for a personal foul when a defender illegally “leaped” over the offensive line. With no time outs left, the Green Wave kneeled three times and secured the win.
The Jags just couldn’t get their running game going consistently. USA gained a total of 419 yards of total offense to Tulane’s 394. But the Jags could only rush for 83 yards to the Green Wave’s 203 yards on the ground. But the Jags threw for 336 yards to Tulane’s 227.
Carlos Davis led the Jags rushing attack wtih 82 yards on 16 attempts with a touchdown. Caullin Lacy added 36 on four carries and AJ Phillips ran once for 11 yards. However Lovertich lost 43 yards to hurt rushing numbers.
South Alabama’s third down efficiency was a flashback to the 2019 season They only converted 4 of 14 attempts. Tulane only converted 1 of 11 attempts though.
Lovertich was 18-of-27 for 262 yards and two touchdowns in relief of Trotter, who went 4-of-8 for 74 yards.
Baker led the receiving corps with 129 yards on seven receptions with a touchdown. Tolbert caught six passes for 114 yards, his third consecutive 100+ yard game dating back to 2019. Carlos Davis caught four for 46 yards and Jalen Wayne caught three for 33 and a touchdown.
Keon Howard was 14-of-30 for 191 yards in his debut for the Green Wave.
Jha’Quan Jackson was his leading receiver with three catches for 44 yards. Three other players caught two passes each and five others caught one pass each.
Spears led the way rushing with 105 yards on 11 carries. Howard added 31 yards on 8 carries with a touchdown. Jones had 29 yards on four carries and a touchdown. Carroll had two scored on 10 carries with 26 yards.
“It’s a very disappointing loss,” head coach Steve Campbell said. “I thought the guys played extremely hard, but disappointed that we weren’t able to come away with the win. We came out ready to play, but there were some things we didn’t handle well, and that’s coaching. We’ve got to do a better job of putting our guys in position to win a close game.”
“I didn’t see it [personal foul for jumping]…” Campbell said. “You can’t jump the shield. We’ve gone over that… We don’t need to do that. Again, that’s coaching.”
“They started doing a couple of stunts. They changed their defense a little bit,” Lovertich said. “They started playing us soft, so we couldn’t beat them deep.”
“We didn’t finish when we needed to,” Lovertich said.
“It’s a bad loss,” Kawaan Baker said. “We came in thinking we were going to win, but we didn’t finish like we were supposed to. We’ve got to learn from it and move on.”
Baker added, “We were hurting ourselves with the penalties and mistakes. That’s what we’ve got to correct.”
South Alabama has a bye weekend coming up before a Thursday night rematch against UAB on September 24th. ESPN will be airing the game that is set to kickoff at 6:30pm.
Andrew Zink and his now famous beard. 
The Jags waiting to take the field for the first time at Hancock Whitney Stadium. 
Desmond Trotter fumble on the first possession. 
Trotter waiting for the snap. 
Caullin Lacy 
Kawaan Baker waiting for a kickoff. 
Chance Lovertich leading the Jaguar offense deep in their own territory 
Riley Cole looking to the sideline. 
Jalen Tolbert with a catch. 
Maurice Strong walking to the locker room after the game. 
Final Score
Know Your Stadiums – Hancock Whitney Stadium
This history of Hancock Whitney Stadium begins today.
It is a blank slate.
As a lifelong fan of college football, I have a deep respect for the traditions and the history of each institution.
As historical as the schools and the football programs are the stadiums. Which is why I have written a number of posts in the series of ‘Know Your Stadiums.’ Stadiums like Neyland Stadium, Vaught Hemingway Stadium, Davis Wade Stadium, Carter-Finley Stadium, and the Kibbie Dome each have their own, unique story.
For the previous 10 seasons, that has been Ladd-Peebles Stadium for South Alabama. Opening in 1948, it debuted with the University of Alabama versus the Vanderbilt Commodores (in a 14-14 tie). It’s been home to the Senior Bowl from 1951-2020. It’s been the home of the Mobile Alabama Bowl since 1999.
Last year I wrote “A Long Goodbye To Ladd-Peebles.” Without Ladd-Peebles, the South Alabama football probably wouldn’t be in the same position that it is today. They were able to focus on practice facilities and their field house without having to build a stadium.
But now they have the field house and a grass and field turf practice facility.
They recently added a covered practice facility. Because if you know Mobile, you know it’s propensity to rain and thunderstorms. Now they are no longer relegated to the basketball gym on stormy days.
And beginning today, they have Hancock Whitney Stadium.
Every game will add to the story of HWS Stadium. Every touchdown. Every field goal. Every turnover. Every win and every loss will continue to add that history.
When the stadium was announced, everyone envisioned a packed house to officially open the stadium. A crowd of 25,000 fans clad in red cheering the team at the brand new facility.
Then Covid-19 struck.
Now about 6,000 will be there, spread out around the stadium, to officially introduce the stadium to the world on national TV.
It’s not the grand opening we envisioned. But it’s the hand we’ve been dealt.
The Jags are a 10.5 point underdog to the Tulane Green Wave. What will the first chapter of this story hold for the history of Hancock Whitney Stadium?
If you don’t have tickets to the game, tune in to ESPN2 beginning at 6:30pm CDT and find out.
Go Jags!
Preview: Tulane At South Alabama
Kickoff: 6:30pm CDT Saturday, September 12
Television Coverage: ESPN2
Radio: 99.5FM The Jag, 96.1FM The Rocket, iHeartRadio app
_______________________________________________
The University of South Alabama football team made the most of their opportunity on the national stage on Thursday night. In doing so, they finally shed a couple of monkey’s off their back.
The nation-leading road losing streak was broken. The streak of season opening losses was broken. They also have their first two-game win streak (if you go back to the season finale of 2019) since 2017.
Add to that, they will be debuting their brand new $78 million (by last accounting) stadium and the Jaguars are looking to make another statement.
If it’s not obvious enough, the media department is pushing the #Something2Prove hashtag as well.
Next up is the Tulane Green Wave.
This will mark Tulane’s start to the season so they are a bit of an enigma right now. Head coach Willie Fritz is going into his 5th season in New Orleans after going 7-6 overall last season and a career record of 23-27 at the school.
Some Jaguar fans may remember him at Georgia Southern. Though he was only there two seasons, he led them to an undefeated conference schedule in their first year playing a Sun Belt Conference schedule.
However, they were not eligible to play in a bowl game as an FBS Transitional school.
But the two times he faced South Alabama he was victorious by a combined score of 83-23.
Fritz took over a team that had gone 3-9 the previous two season and began his rebuild. He has gone 4-8, 5-7, 7-6 and 7-6 in his four seasons at the helm with season-ending bowl victories the last two years.
Offense
Offensively, coach Fritz has adapted to his personnel. At Georgia Southern he ran an option attack. Now at Tulane he is running more of a spread attack that seems to throw the ball well enough to get by. But the running game definitely works.
Will Hall joined the program last season as the new offensive coordinator. His debut saw the offense finish 22nd in the nation in total offense and 30th in the nation in scoring. They also put up the 3rd most yards per game (449.3) and 3rd most points per game (33.1) in school history.
Quarterback and top rusher Justin McMillan is gone. He helped lead the team to an average of 243 yards rushing per game. However they have Keon Howard that looks to be the defacto starter.
Howard came to the Green Wave from Southern Miss. After sitting out a season he played in four games in 2019 and went 13-of-18 for 208 yards and two scores passing and one running. While he isn’t quite the runner that his predecessor was, he is ready to step in to push the passing game more while still adding some running ability.
But behind Howard there’s no experience, so if he’s not it then it may be a steep learning curve for someone and a rough go until someone can settle into the position.
The Green Wave’s top returning receiver is a senior that made 13 catches last season. So the receiving corps may be a bit of a work in progress as the season starts.
But if you’re facing a Willie Fritz team, you know they are going to run the ball well. Last season he had six player rush for 250 yards or more. Corey Dauphine rushed for 575 yards last season with seven scores with his speed. While he was in line for a big role in the offense, he is out for the season with a torn Achilles.
Freshman Tyjae Spears now looks to be the guy at running back and could very well be the most talented player on offense.
Amare Jones is a more all-around back. He averaged over six yards per carry on the way to 371 yards rushing with four scores. But he also played a bit as a slot receiver where he hauled in 34 passes for 367 yards and two scores. But wait, there’s more. He averaged 24 yards per kickoff return in his first two seasons and almost ten yards per punt return.
Defense
Defensively the Green Wave have had their losses from a year ago, but still return a veteran group and seven starters. They finished 4th in the American Athletic Conference in overall defense while allowing 26 points per game.
Despite not being healthy throughout the entire season their best defensive player, Patrick Johnson, still had a team-high four sacks, but was a significant drop off from the previous season’s 10.5 sacks.
Throw in a pair of defensive tackles that weigh 320 and 290 pounds and another 280-pound veteran who can play inside or out and they obviously have some beef up front.
What they have been missing is a pass rush.
They have to replace a big playmaker at safety, but they return Chase Kuerschen who lead the team with 76 stops.
At corner they return a veteran on one side and a former Florida State standout recruit, Kyle Meyers, is likely to start on the opposite side.
In what sounds like a pattern by now, Fritz loses a standout player yet returns a veteran and adds someone to fill the empty cleats. Gone is the top linebacker, but returning is a 6’2″ 230-pound Marvin Moody who has a way of getting into the backfield. Then they add a 230-pound juco transfer with experience to go along with the other players they have.
Keys to the Game
Big plays
The Jaguar defense needs to prevent big plays. They were very successful against what looked like an unprepared Southern Miss team, but Tulane should be a big step up in competition and cannot be taken lightly.
During the regular season, the Green Wave was 6-0 when they gained at least 7 yards per play. When they didn’t reach that, they were 0-6. The 2020 team may not need all those big plays to be as successful, but if they do reach that milestone they have proven they are hard to beat.
But in the same vein, South Alabama used big plays to defeat Southern Miss. It was only the third offensive play of the game when the Jags struck paydirt on a 73 yard touchdown catch and run by Jalen Tolbert.
Turnovers
The Jaguar offense will have to protect the ball. Desmond Trotter threw two interceptions in the opener, one due to being hit as he was throwing. But they didn’t put the ball on the ground.
The Green Wave defense had 12 interceptions last season. They also forced 17 fumbles, however they were only able to recover four of them. And only one fumble recovery over the final 11 games of the season.
Special teams
Special teams must improve.
While the Jags didn’t punt in the opening game, they are still lumped into this group for good measure.
A missed field goal and PAT along with a botched PAT had some fans on edge late in the game. USA converted a field goal attempt to essentially put the game out of reach, but a miss would have given USM a chance to tie with a touchdown and two-point conversion.
Between those errors, and a couple of ill-advised kickoff returns that didn’t even make it out to the 15 yard line, you can see where I’m going. While it didn’t hamper the Jags efforts against Southern Miss, it could in the future. If a bad return pins them back inside the 15 yard line, the offense fails to get a first down and is forced to punt, the opponent has a decent opportunity for excellent field position and a short field.
We hope the team spent some extra time between games working on these things.
Spread/Prediction
Tulane is a 9.5 point favorite in the game.
South Alabama appeared to be improved in the season opener against a Southern Miss team that seemed lost and looked undersized. The loss was enough to prompt coach Hopson to resign a few days later.
I think Tulane will still win, coach Fritz prepares his teams well and has something good going in New Orleans. But I think the Jags cover the spread to open their brand new home stadium. It may even be a nail biter at the end. It could easily be up to special teams to win or lose the game.
Go Jags!
South Alabama Breaks Road Streak With 32-21 Upset Over Southern Miss
September 3rd is a good date in South Alabama football history.
10 years ago to the day was the announcement of the home-and-home series against Southern Miss. Four years ago was the biggest win in program history against Mississippi State.
Now they can add the upset of Southern Miss to that list.
South Alabama entered the game as a two-score underdog with a nation-leading 15-game road losing streak. They had not won a season-opening game since that defeat of Mississippi State in 2016.
Both of those streaks ended in Hattiesburg.
The Jags struck early, on the third offensive play to be exact. Desmond Trotter connected with Jalen Tolbert on the right sideline. Tolbert made two guys miss and he took it 73 yards for the score. However a bad snap on the point after attempt led to an incomplete pass and left the Jags with a six point advantage.
Southern Miss would score 10 unanswered points in the second quarter, with a field goal in the waning seconds of the opening half to make it a 13-10 game at the half.
Near the end of the half the officiating crew made a good call when Frank Gore Jr. had his momentum stopped but seemingly lateraled the ball back to Abraham who took it into the end zone. However the play was ruled dead much to the dismay of the Golden Eagles.
Part of the confusion was due to the new “electronic” whistles being used this season. They are not nearly as loud as conventional whistles.
South Alabama picked right back up in the second half by forcing a three-and-out to start then navigating a 10-play 56-yard scoring drive. Trotter found Tolbert on a key 3rd & 8 play for a 31 yard touchdown making it 20-10.
Trotter and the Jags may have been huge benefit of a huge call on the play before the touchdown pass though. Trotter was bottled up by the defense and he was trying to throw it but it appeared to go backwards. USM was quick to cover it. The call was upheld and is now history.
A 52 yard touchdown pass and run from Trotter to Kawaan Baker all but put the game away early in the fourth quarter. Yet another missed kick happened as the left footed Diego Guajardo pushed it wide left a second time.
The Jags held a 29-13 lead at the time.
Southern Miss wouldn’t go quietly though. They scored a touchdown with 5:42 left in the game then followed it up with a 2-point conversion cutting the lead to one score.
The Southern Miss defense just could not stop the Jags offense. Meanwhile the Jaguar defense would consistently get enough pressure on Abraham to keep him from getting comfortable in the pocket.
Carlos Davis reeled off a big 40 yard run which led to a field goal to ice the game but not without a little worry at the end.
The Golden Eagles got all the way down to the Jaguar 1 yard line at one point, but the defense held strong and refused to let them score again.
Desmond Trotter went 16 of 27 for 299 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.
Carlos Davis led the Jaguar rushing attack with 85 yards on 15 carries. Trotter added 41 on nine carries.
Jalen Tolbert picked up where he left off against Arkansas State to end the 2019 season. Tolbert hauled in 6 passes for 169 yards and two touchdowns. Jalen Wayne also caught 6 for 101 yards. Kawaan Baker caught 4 for 82 yards, with the 52 yard touchdown.
Nick Mobley led the Jaguar defense with 15 total tackles. Riley Cole and Keith Gallmon added 12 each.
Jack Abraham went 22 of 32 for 314 yards and two touchdowns.
Frank Gore Jr. rushed for 32 yards on 12 carries. to lead the USM rush attack.
Tim Jones caught 6 passes for 139 yards.
South Alabama put up 526 yards of offense with 363 of them through the air and 163 on the ground. Meanwhile USM gained 409 yards total, 314 through the air and only 95 on the ground.
This was a very good win for South Alabama. A much needed win too.
The Jags lost the turnover battle 2-0 and had three special teams mishaps. Both will need to be cleaned up.
Notably they were only penalized four times for 38 yards and had zero punts, which is a first in program history.
South Alabama will host Tulane on Saturday, September 12 in the debut of Hancock Whitney Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:30pm with tv coverage on ESPN2.
Preview: South Alabama at Southern Miss
Kickoff: 8pm CDT Thursday, September 3
Television Coverage: CBS Sports Network
Radio: 99.5FM The Jag, 96.1FM The Rocket, iHeartRadio app
South Alabama fans have been waiting for a long time to finally square off against regional foe Southern Miss.
They’ve been waiting 10 years to be exact.
When the two teams finally kick off it will be 10 years to the day of the announcement of the home-and-home agreement between the two schools.
Southern Miss completed their fifth consecutive winning season in 2019. While the Golden Eagles are quite a bit removed from their 12-2 season in 2011 under Larry Fedora, head coach Jay Hopson looks to dethrone UAB from the top of the Conference USA West Division.
Offense
Jack Abraham returns for his third year as the teams starting quarterback. The senior has been selected as the conference’s first-team All-Preseason quarterback.
Abraham led the FBS in completion percentage as a sophomore and had the eighth highest completion percentage in college football history when he connected on 73.1% of his attempts.
As the full-time starter last year, he still completed 67.9% of his attempts for just shy of 3,500 yards. While he threw 19 touchdowns, he also threw 15 interceptions. That will have to improve for a successful 2020 season.
Abraham’s top receiver graduated last year but he returns Tim Jones, a preseason all-conference selection and a contender for CUSA’s best receiver. Last year he caught 73 passes for 902 yards, but his production ramped up late in the season.
Jaylond Adams was set to start on the other side from Jones, but decided to opt-out of the season altogether. With the addition of two juco transfers, the Golden Eagles still have some experienced options at receiver.
USM had a trio of running backs dividing up the carries. One went to the NFL and another opted out of the season. That left Kevin Perkins as the only returning back of the trio playing this season. Highly touted juco Don Ragsdale seems to have won the starting job and will look to help improve a rushing attach that finished the season with only 1,527 yards rushing.
Coach Hopson brought in new offensive coordinator Matt Kubik to improve the rushing game and score more than the 27 points per game that the 2019 team averaged.
All that is good, but the offensive line is where the offense starts. The 2019 squad was good in pass protection but was the worst in the nation in giving up tackles for loss with an average of seven per game. They return four of the five starters, which gives them lots of expectations up front especially if they can correct those problems from last year.
Defense
Defensively the Golden Eagles defensive coordinator Tim Billings is dealing with some massive turnover in front seven.
Despite the turnover up front, they return six of the top eight tacklers from last season. That defense allowed an average of 353 yards and 26 points per game. They allowed 17 points or fewer on five occasions.
The teams top pass rusher Jacques Turner was another player who opted not to play this season. Which leaves Eriq Kitchen, a hybrid defensive end/outside linebacker and one of many juco transfers, will be looked to step up as a defensive leader. They also look to 339-pound Von’Darious Freeman to cause some havoc and clog rushing lanes.
Swayzee Bozeman is the top returning linebacker with six tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, and two forced fumbles last season.
The Golden Eagles secondary is by far their strongest defensive unit in 2020, especially the safeties.
Rover Ky’el Hembry was selected to the CUSA All-Preseason team after finishing first on the team in total tackles. He also picked off six passes.
Keys to the game
Turnovers
The Golden Eagles were a turnover machine last season. They were 121st in the nation in turnovers with 26 giveaways and finished the season with a turnover margin of -11.
In the five games where their turnover margin was -2 or worse, they lost them all.
But the Jaguars were also very turnover prone. They had 22 give aways and a turnover margin of -6 themselves.
Offense
The USM defense was stingy last season. They ranked 1st in the conference and 18th in the nation against the run. They allowed only 1,506 yards and 14 touchdowns on the ground for the year.
The USM offense is expected to be more balanced and score more points this season. Which means the Jags offense will have to take advantange of all scoring opportunities for a chance at the W.
Adjustments
With it being the first game of what have been a tumultuous year, it will be critical for the Jags to be able to make in-game adjustments and corrections. The spring practice period was lost to the pandemic and, while coaches think the team may be more fresh going into the season, they missed their 15 practices and the opportunity to learn and work over the summer on that feedback.
Spread/Prediction
The Golden Eagles are a 15.5 point favorite in the game. I was high on the team last year after their valiant effort against Nebraska, I’m not so high on the team out of the gate this season. The offensive line had problems last year yet most of the return this season, they have to replace Tre Minter’s production, and the defensive line is all fresh faces.
I think USM will ultimately win the game, but I think the Jags will score late to cover the spread. But feel free to prove me wrong!
Go Jags!
Your 2020 South Alabama Jaguar Preview
After last season, the Jags can’t get much lower can they? A 2-10 season with their only win over a FBS and conference foe coming in the season finale That one win kept the Jags from having their first winless conference record in program history.
But the final four games of the season looked different from the first eight. Was the team finally starting to click, was it Desmond Trotter leading an offensive attack that could move the ball and score a few more points? Or was it something else?
Well, the 2020 season will tell and, despite Covid, it could be a make or break season for head coach Steve Campbell and his staff.
Offensively, South Alabama returns quite a bit of talent from 2019. Seven of the top 8 receivers are back as well as an experienced offensive line with 42 combined starts. Desmond Trotter is back at quarterback, who started the final four games of the season and saw a boost in offensive production. Trotter has some competition with Chance Lovertich transferring in from the junior college ranks after a juco national championship. Running back has some big question marks as they need to fill Tre Minter’s production.
Defensively the Jags have many question marks. In 2019 the defense made some huge gains statistically, but they didn’t reflect on the win-loss record. Defensive line lost a ton of experience as well as cornerback. The linebacker corps was razor thin at times but managed to make it through the season. The talent loss on the line will put pressure on the linebacker corps to control the run until the defensive line gels and gets their feet under them.
Not much has changed in special teams. Jack Brooks, the Aussie, will handle the punting and it’ll probably be kick-by-committee for field goals unless someone steps up as consistent in short, intermediate and long range field goals. Diego Guarjardo will most likely handle kickoffs as he tends to have the stronger leg. The video of the botched PAT attempt against Memphis has been watched by millions and really was the tone for the 2019 season. After that debacle the Jags will most likely utilize a backup quarterback as holder on field goal and pat attempts, which should help avoid a repeat of the 2019 incident.
Here’s the position group breakdowns.
Offensive line
The Jags only lost three letterwinners from last year and return 10 letterwinners of which three started all 12 games. They return four either redshirts or returning student-athletes.
In the offseason, the Jags brought in nine new faces and only one of them from the junior college ranks with the rest coming in as true freshmen.
Brian Ankerson is the anchor of the unit playing at center. He has the longest active starting streak on the team with 24 consecutive games. Hadon Merchant has started 22 of this 23 appearances in the last two seasons.
These two will be looked at as leaders of the unit.
Jacob Shoemaker, who was an honorable mention to the all-Sun Belt Conference team his first season with the Jags will move from his tackle position to guard.
Last years team allowed too many sacks and had a hard time blocking for the run game. For the 2020 team to have more success, those are two areas they must improve over last year.
Quarterbacks
The Jags return Desmond Trotter, who took over the starting position mid-season and never looked back. Cephus Johnson, who started the first eight games of the season, transfered out after the season.
Tylan Morton and Tanner McGee also return from last season.
Chance Lovertich was brought in from Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College as well as true freshmen Elijah Gainey and Brian Garcia.
Trotter appeared in eight games, starting the final four of the season. He led the team with eight touchdowns, tied a school record with four touchdown passes in the season-finale win over Arkansas State. He also had a career-high 337 yards of total offense in the game.
Lovertich brings some juco success to the table. He was named the second-team NJCAA All-American, first-team all-MACJC and the South Division’s Most Valuable Offensive Back after helping MGCCC to the national championship with a 12-0 record his sophomore year.
Morton played in the first four games before sitting out the rest of the season to preserve a redshirt. McGee sat out the entire season to redshirt.
Gainey is a three-star prospect per 247sports but sat our his senior season after suffering a knee injury. He started the previous two seasons.
Trotter has been challenged by Lovertich for the starting spot, but coach Campbell expects Trotter to be the starter in the season opener against Southern Miss. Expect Lovertich to get some playing time, but didn’t get any spring practice to get experience in the program.
To start, the quarterback position must protect the ball and make good decisions. Between Johnson, Trotter and Morton they threw 11 interceptions but only 14 touchdowns while completing only 52.8% of their combined passing attempts.
Running backs
USA returns four letterwinners from last season while losing two.
The biggest loss is by far Tra Minter who rushed for over 1,000 yards last season, the first in program history. Minter also became only the second All-American in program history and the only first-team all-Sun Belt Conference selection.
In addition to the four letterwinners, they also return two redshirt freshmen and a juco.
Carlos Davis led the four sophomores on the team wiht a career best 122 yards on 10 carries against SBC West Division winner Louisiana-Lafayette.
The coaching staff will look to fill Minter’s role with a running back by committee until they have someone step up as ‘the guy.’ The coaches also look at the sophomores to have three years of experience in the offensive scheme and make contributions.
The coaching staff think they have a good mix in the backfield with power, speed, and pass catchers.
The Jags not only need to find their bonafied starter, but they also need backs that can come in, produce, and keep the defense respecting the position.
Wide receivers
The Jags return the two top receivers from the 2019 season. Kawaan Baker led the team with 35 catches, 574 yards, and yards per game (47.8) while Jalen Tolbert led the team with 6 touchdown catches, four of them in the season finale win over Arkansas State.
Davyn Flenord is changing positions this season, last year he caught 14 passes for 127 yards. Tre’Veon Hamilton caught 3 passes for 43 yards also left the program.
Two freshmen redshirted last season and two juniors return from last years squad. The coaching staff also brought in seven true freshmen.
Baker, who is on the Reese’s Senior Bowl Top 250 list, is the leader of the receiver corps but was also used in the running game with jet sweeps and special teams situations. He logged 82 yards rushing and 35 yards in kick returns for 692 all-purpose yards, finishing second on the team in that category.
Tolbert established himself as a receiver to watch against Arkansas State when he caught 5 passes for 144 yards and four touchdowns. His effort was rewarded with an honorable mention National Performer-of-the-Week accolade from the College Football Performance Awards and was College Sports Madness’ Sun Belt Conference Offensive Player of the Week against the Redwolves.
The coaching staff feels that they have good depth and with Baker, Tolbert and Jalen Wayne they have a trio of veterans with three years of experience in the program.
Tight ends
Only one letterwinner returns for the 2020 season. Brandon Crum played in all 12 games with six receptions for 65 yards. One reshirted freshmen and two sophomores return this season and the coaching staff brought in a juco and three freshmen. Only two returning players were active last season.
Leaving the program were Zac Crosby, Khameron Taylor and Nick Thompson. They combined for five receptions, 61 yards and the only touchdown from the tight end position (Taylor).
The tight end position is utilized much differently under coach Campbell and it couldn’t have been more obviously last season with only 11 receptions and one touchdown from the group. If the Jags throw to a tight end, it’s more to catch the defense off-guard rather than as a regular threat.
Crum is the de-facto veteran of the group as a sophomore. Meyers, the only other player of the group that was active last year was put on scholarship during fall camp this year.
Trent Tyre brings some much needed experience from the juco ranks.
Cameron Hatcher-Owens is moving from the defensive line to offense this season.
Defensive line
The defensive line lost a lot from last season. Only four letterwinners return from the 2019 squad in Gi’Narious Johnson, Jeremiah Littles, Maurice Strong and Charles Coleman III. Strong had the most tackles among the returning players with 15.
Gone are Jordon Beaton, Sean Brown, Rocel McWilliams, Tyree Turner, and Jeffery Whatley. Four of the five were all-Sun Belt Conference performers during their careers.
Of the additional returning players, two of them are redshirt freshmen. The coaching staff added three juco players and two true freshmen.
The defensive line has a core trio of Johnson (jr), Littles (Sr) and Strong (So) to build around with Jamie Sheriff and Markes Johnson to add some more experience from the Juco level. THen add in a pair of all-state and all-region prep stars and the coaches have something to work with.
Inside Linebackers
Defensive coordinator Greg Stewart returns four letterwinners from last year and only lost one Kade Koler.
Only two other players return at the position, a sophomore and a freshman.
The staff brought in a juco and two true freshmen.
Cole is receiving all the pre-season hype with a second-team all-Sun Belt Conference selection by Phil Steele, a third-team all-League by Athlon over the summer, and the other Jaguar in the Reese’s Senior Bowl Top 250.
Cole has played outside linebacker the last two seasons, but will be moving back to inside for the fall.
Nick Mobley led the team in total tackles with 91, which ranked him in the top 10 for the conference and top 90 in the nation per game.
Roy Yancey returned last year after redshirting in the 2018 season due to an injury. Yancey started six games and appeared in all 12 games.
Stewart feels he has the depth he needs for the first time in his time at USA.
Outside Linebackers
Four letterwinners return in AJ DeShazor, Chris Henderson, Shawn Jennings, and Kelvin Johnson. The two letterwinners lost from last season: Khalil McDonald and Taji Stewart.
Two freshmen reshirted last season also returns for the fall. The coaching staff added Zach Jones as a freshman, Zivaiishe Smith a sopohomore from Juco, and Christian Bell a senior transfer from Wisconsin.
DeShazor had his named called often last season, he was third on the team in total tackles while starting all 12 games.
Johnson finished in the top five it total tackles last season, but he primarily played inside he is making the move to outside for 2020.
Bell appeared in 24 games over three years for Wisconsin, he was a four-star recruit by ESPN coming out of Hoover.
Chris Henderson and Christian Bell are expected to be two of the main leaders of the outside linebacker corps. DeShazor and Doug Sullivan are expected to make some big contributions as well though.
Cornerbacks
The cornerback position had some big losses from last year too. Gone are Travis Reed, Jalen Thompson, and Gus Nave, some names you heard quite a lot last season. Also gone are Jay Woods and Tyrone Leggette.
Returning letterwinners are Devin Rockette, Ryan Melton, Jaden Voisin and Davyn Flenord (moving over from receiver). Also returning is Dallas Gamble who redshirted.
The coaching staff brought in two juco transfers and one true freshman.
Thompson graduated with the career leader in interceptions (9) and INT’s return for touchdowns (2). Reed’s 41 total stops and three tackles for loss led the cornerback group last season as he earned second-team all-Sun Belt honors.
Rockette returns with the second-most pass break ups last season, including a pair of fumble recoveries and an interception.
Darrell Luter Jr was a three-star juco recruit and rated among the top 40 cornerbacks in the nation, selected to the second-team all-Mississippi ACJC.
The coaching staff is hoping that youth, eagerness and willingness to learn will be enough to replace the experience lost from last season. Rockette returns the most reps and will be one to help set an example to the new faces.
Safeties
Gone are DJ Daniels and Sterrling Fisher but returning are Keith Gallmon, Tre Young and Keon Voisin. Also returning are Kwameh Lewis (sr) and Nic Brunkosky (r-fr).
The coaching staff brought in three players, two juco and one senior transfer.
Gallmon earned preseason third-team all-Sun Belt Conference from Athlon and a fourth-team preseason all-league by Phil Steele. He started all 12 games with 59 total tackles, 43 of them solo and two tackles for loss.
DJ Exilhomme was a second-team all-Northeast Conference selection after recording 72 total tackles, three tackles for loss, five passes broken up, three fumble recoveries, an interception and a blocked kick.
CJ Thompson was the top juco recruit in Oklahoma and the 15th rated safety in the country by 247 sports. He was named second-team NJCAA All-American and second-team all-Southwest Junior College Football Conference.
Gallmon returns the most starting experience on the team at the position and has emerged as a leader among the safeties. Add in the other safeties who have played snaps for the Jags and some juco experience and the staff feel pretty good about this squad.
Special teams
All the letterwinners and the lone redshirt return to the team with the addition of Cooper Charlton as an incoming freshman.
Brooks is a fourth-team all-Sun Belt Conference selection by Athlon sports. As a freshmen his punting average was sixth in the conference and in the top 60 in the country.
Frankie Onate led the team in scoring and Guajardo was the first kicker to record double-digit touchbacks in a season since 2014 and Aleem Sunanon.
Kawaan Baker will be continue to be on kickoff return coverage and Jalen Tolbert will replace Tre Minter as the other kickoff returner. Tolbert and Jalen Wayne will be the competing for the primary punt return position this fall.
Coaches have had the student-athletes kicking more balls than previously. Guajardo has working on his kickoffs for consistency and Brooks has been working on more consistent punting. Both were freshmen last season and Brooks was only on campus a few weeks before the season started, so with a season under their belts they should be ready come game time.
South Alabama vs Southern Miss Scheduled For National Broadcast
The South Alabama Jaguar football team will open the 2020 college football season with a nationally-televised match up against the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles per Conference USA.
The Jags and the Golden Eagles will kick off at 8pm CDT on Thursday, September 3 at M. M. Roberts Stadium in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. The game will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network.
It will be the first time the Jags have been on CBSSN since their November 13, 2013 game at Navy.
As all South Alabama football games they can also be heard on 96.1 FM The Rocket and 99.5 FM The Jag locally in Mobile. As well as nation wide on the iHeartRadio app.
We will be there to give you in-game updates on twitter at @USAThunderjags.
Season Tickets In The Time Of Covid
Getting actual season ticket sales numbers is hard.
The only time you really get any sense of numbers is when a school sells out of season tickets. Your Power Five major programs typically have waiting lists for season tickets.
However, when you get down to the Group of Five, they don’t typically have sell outs of season tickets.
Old Dominion had a great run that ended in 2018. For nine seasons they sold out their season tickets and had sell out games at S.B. Ballard Stadium. A streak of 60 sell outs for a mid major is quite the accomplishment even for a 20,118 seat stadium.
The 2020 season was supposed to be something huge for South Alabama football.
After 11 seasons of playing their home games at Ladd-Peebles Stadium, roughly a seven mile drive from campus, the Jaguars were poised to open their brand new, $74 million on-campus stadium.
When it was announced, Jaguar fans were elated to finally get on campus. Many had gripped against the lack luster condition of Lad-Peebles Stadium, a 72 year old facility.
But after a poor season on the field, 2-10 with only one win against an FBS opponent, did that dampen the spirits of even some of the most die hard fans? That was the second seasons under head coach Steve Campbell’s leadership and a total record of 5-19 over that time period. Two of those wins against FCS opponents by the way.
Recently Director of Athletics Joel Erdmann and other staff hosted a meeting with season ticket holders via Zoom. In that meeting it was mentioned that with social distancing measures in place at Hancock Whitney Stadium, the capacity would be limited to 6,200. But that number would be able to accommodate all of the season ticket holders.
That got my attention.
Later in the meeting, it was mentioned that they had only sold 4,439 season tickets. Granted, they stopped selling season ticket midway through March when social distancing measures and stay-at-home orders were put in place in the state of Alabama.
But with the push after the 2019 season ended and the 2020 season being the first on-campus, and season ticket renewals having already been emailed and mailed out, one would think that more than 4,439 season tickets would have been sold.
As of the Zoom meeting, 10% or less of the season ticket holders had decided to opt-out of the 2020 season and either roll their payments over to the 2021 season tickets or gift the money to the University.
It’s unknown how many student tickets would have been kept in reserve and not sold. But it seems that, without the pandemic striking, student were going to have plenty of opportunities to take in a game.
Attempts to get season ticket sales numbers from peer Group of Five schools in the area were unsuccessful.
UAB, a peer school in a G5 conference within the state of Alabama, was one of those schools that did not respond. The 2020 season will be their last at the ageing Legion Field before they move into the currently under construction Protective Stadium. The $179 million, 45,000 seat multi-use stadium that will be operated by the Birmingham Jefferson Civic Center. While it is not an on-campus stadium (those plans were nixed by the University of Alabama Board of Trustees) it will be in closer proximity to the University in downtown Birmingham.
While South Alabama is a year ahead of occupying their stadium, USA ticket sales prioritized season ticket holders who purchased tickets for 2019 when it was time to get 2020 season tickets.
It was last summer when the 2020 season ticket holders went through the process of choosing their seat locations in ‘The Cock’ as well.
Am I completely off on the season ticket numbers here?
Is 4,439 a respectable number?
Is my expectations for season ticket sales too high for a mid major G5 school with a brand new $74 million on-campus stadium?
Or does this have more to say about the current state of the program rather than the current state of the playing venue? Did Covid hamper what would have been their big season ticket sales months?
I think Covid or not, if the 2020 season is played in the fall, it will be a make or break season for Coach Campbell. Another two or three win season and more apathy in the fans may force Erdmann’s hand.
Reports Swirling Big Ten To Cancel Football Season
After the reports yesterday that the Big Ten had enough votes internally to postpone the fall sports season to the spring, we all knew Monday would be a very interesting day.
Dan Patrick reported early Monday morning that the Big Ten had voted internally 12-2 to postpone the season. The two votes for a fall season were Nebraska and Iowa.
Now the Detroit Daily News is reporting that the Big Ten will announce on Tuesday that the conference has officially decided to postpone fall sports until the spring of 2021.
Meanwhile the SEC is reportedly recruiting ACC and Big 12 teams to play this fall. Both the ACC and Big 12 seem to be on the fence as to playing football this fall. Even the Big 12 may be cozying up to Nebraska, who left the conference to join the Big Ten in 2010.
Big Twelve to Nebraska: Come on home Nebraska. Let’s find a partner, make it a dozen and renew one of college football’s great rivalries! pic.twitter.com/uCfwOLQ8LE— Spencer Tillman (@SpenceTillman) August 10, 2020
All the while the Sun Belt Conference and Conference USA are still practicing and moving forward towards a 2020 fall season. It’s being rumored that some early games are moving up to week zero (August 29th). Troy and Middle Tennessee may be renewing their rivalry this year, and they may make it home-and-home in one season!
When you thought 2020 could not get any more crazy! This scheduling and will they/won’t they discussion is bringing out some borderline unimaginable stuff!
The Fate Of Fall Sports Likely To Be Determined In The Next 72 Hours
The next 72 hours will determine if we have college football this fall, or any fall sports for that matter..
On Saturday, the Mid American Conference announced that they were postponing their fall sports until the spring, which includes football.
The MAC, considered a Group of 5 conference, is starting to look like the first domino to fall among the FBS conferences.
The Big Ten presidents met on Saturday and, while they did not vote to postpone the season, they did vote that football practices should remain in the “acclimatization phase” until further notice, which means helmets only and without contact.
Apparently commissioners of the Power 5 conferences held an emergency meeting as concerns continue to grow among college football athletics officials that the upcoming football season, and other fall sports, will not be able to be played due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
It appears that, even though the Big Ten presidents did not vote to postpone the season, they are ready to pull the plug on the fall season and wanted to gauge whether the other commissioners and university presidents would join them.
The Big Ten presidents could meet as soon as Sunday Night with the feedback from the other Power Five commissioners and could be the first to vote to postpone fall sports season to the spring among the Power Five.
The PAC-12 is set to meet again on Tuesday.
Basically no one wants to be the first, nor the last.
However if all of the power five conferences vote to postpone fall sports, including football, to the spring they will need to have some sort of plan ready to announce to the fans and student-athletes. They will not want to hear “we’ll get back to you on that.”
I fall into the camp that having a football season is probably one of the best things for the student-athletes. They will be on campus with excellent medical care and rigorous testing. Probably the biggest threat would be college parties and girls. Because, lets face it, some college kids are going to have some parties and athletes will be invited.