South Alabama End Touchdown Drought, But Not Enough Against Louisiana 38-10
South Alabama (3-5, 2-3 Sun Belt Conference) was never really in the game against the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns (7-1, 5-1 SBC) and fall 38-10 in Lafayette, Louisiana.
The Jags entered the game missing a few players due to Covid testing and contact tracing. Jacob Shoemaker and Connor Estes, both starting offensive linemen had to miss the game and may also have to miss the Jags next game against Georgia State as well.
The Cajun’s scored on their first possession. They did the heavy lifting with seven straight runs to start the drive, followed by an incomplete pass before quarterback Levi Lewis connected with Errol Rogers for a 5 yard touchdown.
After a 3-and-out, the Cajuns return the Jaguar punt 38 yards to the Jags 26 yard line. Three plays later Chris Smith scampers into the end zone from 22 yards out to go up 14-0 with 8:19 left in the opening quarter.
Jags finally get some offense going. They start out with five consecutive runs before Trotter started throwing, including a 12 pass to Kawaan Baker on a 3rd and 9 to keep the drive alive.
USA got all the way down to the 7 yard line before they ground to a halt. Head coach Steve Campbell opted to take the 26 yard field goal to make it 14-3.
The Cajuns would put together an 11 play, 75 yard drive early in second quarter ending with a side arm pass from Levi Lewis as he was rolling to the left to Errol Rogers for a 3 yard touchdown to go up 21-3.
Finally the Jags would end their touchdown drought with a 10 play, 75 yard drive of their own spanning 3:50. The drive started with a pass interference penalty on the first play and ended with a 7 yard touchdown pass from Desmond Trotter to Kawaan Baker.
The Cajuns would answer right back with a drive of their own.
Facing 3rd and 10 at their own 22, Lewis would find Kyren Lacy for 17 yards to extend their drive. Then Chris Smith would break loose up the gut of the Jaguar defense with a 47 yard run to the Jaguar 14. Two plays later Elijah Mitchell would take it in from 5 yards out for a 28-10 advantage.
Louisiana threatened to score again before halftime but a bobbled pass was intercepted by Nick Mobley to end the threat.
The second half was all Cajuns.
South Alabama needed touchdowns and came away empty. The only real scoring threat was on their first possession of the second half. They drove down to the 16 yard line but the 4th down pass to Baker went for six yards when they needed seven.
South Alabama was outgained 506 to 268 in the game. The Cajuns threw for 252 yards and rushed for 254 yards while going 6 of 13 on 3rd down. The Jags threw for 145 yards and rushed for 123 yards and went 6 of 18 on 3rd down.
Desmond Trotter went 15-of-28 for 133 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Chance Lovertich went 3-of-8 for 12 yards.
Kawaan Baker led the Jags with six catches for 43 yards and the only touchdown. Jalen Tolbert and Cade Sutherland both caught 5 passes for 64 and 37 yards respectively.
Terrion Avery led the Jags rushing attack with 14 carries for 62 yards. Carlos Davis only carried the ball 6 times for 18 yards.
Cajun quarterback Levi Lewis went 21-of-31 for 253 yards, 3 touchdowns and an interception.
Peter LeBlanc led the Cajuns with 5 catches for 34 yards. Neal Johnson caught 3 for 40 yards. Three others caught three passes each and seven players caught one pass each.
Chris Smith led all rushers with 99 yards on 7 carries and a touchdown. Trey Ragas added 78 yards on 10 carries. Elijah Mitchell had 61 yards on 15 carries and a touchdown.
“I thought we would play better,” head coach Steve Campbell said in his post-game radio interview. “They played a lot better than we did. We had some opportunities to make plays and didn’t do it. Offensively, we didn’t stay on the field as much as we needed to, and defensively we had a hard time getting off the field.”
“We just didn’t play well,” he said.
“We just have to take each game one at a time,” Campbell said in his post-game remarks. “We have to practice well, but we practiced great this past week. For what all these guys have been through, then came out and practiced their butts off Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. We had some issues Wednesday and they overcame them and bounced back. I don’t feel that we blinked or backed down today. We need to find a way to have a good week of practice and take that and apply it on Saturday, so that we can find a way to beat a very good Georgia State team.”
When talking about the offense’s struggle he said, “Obviously we have not come up with the answer yet. We need to keep searching and find that answer and put the ball in the end zone.”
The Jags will return home to Hancock-Whitney Stadium after playing the last three contests on the road. South Alabama and Georgia State will kick off at 3pm on ESPNU on Saturday, November 21.
South Alabama Defeats Louisiana-Monroe 38-14 To Stay Unbeaten In Conference Play
The South Alabama Jaguars won its second consecutive Sun Belt Conference game in impressive fashion by a score of 38-14.
Desmond Trotter threw three touchdowns and ran for another. Kawaan Baker caught all three touchdown passes by Trotter as the Jags improve to 3-2 overall and 2-0 in SBC play.
This is the first time the Jags have ever started Sun Belt play 2-0 in program history and the first time to have a winning record since 2016.
Louisiana-Monroe fall to 0-6 on the season, 0-3 in conference play.
The Jags first offensive possession was a three-and-out and punted after only 1:09 off the clock.
Louisiana-Monroe then drove down to the Jaguar 14 yard line when quarterback Colby Suits threw a ball that went off his receivers fingertips but was caught by Devin Rockette who then returned it 95 yards for the games opening touchdown, putting the Jags up 7-0 with 10:07 left in the opening quarter.
After a Warhawk punt, the Jags drove the ball down to the ULM 31 yard line before the drive stalled. Diego Guajardo split the uprights from 50-yards out to extend the Jaguar lead to 10-0 with 3:01 left in the opening quarter.
But the Jags weren’t done in the first quarter.
After forcing another three-and-out the Jags took possession at their own 15 after the punt. On the second play, Trotter connected with Kawaan Baker down the left sideline for an 80-yard touchdown to go ahead 17-0 with :51 seconds left in the first quarter.
The Warhawks were driving again near the middle of the second quarter, but when the drive stalled at the Jaguar 31 yard line, they went for the 4th and short but came up short, turning the ball over on downs.
Chance Lovertich entered the game at quarterback and quickly drove the Jaguars down to the Warhawk 18 yard line, but was intercepted with 7:29 left in the half.
ULM then drove down the field and running back Josh Johnson scored on a 2-yard run. However the extra point attempt would sail wide right of the goal post to keep the score at 17-6.
Facing 4th and 5 with :02 left in the half, head coach Steve Campbell kept his offense on the field. Lovertich pulled the ball down and ran to the 24 before being brought down to end the half.
The Warhawks opened the second half by moving the ball down the field quickly. However the Jaguar defense finally stood their ground at their 7 yard line. Coach Viator opted for a 28 yard field goal attempt, but it too went wide right.
South Alabama, led by Desmond Trotter, marched the team down the field and was capped off by Trotter’s 5 yard touchdown run to make the score 24-6 with 4:35 left in the third quarter.
ULM attempted another 4th down conversion, but a bad snap gave the Jags the ball near midfield. Again the Jags drove the ball down the field and connected with Kawaan Baker for a 16 yard touchdown to go up 31-6.
The Warhawks got on the scoreboard one more time when Suits connected with Jordan Carroll for a 4 yard touchdown. They opted for the 2-point conversion after the two missed kicks and converted to make the score 31-14 with 12:26 left in the game.
The South Alabama offense then put together a 16 play, 71 yard drive that took 10:46 off the clock and ended with a one-handed circus catch by Kawaan Baker when he caught the ball one-handed and managing to get a foot down inbounds.
Carlos Davis led the Jaguar rushers with 17 carries for 58 yards.
Trotter went 8-of-12 for 184 yards, three touchdowns and was sacked three times. Lovertich went 3-of-5 for 62 yards, an interception and was sacked once.
Baker caught 6 passes for 154 yards and three touchdowns. Tolbert caught 2 passes for 68 yards.
Josh Johnson carried the ball 15 times for 49 yards to lead the Warhawks.
Suits went 22-of-33 for 282 yards, a touchdown and was sacked three times.
Josh Pederson caught 4 passes for 65 yards. Jahquan Bloomfield caught three for 69 yards. Tyler Lamm also caught three for 22 yards. Seven other players caught passes.
Keith Gallmon led the Jags with seven tackles, all solo, with one tackle for loss. Riley Cole, Jamie Sheriff and Shawn Jennings all recorded sacks.
“I’m very pleased with the way the guys plays tonight,” coach Campbell said after the game. “It wasn’t about (coaches) making a call, the guys went out and made plays. That’s what it takes.”
“That was fun to watch,” Campbell said. “We were down a couple of offensive linemen, but some young guys like Trey Simpson, Braden Moody, and Tyler Jernigan stepped up and got the job done. To see those guys put together a 10-minute, 16-play drive; I’m really proud of them.”
Devin Rockette spoke after the game, talking about his interception return early in the game. “For that type of momentum to come out to start the game, I think that was a big part in the game. But I’m real proud of the team. We practiced hard this week at practice… We were in zone coverage and I saw a receiver sit down in front of me and saw the quarterback throw it so I just sat down and waiting for a tipped ball, and it was tipped, and then I didn’t see nothing but green.”
South Alabama gained 415 yards of total offense, 169 yards rushing and 246 yards passing. They converted 8-of-14 3rd down attempts in the game and was a perfect 3-for-3 on 4th down attempts.
ULM gained 380 yards of total offense, 98 yards rushing and 282 yards passing. They only converted 3-of-10 of their 3rd down attempts and only converted 1-of-3 4th down attempts.
South Alabama has a short preparation this week as they travel to Statesboro, Georgia to take on Georgia Southern on Thursday night. The game will air on ESPN with a 6:30pm kickoff.
South Alabama Downs Texas State For First Conference Win, 30-20
The third time really IS the charm.
After 23 days between games, the Jags (2-2, 1-0 Sun Belt Conference) finally returned to the gridiron and pulled out a 30-20 win over Texas State (1-5, 1-2 SBC) for their first-ever win at Hancock Whitney Stadium.
Carlos Davis had a career day with 32 rushes for 113 yards and a touchdown. Desmond Trotter returned from his illness and shoulder injury by going 18-of-22 for 187 yards, a touchdown and two sacks to help lead the Jaguars over the Bobcats on homecoming.
Trotter broke the tie midway through the fourth quarter when he found Kawaan Baker on an eight yard touchdown pass. Then led the offense on a time consuming drive late in the game to ice it with a 44-yard Diego Guajardo field goal.
Riley Cole led all players with 15 tackles, 10 of them solo, and 1.5 tackles for loss. Jeremiah Littles got the only sack by a Jaguar.
The Jaguars converted 10-of-18 3rd down attempts while holding the Bobcats to 4-of-13 on 3rd down.
After winning the toss and electing to receive, the Bobcats marched down the field to the USA 35 yard line. However the Jaguar defense forced an incomplete pass on their 4th down attempt to take over the ball on downs.
The Jags then proceeded to march down the field with Carlos Davis running down to the 1 yard line. However Hadon Merchant was flagged for a personal foul which set the Jags back 15 yards to the 16 yard line. USA had to settle for a 33 yard field goal for a 3-0 lead.
Texas State then responded with touchdown drive of their own. The Bobcat kicker Seth Keller then hooked the PAT left however Davyn Flenord was flagged for being offsides. The retry was good to put the Bobcats ahead 7-3 with 4:07 left in the first quarter.
It would turn out to be their only lead in the game.
With the scored tied at 10-10, South Alabama started their final drive of the opening half with 4:48 left. Behind Chance Lovertich at quarterback, the Jags drove down the field aided by some Texas State penalties. The Jags had two scores taken off the scoreboard before the third attempt finally stuck on a 1 yard touchdown pass to Jalen Tolbert with :12 left on the clock to take a 17-10 lead into the halftime locker room.
The Jaguar offense came out in the second half completely flat with three consecutive three-and-outs.
The Jags would finally get the offense back in gear when the return of Trotter to the field and add a field goal to break the 17-17 tie early in fourth quarter.
USA would take the lead for good with 7:10 left behind the pounding of Carlos Davis and capped off by an 8 yard touchdown pass from Trotter to Kawaan Baker. Then Diego Guajardo would ice the game with 1:09 left in the game with a 44 yard field goal.
Chance Lovertich went 7-of-12 for 66 yards and a touchdown in his short stint at quarterback.
Jalen Tolbert led all receivers with 9 catches for 91 yards and a touchdown. Baker caught 5 passes for 43 yards and the one touchdown.
Riley Cole had a career day with 15 total tackles, 10 of the solo with 1.5 tackles for loss. The next closest was Nick Mobley with 7 total tackles. Jeremiah Littles was the only Jag to record a sack.
Brady McBride went 28-of-40 for 260 yards and a touchdown for the Bobcats.
Jackson Lanam caught 5 passes for 48 yards and a touchdown. Marcell Barbee also caught 5 passes for another 45 yards. Eight other Bobcats caught passes in the game.
Jahmyl Jeter led the bobcat rushing attack with 5 carries and 31 yards. Brock Struges carried it 8 times for 30 yards and the only rushing touchdown.
The Jaguar offensive line allowed two sacks nine tackles for loss in the game.
USA put up 385 total yards of offense, 132 on the ground and 253 through the air. Texas State gained 348 total yards, only 88 on the ground and 260 through the air.
“It’s huge for a lot of different reasons,” Campbell said about the win after the game. “It’s the first win in Hancock Whitney, but also we needed to get a win and get back going again. I thought we started the season off hot, but we definitely cooled off for a little while. … The biggest deal for us, in our half of the conference, we’re not looking up at anybody. We can only do what we can do. We’ve played one (conference game) and we won it. Now we just have to take care of business.”
“Getting this win was huge,” Trotter said. “Coming off of that layoff, everyone was fresh. This was a huge win going into conference (play), now we’re just looking toward next week.”
South Alabama will host Louisiana-Monroe (0-5) on Saturday, October 24 for a 6pm kickoff.
South Alabama Without Answers In 42-10 Loss To UAB
The South Alabama Jaguars (1-2) just did not have an answer for the UAB Blazers (2-1) as they fall in their second game in Hancock Whitney Stadium 42-10.
The redshirt freshman Bryson Lucero, in his first start as a Blazer, opened the game with a 56-yard bomb to Austin Watkins Jr on the first offensive play from scrimmage and set the tone for how the next four quarters of football was going to be played. Three Spencer Brown rushes later and UAB Blazer would put the first points on the scoreboard.
The next Blazer possession would showcase Brown’s running ability with seven total runs and the last five for his second touchdown of the game to go up 14-0 with 5:26 left in the opening quarter.
South Alabama opened the 2nd quarter facing a 3rd and 7 at their own 33 but Chance Lovertich would finally get the Jaguar offense in gear with a 29 yard completion to Jalen Wayne followed two plays later with a 38 yard completion to Jalen Tolbert for a touchdown. On the play, Antonio Moultrie would be flagged for a hit to the head and disqualified from the game. With the point-after, the Jags halved the Blazer lead to 14-7.
With the 15-yard penalty assessed on the kickoff, Diego Guajardo would tee up the ball on the 50 yard line. A sneaky onsides kick would be recovered by Devin Voisin and the Jags were back in business again on the UAB 43 yard line.
Lovertich connected with Kawaan Baker for 14 yards and a first down, but a roughing the passer penalty added an addition 14 yards to the 13 yard line. However the Blazer rush defense shut down the Jags with back-to-back runs for no gain. Guajardo would put through a 31 yard field goal to cut the Blazer lead to 14-10.
From there, it was all Blazers.
UAB responded on their next possession with Lucero finding Watkins Jr for another 39 yards on 3rd and 10 to extend the drive. Spencer Brown capped off the drive with a 20 yard touchdown run.
The Blazers would add another touchdown with 3:20 left in the half and would take a 28-10 advantage to the locker room at halftime. After Guajardo missed a field goal wide right, Lucero would toss up another deep pass this time to Myron Mitchell for 52 yards then he would connect with Trea Shropshire for the score.
UAB wouldn’t score again until about midway through the fourth quarter.
On the Blazers final scoring drive, true freshman Dewayne McBride gashed the Jaguar defense for 53 yards on 5 carries to carry UAB into the end zone.
Chance Lovertich went 14-of-29 for 168 yards, a touchdown and an interception in his first start.
Kawaan Baker led the Jags with five catches for 35 yards. Jalen Tolbert caught three passes for 59 yards and a score.
Carlos Davis led the rushing attack for the Jags with 105 yards on 17 carries.
Nick Mobley led the defense with 9 total tackles, 4 solo. Riley Cole was the only Jag to record a sack, with a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.
Bryson Lucero went 18-of-28 for 319 yards and two touchdowns in his first collegiate start as a redshirt freshman.
Watkins Jr led the way with seven catches for 183 yards and a touchdown. Myron Mitchell added three catches for 77 yards. Trea Shropsire caught two passes for 8 yards and the other touchdown.
Spencer Brown carried the ball 20 times for 105 yards and three touchdowns, and set the new career touchdown record for a running back in the process.
McBride carried the ball 8 times for 64 yards and a touchdown.
In all, the Jaguar offense was outgained 509 to 315 yards and out-rushed 319 to 168.
The Jaguars cleaned up their act some with only two penalties for 30 yards in the game. The Blazers were flagged 11 times for 122 yards and had two players ejected in the game.
Head coach Bill Clark threw some shade at coach Campbell and the Jags leading up to the game. “Their coach said that they are going to be ready for us,” Clark said. “I heard him say that last year.”
However Clark and his Blazers backed up their talk with play on the field, even if the penalties and ejections marred it somewhat.
South Alabama was on the losing end of the time-of-possession 25:00 to 35:00. In addition the Jags only convert 3-of-12 on 3rd down. While the Blazers converted 10-of-16 3rd down attempts, it sure seemed like much more than that.
“It’s very disappointing,” Campbell said after the game. “I thought we would play better than that. We had a hard time getting off the field early defensively, and offensively had trouble moving the ball there for a while. In the second half, we couldn’t generate any offense. It’s just disappointing.”
“We didn’t coach well, we didn’t play well,” Campbell said. “We played better than that the first two weeks, but we didn’t play well tonight.”
“This is indicative of how we practices the last two weeks,” UAB head coach Bill Clark said. “Our guys were on a mission to come back and play who we are. Proud of our guys, that was a team effort.”
South Alabama has a lot to work on over the next week to prepare for in-state rival Troy to open Sun Belt Conference play. Troy will travel to #18 BYU on Saturday for a 9:15pm CDT kickoff before returning home to begin their preparation for the Jags.
The Jags and the Trojans will kick off at 7:00 pm CDT on Saturday, November 3 at Hancock Whitney Stadium and will be nationally televised on ESPNU.
Preview: UAB At South Alabama
Kickoff: 6:30 pm CDT Thursday, September 24th
Venue: Hancock Whitney Stadium
Television: ESPN2
Radio: 99.5 FM The Jag, 96.1 FM The Rocket, iHeartRadio App
The South Alabama Jaguars now have two games under their belt for the 2020 season. They upset Southern Miss to open the season in Hattisburg as a double-digit underdog. Then gave up 21 unanswered points in the final quarter and a half of play against Tulane to open Hancock Whitney Stadium with a loss.
Desmond Trotter injured his shoulder against Southern Miss, which gave Chance Lovertich an opportunity to show what he can do. Lovertich got another chance against Tulane when the offense needed a spark and helped lead the Jags to a 24-6 advantage before the offense ground to a halt in the second half.
Trotter returned early in the fourth quarter, but left the game after re-injuring his shoulder. Subsequently head coach Steve Campbell announced on Monday that Lovertich will start on against UAB.
During the open date last week, Campbell also indicated that both quarterbacks will continue to get playing time, “I thought both of them did some good things. Desmond did some good things early and Chance came in and gave us a lift. … We’ve got two good quarterbacks and I think it’s going to take both of them playing well and staying healthy.”
Trotter has started the first two games of the season going 20-of-35 for 373 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions (both against Southern Miss). Lovertich has gone 20-for-32 for 311 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions, but he was sacked five times and pressured numerous other times by Tulane.
With the announcement of Thursday’s starter, we’ll get to see what the offense looks like with Chance as the starter. It’s unknown if Trotter will be available if needed or if Tanner McGee would be the next man up should anything happen.
Speaking of quarterbacks, last week UAB head coach, and former South Alabama defensive coordinator, Bill Clark announced that Tyler Johnston III will be out indefinitely with a injury to his non-throwing shoulder. Johnston, a redshirt junior from Spanish Fort, was set to play basically in his back yard against the Jaguars.
The only other Blazer quarterback to have seen playing time other than Johnston this season has been Bryson Lucero who has gone 11-of-21 for 138 yards and a touchdown in two games played this season.
Probably one of the biggest concerns for South Alabama coming into the 2020 season, only slightly ahead of the quarterback position (which is always the most talked about position leading up to the season), was the offensive line.
Campbell, an offensive line guru, has struggled to get the Jaguar offensive line to play up to what is necessary to win week-in and week-out.
The offensive line played great against Southern Miss, though the Golden Eagle defensive front looked undersized compared to the Jags. But that was flipped when they took on Tulane. The Jag line looked good in the first half before the Tulane talent and size took over in the second half allowing five sacks and numerous pressures.
The Green Wave shut down the Jaguar rushing game to a tune of just 13 yards which allowed them to tee off on the 5’10” Lovertich. Potential returns of Hadon Merchant and Josh McCulloch may help the line against UAB.
One of my keys to the game against Tulane was turnovers. Last season the Green Wave forced lots of turnovers. The Jags only committed only one turnover in the game, but it was costly. Trotter fumbled on a QB keeper at the 2 yard line early in the game. Nether team would score any points in the first quarter. The Jags defense forced three fumbles, but only recovered one of them.
Meanwhile penalties became a problem again for the Jaguars. Tulane defensive end Cameron Sample drew a pair of holding penalties from veteran center Brian Ankerson, which hamstrung a potential scoring drive before halftime. A pass interference call aided the Green Wave to a touchdown in the third quarter. Roughing the quarterback in the fourth quarter allowed Tulane a second-chance at their two-point conversion attempt that put them up by three points.
However the penalty that hurt the most came with just over 1:30 left in the game. The Jags defense forced the Green Wave to punt. D.J. Exilhomme was flagged for leaping, which on the field at game speed it probably looked like that and may have met the letter of the rules, but in review it looked accidental. Either way the only penalty that is reviewable is targeting.
Another one of the keys to the game from last week was special teams. The place kicking improved with no issues on snaps or holds for extra-point or field goal attempts. Diego Guajardo even made a career-best 49-yard field goal in the third quarter.
While the return game was non-existent, there were some better decisions made on kickoff returns that did not pin the Jaguars inside their own 15 yard line.
The punting game was hit or miss. Jack Brooks had a 57 yard punt that rolled to the 1 yard line and another one that went inside the 15 yard line. But punts of 22 and 33 yards were the flip side of the coin. The punt coverage allowed a 19-yard return as well.
Despite the reduction in attendance, the fans were loud and a full Hancock Whitney Stadium will definitely be impressive in the future. Easy to navigate concourses, hand rails on the stairways, and much improved concessions made quite the impressions on fans. And that video board is the envy of the conference.
I could only find two things to “gripe” about with the new stadium. The first was a lack of airflow that made it feel much warmer than it was. But the enclosed endzones kept the sound in, which made 25% attendance sound louder than expected. You can’t really have it both ways unfortunately.
The other gripe was with the only speakers for the sound system seeming to be in the video board structure. The fans in the North end zone are BLASTED with sound. My advice is to bring some ear plugs if that is where your seats are located.
But if those are your only two complaints, I think you’ve done a pretty good job.
But seriously, those speakers can be REALLY loud in the end zone and as a proponent of proper hearing health, I cannot stress enough that a good pair of ear plugs is an invaluable investment.
Previewing UAB
So far this UAB Blazer team does not look like the same Blazer team you’ve seen over the last couple of years on the surface. Or is it?
Allowing 35 points to an FCS team is not the start to the season you really want. However not all FCS teams are alike.
Central Arkansas has one of the best offenses in the nation on their level. While they did load up on the points, the Blazers only allowed 293 offensive yards while forcing three turnovers and recording two sacks and five tackles for loss.
On the other hand, the Bears took advantage of three Blazer turnovers in the first half and, with the short fields, they cashed them in for points. Two of those turnovers were an interception that was returned to the 4 yard line and a mishandled fair catch that was recovered at the 15 yard line.
Against Miami, the Blazer defense was gashed by Miami’s run game. After taking a 7-0 lead, the Blazer defense forced a 4th & 1 at the Miami 34 yard line, then gave up a 66 yard touchdown run. Then an ineffectual offense led to a gassed defense that gave up 337 rushing yards in all.
Blazer running back Spenser Brown looks like he is already in mid-season form. Against Central Arkansas, he carried the ball 24 times for 127 and a touchdown.
He looked like he was going to have another good game against Miami before the yellow flags started flying. A 20-yard gain on the second play of the second drive was negated by an illegal motion penalty. He finished the game with 74 yards on 16 carries and a touchdown.
Behind Brown the Blazers have two more backs that look capable of getting playing time without too much of a production dropoff. Though they did not put up good numbers against the hurricanes.
With the announcement of Johnston’s injury, Bryson Lucero looks to be the starter for the Blazers. However, Dylan Hopkins started five games in 2018 for the Blazers and led them to a 3-2 record and a west-conference division title. But Hopkins is listed as 3rd on the depth chart. Is this some gamesmanship in game preparation?
Both teams are coming into the game after an off week. Though UAB has had a couple extra days since they played on a Thursday.
The Jags have what is considered one of the best group of wide receivers in the nation. Both Jalen Tolbert and Kawaan Baker are in the top five in the nation currently. However their rushing game just has not solidified yet.
The Jags defense has allowed 150.5 yards per game rushing with an average of 4.1 yards per carry. With wet and rainy conditions and UAB’s stable of running backs, the ground game may be the one of the deciding factors in the game.
Keys to the Game
Rushing defense
As mentioned previously, with wet and rainy conditions predicted up until kickoff and thunderstorms possible during the game while missing Tyler Johnston III at quarterback, look for UAB to lean heavily on Spencer Brown and the running back corps to grind it out on the ground.
That will put a lot of pressure on the Jaguar defense to stop the run. Brown may be one of the best running backs the team faces all season.
Turnovers
In wet conditions turnovers are always a huge concern. Hopefully the Jags have done their share of wet ball drills and then some.
Special teams
Against Southern Miss the Jags had issues in place kicking and some in kickoff returns. Against Tulane the Jags had issues punting.
What will the third game bring?
I keep going back to the weather conditions because it could play a huge role in the game. A kicker could slip, a punter shank one, a returner could fumble a return or muff a catch. Any one of those could make or break the game. The Jags need to be solid in all aspects of special teams.
Spread and Prediction
UAB is a 7 point favorite in Mobile. The Jags have been underdogs in 12 consecutive football games and are 8-2 against the spread in the last 10 overall. This includes the two games this season that the Jags have covered in both, winning outright against Southern Miss.
I think the trend continues with the Jags covering the spread but, again, I don’t think they win outright.
Go Jags!
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