Jags Open Season With 30-26 Loss To Louisiana Tech
First year South Alabama head football coach Steve Campbell works with the offensive line between series in the Jags 30-26 home loss to the Bulldogs on Saturday, September 1, 2018.
Tra Minter opened the game with a big 48 yard kickoff return to just inside Louisiana Tech territory, however the offense went three-and-out. four-and-out after going for it on 4th down giving the ball to Tech near midfield.
The Jags didn’t get on the board until 7:54 left in the second quarter after they were set up by a shanked punt by Louisiana Tech. On 3rd and 8, Garvin handed the ball to Kawaan Baker and he scampered in from 28 yards out to cut the Bulldog lead to 13-7.
USA came right back and recovered an onside kick at the Bulldog 46 and looked to have shifted the momentum to their side, but two plays later Sam Harris gained 29 yards on a speed sweep to the Bulldog 10 yard line, but was stripped of the ball which was recovered by Louisiana Tech. There was some confusion over the turnover, most thought Harris was down before the ball came out but despite every effort there was no review. At one point the Jaguar offense was lining up against the Bulldog offense before coach Campbell called a time out as the Jag defense tried to run on and get set.
Louisiana Tech extended their lead to 20-7 with :34 left in first half when J’Mar Smith found Bobby Holly out in the flat for a 1 yard touchdown pass.
The Bulldogs opened the second half with a field goal to extend their lead to 23-7.
The Jags answered with a 15 play, 67 yard drive with heavy doses of Baker and Minter on the ground and finishing off with a 3 yard slant pass to Baker for the Jags to cut the lead back to ten points 23-13 with 6:59 left in third quarter after a failed 2-point conversion.
Late in the third quarter and into the early part of the fourth quarter, neither team wanted to maintain possession as both teams traded turnovers. It started with Cole Garvin having the ball punched out, then a Jay Woods interception of J’Mar Smith, followed immediately by Garvin tossing an interception on a flea flicker play, and finally an interception by Jalen Thompson of another J’Mar’s pass at the Jag 34.
Evan Orth then saw some playing time late in the game and made the best of it by leading the Jags on a 66 yard, 10 play drive ending with a Maurice Mayo 5 yard touchdown run and pulling the Jags within three points of the Bulldogs with 8:18 left in the game.
Tech answered back with their own 12 play, 74 yard drive eating nearly six minutes off the clock to regain a ten point advantage.
But the Jags were not ready to roll over.
Behind Orth’s 59 yard run to the Bulldog 4 yard line, Baker added another touchdown. After a delay of game on the PAT, Gavin Patterson’s point-after attempt was blocked leaving the Jags trailing 30-26 with 1:11 left and only one time out after burning two time outs early in the third quarter.
The only hope for the Jags was to convert another onside kick. Jamarius Way got his hands on it but could not come down with it. After kneeling on the ball a couple times, the Bulldogs ran the remaining time off the clock.
Tech’s Jaqwis Dancy lead all with 144 yard rushing with two touchdowns. Israel Tucker added 82 yards for the Bulldogs. Evan Orth led the Jags with 74 yards rushing, Baker added 51, Harris had 40 and Minter had 23 yards on 16 carries.
J’Mar Smith was 19-of-29 for 209 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions. The Jags three quarterbacks with the starter Cole Garvin going 7-of-16 for 47 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. Orth went 4-of-6 for 44 yards. Cephus Johnson came in for only one series in the first half and his only passing attempt was incomplete.
Adrian Hardy caught three passes for 73 yards and a touchdown for the Bulldogs. Two other Bulldogs had 53 and 52 yards receiving.
Jamarius Way had 31 yards receiving on two catches, the most for a Jaguar receiver. Minter added 28 on three catches.
At halftime, the Jags offense had only 98 total yards and three first downs. But by the end of the game they had 308 total yards of offense but only 91 yards passing.
South Alabama will travel to Oklahoma State on Saturday with kickoff scheduled for 7pm on FSN.
Edit: Changed three-and-out to four-and-out because the Jags went for it on 4th down on the opening drive. Sorry, sometimes my hands go on auto-pilot typing and didn’t catch it.
South Alabama Announces Fundraiser Campaign “Get On Campus” To Build On-Campus Stadium
After failing to get the City of Mobile to agree to the Letter-Of-Intent last week at the City Council Meeting (which I wrote about but did not post), USA announced in conjunction with their Board of Trustees meeting the “Get On Campus” campaign.
This fundraiser is part of a comprehensive effort to build the new stadium on campus by the 2020 football season.
“Our students, fans, alumni and visiting fans deserve to be on our beautiful campus to enjoy a traditional college football game-day,” said South Alabama Athletics Director Joel Erdmann in the announcement. “Our team and those we host deserve to play in a modern stadium, which properly aligns us with those who compete at the elite level of the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision and the College Football Playoff.”
“We are committed to having an on-campus football stadium at South, and we are committed to doing everything within our power to have that stadium open for the 2020 football season,” said University President Tony Waldrop in the announcement. “We also are committed to not using our students’ tuition dollars to build a stadium.”
According to the statement, the campaign will be “evaluated continuously” and the progress will determine how quickly the next phases of construction will move ahead.
You can read the full article here.
Jags Open 2018 Season With Louisiana Tech At Ladd-Peebles Stadium
Here we are at the dawn of a new season for the Jaguars and there have been lots of changes since last season wrapped up.
Gone is the Jaguars first head football coach Joey Jones and his staff. In is new head coach Steve Campbell and his staff.
But when the Jags take the field on Saturday, there will be lots of familiar names taking the field. But who will be the starter under center has yet to be announced, and probably won’t until just before kickoff. Coach Campbell has even said that all three quarterback may play in the season opener.
I wouldn’t read too much into this really, no coach wants to show their hand too early and an early upset could start the Jaguars season off in the right direction. Each quarterback presents a very different challenge for defenses in preparation.
Louisiana Tech is a 10.5 point favorite in the game depending on where you look for your betting line. Last season the Jags went into the fourth quarter trailing by one point but the Bulldogs scored 17 points in the fourth quarter to pull away. The Jags trailed 17-7 in the first quarter but the defense tightened up and only allowed 78 total yards over the next two quarters before the fourth quarter scores.
If you watched rival Troy’s offense over the last two seasons, you should have some idea what the Jaguar offense will be like under offensive coordinator Kenny Edenfield. It’s going to be fast paced, no huddle style offense with read-option. The defense returns lots of experienced players from last season, including Jalen Thompson, who had to sit out the season due to academics.
Career rushing record holder Xavier Johnson is gone, actually he had been dismissed prior to the end of the season due to rules violations then injuries further depleated the backfield. Tra Minter, listed as the player honored by wearing the #5 jersey, is the lead tailback according to the depth chart released earlier this week.
The receiver position has experience and height, with Jamarius Way (6’4″), Jordan McCray (6’5″) and Kawaan Baker (6’1″) are the starters at X, Z and H receiver. With Collier Smith (6’2″) at tight end.
Gavin Patterson returns at placekicker and Corliss Waitman returns as the punter.
The Bulldogs themselves return eight offensive starters and seven defensive. They have an experienced offensive line returning but no one knows what they have at running back yet. For the first time in several seasons they have a returning signal caller.
USA has a young offensive line to protect whomever lines up to take the snap against an experienced defensive line. But their short linebackers and the Jags height at receiver may lead to the USA offense to exploit that with some slants behind them especially if they can also get the running game going.
The Bulldogs have never lost to a Sun Belt opponent while the Jags looks to start the Campbell tenure with an upset win. The Jags may have some surprises up their sleeve.
I don’t think that Tech is 10.5 points better that USA, but the Jags have also not played their best at home but have thrived in hostile environments away from home. Plus with the city voting against helping to fund South Alabama’s stadium, will that affect the crowd along with the scheduling conflict with the University of Alabama kicking off against Louisville one hour into the Jags game. This, however, is a very winnable home game. Go Jags!
National Signing Day 2018
Most of Coach Steve Campbell’s staff have now officially been on the job for exactly two months and it all culminated with National Signing Day.
Back in December, the Jags signed 10 student-athletes during the first-ever early signing period for football. Those were signed a mere 12 days after Campbell took over as the Jaguars head football coach.
Since Campbell began, he has been evaluating where the needs were on the team and looking to shore up his squad for the 2018 season. Of the 10 early signees in December, eight of them were defensive players.
Whatever you want to now call this day: Spring signing day, late signing period, or the tradition ‘national signing day, the Jags were more offensive minded. Of the 13 that were signed, 11 of them were offensive student-athletes.
Out of the 13, two of them are considered blue shirts and three are preferred walk-ons.
Blue shirts are players that are not formally or officially recruited but are put on scholarship at start of freshman practice, which means they never had an official visit, however they could have payed their own way and visited campus as an “unofficial” visit. These players can be counted towards next years scholarship total.
What’s the difference between a walk-on and a preferred walk-on you ask? Well, when Football Scoop asked coaches what that term meant, nine out of 10 answered that a preferred walk-on (PWO) are guaranteed a spot on the 105 man roster on day one of camp. While traditional walk-ons will have to go through tryouts to see if they can earn a spot on the 105 man roster. PWO’s are also in a better place to earn a scholarship, but normally that will not happen until their junior year due to NCAA rules to limit “oversigning”.
Overall, Campbell and his staff put together a pretty good class in a short time. They addressed needs but they missed out on some of their big targets, primarily at running back, but ended up signing some quality athletes.
Twelve of the 23 signees came from the state of Alabama with the rest coming from five other states. Five of the recruits were rated as 3-star recruits by 247Sports, including quarterback Desmond Trotter who is the grandson of former Alabama star, College and NFL Hall of Famer, and Baltimore Ravens General Manager Ozzie Newsome. Two athletes were rated as two-star recruits.
While the recruiting sites primarily focus on the very top of the recruiting rankings, Rivals was at least the easiest to look at rankings for the Sun Belt. Based on their formula, Arkansas State lands the top spot with the Jags landing 9th out of 11 on the list.
Rivals full SBC Rankings:
1. Arkansas State (75th nationally)
2. Georgia State (86th nationally)
3. Troy (95th nationally)
4. Texas State (96th nationally)
5. Louisiana-Monroe (98th nationally)
6. Georgia Southern
7. Appalachian State
8. New Mexico State
9. South Alabama
10. Idaho
11. Louisiana-Lafayette (only signed 13 student-athletes)
South Alabama will begin their spring schedule in March culminating in the annual Red-Blue Spring Game on Saturday, April 14th at Ladd-Peebles Stadium.
Go Jags!
Happy New Year Jag Nation!
As the book closes on 2017 and we open the book on 2018, we at Thunderjags wish you a great New Year! Go Jags!
South Alabama Announces Steve Campbell As New Head Football Coach
Steve Campbell, 51 and native of Pensacola, FL., will be officially introduced as the new head football coach replacing Joey Jones who announced his resignation on November 20th. | Photo Credit: University of Central Arkansas
South Alabama has hired it’s second head coach in program history. Today the school announced that Steve Campbell, 51 and a Pensacola native, had been selected to head up the Jaguar football program.
Campbell’s coaching career began under legendary Auburn head coach Pat Dye where he helped the Tigers win back-to-back SEC titles as a graduate assistant. His first full-time position was in 1990 at Delta State University as offensive line coach. He worked his way up to offensive coordinator before departing for the same position at Nicholls State in 1993.
In 1997 Campbell took his first head coaching position with Southwest Mississippi Community College (JC), where he had spent the previous season coaching the running backs. In two seasons he went 12-8 and lead the school to it’s first winning season in 12 years.
Campbell then returned to Delta State as head coach in 1999 where he earned a 27-8 record over three seasons. His no-huddle offense broke 12 Gulf South Conference records and six Division II records. In 2000, he won the Division II National Championship and earned Nation Coach of the Year by three organizations.
In 2002, Campbell became offensive coordinator and offensive line coach at Middle Tennessee State and scored a win over in-state rival Vanderbilt. In 2003 he served as offensive line coach under Jackie Sherrill in his last season at Mississippi State.
In 2004, Campbell returned to a head coaching position with Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College. We went 87-22 over 10 seasons after inheriting a team that went 6-12 in two seasons under his predecessor and had not made the state playoffs since 1986. Campbell led them to NJCAA Junior College Co-National Championship in 2007. A number of his players went on to play at SEC schools, most notably Terrence Cody at Alabama.
By 2008, Campbell started to get noticed for other positions. He was a finalist for the head coaching position at Northwestern State but was not selected.
In 2009 he had led the MGCCC Bulldogs to a 9-2 record after losing 75-71 in the MACJC State Championship game, ending their bid for three-straight MACJC titles. He was considered for an offensive line assistant position at Auburn that year under Gene Chizik but was not selected.
In 2010, Campbell led MGCCC to a 10-2 record, the two losses were by a combined six points. They won over Co-Lin in the MACJC Championship game and had a 62-53 win over #3 Grand Rapids in the Mississippi Bowl, which set a record for combined points in the game.
In 2014, Campbell took the head coaching position at Central Arkansas in the Southland Conference and went 6-6 in his first season. After a 7-4 record in his second season he then led the Bears to back-to-back 10 win seasons but each time lost in the second round of the FCS playoffs.
Campbell has a record of 27-8 at the Division II level and 33-15 at the FCS level.
As a player, he started at center in 43 consecutive games for Southeastern Louisiana and Troy State University. He was part of the 1987 Troy State team to win the Division II National Championship and was named to the All-Gulf South Conference first team. He was named an Academic All-Conference three times and graduated Cum Laude from Troy State with a bachelor’s in Economics. He earned a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Auburn as well.
In a press release from South Alabama, Director of Athletics Dr. Joel Erdmann had the following to say: “When the search began we identified the experience, qualities and characteristics we were looking for. We searched for a leader who has demonstrated success and possesses a vision for the program with the plan to communicate and achieve that vision. As the search progressed, it became clear that Coach Campbell had what we were looking for. He became the primary target and accepted the offer. He is a proven college head football coach who has achieved consistent success in various settings with different programs. Coach Campbell possesses coaching expertise, high school and junior college recruiting relationships, and a contagious passion for the game of football. He is well-respected by his peers and at the core of his identify is a man of character and deep values.
“I am proud and excited to have Steve as the leader of our program, and look forward to working together to achieve great things.”
Also in the press release, Campbell had the following to say: “I was born and raised in this area, just down the road outside of Pensacola, and have always felt that if South Alabama started football it would be a gold mine, a place where the sky is the limit and you can definitely compete for championships at the highest level. Coach Jones did a terrific job of getting the program started and laying a tremendous foundation. This is an opportunity to get back home and, more than that, to take what Joey has started and raise it to the next level and win some championships.”
South Alabama will hold a press conference on Friday at 1pm in the Football Fieldhouse to officially introduce Campbell as the Jaguars head football coach and it is open to the public. JagNationTv will have live video coverage and 99.5 FM The Jag will have radio coverage of the announcement as well.
Jags Fall In Season Finale On Last Minute Touchdown
Head coach Joey Jones leading the team in the Jaguar Prowl in 2010.
South Alabama was unable to send the 19 seniors and head coach Joey Jones out with a final win in Las Cruces, New Mexico. The Jags finish the season 4-8 after the 22-17 defeat after the Aggies scored in the final minute of the game to regain the lead and ultimately the win.
The Jags took a 7-0 lead to start the second quarter then the Aggies scored 13 consecutive points to end the first half. The Jags had an opportunity to score a touchdown before the end of the first half after Garvin found Kawaan Baker for an 18 yard gain down to the two yard line, but a personal foul on Harrison Louden put the Jags back at the 17 yard line. Then the Jaguars went in reverse after Jordan McCray stepped out of bounds for a 9 yard loss on a reverse followed by an 11 yard sack and fumble that rolled out of bounds at the at the 40 yard line of the Aggies. A personal foul after the fumble gave the Jags 15 yards and an automatic first down at the Aggie 25. A pass to Reinkemeyer for a loss of a yard followed by Garvin being sacked for a loss of 3 set the Jags up for a 3rd & 14. Garvin’s pass, when it looked like he was just trying to throw it away, but he couldn’t get enough on it and it was intercepted on the sideline at the 24 ending the threat.
The Aggies opened the fourth quarter with a field goal to take a 16-7 lead before the Jags started began their comeback. With 11:49 left in the game, Cole Garvin found Jordan McCray for a 17 yard touchdown to cut the lead to two points.
The Aggies were facing a 4th & 4 at the Jaguar 17 and decided to go for it but the Jaguar defense forced an incomplete pass and took over the ball. Garvin complete four-consecutive passes for 10, 3, 19 and 42 yards with all but the third pass going to Jamarius Way, the third pass was to McCray. A few plays later, facing a 3rd and goal from the 10, Garvin targeted Malik Stanley but he couldn’t haul it in and Jones opted for a go-ahead field goal making it 17-16 with 3:13 left in the game.
The Aggies dinked and dunked their way down the field until Tyler Rogers connected with Grand Bay, Alabama native Conner Cramer in the back of the end zone for the go-ahead score. Their 2-point conversion attempt was no good leaving the Aggies nursing a 22-17 lead with :32 left in the game.
NMSU had the kickoff go out of bounds which would have put the ball at the USA 35 yard line with :32 left, but Jones and his staff decided to make them rekick it from the 30 yard line. The Jags attempted to set up a throw-back across the field but the throw didn’t have enough power behind it and skipped back allowing the defenders to close in, all the while with the clock running. Finally the Jags took over at the 27 yard line with :24 left.
Garvin found David Garner along the left sideline for an 11 yard gain. Garvin then kept it up the middle but short of a first down forcing the Jags to call their final time out with :12 left. After another incomplete pass, Garvin threw what was close enough to a hail mary attempt with the pass tipped by the defender and the bounce went away from Jamarius Way, if it had tipped the other way, he could have been able to cruise into the end zone for the game winning touchdown.
However, that did not happen and the Jags fell to 4-8 on the season while New Mexico State looks to be going to their first bowl game since 1960.
And with that head coach Joey Jones’ tenure at South Alabama comes to and end. Jones finishes 52-50 in nine season as the architect of the Jaguar football program since his hiring in 2008 and their first play in 2009.
Senior Jeremy Reaves became only the second defensive back in Jaguar history to record 100 or more stops in a season.
Jones spoke after the game in his final post-game press conference:
On the game itself: “All I wanted for us to do coming into this game was to fight and I thought we did that. We came up a little short. [New Mexico State’s] quarterback is a great player and made some plays on their last drive. With about five minutes left, they had a third-and-10 and he hit it. On their touchdown play, he was able to scramble around and made a great throw. It really wasn’t anything that our guys did wrong, but rather what [NMSU] did right. I was proud of our guys fighting tonight.”
On offensive adjustments in the second half: “We just executed better. In the first half, we dropped some passes. We also got down to the one and got a penalty, which brought the ball back and hurt us trying to score. Other than that, we played pretty well. I told the guys a halftime, that if we just keep running our offense, we’ll be ok.”
on his defenses play against running back Larry Rose III and forcing the Aggies to go to the air to win: “Our coaches did a great job calling plays defensively. Rose is a heck of a running back. We wanted to make NMSU throw the ball, but unfortunately Tyler Rogers is a very good quarterback. Our hats are off to New Mexico State.”
Jeremy Reaves spoke after the game as well:
On the game: “We fought and that’s all coach [Joey Jones] asked for. We fought for 60 minutes and the score didn’t reflect it, but I’m happy with the way our guys fought considering this was my last game here.”
On what the defense did to take New Mexico State’s running game away: “We knew that Rose was an electric player and that he was going to make plays. We also knew it was going to come down to us being physical. The defense was just able to stop them at the line of scrimmage and the point of attack.”
On the play of NMSU quarterback Tyler Rogers: “He’s a great player. We were talking throughout the game and he told me he was trying to throw away from me because I hit too hard. He’s a ball player though; he’s good with his legs and he’s good with his arm. He made plays when they needed him too. New Mexico State made the plays when they needed too and they showed up on third down. Credit to those guys and I congratulate them.”
Quarterback Cole Garvin, who started the game but rotated series with Dallas Davis through the first half spoke for the offense after the game:
On the way the offense played in the second half: “We made it a game [in the second half] and we really tried to get the win, but we couldn’t get it done on the last offensive drive.”
On what the offense did differently going into the fourth quarter: “We just kept calling the same plays that were working and minimized mistakes. Coach Owens called a really good game against the defense were in and we just kept hitting the holes.”
On the job the running backs and wide receivers did: “Those guys finding the holes is what made my job easy, along with what the offensive line did. It was a team effort.”
South Alabama finished with 353 yards of total offense, 331 yards through the air and only 22 yards rushing. Jaguar quarterbacks combined to go 26-of-46 for two interceptions and one touchdown.
Garvin went 22-of-37 for 268 yards with an interception and the only passing touchdown, but was sacked four times. Davis went 4-of-9 for 63 yards with one interception.
Jamarius Way led the Jags with 88 yards on seven receptions. McCray was next with 74 yards on four receptions and the lone touchdown. David Gardner, Malik Stanley, and Tra Minter all had three catches for 48, 47, and 42 yards receiving respectively. Four other Jaguars also caught passes in the game.
Davis was the Jags leading rusher with 15 yards on five carries. Jalen Wayne, and Minter both had eight yards rushing. Bull Barge, Darrell Songy and Wade Forde each had a sack in the game.
Defensively the Jags allowed 491 total yards, 451 yards through the air and only 40 yards rushing. Rogers went 40-of-61 with two touchdowns and an interception.
Jaleel Scott had 134 yards on nine receptions. Rose also had nine receptions adding 95 yards receiving. The Aggies had eight other receivers catching passes in the game.
Rose rushed for 52 yards and Jason Huntley added 10 yards rushing as well. Rogers netted a 20 yard loss in sacks and such.
With the Jaguars season over, the focus now turns to the coaching search, which should accelerate with the season’s end. Athletics director Joel Erdmann is expected to begin interviewing candidates this week since more candidate’s seasons are starting to end as well.
It’s expected that defensive coordinator Kane Wommack will serve as USA’s interim head football coach until a replacement is hired.
Thank you coach Jones, your work has built the South Alabama program from scratch to what it is today. Photo Credit: JagNationUSA Facebook Page
Jags Travel To New Mexico State For Season Finale
South Alabama is making their final appearance of the season on Saturday, December 2 in Las Cruces, New Mexico. While the Jags may be eliminated from bowl contention, they still have a lot to play for if you ask the players.
“A lot of people want to send coach Jones out with a win because of everything he’s done for us. We want to do right for him,” senior offensive guard Harrison Louden said. “We want to do right for the seniors as well and I can’t emphasize that enough. We want to send everybody out with a win.”
Head coach Joey Jones, the only head coach the Jaguar football team has had in it’s 9-season history, announced his resignation just over a week ago after the Jags were eliminated from bowl contention by Georgia Southern. But coach Jones does not want to make his final game about him, but rather keep the focus on the players. He decided that he would not attend the regular Monday press conference this week. Though, last week, he said he had not considered what emotions he may feel on Jaguars sidelines for the final time.
“It will probably mean a lot more later when I have a cane and a wheelchair and they’re honoring me on the field for starting the program back in 2009,” Jones said. “It’s going to be special one day. I’m just proud to be a small part of it.”
But Louden is only one of six projected starters, Dominic Esposito, Andrew Reinkemeyer, Zach Befort, Finesse Middleton, Darrell Songy and Jeremy Reaves, who will dress out and play for the Jaguars for the final time. But others on the team have points to make as well, “Against New Mexico State on Saturday, I want us to show everyone that we are a good team,” said defensive end Jimmie Gipson. “I know things haven’t panned out the way that we would’ve liked them to, but I want to go out with a bang; I want to go out with a ‘W’.”
New Mexico State has their own, powerful motivations to win on Saturday as well. With a win, they could finish the season 6-6 and keep their hopes alive for the program’s first bowl appearance since 1960. They will be aided by their redshirt senior quarterback Tyler Rogers who suffered a grade 2 sprain of the AC joint in the second half of their game against Louisiana-Lafayette on November 18.
Rogers has put up big numbers this season, ranking third nationally in completions per game (27.9), sixth in total offense per game (339.8), 14th in points responsible for (188), and 16th in total passing yards (3,374) despite missing the last five quarters of action.
The only notable player slated to miss the game for NMSU right now is wide receiver OJ Clark. He ranks second on the team with 44 catches for 492 yards and three touchdowns.
The Jags know about attrition though. The Jags lost career-rushing leader Xavier Johnson due to a violation of team rules. They also lost running backs Tywun Walters for rules violations. Then they’ve lost three back to injuries leaving Tra Minter and Carlos Robinson as the only two active running backs on the roster from the beginning of the season.
On the season, the Aggies score an average of 30.27 points per game and allow 31.73 points per game. Offensively the Aggies average 450.4 yards of total offense per game, 343.6 yards through the air and 106.7 yards on the ground per game. They are converting 45.9% of their 3rd down attempts and 50% of their 4th down attempts on the season. Also on the season they have allowed 35 sacks for a combined 209 yards and have fumbled the ball 12 times and lost it six times. Additionally they average 55.8 yards per game of penalties. The Aggies score 83% of the time they reach opponents red zone and 68% of the time they are touchdowns.
Defensively, the Aggies allow an average of 401.5 yards per game which breaks down to 223.8 yards through the air and 177.7 yards on the ground per game. Opponents are converting 31% of their 3rd down attempts and 61.1% of their 4th down attempts. They have sacked opponents 28 times for a loss of 181 yards, they have forced 13 fumbles and recovered eight of them on the season. Opponents are averaging 60.1 penalty yards per game against the Aggies. Opponents score 86% of the time they reach the Aggies red zone and 66% of the time they score touchdowns.
The Jags average 20.1 points per game on the season as opposed to 26.9 for their opponent. Offensively the Jags average 332.6 yards per game of total offense, which breaks down to 104.1 yards rushing and 228.5 yards passing per game. They converted 30% of their 3rd down attempts and 44% of their 4th down attempts. USA has fumbled the ball 12 times and only lost three of them and have been intercepted 12 times. Jags have 18 sacks on the season for 113 yards and average 59.4 penalty yards per game. The Jags offense scores 74% of the time in opponents red zone and 44% of the time are touchdowns.
Defensively the Jags allow and average of 411.1 yards per game of total offense, which breaks down to 162 yards rushing and 249.1 yards passing per game. Opponents are converting 41% of 3rd down attempts and 56% of 4th down attempts. The Jags have forced 20 fumbles on the season and recovered 12 of them while intercepting opponents seven times. Jags have 20 sacks on opposing quarterbacks for 153 yards. Opponents average 37.2 penalty yards per game. Opponents score 75% of the time they reach the red zone, 49% of the time they are touchdowns.
What the Jags must do to win:
Slow down the passing game. The Aggies, behind their redshirt senior quarterback throw for lots of yards each game. His favorite target is Jaleel Scott, who averages 82.6 yards per game receiving with eight touchdowns and 908 yards on the season. But he spreads the ball around to a number of receivers, so they cannot sleep on the others either.
Keep the Aggies out of the red zone. As seen by the numbers breakdown, if they get into the red zone, they score 74% of the time in they reach it.
The best defense is to control the ball on offense. The Jags were shredded by Georgia Southern and the offense was completely ineffective and the defense was gassed as a result.
Speaking of offense, the offense must move the ball and score. While this would seem to be a no-brainer, the Jags have struggled to move the ball consistently, convert 3rd downs and, in their last game, put points on the board.
Let’s send the seniors out on a winning note and lets give Coach Jones a great send off while we’re at it!
Thanksgiving Reflection And Looking To The Future
Head coach Joey Jones lifts the ‘Battle for the Belt’ championship belt for the third time in the last four years. | Photo Credit: Brad Puckett usajaguars.com
South Alabama was shocked and never recovered in Statesboro last weekend. It was kind of like one of those boxing matches where the favored competitor comes out against an underdog and the underdog lands that stunner head blow and the favorite is never able to recover.
The Jags got punched, and punched hard. They didn’t recover either.
Most fans thought that their bowl aspirations were going to be dashed the week before when they hosted Arkansas State, who had never lost to USA in their five previous games. They never thought an 0-9 Georgia Southern was going to be the one to dash their hopes. Which may have been a contributing factor in the loss. In college football, you can never underestimate your opponent.
The Jags went down 7-0 on the first possession, then a turnover set up the Eagles to go up 14-0. By the end of the first quarter the Jags were down 21-0 and it only got worse from there. The Eagles took out a season worth of frustration out on the Jaguars and sent their seniors out with a win in their final home game.
By the time the game was over, the Jags had been handed their first shutout, lost their chance at getting bowl eligible, and probably marked the end of head coach Joey Jones’ tenure as the only head football coach in South Alabama history.
“I’ve never been involved in a game like the one we had tonight in all my years of coaching,” head coach Joey Jones said. “The game plan got away from us. Georgia Southern executed well. They’ve been making mistakes all year and shooting themselves in the foot, and then tonight, they didn’t do that at all.”
“It all ends with me,” Jones said in his post-game radio interview. “I’ve got to get my team better ready to play than that. Obviously, we had some scheme problems. We didn’t coach well on defense, we didn’t coach well on offense. One of those games that got away from us. … Just not a good night at all.”
Just two days later that was affirmed by Coach Jones’ announcement of his resignation effective at the end of his contract and he will coach the Jags final game on December 2nd at New Mexico State.
Then the next day after the announcement of his resignation, coach Jones said, “It’s been a blast. I’m happy for South Alabama. It’ll be in my heart forever.”
“The meeting yesterday was something I was dreading in a lot of ways, just to let them know I wasn’t going to be here anymore,” Jones said. “And it turned into one of the best days of my life. I was hugging them and they were crying on my shoulder for a minute. It was touching and it means a lot to me. I’ll carry that forever. I had about 395 texts yesterday, a lot of them former players and friends. Made me realize I did it for the right reasons.”
Junior linebacker Bull Barge said that the news was tough to take but has given the team a renewed focus with intentions to send Jones out a winner.
“Yesterday was tough,” Barge said. “We love coach a lot. To hear that yesterday, you wish you could have done more. As a man, it’s life. This game is a business. We’ve been taught that from the beginning. Right now, our focus is to send coach out on top, have one of the best games we’ve ever played this last game.”
Senior guard Harrison Louden said that coach Jones not only taught his team about football, but also to “be men off the field. … He was all about character. I think that’s what I’m going to carry with me more than anything.”
After starting 7-0 and 10-0 in their first two seasons as an unclassified program they began their climb toward FBS with a 6-4 record as an FBS independent in 2011. Then they became an FBS transitional team in 2012 they went 2-11 as they drastically stepped up their competition and got their first FBS win over Florida International. Then they have been unable to get over the six win hump records of: 6-6, 6-7, 5-7, 6-7 over the previous four seasons and currently sitting at 4-7 this season with one game remaining.
They notched some historic wins over the last two seasons as well. Wins over Mississippi State, their first Power 5 win, and San Diego State, their first win over a ranked opponent, in 2016. Then they knocked off Sun Belt front-runners Troy and Arkansas State this season.
Jones, 55, has a record of 52-49 with one game remaining in his 9th season leading South.
During his tenure Jaguar fans have seen:
- Gerald Everett became the Jags’ first-ever NFL draft selection in April and is in his first season with the Los Angeles Rams.
- 3 individuals selected to participate at the NFL Scouting Combine
- 4 members of the program voted CoSIDA Academic All-District (highlighted by Trey Clark being selected the Jaguars’ first-ever Academic All-American)
- 5 players invited to play in the Reese’s Senior Bowl
- 6 alumni currently active in the NFL and Canadian Football League
- 24 former student-athletes received an opportunity to compete at the professional level
- 43 times individuals earned all-Sun Belt recognition on the field over the last five years
- 54 times an individual has been named to the Sun Belt Conference Commissioner’s List
- 92 times student-athletes have made the league’s Academic Honor Roll
After being a standout player at Murphy High School, Jones went on to be a standout player at the University of Alabama and named to Alabama’s All-Decade Team for the 1980s. He would play professionally with the Birmingham Stallions and Atlanta Falcons. He then began his coaching career in 1989 as an assistant coach at Briarwood Christian School. Two years later he was hired as the head coach at Dora. In 1996 he was hired as head coach at Mountain Brook HS and led the team to the Class 6A state championship game in 1996. He would go 101-27 in 10 seasons there.
He was then hired as the head coach at Birmingham-Southern to restart their football program and led them to a 1-7 record in Division II. He was then hired after the one season at BSC to start the program at South Alabama from scratch. He won the Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year in 2013 after going 6-6 in their first season as a full Sun Belt member and improving on a 2-11 record the previous season.
Coach Jones and his wife, Elise, have been invaluable to South Alabama and cannot be thanked enough. When he was hired he started pulling together a staff on the steps of the Mitchell Center and living out of a hotel for a couple of months. They worked out wherever they could, including an improvised weight room in a former student health center and professional business building.
Athletic Director Joel Erdmann and the administration has hired a search firm to aid them in identifying the next head coach. with a number of potential candidates being thrown around. Whoever takes over the helm of the program, they will be inheriting a solid foundation that Jones and his staff has worked hard to build. A great fieldhouse and adjoining practice fields. Soon the covered practice facility with restart construction after the partially constructed superstructure collapsed after a sudden summer thunderstorm exposed the inadequate bracing the builders had not put into place.
There has been talk of an on-campus stadium since day one of the program. As much as fans complain about it, the fans and school are all lucky the City of Mobile has Ladd-Peebles Stadium that the Jags could use as their home stadium since the beginning and for the foreseeable future. Without it who knows if football would have gotten started or how the funds to start the program would have been used as they would have possibly spent funds to outfit a location to play.
- As for those potential candidates, these are a few names that have been mentioned for the job are:
John Grass, Jacksonville State head coach who has won four-consecutive conference championships and reached the FCS title game in 2015 - Jeremy Pruitt, Alabama defensive coordinator, he’s never been a head coach and is currently making over $1 million per year
- Tee Martin, Southern California offensive coordinator, he was a standout at Williamson HS before leading Tennessee to the 1998 BCS national championship
- Kevin Sherrer, Georgia linebackers coach, was USA’s defensive coordinator in 2013, spent time on the Alabama staff but is reportedly a candidate to become defensive coordinator at Florida State
- Kevin Steele, Auburn defensive coordinator, was a serious candidate for the position when coach Jones was hired in 2007 but has a terrible 9-36 overall record as head coach at Baylor and 1-31 Big 12 record from 1999-2002.
- Chip Lindsey, Auburn offensive coordinator, he’s never been a head coach but has run successful offenses at Southern Miss and Auburn
- Will Hall, Louisiana-Lafayette offensive coordinator, has a 56-20 record as head coach at West Alabama and West Georgia in Division II football and played at North Alabama, winning the Harlon Hill Trophy (Division II equivalent of the Heisman) as quarterback at North Alabama in 2003, when current USA AD Joel Erdmann was AD at UNA
- Steve Campbell, Central Arkansas head coach, he is 33-14 in four seasons at UCA including 10-1 this season. He’s a Pensacola native, played center at Troy and was a graduate assistant for Pat Dye at Auburn. He also led Delta State to a Division II national championship in 1999 and won a junior-college national title at Mississippi Gulf Coast in 2007
- Rhett Lashlee, UConn offensive coordinator, played for Gus Malzahn in high school before coaching with him as a graduate assistant then offensive coordinator at both Arkansas State and Auburn
- Mario Cristobol, Oregon offensive coordinator, went 27-57 as head coach at FIU and took them to their only two bowl games in program history. He was then on the Alabama football staff from 2013-2016 as offensive line coach
- Matt Luke, Ole Miss interim head coach, he was thrown to the wolves after Hugh Freeze resigned just before the season started amid scandals. He has been an assistant coach there since 2012 and served as co-offensive coordinator before being named interim head coach. He is Mississippi through and through, playing at Gulfport HS, then Ole Miss. He was a graduate assistant there in 1999, then came back from 2002-2005 then came back again in 2012
- David Reeves, UAB defensive coordinator, he was a former Alabama high school coach who joined former Jag defensive coordinator in Jacksonville State in 2013, then joined him at UAB in 2014 as defensive line coach then became the defensive coordinator this season when the Blazers restarted their program
- Kodi Burns, Auburn co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach, He’s only in his sixth season as an assistant coach. He was a former wide receiver at Auburn and has had coaching stints at Arkansas State, Arizona State, Middle Tennessee and Samford
- Butch Jones, former Tennessee head coach, he started his head coaching career at Central Michigan after Brian Kelly left for Cincinnati, he then moved to Cincinatti after Kelly again left for Notre Dame. He then took over at Tennessee replacing Derek Dooley and finished with a 34-27 record there and a 14-24 SEC record. But his reputation of verbal abuse may not make him a desirable candidate. His first season at Tennessee was shakey after the Jags, down by eight points, mounted a last-minute drive to tie the game, but was intercepted in the end zone
Over the past 10 years, the South Alabama campus has changed in so many ways since they started football. New buildings, updated sports facilities, additional dorms, and increased enrollment. What the next 10 years holds only time will tell. For the first time, the Jags are searching for a new head coach. It will be interesting to see who makes it through the coaching carousel, ends up on the final list and eventually gets hired and how it impacts recruiting with early signing period coming up in mid-December and national signing day in February.
As we hear more, we’ll keep you informed.
Jags Look To Keep Momentum At Georgia Southern
South Alabama looks to take the momentum they earned from defeating then Sunbelt Conference leading Arkansas State on the road to Georgia Southern in order to keep their bowl hopes alive.
The Jags (4-6, 3-3 SBC) can’t overlook the Eagles (0-9, 0-5 SBC) because of their record. The Jags proved that last weekend against Arkansas State. Fueled by the defense and six turnovers, including the game-saving goal-line fumble forced by Sun Belt Conference Defensive Player of the week Bull Barge, the Jags may have won 23-18 but rushed for -3 yards in the game and totaled 340 yards of offense thanks to Sun Belt Conference Offensive Player of the Week Cole Garvin throwing for 343 yards.
While South Alabama has struggled with injuries and (recently) suspensions (also lets not forget the terrible officiating in the Idaho game either), Georgia Southern is on the tail end of what is arguably their worst season in recent school history. The six-time FCS national champion Eagles won nine games each season after making their jump to FBS in 2014. Then head coach Willie Fritz accepted the head coaching position at Tulane and the Eagles hired Tyson Summers. Summers went 5-7 in his first season in 2016, then falling to FCS New Hampshire 22-12 in the second week of the season and was fired after falling to UMass 55-20 in week 8.
The Eagles average 16.3 points per game and allow an average of 37.1 points per game. Their power rushing game is averaging 191.8 yards per game combined with 103.4 yards per game passing has them averaging 295.2 yards per game so far in the 2017 season.
GSU is only converting 30.3% of their 3rd down attempts on the season. But they do convert 69.6% of their red zone trips into points, but only 39.1% of them are for touchdowns. Additionally they have fumbled 31 times and lost the ball 12 times and quarterbacks have thrown six interceptions on the season.
Defensively the eagles are allowing 200.1 yards rushing, 242.8 yards passing per game for an average of 443.9 yards per game of total offense. Opponents are converting 43.4% of 3rd down attempts. However opponents are converting 82.4% of their red zone trips into points, and 70.6% of the time they convert those red zone trips into touchdowns.
Additionally, the Eagle defense have forced only 9 fumbles and recovered only 5 of them, but they have managed to intercept eight opponent’s passes.
The Jags are scoring 22.1 points per game as opposed to 24.4 points per game for their opponents. They average 346.4 yards of total offense per game, which breaks down to 111.6 yards rushing and 234.8 yards passing per game.
Though the Jags are only converting 31% of their 3rd down attempts, that is actually up from the average the Offense had prior to offensive coordinator Bryant Vincent’s resignation. Additionally the Jags are converting 76% of their red zone trips into points, and 45% of the time they are scoring touchdowns. They have only fumbled 10 times and lost the ball twice on the season, but they do have 10 interceptions.
Defensively the Jaguars are allowing 393.3 yards per game of total offense, which breaks down to 142.6 yards per game rushing and 251.3 yards per game passing. Opponents are converting 71% of their red zone trips into points, and 42% of their red zone trips are touchdowns. The Jags have forced 19 fumbles on the season and recovered 12 of them, while also collecting seven interceptions from opposing quarterbacks, with four of them coming last week from Arkansas State’s Justice Hansen.
Georgia Southern is hurting, that much is obvious. The players and coaches want to avoid going down as the first team in school history to start the season 0-10. They also would like to keep their unbeaten streak intact against the Jaguars.
You might say the Jaguars are limping along themselves. After losing a few players in the secondary, a position they were already thin at entering the season, the Jaguar secondary has continued to play strong.
Lately the Jaguars have been hurting at the running back position. With the loss of five players in recent weeks, the Jags have turned to freshman wide receiver Jalen Wayne to add depth in the backfield. Wayne made a similar move to running back in high school at Spanish Fort. Which may give an added pass-catching dimension to the backfield for the Jags.
Another nagging problem has been dropped passes by receivers.
The Jags just need to go out and handle business without concern about how good or how bad the opponent is playing. Just like last week, each player has to play their assignment and fight to win each and every play. Forget the previous play and just fight to win the play in front of you.
Key to victory:
The Jags have to come out with energy from the opening kickoff. Last week the defense started hot by forcing three turnovers in the opening quarter. The offense started slow but behind the energy on defense, the offense finally got in gear and started moving the ball and putting up points.
The offense has to move the ball and score points. This is a point to stress each and every week, even though it’s pretty obvious. This unit has struggled pretty much all season long. It hasn’t helped that both Cole Garvin and Dallas Davis have been nicked up all season long and now the running back position was down to only two active players last week.
The Jags defense needs to keep the energy up. The offense feeds off of the defense and big plays help. Georgia Southern has a tendency to fumble the ball and the defense are ball hawks with those 19 forced fumbles and 12 fumble recoveries, the Jags should have some opportunities to force turnovers.
Again, it’s a do-or-die week for the Jags. If they lose, their bowl aspirations evaporate. But the Jags respond well with their backs against the wall. The Eagles will play more inspired as it will be Senior Day in Statesboro. Just like the Jags last week, the seniors will not want to lose the final home game of their career.
South Alabama and Georgia Southern are scheduled to kick off at 2pm in Statesboro, Georgia with USA being a 5-point favorite. The game can be seen on ESPN3. Radio coverage can be heard on the Jags flagship station 96.1FM and 99.5FM The Jags in the Mobile area with pregame coverage starting at noon.