Jags Fall 31-7 In Raleigh
Senior linebacker Jake Johnson zeroes in on a NC State runner for one of his 14 tackles in Raleigh, NC.
South Alabama fell in a tough road game at North Carolina State on Saturday night by a score of 31-7. The Jags (1-2) finally scored in the fourth quarter to prevent a shutout.
NC State’s Mike Glennon went 24-of-34 for 257 yards and three touchdowns (all in the first half) to lead the Wolfpack over the Jags. On the Wolfpack’s first possession, Glennon went 8-of-9 and accounted for all but five yards of the 80-yard drive. He capped off the first drive with a 33-yard touchdown pass with 9:22 left in the first quarter.
Glennon’s second touchdown pass came with four minutes left in the first quarter and went for 44-yards. His third touchdown pass put the Wolfpack up 28-0 before halftime.
Demetre Baker led the Jags with 45 yards rushing on seven carries. Kendall Houston added 17 yards on four carries.
Ross Metheny went 14-of-20 for 189 yards with an interception and a touchdown. C.J. Bennett went 10-of-15 for 74 yards with an interception. Both quarterbacks were sacked three times each.
Jereme Jones extended his catch streak, and tied the all time record set by Courtney Smith, with his eight yard touchdown reception in the fourth quarter. Demetre Baker led the receiver corps with five catches for 55 yards. Wes Saxton added four catches for 72 yards. Corey Besteda got the offense going on the touchdown drive with a 43 yard reception. Besteda caught three passes for 68 yards. T.J. Glover added three catches for 10 yards. Three other Jaguars had two catches each and another three had one catch each.
Jake Johnson led all players with a season high 14 total tackles. Alex Page had five tackles, with two sacks for 14 yards. Clifton Crews and Anthony Taylor both had sacks as well.
The wolfpack had 22 first downs to only 14 for the Jags. Overall, NC State outgained the Jags 384-314. The wolfpack out-gained the Jags on the ground 127 to 51, but the Jags would outgain their adversaries 263-257 through the air.
In the Jaguars first drive, Bennett picked up first downs with completions to Saxton and Besteda, but a poor pass was intercepted on a third-and-15 near midfield. Then on the ensuing Wolfpack drive, one of Page’s sacks put the Wolfpack with a third-and-15, but a personal foul gave them a first down. But the Jaguar offense could not recover from the setback.
“We knew when N.C. State held Connecticut to seven points last weekend that they were a very good defensive football team,” South Alabama head coach Joey Jones said after the game. “When you look at their film from last year and this year, they are two totally different teams. They showed that today. They were very good up front, and got to the quarterback several times. We could have done some things better, but they are very good defensive football team.”
“I thought we fought hard defensively, and the positive thing was that I thought we won the second half,” Coach Jones continued. “I challenged them at halftime to win the second half, and we came out and did that. We didn’t quit. Our kids fought hard. There are obviously some things we can work on, but a lot of it had to do with the fact that they were pretty good on defense.”
If the Jags can limit their mistakes, such as turnovers, negative yardage plays and penalties at key times, the Jags offense could move the ball and score like they did in the season opener against UTSA. But it seems that, once the offense commits a mistake, they have a hard time regaining their forward momentum.
Metheny really looked good at quarterback tonight after Bennett started struggling. He did a great job getting the ball out to his receivers quickly. The offensive line had their hands full with a big, quick defensive line for the Wolfpack. Drew Dearman had another great block on a screen pass play that allowed the receiver to gain some extra yards.
The Jags will continue their two game road-trip with a Saturday night match-up with Mississippi State in Starkville, Mississippi. Kickoff is scheduled for 6pm.
Jags Monday Press Conference
On Monday, South Alabama sat down with the press to recap Saturday’s win over Nicholls State and preview their upcoming game at N.C. State on Saturday. Here is some highlights from the press conference.
“We’re glad for the win this past weekend,” said Jaguar head coach Joey Jones in his opening statement. “I thought we played extremely well on defense, and kind of played conservative offensively. But a win is a win, it’s a team win whether offense, defense or special teams does well. I think our kids were glad to get it, and we were excited to get the win.”
Coach Jones then turned his focus towards NC State. “We look forward to ballgames like this. Last year, N.C. State was our first [Football Bowl Subdivision] game. We went up there and played a really good football game. They are very good opponent, obviously well-coached and have good players. I thought we went out there and went toe-to-toe with them. Our kids are very competitive and want to be in these type of situations. You want to get into an atmosphere like you see in Raleigh [N.C.]. I’ll never forget walking out onto the field last year and how exciting it was to be in that atmosphere. Our kids are looking forward to it.”
“I think they are better defensively this year,” Coach Jones continued. “Their defensive front seems more active. They lost a couple of NFL guys at linebacker, but they replaced them with a couple of good ones. They are very well-coached and do a good job with their schemes. Offensively, it starts with their quarterback Mike Glennon. He’s 6-foot-6 and will probably be in the NFL next year. He’s a very efficient quarterback, and they do a good job moving the ball down the field and are patient with their play calls. Our defense is looking forward to the challenge of playing them. They do a good job with the run-pass balance. They can throw the ball underneath and downfield, and they can run the football. They put some pressure on you defensively to make sure you cover all parts of the field.”
Coach Jones then spoke about how it helps to have experienced the atmosphere last season in Raleigh. “I think it will help, the fact that we did play there last year. But I always say that it doesn’t matter where you play, you play between the lines. Our kids will be ready to play no matter what, and that’s one thing we pride ourselves on. One thing we can control is ourselves, how hard and how well we play. I thought we walked out last year as confident as a team could be. It wasn’t a deal where we were star struck by the lights or the fact that it was our first FBS opponent. Our kids came to play, that’s what I like about our team, and I expect them to play well this year.”
Finally, he spoke about the Jaguars offensive production in the red zone. “We have to do a better job, and I do as well, of adjusting at halftime to something new. They [Nicholls State] ran a new defensive front that we weren’t expecting, and we did a good job and played hard. We got a little conservative in the second half. The defense was playing so well that we didn’t want to make a mistake, but we have to punch it in down in the red zone. That’s one thing we talked about as a staff.”
Running back Demetre Baker then spoke with the media beginning with his performance so far and his expectations for the NC State game. “At this point in the season, I have done OK. I’m not where I want to be. There are things that I can work on. There’s more time I can put in the fieldhouse watching more film. Our first two opponents were tough teams, they weren’t pushovers. They came out and were ready to play. I look forward to doing more studying and practicing harder this week and can give it all I can for N.C. State.”
Baker then spoke about playing a team from the ACC and how that environment increases the excitement level. “It is, one reason is because of the crowd, being in that atmosphere when it’s loud with 40,000-plus people. I’m wishing and hoping we can get that here one day, so we can get used to it. I don’t think it’ll be a problem for us, it motivates us and gets us really pumped up for the game.”
Finally, Baker spoke about the offensive performance against Nicholls State and bouncing back from the opening game loss to UTSA. “I’m not disappointed at all. I think we just have to put everything together. We have what it takes, we have the offense and we certainly have the plays to do what it takes to get in the red zone. We just have to finish up, do a little more polishing and practice harder and put one in. When we score that touchdown it will be exciting for us because we know we did everything we could to get in the red zone and score.”
Defensive back Tyrell Pearson then spoke with the media. He spoke about his performance so far this season and his expectations for the NC State game. “I feel that on the defensive side of the ball, as a unit we’re tough. The first game we didn’t come out fast in the first half, but in the second half we came out with fire and intensity. That carried over to the second game against Nicholls State. As you can see, we did very well with that. I’m not sure what we held them to in total yardage, but we did pretty well. Going in to North Carolina State, I feel like we’re going to do the same. I feel we’ll step up to the challenge on defense, especially in the secondary.”
He also spoke about facing NC State quarterback Mike Glennon. “Darrius Morrow and I have been talking about this the whole week. It’s going to be a big game for both of us. Playing at junior college, we expect to be playing against big competition and big-time quarterbacks. Our slogan is ‘Big-time players make big-time plays in big-time games.’”
Jags Defeat Nicholls State 9-3
Left guard Drew Dearman (72) looks to pick up the rusher getting by Ucambre Williams (76) as CJ Bennett (15) loads up to throw downfield.
South Alabama gets it’s first win of the season in a defensive struggle against Nicholls State. Three-and-outs and forced turnovers were the story of the game. The Jaguar defense held Nicholls State to a mere 118 yards while forcing three turnovers and only allowing three points to the Colonels.
“Putting pressure on the quarterback really helped us tonight,” head coach Joey Jones said. “I thought we played with a lot more energy on defense, it looked like the defense that I’m used to seeing.”
The first quarter saw several three-and-outs in the first quarter as Nicholls only managed 23 total yards and the Jags only 19 total yards. Each team faced four third downs and only the Jags converted one in the entire first quarter. On top of that, the first two Jaguar drives started at their 2- and 1-yard lines respectively.
Finally on Scott Garbers third punt, the Jags were able to flip field position. Facing 4th and 20 from their own 22 yard line Garber punted, with the aid of the wind, a 69 yard punt to the Colonel 9 yard line. The Jags forced them to punt and had great field position at the Colonel 46 yard line with 1:51 left in the quarter. The offense drives down to the 35 yard line, but on the final play of the quarter, Ross Metheny takes a three yard sack.
After switching sides of the field, the Jags faced a 3rd and 13 going into the wind. An incomplete pass forces the Jags to punt, but Garber cannot keep it out of the end zone.
The Colonels are able to drive, on the ensuing possession, to the Jaguar 20 yard line, but are backed up by a 10 yard loss on a fumbled snap by the quarterback on first down. After back to back incomplete passes, Nicholls State finally break 0-0 tie with a 48 yard field goal, aided by the wind, to take a 3-0 lead on the Jags.
But the Jags answer right back with a drive of their own. Starting at their own 25 yard line after a touchback on the kickoff. T.J. Glover rushes for no gain on first down, then Bennett completes back to back passes to Terrance Timmons and Glover for a first down. Then they rush the ball five consecutive times, three by Baker for 6, 15 and 8 yards respectively. Then Kendall Houston rushes for 6 then loses 3 back to the Nicholls State 30 yard line. Bennett then finds Wes Saxton for 11 yards to make it 3rd and 2 at the Colonels 19 yard line. Timmons rushes for no gain, but a personal foul gives the Jags half the distance to the goal and an automatic first down.
After a penalty and facing 3rd down, Bennett hits Jereme Jones at the goal line but is marked down at the one yard line. Facing third and goal, the hand-off to Kendall Houston loses a yard. After looking like the Jags were going to go for the touchdown, Coach Jones sends on the kicking team but calls a time out when the play clock starts to wind down. Michel Chapuseaux converts the 19 yard field goal to tie the game.
In the second quarter, the Jags defense held Nicholls to -13 yards rushing.
After punts by both teams to start the second half, the Jags put together another drive starting at their own 48 yard line until they reached the Colonel 17 yard line and stalled out. Chapuseaux’s kick into the wind misses wide left.
On the second play of the Colonel’s ensuing possession, Bryson James would pick off the Landry Klann pass at their 33 yard line. On first down, Bennett would find Houston open on the screen pass and with a big block by Drew Dearman, he would scamper for 14 yards to the Colonel 19. But a roughing the passer penalty would put them at the 9 yard line with 1st and goal. A four yard run by Houston would be followed up by two incomplete passes to Lavender and Besteda before settling for a 21 yard field goal with 5:17 left in the third quarter.
The Colonels would go three and out on their next possession and their punt would be fair caught at the Jaguar 22 yard line. Later on in the drive, on third and 6 at the Jaguar 38 Ross Metheny would be flushed out of the pocket and find daylight on the left side. As he was approaching the sideline, the Nicholls State defender was playing the angle to get him but would be completely leveled by T.J. Glover. The game would have to stop and trainers went to assist the injured player.
The player would eventually put on a backboard and have his neck immobilized before put on a stretcher and carted off the field. He was moving his arms and legs and even game the crowd a thumbs-up as he was loaded onto the cart. He was taken to a local hospital for observation as a precaution.
However, on the next play after the stoppage, Terrance Timmons would fumble the ball away to Nicholls State at the 50 yard line with three seconds left in the third quarter.
The Colonels would drive down to the Jaguar 17 yard line, but on 2nd down and 12 yards, Montavious Williams would recover a fumble at the Jaguar 19 yard line ending the scoring threat again.
The Jaguar offense, led by Ross Metheny again, would begin the drive with
three consecutive completions to Saxton for two yards, Hollinger for nine yards and T.J. Glover for 29 yards to put the Jags in Colonel territory at the 41 yard line. The Jags would eventually get down to the Colonel 17 yard line where they would have to settle for another field goal by Chapuseaux to put the Jags up 9-3 with 9:01 left in the game.
After a touchback on the kickoff, the first play by the Colonels would be intercepted by Terrel Brigham at the Colonel 38 yard line. After driving down to the Nicholls State 19 yard line, Baker and Bennett would fumble the handoff exchange and it would be recovered by the Colonels.
With a chance to run out the clock after a couple first downs, the Jags would go three and out starting at their own nine yard line. The Scott Garber punt from the Jaguar 16 would go 48 yards and only returned 6 to the Nicholls State 42 yard line with 2:38 left in the game.
Klann’s first down pass would fall incomplete, but the second would be caught for four yards before getting out of bounds. Then Klann would find tight end Nich Scelfo open for 9 yards and into Jaguar territory. Then a 16 yard pass completion and run down the right sideline would put them at the Jaguar 29 yard line. B.J. Scott would be flagged for pass interference on the subsequent play, putting the Colonels at the Jaguar 14 yard line needing a touchdown.
The first down play would go for a loss of one yard. Followed by an incompletion then a Pat Moore sack of Klann would back them up to the Jaguar 18 yard line facing 4th and 14. Nicholls would call a time out with 38 seconds remaining in the game to scheme a play. After allowing the defense to line up, they could call their final time out. Then the fourth down pass would be broken up by Darrius Morrow to save the game. After a knee, the Jags would watch the time run off the clock for the 9-3 win.
South Alabama led with 279 total yards, 169 passing and 110 rushing while Nicholls State ended the game with 118 total yards, 96 passing and a mere 22 rushing. The Jags held the time of possession lead with 34:52 to 25:08 while they also ran 75 plays to the Colonels 52 plays.
Demetre Baker lead all players with 75 yards rushing while Metheny had 14 , Bennett had 13 and Houston only 10.
T.J. Glover lead the receiver corps with 43 yards on three catches. Hollinger and Lavender both had three for 36 yards and 20 yards respectively. Jereme Jones caught two for 22 and Wes Saxton also caught two for 13. Also Corey Waldon returned from his knee surgery in preseason camp to catch his first pass of the season for seven yards.
Bennett would go 11-of-20 for 111 yards and no interceptions. Metheny would go 6-of-10 for 58 yards and would be sacked three times.
Chapuseaux would go 3-of-4, hitting field goals from 19, 21 and 34 yards but missing a 35 yarder.
“South Alabama is good up front, they rotated eight guys in there,” Nicholls Statate head coach Charlie Stubbs said. “We are kind of young up front in a couple of positions and we weren’t able to substitute as freely as they did. I feel like they kind of wore us down in that area. We weren’t able to really establish much of a running game, except what I could muster with LaQuinton Caston as a Wildcat quarterback, so that goes hand-in-hand. South Alabama made us one-dimensional, and we’re not good enough right now in the passing game to try and win just by dropping back and throwing the ball. Against a defense like that, we have to play really well, execute and stay out of long-yardage situations.”
“It was big for us to win this game. We lose that game and we’re reeling,” Coach Jones said. “I told the kids, ‘A win is a win.’ Ten years from now we’ll look back and remember we won the football game, but we also have to be honest with ourselves and what we have to work on. We were just a little out of sync on offense, and a lot of that had to do — and I’m not making excuses — with not having film on them. When you go into a game and you haven’t watched any film on them, you’re not able to watch their schemes. They changed some schemes up from two years ago. The first few times we had the ball, it was on the one or two- yard line, and we kind of got started on a bad note. I don’t think we adjusted very well, and that’s something we have to look at next week.”
The Jaguar defense played lights-out defense for the game. The Colonel defense schemed well to get enough pressure on the quarterback to cause problems and did well at times at containing the running game.
The Jaguar offense did well when they sped up the tempo can caught the defense in mismatches. But when they got something going, something would cause them to stall out. This will have to be worked on in the next week before the Jags travel to North Carolina State.
However, NC State lost to Tennessee to begin the season then squeaked out a win over FBS-transitional UConn on Saturday. We’ll have to wait and see what the Jags will do against the Wolfpack next saturday when they travel to Raleigh for their first road game of the season.
The Jags and Wolfpack will kickoff at 5pm CDT at Carter-Finley Stadium. The game will be streamed online by ESPN3.
USA’s New Offense Produces Big Play Potential
The Jaguar offense looks to the sideline for play adjustments against UTSA.
South Alabama’s new spread offense, mistakes aside, produced 31 points and some explosive plays. The Jags had eight plays of 20 or more yards against UTSA with half of those from the offense. Most of them came in the first quarter.
A 3rd-and-5 pass from C.J. Bennett to Corey Besteda sent for 25 yards, a 3rd-and-10 pass from Bennett to Greg Hollinger went for 23 yards and a 28 yard rush by Demetre Baker went for 28 yards, all in the first quarter alone.
In the fourth quarter, Tyrell Pearson picked off a UTSA pass and returned it 28 yards to the UTSA 7 yard line on the first play of the fourth quarter.
The special teams got into the action as well. T.J. Glover had a kickoff return of 48 yards before fumbling the ball away in UTSA territory. Glover also added a 34 yard punt return later in the fourth quarter to set up a 34 yard touchdown pass from Bennett to Jereme Jones with less than three minutes left in the game.
The Colonels was the Jaguars first Division I win as they are an FCS school. They were also the first team to ever take the lead on the Jaguars during a game.
Charlie Stubbs, the Colonels head football coach, has over 32 years of coaching experience. He came to Nicholls from Central Missouri where he was the offensive coordinator. Previous to Central Missouri, he was offensive coordinator at Louisville as they were #4 nationally in passing offense and featured two future NFL players.
Prior to Louisville, he spent four seasons at Tulsa where they were ranked among the top 25 each season. From 1998-2000 Stubbs was the quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator at the University of Alabama where they went to the Music City Bowl in 1998 then won the SEC title and the 2000 Orange Bowl. He also won the SEC Offensive coordinator of the year award in 2000. He also spent time at Nevada-Las Vegas, Tennesee-Martin and Memphis. His first full-time position was at Oregon State.
In 1984 he was a graduate assistant for BYU under coach LaVell Edwards. They went 13-0 to win the national championship. They were the last non-BCS school to earn the title.
Look for the Jags to be focused on correcting the turnovers that plagued them last week. Also look for the defense to be prepared and ready to show last week was also atypical for them.
Two Unknowns In One Week For The Jags
As the Jags prepare for a bit of an unknown opponent, they are venturing into another unknown as well. This is the first time in their short four year existence that the Jags have to find a way to rebound from a season opening loss. But they will have an opportunity to do so when they host the Nicholls State Colonels on Saturday at Ladd-Peebles Stadium.
The loss came in heartbreaking fashion as the Jags had retak a 31-30 lead with a 34 yard touchdown pass from C.J. Bennett to Jereme Jones with less than three minutes left in the game. After a 15 yard penalty on the kickoff gave UTSA great field position, they drove into field goal range where Sean Ianno kicked the 51 yard game-winning score with 16 seconds left in the game to avenge last season’s loss in San Antonio.
“If their kicker doesn’t make the last field goal then everybody is happy, but we’re still dealing with the same issues,” head coach Joey Jones observed. “My challenge to the team is three, four or five games from now, let’s look back and see how we improved. Let’s see if we’ve stopped turning the ball over and if we’ve stopped committing dumb penalties. If we can do that we will have a shot. We need to be a team that can get better as the season goes along.”
South Alabama defeated the Colonels in 2010 39-21 on Kendall Houston’s first career 100-yard game with two touchdowns on 12 rushes.
Also in that game two years ago, the Jags found themselves trailing in a game for the first time ever when the Colonels took leads of 7-0 and 14-7 early in the game. Those scores were made by Jesse Turner, who is listed as second string running back for Nicholls State, on a 33-yard run and a 95 yard reception in the first quarter.
However in the second quarter, South Alabama responded with 20 unanswered points and didn’t look back. The Jags would rack up 490 yards of total offense with 288 of them on the ground. Brandon Ross joined Houston by also rushing for over 100 yards and a touchdown.
Nicholls State quarterback LaQuintin Caston led the team against the Jags by going 13-of-23 passing for 273 yards and two touchdowns. In 2011 Caston threw for 870 yards and rushed for another 707 yards. However in the offseason he has made the move from quarterback to wide receiver. In a radio interview this morning, Nicholls State head coach Charlie Stubbs said that he had problems in several games and they did not want to have one of their best players on the sidelines when they put another quarterback into the game.
Landry Klann is the projected starter at quarterback. He went 36-of-57 last season for 377 yards and two touchdowns.
The Colonel defense allowed less than 360 yards per game in 2011. They return seven starters from last season including their leading tackler Jordan Piper with 81 tackles and Siegan Vergenal who had 65 tackles.
However they will be without their top two returners from last season.
Coach Jones does not think reviewing the 2010 footage will be much of a benefit to the team. “This is a completely different ballgame,” he stated. “You can look at some things offensively because coach [Charlie] Stubbs has been calling the plays the whole time [he has been running the program], but they have changed on defense. We won’t really look back at that film.”
Stubbs is a well known offensive playcaller and should have plenty of new wrinkles for the Jags when they play on Saturday. They will definitely try to get the ball into Caston’s hands as well as their other playmakers.
Jaguars New Spread Offense Performed Well In First game
The Jaguar offense looks to the sideline for play adjustments against UTSA.
The debut of South Alabama’s new spread offense played well enough to win, however turnovers negated that win. It produced 31 points and 308 yards.
The first drive went exactly as offensive coordinator Robert Matthews expected. The offense moved the ball quickly, CJ Bennett released the ball quickly, the plays were signaled in smoothly and the players made plays. The drive went 75 yards in eight plays. It was like clockwork.
Unfortunately on the Jaguars second drive, an interception in the end zone ended the drive. It was actually a 14 point swing as UTSA drove 80 yards for a touchdown.
In all, the offense committed three turnovers. The interception in the end zone, a fumble on a mishandled snamp under center and another fumble when Bennett and running back Demetre Baker collided.
“We had a lot of positives,” said Matthews. “Obviously, there were a couple of plays we wish we had back. It’s like we told the guys after the game on Saturday; it was all about us and our mishaps, and if we just fix a couple of things, there’s a totally different outcome. And we’ll just leave it at that. Our No. 1 goal is ball security. It’s something we talk about every day and something we practice every day, and we had a couple of things that you could watch a football game 100 times and never see. But you saw it twice on Saturday. It is what it is. We’re going to come back this week and keep improving.”
Coach Matthews was particularly critical of the Jaguars third down conversions. The Jags were 5-of-13 on third downs against the Roadrunners. That was something he pointed to as a definite area where improvement was needed. “The thing I was disappointed about is we were 38 percent on third downs,” he said. “One third down was a bad quarterback-center exchange for a half-yard quarterback sneak. And then the other we converted, but we got called for a holding penalty. You change those, now you’re 7-of-13, you’re around 55 percent, and you feel good about your third-down conversions. But the fact is we didn’t and those things did happen, so we’ve got to work on our third-down conversion ratio and get it back up over 50 percent, which would make us one of the top teams in the country. That’s our goal, and we didn’t get that done on Saturday.”
Both Bennett and transfer Ross Metheny played in the game, however Metheny played sparingly. Coach Matthews indicated that we may continue to see both quarterbacks in the game. “I think you’ll see both of them continue to play,” he explained. “There was some good and some bad. The first game is always tough, and it’s probably toughest on the quarterback position because you’re seeing things in game speed again. You try to replicate it in practice and we did the best we could, but until you get those game reps under your belt it’s hard to be sharp. You wish you had four preseason games like the NFL does, but unfortunately we don’t. You’ve got an intrasquad scrimmage and then you’re in Game one. I think we’ll continue to improve at that position and we’ll press forward and you’ll see both guys out there.”
The offensive line, who had three new starters this season, played well after learning the new blocking scheme that Matthews installed over the offseason. In addition to offensive coordinator, Matthews is also coaching the offensive line. “Overall, I thought they were pretty solid,” he said. “We moved the ball pretty well and had good time to throw the ball. But that was just Game one. We’ve got to come back this week and prove ourselves again. We’re just a blue-collar group and that’s kind of what we talked about (Sunday). We’ve got to prove ourselves every week up front.”
Jereme Jones and Corey Besteda both had three receptions and combined for 91 yards. Six other players caught at least two passes. Demetre Baker ran 12 times for 63 yards and a touchdown while Kendall Houston rushed 11 times for 43 yards and a touchdown himself as the Jags rushed for 126 yards against UTSA.
The offense showed spurts of brilliance. It took several possessions for the Jags to get back in rhythm after the interception in the end zone. But when Bennett got a couple quick passes off for some positive yards on a drive, the offense would exude their confidence and ability to march down the field.
They will regroup and improve this week. The improvements between the first and second game of the season is probably the most dramatic improvement you will see during the season. And they will need it with the schedule coming after Nicholls State.
Jags Fall At Home To UTSA 33-31
Receiver Jereme Jones looks in the pass from CJ Bennett in the first half of the 33-31 loss to Texas-San Antonio.
South Alabama fell in their season-opening game versus Texas-San Antonio 33-31 on Saturday at Ladd-Peebles Stadium. Four turnovers and ill timed penalties did the team in. Each turnover resulted in a UTSA score.
UTSA kicker Sean Ianno, who’s game winning field goal attempt was blocked last year in the Alamo Dome, made the 51 yard attempt with 16 seconds left in the game to avenge a 30-27 double-overtime loss to South Alabama last season. It was UTSA’s first-ever road victory in the program’s second season of competition. This was the second consecutive loss at home for the Jags and second loss all-time at home.
The opening drive went as planned, they drove 75 yards in eight plays and scored a touchdown. An 11 yard rush by Demetre Baker capped off the drive as the Jags took the early 7-0 lead.
On their next possession, the Jaguars were driving again and reached deep into UTSA territory before quarterback C.J. Bennett tossed an interception in the end zone to end the drive. UTSA took that turnover and drove 80 yards to answer and tie the game at 7-7.
The ensuing kickoff was returned by T.J. Glover from near the goal line out past the 50 yard line before he fumbled. The ball was recovered by UTSA and scored a second touchdown to take the lead 14-7.
In the second quarter, UTSA kicked field goals of 47 and 32 to increase their lead to 20-7 before South Alabama fought back last in the quarter. The Jags drove down and scored on a play-action pass to running back Desmond Jones with 20 seconds left in the half to cut the lead to 20-14.
Michel Chapuseaux added a 43 yard field goal in the third quarter to cut the UTSA lead to 20-17. Later, Kendall Houston waltzed in from one yard out to give the Jags a 24-20 advantage early in the fourth quarter.
The roadrunners scored on a 34 yard forth-down play to retake the lead at 27-24. After the kickoff, Bennett took the snap and was preparing to make a throw, but Demetre Baker cut in front of him and brushed the ball out of Bennett’s hands. The fumble was recovered by UTSA at the Jaguar 21 yard line. The defense held them to a field goal, but were trailing 30-24.
The Jags fought back though. Bennett found a wide open Jereme Jones open down the left side for a 34 yard touchdown pass to put the Jags back on top 31-30 with 2:46 to play.
On the ensuing kickoff, Chapuseaux’s kick was fielded just short of the end zone and returned out to the 31 yard line, but Tyrome Bivins was flagged for a personal foul, the 15 yard penalty put UTSA at their 46 yard line. The Jags would get five of those yards back on a false start penalty.
After an incomplete pass, UTSA’s Okotcha rushed for five yards before being forced out of bounds by Jake Johnson. Their 3rd and 10 play was a pass completion from quarterback Soza to Armstrong for 15 yards to the Jags 39 yard line. Okotcha then had back to back runs for no gain and four yards. Soza completed a pass for one yard to get to the Jaguar 34 yard line before the roadrunners used their final time out to bring on the kicking unit. Sean Ianno nailed the 51 yard kick to take the lead 33-31 with 16 seconds left.
T.J. Glover returned the kickoff to the Jaguar 29 yard line. Terrance Timmons gained seven yards on the next play, but could not get out of bounds quick enough as time expired.
UTSA out-gained the Jags 398 to 308, out-rushed the Jags 126 to 183 and out passed the Jags 182-215. Jags held the edge in first downs 18 to 16 though.
Jaguar quarterbacks combined to go 15-of-26 with one interception and two touchdowns. UTSA led the way in penalties with 11 for 114 yards while the Jags only had seven for 80 yards, with the personal foul on the kickoff return being the most costly of the game.
Jags returned two punts for 37 yards, averaging 18.5 yards per return, and returned two kickoffs for 95 yards, which averaged 47.5 yards per return. UTSA returned two punts for -7 yards and three kickoffs for 58 yards.
UTSA held the edge in time of possession 33:07 to 26:53. The Jags fumbled three times and lost all three.
Demetre Baker led the Jags on the ground with 63 yards rushing on 12 carries with Kendall Houston rushing 11 times for 43 yards, Terrance Timmons ran four times for 20 yards, Bennett rushed nine times for 12.
Bennett went 15-of-24 for 182 yards, two touchdowns and one interception with one sack. Ross Metheny went 0-for-2.
Jereme Jones led the receivers with 51 yards on three receptions, including the long 34 yard catch late in the fourth quarter. Corey Besteda also had three recptions for 40 yards. Greg Hollinger added 42 yards on two receptions, Glover had 25 yards on two catches, Lavender had 12 yards on two catches, Kendall Houston added 10 yards on two catch as well.
T.J. Glover led the game with 145 all-purpose yards with 25 receiving, 95 in kickoff returns, 37 in punt returns but -12 on one reverse.
Jake Johsnon and Enrique Williams both led the Jags with eight total stops. Alonzo Long added seven stops and Darrius Morrow and Tyrell Pearson both added five. Pearson picked off one Soza pass and returned it 28 yards.
After the game, Jaguar head coach Joey Jones spoke about the game. “First of all I want to congratulate UTSA. I thought they played a great game, and my hat’s off to them,” he began. “They played well, and we knew they would. They played us into double overtime last year, and we knew they had a good football team. They have a lot of good players. They didn’t do anything any different. We obviously turned the ball over too many times. I think it came down to turnovers and key penalties at the wrong time.”
Speaking about the final Jaguar touchdown to regain the lead with 2:46 left in the game. “We had to find the right time to run the play,” stated Jones. “We got in the formation and they ran what we expected them to. Everyone did their job and we executed. We saw a mismatch with Jeremé. We had been waiting to call that play, and we found the right spot.”
“The offense showed a little fight. We teach ball security, and today we got away from that. Turning the ball over is something you can’t do in a close game, and they [the turnovers] really came back to bite us in the end. The good thing is all these mistakes are correctable.”
Coker Expect Tough Game, Looks For First Road Win For UTSA
Texas-San Antonio head coach Larry Coker expects another tough game when they meet the South Alabama Jaguars in Mobile on Saturday. Last season in the Alamodome, the Roadrunners had a chance to win the game late, but Gabe Loper and Clifton Crews blocked the field goal attempt.
Then Demetre Baker sealed the win with a 25 yard run in the Jaguars second overtime period after UTSA made a field goal on their possession of the second overtime period.
Coker spoke on the WNSP morning show and said that he hopes to have a similar game as last season, but with a different outcome.
“The game was very competitive last year,” Coker was quoted saying. “I think South Alabama may have taken us a little bit lightly because we were a start-up program. I don’t think they’ll do that this year. I think it’s interesting for everybody concerned because, one, we’re going to have a good program and I believe South Alabama has a great start. They have good football players in the South and in Alabama, and we have good football players in Texas.”
Coach Coker has stressed to his team that their next step is to win on the road. The roadrunners finished 4-6 last season, dropping all four of their road games and finished split their two overtime games with a win over Georgia State in overtime.
“I’m sure it factors into it some because most of these kids have never traveled,” Coker said. “Most of the traveling they’ve done has been in a yellow school bus. We’re going to travel first class and all those type things and have a great trip, but we have to handle this properly and make it a business trip. We have not won a road game. That’s one thing we have not done. We’ve got to somehow be road warriors and knock somebody off and somehow start that trend of winning on the road.”
Coach Coker is aware of the Jaguar offensive attack that his team will be facing. He knows his defense will have to stay on it’s toes and on the move to match up with the Jags. “I believe that we’re better,” Coker said. “I know South Alabama will be better. I think they’ll be a very fast-paced offense, a very wide-open offense, and the thing we’ve got to do is match up and get our personnel lined up and not get behind in the flow of the game. They’re going to be moving pretty fast, and they’ll be working hard on the tempo of the game. They are going to try to get the defense off balance and we’ve got to stay on balance and with the rhythm of their offense.”
Hopefully the Roadrunner’s will have to wait a little longer for that first elusive road win. After all, the Jags are 19-1 at home and will be looking to avenge last season’s loss to Cal Poly in the season finale.
Go Jags!
Jags Ready To Embark On Toughest Season Yet
On the eve of South Alabama’s season opener against Texas-San Antonio it’s a good time to look at what this season means to the program. After three seasons, the first two undefeated, and a 23-4 record the Jaguars are about to embark on their most challenging quest yet.
Last season they stepped up and faced two FBS teams, the first in the programs history. This season, they will face their first full Division I schedule. The only non FBS school on the schedule is FCS Nicholls State. Additionally, with the Hawaii rule, the Jags will play 13 games in 14 weeks this season including a full eight game Sun Belt schedule.
This is what the Jaguars have been working towards for the last several years. When they take the field, they will be a transitional FBS member.
Coach Jones can finally guage where his team stands in the FBS pecking order. “I think the biggest challenge for us, especially early, will be the depth on our team,” he Jones. “We’ve been recruiting to Division I really just this year. Now that doesn’t mean we don’t have any Division I football players, we do. But do we have the depth that everybody else has because they’ve been recruiting for a while and have 85 scholarships and D-1 players? I would think that will probably be the biggest issue, depth, especially on the offensive and defensive lines.”
What about this season’s schedule? “The most difficult thing is playing 13 games in 14 weeks for us and playing pretty much all Division I opponents,” Jones said. “Whereas in past years we’ve played seven, 10 and 10 (games per season), we had some off weeks and some time to get ready for games. You’re going to get your three or four days of practice and that’s going to be it, then you’re going to have to move on to your next game.”
Gone is offensive coordinator Greg Gregory and in is Robert Matthews brining the spread to South Alabama. Matthews, who learned the spread at Oklahoma State and Southern Miss, will bring a completely different attitude to the offensive side of the ball. The offense will run as quickly as possible with a no-huddle tempo that is designed to keep the defense off guard and guessing what is coming next. Plus it is designed to take advantage of the depth South Alabama has at the skill positions.
The offensive line is where the biggest unknown is located coming into this season. Gone are three starters from the previous two seasons. However back is senior Trey Clark and sophomore Melvin Meggs. In steps Drew Dearman, Chris May and Shaun Artz. Also a second string, Ucambre Williams and possibly Kentucky transfer James Elliott if he receives a hardship waiver from the NCAA. But this is the biggest offensive line the Jaguars have had in it’s short history.
Behind the line, there is plenty of talent on the roster. C.J. Bennett returns as the starter with Virginia transfer Ross Metheny as his backup and redshirt freshman Trey Fetner as the third quarterback. The South Alabama backfield is also stocked with talent. Back are Demetre Baker, Kendall Houston and Ellis Hill from last season along with Brandon Ross returning from a knee injury and redshirt freshman Terrance Timmons among others ready to contribute. At wide receiver back are Jereme Jones, Bryant Lavender, T.J. Glover, Corey Besteda and Tyrome Bivins with true freshman Cameron Broadnax who showed plenty of skill in preseason camp. With two tight ends graduating, Greg Hollinger moved over from wide receiver joining JuCo transfer Wes Saxton to fill their positions.
The defense is arguably the strength of the team. Led by Jake Johnson, the linebackers are the heart of the defense, with Clifton Crews, Enrique Williams, Maleki Harris, Bryson James, Ben Giles and Cordivido Grice to help him out.
The defensive front will need to put more pressure on opposing quarterbacks than in past seasons. Returning ends Anthony Taylor, Romelle Jones, Alex Page and Will Thompson will be joined by JuCo transfer Pat Moore to help towards that goal. At nose and tackle positions they return Randon Carnathan and Andy Dalgleish, who lead the group last season, with help from Montavious Williams, Rodney Thomas and Shane Doty (who moved from offensive line).
In the secondary, Alabama transfer B.J. Scott has stepped up as a leader. The staff focused their recruiting efforts to find more help there too. Darrius Morrow and Tyrell Pearson both come in and are expected to start. Alonzo Long will suit up next to Scott at free safety. Gabe Loper should get playing time as he is the returning secondary player with the most interceptions last season.
Michel Chapuseaux takes over the placekicking duties with Scott Garber also returning to handle punts.
“We want to be competitive. We want to win every game that we play,” head coach Joey Jones said. “That’s our goal. Now, is that going to be tough to do? Sure. I understand that it will be. The bottom line is I don’t want to cut our kids short in what we’re doing. We’re going to prepare and we’re going to go out there and prepare to win. But we also know there’s a difficult schedule ahead of us and we’ve got to step up each week. I think that our kids probably will play with a little bit of a chip on their shoulder this year. Bottom line, every week that we play we’ve got to prove something. Anybody that we beat will be a big deal. We’re representing a lot of people, not just our football program but the university.”
The schedule will be tough. After UTSA and Nicholls State, the Jags travel to N.C. State again and Mississippi State before returning home for their first-ever Sun Belt Conference game against Troy. Troy, whom most expect will quickly develop into one of the leagues best rivalries, will mark the first part of the season. After their one and only off week, the Jags then visit the SBC defending champion Arkansas State. Then the downhill stretch of FAU (home), ULM (away), FIU (home), North Texas (away), MTSU (home), ULL (away) and their “bowl game” of the season at Hawaii.
If you only count wins and losses as the measuring stick for a season, it could be a difficult season. But if you expand your criteria for this team that will be completing it’s two year FBS transition at the conclusion of this season, you may be surprised.
South Alabama Is More Experienced Than Many Think
The Offensive line gets set while Coach Clark directs the defense during a practice early preseason camp.
You may already know the cliche “defense wins championships.” Over the last three college football seasons you can see that a stifling defense does win championships. While South Alabama is far from that level, they do have a very experienced defense.
The team was unclassified by the NCAA in their first two years of competition so the players who joined the team were allowed to participate in games during their redshirt season. This allows them to play in all five of their seasons of eligibility.
The defense is the more experienced side of the ball. Four seniors, six juniors and a sophomore on the first team defense. The senior starters are Anthony Taylor at Jack linebacker, Jake Johnson at Mike linebacker, B.J. Scott at safety and Andy Dalgleish at nose tackle.
Junior defensive starters include Montavious Williams at tackle, Alex Page at end, Clifton Crews at Sam linebacker, Enrique William at Will linebacker, Darrius Marrow at cornerback and Tyrell Pearson at cornerback. Alonzo Long is the only sophomore starting on the defense at strong safety. Long and Pearson are both JuCo transfers.
There are five sophomore starters on the offense with five of them entering into their third season of play. They are joined by one senior, two juniors and one redshirt freshman. Trey Clark at Center is the only Senior slated in as a starter with Tremain Smith listed as a possible starter at right tackle. Junior starters are Bryant Lavender with Greg Hollinger and Corey Waldon both listed as optional starters. Sophomore starters are Drew Dearman at left guard, Shaun Artz at right guard, C.J. Bennett at quarterback and Demetre Baker at running back with Wes Saxton at tight end, Ucambre Williams at left tackle, Melvin Meggs, Jereme Jones at receiver are all optional starters.
So when the Jags hit the field on *Thursday, they will be an experienced team ready for competition. While they are not eligible for the Sun Belt Conference championship hopefully the experience on the defense, and on offense for that matter, will translate into a very competitive season.
The size and experience is what worries UTSA defensive coordinator Neal Neathery. He mentioned that Baker and Kendall Houston took turns exploiting holes opened up by the offensive line in the Jaguars 30-27 win in the Alamodome. “Both of the (backs) they played were physical, strong, in between the tackles runners. I thought it was a game where we didn’t feel great about ourselves when it was over when it comes to who was the tougher team,” Neathery said.
“Just as a unit last year they were probably the toughest, most physical offensive line we played,” Neathery said. “They were really good, and their running backs had a lot to do with that.”
* Currently the Jaguars are set to kickoff on Thursday, August 30th against Texas-San Antonio but Tropical Storm Isaac could postpone the game.