South Alabama Earns First-Ever Bowl Victory; Dominates Eastern Michigan 59-10 To Win 68 Ventures Bowl
South Alabama entered the 68 Ventures Bowl with a chip on their shoulder and only one goal in mind: Win.
And win they did.
The game was never in doubt as they dominated Eastern Michigan in every phase of the game, but most importantly on the scoreboard by a score of 59-10. This set a new program record for the most points scored in an FBS game for the Jags.
With the win the Jags earn their first win in a bowl game and are now 1-3 all time in bowls. They also finish with a winning record (7-6) in consecutive seasons for the first time as a member of FBS.
The Jags entered the game without their top receiver, Caullin Lacy, without their top running back La’Damian Webb, and their starting quarterback Carter Bradley. Bradley attempted to recover from a nagging knee injury to be ready for the game, but he was unable to go in the end.
Unexpectedly they were without Dontae Lucas, who was injured in pregame warmups. But they also did not have James Miller due to an injury in one of the final practices.
Without Bradley, head coach Kane Wommack and offensive coordinator Major Applewhite went with a rotation between the official starter senior Desmond Trotter and freshman Gio Lopez. But it was Lopez who earned the Bowl MVP as he threw for 192 yards and three touchdowns while adding 88 yards rushing and a touchdown.
“It was fun just rotating, seeing Dez ball out,” Lopez said after the game. “I was feeding off his energy. So that was fun. It meant a lot to be out there with everybody. … It was awesome.”
“It means a lot, man,” Trotter said. “And to be able to do it with the guys I came in with, it makes it even more special. And just doing it here at the University of South Alabama, in our city, and our stadium, it means a lot to the city and to the team. I’m just glad we were able to come out with the win.”
“A lot of work goes into a moment like this,” coach Wommack said. “It goes way beyond just our players this season. There were young men who came here over a decade ago to build something special. They ran on hills on what is now Hancock Whitney Stadium. They came here with nothing, knowing that they were going to build a foundation for us to walk upon. At some point, you have a group of young men who take ownership and actualize those dreams, and that’s what exactly these guys up here with me and those guys celebrating in the locker room have done. … We’ve had a great past, great moments in our present and certainly our best days are ahead of us and that’s really exciting. This is a great moment to build upon and that’s exactly what we’re doing. We’re continuing to lay the foundation of a great program that years from now will come back and remember those moments. Because they’re truly special, and we’re excited to be here.”
Jamaal Pritchett, who was selected the offensive MVP, caught eight passes for 127 yards and a pair of touchdowns. DJ Thomas-Jones also caught a pair of touchdowns among his three catches for 23 yards in the game.
Defensive end Jamie Sheriff was named the defensive MVP in his final game as a Jaguar. He earned it with four tackles, two TFLs, and two quarterback hurries. He was an even bigger force in the game than the stat sheet indicates.
“To come from where we came from, a losing program, to where we are now is truly incredible,” Sheriff said. “It’s something that me and (Trotter), we’ve worked hard for. We’ve been for a long time and we want to set the standard for the future. We want to have a legacy behind it and start a new tradition here.”
South Alabama scored in each of their first three possessions. The first possession ended with a 46-yard field goal by Diego Guajardo. But the next two possessions ended in the end zone. Trotter connected with Jeremiah Webb for 49 yards to set up a 3-yard touchdown pass to DJ Thomas Jones. The following possession was capped off when Lopez connected with Pritchett for a 4-yard touchdown pass to put the Jags up 17-0.
After Eastern Michigan had gone three-and-out on each of their first two possessions, their defense set them up for their first score of the game. Linebacker Joe Sparacio stepped back and timed a perfect jump to intercept a pass by Trotter to give the Eagles the ball in Jaguar territory. Though they were unable to move the ball, Kenyon Bowyer split the uprights from 49 yards out to make it a 17-3 game at the 14:50 mark of the second quarter.
USA answered with three more scores before halftime.
Kentrel Bullock scampered in from 17 yards out for the first one. Marquise Robinson’s interception set up Lopez to connect with Thomas-Jones for a 20-yard touchdown pass. Then an interception by Jalen Jordan set up Lopez to connect with Pritchett for a 41-yard touchdown pass. It was ruled down at the 1 yard line before being overturned and ruled a touchdown upon review to go up 38-3 late in the second quarter.
The Jaguar defense forced the Eagles to punt but the Jags were unable to sustain their drive. The EMU returner muffed the punt which the Jags jumped on at the 11 yard line with :06 left until halftime. However Diego Guajardo pushed the 29 yard field goal attempt wide left to end the half.
The Jags first possession of the second half was capped off by Trotter running in a touchdown from three yards out for a 45-3 advantage. Lopez added a 27-yard touchdown run at the 7:50 mark of the third quarter to put the Jags up 52-3.
Freshman PJ Martin finished off the Jaguar scoring with a 6-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter for a 59-3 lead.
With almost all of the Jaguar defensive starters out of the game, the Eagles were able to pad their offensive stats and score a touchdown with only :58 left in the game. Cam’Ron McCoy, a freshman, ran it in from 10 yards out for the final score of 59-10.
Team Statistics
| Stat | South Alabama | Eastern Michigan |
| Total Offensive Yards | 627 | 150 |
| Passing Yards | 307 | 73 |
| Rushing Yards | 320 | 77 |
| 3rd Down Conversions | 4-of-9 | 6-of-17 |
| 4th Down Conversions | 0-of-1 | 0-of-3 |
South Alabama
Lopez finished 14-of-19 for 192 yards and three touchdowns. Trotter was 9-of-17 for 115 yards with a touchdown and an interception.
Lopez also finished as the Jags leading rusher with 88 yards on 7 carries with a touchdown. Braylon McReynolds had 71 yards on 13 carries. Kentrel Bullock finished with 68 yards on 6 carries with a touchdown. Freshman PJ Martin had 3 carries for 47 yards and a touchdown. Trotter has 27 yards on 5 carries with a touchdown. Tanner McGee had two carries for 21 yards as well.
Jamaal Pritchett picked up where Lacy left off. He had 127 yards on 8 catches with two touchdowns. Javon Ivory had 51 yards on 4 catches. Jeremiah Webb has 49 yards on just one catch. McReynolds had 40 yards on three catches.
Jaden Voisin led the Jag defense with 5 total stops, 2 solo. Sheriff, Dallas Gamble, Wesley Miller, and Blayne Myrick each had four stops.
Sheriff led the way with 2 TFLs. Myrick, Yam Banks, Quentin Wilfawn, Khalil Jacobs, Marquise Robinson, and Christopher Wallace Jr each had a TFL in the game.
Robinson and Jalen Jordan had interceptions in the game. Robinson had 3 pass break ups.
Eastern Michigan
Ike Udengwu started the game and did not complete any of his three passing attempts before being pulled from the game. Cam’Ron McCoy went 12-of27 for 73 yards and two interceptions.
McCoy was also the leading rusher for the Eastern Michigan with 73 yards on 13 attempts with the only touchdown for the Eagles. Dontae McMillan had 8 yards on 5 carries. Jaylon Jackson added 2 yards on 11 carries. Udengwu has -2 yards and Max Reese had -4 yards.
Terry Lockett finished with 29 yards on two catches. Joseph Walker had 3 catches for 22 yards. Jaylon Jackson had 13 yards on 2 catches.
Final Thoughts
Despite losing their three top offensive players from the regular season in Webb, Lacy and Bradley, the Jaguars showed that their success wasn’t just because of the play of their two best offensive players.
Trotter stepped in as the starter for the bowl game and showed poise and maturity. He could have left over the last couple of seasons but decided to stay.
Gio Lopez showed what the Jags have to look forward to at the quarterback position. He will enter spring practice as QB1 by default with the departure of Bradley, Trotter, and Tanner McGee.
Braylon McReynolds returned from his broken collarbone and started the final regular season game and the bowl game in place of La’Damian Webb. Webb rushed for over 1,000 yards in back-to-back seasons for the Jags. McReynolds showed he has what it takes to be starting running back.
Pritchett stepped into the WR1 role after Lacy hit the transfer portal. He showed that he is capable of similar performances.
The Jaguar defense came to play. The defensive line and linebackers set up camp in the Eastern Michigan backfield. Quentin Wilfawn, Jamie Sheriff, and Khalil Jacobs were all over the quarterback and really any player holding the ball it the backfield.
South Alabama will have to reload in their defensive front with the graduation of several Jaguar players. But their early signing class on the defensive line and linebacker consist of a talented group of players whose names you will hear soon and often.
Preview 68 Ventures Bowl: Eastern Michigan vs South Alabama
Kickoff: Saturday, December 23, 6:00pm
Venue: Hancock Whitney Stadium, Mobile, AL
TV/Streaming: ESPN
Radio: 96.1 fm The Rocket, Sports Talk 99.5 fm, iHeartRadio App
Thunderjags on X (formerly known as Twitter): @USAThunderjags
#5 Jersey: Khalil Jacobs
The 2023 postseason is here and it’s full of firsts for South Alabama.
USA is playing in a bowl game in back-to-back seasons for the first time. They’re playing for their first bowl win, and their first back-to-back winning seasons. They are playing in the hometown bowl game, the 68 Ventures Bowl, for the first time. But they are also facing Eastern Michigan for the first time in program history.
That’s a lot firsts.
The 68 Ventures Bowl went out on a limb and chose the Jags to play at home. They are banking on JagNation to show up for a bowl game when their college football watching is limited. While Saturday, December 23rd has a few games scheduled throughout the day, the 68 Ventures Bowl and the Las Vegas Bowl (Northwestern vs Utah on ABC) are the only two games scheduled during the evening time slot.
It’s very important for South Alabama fans to buy tickets and show up to show their support for both the program and for the bowl game itself. If you cannot go, it’s just as important to tune in to watch the game and to post on social media about the game throughout it.
In the previous three bowl games the Jags have been invited to the Jags just haven’t broken through and got their first win. Yet.
A win will be a huge accomplishment for the program. It’ll get the monkey off their back for bowl losses. But it will secure their first winning season in consecutive seasons.
Now for the final “first” in this game, let’s take a look at Eastern Michigan. (Or skip down to the TL;DR section)
Eastern Michigan (6-6, 4-4 MAC)
The Eagles earned bowl eligibility in their season finale with a 24-11 win at Buffalo. It was their only road win for the season. They were 5-1 at home and 1-5 on the road.
The Eagles are +3 on turnover differential this season. They’ve given the ball away 15 times (10 INTs, 5 fumbles lost) while the defense has taken the ball away 18 times (11 fumble recoveries, 7 INTs).
Offense
| Stat | Average per Game |
| Points | 20.33 |
| Rushing Yards | 115.0 |
| Passing Yards | 158.58 |
| Total Offense | 273.6 |
| Time of Possession | 29:02 |
| Penalty Yards | 60.83 |
| Stat | Cumulative for Season |
| 3rd Downs | 57-of-163 (34.97%) |
| 4th Downs | 10-of-16 (62.5%) |
| Red Zone Scoring Attempts | 32-of-37 (86.5%) |
| Red Zone Touchdowns | 22-of-37 (59.5%) |
| Penalties – Yards | 76-730 |
| Fumbles – Lost | 12-5 |
| Passing Attempts-Completions-TD-Interceptions | 328-185-10-10 (56.4% completion rate) |
Austin Smith was the leading passer for the Eagles going 171-of-298 for 1,775 yards, nine touchdowns, and seven interceptions. However Smith entered the transfer portal.
Junior Ike Udengwu III is 13-of-28 (46.63%) for 100 yards with two interceptions and no touchdowns. Freshman Cam’Ron McCoy only attempted one pass this year.
Tanner Knue leads the team with 479 yards on 50 catches with three touchdowns. JB Mitchell III has 398 yards on 35 catches with a touchdown. Hamze El-Zayat has 370 yards on 25 catches with two touchdowns. Jaylon Jackson has 221 yards on 22 catches with two touchdowns.
Samson Evans leads the Eagles running back corps with 635 yards on 142 carries with 12 touchdowns. Jaylon Jackson has 574 yards on 125 carries with two touchdowns. Austin Smith had 134 yards on 101 carries with two touchdowns.
Defense
| Stat | Average Allowed per Game |
| Points | 24.0 |
| Rushing Yards | 177.8 |
| Passing Yards | 205.17 |
| Total Offense | 382.9 |
| Time of Possession | 30:55 |
| Penalty Yards | 57.0 |
| Stat | Cumulative for Season |
| 3rd Downs Allowed | 64-of-163 (39.26%) |
| 4th Downs Allowed | 12-of-33 (36.36%) |
| Red Zone Scoring Defense | 40-of-52 (76.9%) |
| Red Zone Touchdowns | 27-of-52 (51.9%) |
| Penalties-Yards | 77-684 |
| Fumbles-Recovered | 19-11 |
| Passing Attempts-Completions-TD-Interceptions | 351-205-13-7 (58.4% completion rate) |
Linebacker Chase Kline leads the defense with 143 total stops, 48 solo, with 5 TFLs, 2 sacks, and 10 quarterback hurries. Fellow linebacker Joe Sparacio has 131 total stops, 57 solo, with 6.5 TFLs, 2.5 sacks and 5 quarterback hurries. Then third on the tackles list is defensive back Quentavius Scandrett with 56 total tackles, 30 solo, and two interceptions.
Mikah Coleman leads the team with 4.5 sacks but entered his name into the transfer portal in the offseason. Peyton Price is second on the team with 4 sacks and Justin Jefferson is third with 3.5 sacks.
Three players lead the team with 6.5 TFLs each, Mikah Coleman, Justin Jefferson, and Joe Sparacio.
Special Teams
Mitchell Tomasek averages 45.31 yards per punt with 24 downed inside the 20, 17 fair catches, 17 punts of 50+ yards with a long of 72 yards.
Jesus Gomez was 11-of-15 on the season with a long of 55 yards. Kenyon Bowyer attempted one kick and was successful in converting it from 25 yards.
South Alabama (6-6, 4-4 SBC)
The 2023 may not have played out the way they were hoping after a 10-3 record last season. But they’ve had several bright spots during the season. They went to Oklahoma State and completely whipped the Cowboys in their home stadium in Stillwater 33-7. They scored 55 points in back-to-back conference games against Louisiana-Monroe and Southern Miss. When they needed to win two of their final three games to get bowl eligible, they stepped up. They shut out Marshall 28-0 to get their sixth win with a game to go in the season.
The story of the 2023 season was inconsistency. Games came in batches of two. Whenever they won two games, they lost two games. Plus the whole season was book-ended with a season-opening loss at Tulane and a season-ending loss at Texas State.
Let’s delve into the Jaguars stats for the season.
The Jags are even in turnover differential this season. They have given the ball away 19 times on the season (10 INTs, 9 fumbles lost) while the defense has taken the ball away from their opponents 19 times as well (11 INTs, 8 fumble recoveries).
Offense
| Stat | Average per Game |
| Points | 30.92 |
| Rushing Yards | 160.0 |
| Passing Yards | 264.92 |
| Total Offense | 424.9 |
| Time of Possession | 30:30 |
| Penalty Yards | 57.25 |
| Stat | Cumulative for Season |
| 3rd Downs | 71-of-165 (43.03%) |
| 4th Downs | 17-of-26 (65.38%) |
| Red Zone Scoring Attempts | 39-of-43 (90.69%) |
| Red Zone Touchdowns | 33-of-43 (76.74%) |
| Penalties – Yards | 80-687 |
| Fumbles – Lost | 18-9 |
| Passing Attempts-Completions- TD-Interceptions | 392-268-24-10 (68.36% Completion Rate) |
Carter Bradley started 11 games this season and threw for 221-of-326 (67.79%) for 2,660 yards, 19 touchdowns with 7 interceptions. Bradley has 83.16% of the passing attempt, 83.67% of the passing yards, and 79.16% of the touchdowns thrown on the season.
True freshman Gio Lopez appeared in four games, with on start against Try when Bradley was out with a knee injury. He went 27-of-42 (64.29%) for 283 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.
Trotter went 20-of-24 (83.33%) for 236 yards, four touchdowns, and one interception. Trotter was 18-of-21 for 220 yards and four touchdowns in the season finale against Texas State when Bradley had to leave after aggravating his knee.
Caullin Lacy by and far led the Jaguar receiving corps with 91 catches for 1,316 yards and seven touchdowns. However, Lacy opted for the transfer portal after the season.
Jamaal Pritchett is the top returning receiver with 49 catches for 756 yards and six touchdowns. DJ Thomas-Jones has 24 catches for 212 yards and three touchdowns. Javon Ivory has 16 catches for 183 yards with a touchdown.
La’Damian Webb also by and far led the Jags rushing attack with 1,007 yards on 186 carries with 16 touchdowns. He missed the season finale against Texas State with turf toe. Webb will also miss the 68 Ventures Bowl as he continues to heal the turf toe and prepare to enter the NFL draft.
Kentrel Bullock is the leading returning rusher with 380 yards on 77 carries with three touchdowns. He also missed the season finale with an injury. Marco Lee has 220 yards on 53 carries and two touchdowns. Braylon McReynolds, who left the season opener with a broken collarbone, has 161 yards on 33 carries and will be the starter for the 68 Ventures Bowl.
Defense
| Stat | Average Allowed per Game |
| Points | 21.92 |
| Rushing Yards | 116.8 |
| Passing Yards | 209.67 |
| Total Offense | 326.4 |
| Time of Possession | 29:29 |
| Penalty Yards | 46.17 |
| Stat | Cumulative for Season |
| 3rd Downs Allowed | 54-of-160 (33.75%) |
| 4th Downs Allowed | 8-of-18 (44.44%) |
| Red Zone Scoring Defense | 23-of-30 (76.66%) |
| Red Zone Touchdowns | 14-of-30 (46.66%) |
| Penalties-Yards | 69-554 |
| Fumbles-Recovered | 14-8 |
| Passing Attempts-Completions-TD-Interceptions | 323-195-19-11 (60.37% completion rate) |
Quentin Wilfawn leads the team with 81 total stops, 46 solo, with a team-leading 6.5 sacks and a team leading 15 tackles for loss with six quarterback hurries, two forced fumbles and a pass breakup. Trey Kiser is next in line with 68 total stops, 29 solo, with 9.5 TFLs and 2.5 sacks. James Miller has 67 total stops, 26 solo, and four TFLs.
Jaden Voisin has 66 total stops, 29 solo, two TFLs, and a team-leading four interceptions. Marquise Robinson adds two interceptions while Yam Banks, Khalil Jacobs, Jalen Jordan, Maurice Strong Jr, and Wesley Miller each have one interception each.
Special Teams
Jack Martin averaged 40.05 yards per punt with 21 fair catches, 12 down inside the 20, four punts of 50+ yards with a long of 54 yards.
Diego Guajardo was 13-of-18 on the season with a long of 51 yards. He was perfect inside 40 yards. He was 5-of-7 from 4-49 yards and was 1-of-4 from 50+ yards.
Injuries/Transfer Portal
The new landscape of college football with the transfer portal and Name, Image, and Likeness has affected both teams coming into the 68 Ventures Bowl.
Eastern Michigan was hit pretty hard.
The Eagles have seen their starting quarterback, Austin Smith, enter the transfer portal. But he wasn’t the only one. Tight ends Andreas Paaske (4 catches, 39 yards) committed to the University of Arkansas, and CJ Horton. Offensive lineman Zach Conti committed to Southern Miss. Most recently wide receiver Javon Swinton entered the portal on Monday, December 18.
Defensive end Micah Coleman (38 tackles, 4.5 sacks, 6.5 TFLs, and 8 quarterback hurries) committed to Cincinnati while defensive tackle Alex Merritt (27 tackles, 4.5 TFLs) entered his name into the portal but does not currently show up in the portal.
Starting running back Samson Evans may not play due to injury. He has reportedly made the trip with the team, but he is not a guaranteed play as of the time of this writing. Evans ran for 127 yards and a touchdown against Buffalo to help the Eagle get bowl-eligible.
South Alabama wasn’t immune either.
Caullin Lacy, the Jags First Team All-Sun Belt Conference selection, 5th nationally wide receiver nationally, and the Jags leading receiver, entered his name into the portal and has committed to Louisville.
Defensive lineman Nathan Rawlins-Kibonge decided to enter the portal in order to play somewhere closer to home. Linebacker Gavin Forsha, a transfer from Kansas State, initially entered his name into the portal but has reportedly decided to withdraw it shortly afterwards.
Offensive lineman Dontae Lucas has reportedly decided to enter the portal after playing in the bowl game. Lucas transferred from Florida State in 2022 and started 11 of 13 games at left guard. He has started 11 of 12 games this season after moving to right guard.
La’Damian Webb will not play in the game either. He missed the regular season finale against Texas State due to turf toe. He continues to treat his injury and will focus on getting ready for the NFL draft since his collegiate eligibility has been exhausted.
Carter Bradley has been going through some drills to get ready for the game. However his knee injury needs rest so Desmond Trotter and Gio Lopez have been getting lots of practice reps in case Bradley is unable to play. Bradley had to miss the Troy game after being knocked out near the end of the Louisiana-Lafayette game. He also exited the Texas State game early with the same injury with Trotter nearly leading a comeback that fell just short.
Keys to the Game
Who Steps Up
With two key pieces to the Jaguar offense this season missing from the lineup, who will be the next man up to fill their production?
Caullin Lacy had a consistent presence all season long. He had explosive plays down field, but he also served as a key possession receiver when the Jags needed to move the chains. Jamaal Pritchett came on as the season unfolded. He was able to occasionally flash his speed down the stretch, especially when team began to focus their attention on Lacy. This leads the way for freshman Anthony Eager and redshirt-junior Jeremiah Webb to step in.
Eager is listed as the starter in place of Lacy on the depth chart released earlier this week. Eager does not have any stats for this season. Behind him they have listed Jeremiah Webb, he has one catch for 3 yards recorded this season.
In place of La’Damian Webb, Braylon McReynolds is listed as the starter. He started in the Texas State game when Webb missed due to the same injury that’s keeping him out of this game. McReynolds hasn’t missed a step since coming back from his broken collarbone suffered in season opener. Kentrel Bullock is also making his return to the lineup after missing a couple of games due to injury himself. They make a good one-two punch in the backfield.
Capitalizing on Opportunities
Eastern Michigan’s offense takes a methodical approach. They don’t necessarily make a lot of big plays, but they will eat clock, shorten the game, and will keep moving the ball down the field. When the Jags possess the ball, they really need to take advantage and put points on the board. Because if the Eagles can play their style of game, the Jags opportunities will be limited.
However EMU has their own question marks leading into the game with injuries and the transfer portal. The Jaguar defense will need to be ready for anything. With a few weeks to scheme for a bowl game and their question marks, they may dial up some offensive changes and trick plays to catch the Jags on their heels.
Playing Fundamentally Sound
What you’ll often see in bowl games is some lapses in fundamentals. It can be attributed to a couple of things. The long layoff between games and, especially now with the transfer portal and opt-outs, limited depth.
Losing players to the portal or even to opt-outs for some (thankfully not something USA has experienced) can limit depth at positions that may already be razor thin after a long, grueling regular season schedule and the injuries suffered therein.
Coaches can be apprehensive to let their team get too physical during bowl practice due to the fear of losing key player leading up to the game.
These and other factors converge and can lead to a lack of fundamentals in a bowl game. Poor tackling, issues with ball security, and others have already shown themselves again this bowl season. The team with the strongest fundamentals in the game will definitely have an easier path to victory.
Prediction
South Alabama is a 16.5 point favorite according to handicapper websites. It’s the second-largest spread this bowl season (Oregon is a 17.5 favorite over Liberty in the Fiesta Bowl).
Comparing the stats between the two teams, it seems logical that the Jags are a big favorite. If you add in the transfer portal and injuries, it further bolsters the spread.
EMU have lost their starting quarterback, best pass rusher, and their best interior offensive and defensive linemen to the portal. Additionally their top running back may miss the game with an injury.
Without Webb, the Jags will be starting Braylon McReynolds and running back. Kentrel Bullock is back healthy and will rotate in for playing time as well. Even without Webb, the Jags should be able to move the ball well on the ground against the Eagles rushing defense.
If Bradley is unable to play, either Trotter or Lopez will get the start or could also come in and play if Bradley is unable to finish the game. Lopez could play without burning his redshirt even though he’s already appeared in three games this season thanks to a rules change over the last couple of years.
Even if Bradley is healthy and ready to go, head coach Kane Wommack said that they plan on using multiple quarterbacks in the game. I would expect to see all three in the game at some point.
I feel that the Jags get the win at home, even if they are designated the away team.
Do they cover the spread? I think the Jags are more talented and are more hungry for the win. As long as they don’t get in their own heads, I think they win and cover the spread.
TL;DR (“Too long; didn’t read” for those wondering)
I think we’ve over analyzed this game by this point if you’ve read this entire article.
South Alabama is the better team in this match-up. They would have been the better team in the regular season and, even after the transfer portal subtractions, the Jags remain the better team. If the South Alabama plays up to their capabilities, they will get their first bowl win. Even if they don’t play up to their capability, they should win.
In my Lee Corso moment, I turn and grab Southpaw’s headgear and put it on. I say “South Alabama big in this one. Go Jags. South in your Mouth!” as the credits roll and the camera goes into the next scheduled program.
Go Jags!
South Alabama Rally Falls Short At Texas State 52-46
South Alabama couldn’t overcome an early 24-point deficit in the first quarter as Texas State wins 52-44 in San Marcos.
“We dug ourselves into an incredible hole and earned a loss with poor execution,” head coach Kane Wommack said after the game. “We didn’t make enough plays defensively. We weren’t nearly responsive enough. That was really the story to me all season. When we’re in tight games and tough moments, we didn’t have a defense that was responsive enough.”
DJ Thomas-Jones had three receiving touchdowns. Desmond Trotter, who came in for an injured Bradley Carter in the second half, threw for 220 yards and four touchdowns. Braylon McReynolds, who started for an injured La’Damian Webb rushed for a team-leading 79 yards on 19 carries.
After the South Alabama (6-6, 4-4 SBC) defense kept Texas State (7-5, 4-4 Sun Belt) off the scoreboard on their first possession for only the third time this season.
But on the first offensive play by the Jags, the Bobcats forced Caullin Lacy to fumble and Texas State’s Kaleb Culp scooped it up and ran it back 31 yards for the first score of the game.
On the Bobcats next possession, TJ Finley connected with Ashtyn Hawkins for a 48-yard touchdown to take a 14-0 lead at the 8:47 mark.
The Jags offense go three-and-out and the Bobcats march down the field sparked by a 31-yard run by Donerio Daveport on the first play of the drive. Jahmyl Jeter keeps the ball in the wildcat and scores from a yard out to put the Bobcats up 21-0 at the 3:38 mark in the first quarter.
Texas State catches the Jags off-guard with an onside kick and recover it at the Jags 37-yard line. The defense finally got their legs underneath them and held the Bobcats to a 28-yard field goal at the 1:05 mark of the first quarter.
“We just made too many errors in all three phases – offense, defense, special teams,” Wommack said.
South Alabama finally gets on the board early in the second quarter when Carter Bradley connected with Javon Ivory for 39-yards and his first touchdown of the season. The Jags go for a two-point conversion but it fails on an incomplete pass leaving the Jags trailing 24-6 at the 14:08 mark of the second quarter.
Texas State’s Kole Wilson caught the kickoff about two yards deep in the endzone and found a lane on the left side of his protection and returned it for a touchdown to go up 31-6 with 13:55 left in the second quarter.
After Khalil Jacobs forces a fumble and Marquise Robinson caught it and returned it 25 yards to the Bobcats 29-yard line. Diego Guajardo added a season-long 51-yard field goal.
The Jags forced a punt and got the ball back with 1:52 left in the first half. Bradley led the Jags down the field and found DJ Thomas-Jones for an 18-yard touchdown. The two-point conversion was good when Bradley went back to Thomas-Jones to make it 31-17 at halftime.
On the third play of the second half Carter Bradley would go down on a hit that aggravated his left knee injury. Desmond Trotter led the team into field goal range, but Guajardo’s 55-yard attempt had the distance but was pulled wide right.
After forcing the Bobcats the punt, Trotter hit on back-to-back passes for 19 yards to Lacy then 51 yards to Jamaal Pritchett to quickly flip the field. A couple plays later Trotter would toss a 1-yard touchdown to Thomas-Jones to cut the Texas State lead to 31-24 at the 6:41 mark of the third quarter.
Unfortunately, that would be as close as the Jags would get.
“Our offense was better in the second half,” coach Wommack said. “But our defense never gave us a chance to get back in the game enough. We had to find a way to get one more stop and we didn’t do that. That’s kind of been the take of our season, we have not been responsive enough in tough games. That’s something we’ve got to get better at.”
Texas State would go back up by two touchdowns just a little bit later. Aided by pass completions of 39 and 16 yards, the Bobcats capped off a 64-yard drive with a one-yard TJ Finley touchdown run with 3:35 left in the third quarter.
On the second play of the fourth quarter, Quentin Wilfawn tipped Finley’s pass at the line of scrimmage and Khalil Jacobs intercepted it and returned it 12 yards to the Texas State 28-yard line. Braylon McReynolds opened the drive with a 16 play rush then on the third play Trotter connected with Lacy on a perfectly thrown corner route for a 12 yard touchdown at the 12:57 mark. But the two-point conversion attempt would fall incomplete leaving the Jags trailing 38-30.
The Bobcats only needed four plays to get back on the scoreboard. Finley connected with Kole Wilson for a 24-yard score with 11:31 left in the game to go up 45-30.
Trotter led the Jags back down the field with a mix of run and pass, but the drive took 7:25 off the clock. He threw it to Thomas-Jones who used his size and hands to come down with the touchdown. The Jags got two attempts at the two-point conversion after a pass interference penalty on the first attempt. On the second, Trotter was rushed and had to move up in the pocket. He threw to the right side of the end zone, but possibly could have kept it and converted. The Jags were then down 45-36 with 4:01 left to play.
The Jags used two of their time outs on the ensuing Texas State possession, but on 3rd & 9, Finley connected with Konner Fox for 41 yards to the 1-yard line. The Jags let the Bobcats score to preserve time and go up 52-36 with 2:54 left in the game.
The game got very chippy on the Jags possession after Jordan Revels was flagged for unnecessary roughness when he leveled Thomas-Jones after the whistle had blown and Thomas-Jones was looking to the sideline. By all rights he should have been ejected, but the officials let him keep playing and Texas State kept him in the game.
Dontae Lucas was flagged on the next play for unsportsmanlike conduct, though it was actually another Jaguar, who took a shot at Revels after the play. The offense caught the Bobcats in the neutral zone on two consecutive plays, but were unable to capitalize on the free plays down the field. A few plays later Trotter connected with Hopper for a 5-yard touchdown. McReynolds converted the two-point attempt on a shovel pass from Trotter to make it 52-44 with 1:02 left in the game.
However, the Jags were unable to cover the onside kick and only had one time out which allowed Texas State to run out the clock.
Stats
After being dominated on the stats sheet in the first quarter, the Jags ended up out-gaining the Bobcats overall.
| Stat | South Alabama | Texas State |
| Total yards: | 485 | 479 |
| Passing yards: | 403 | 368 |
| Rushing Yards | 82 | 111 |
| 3rd down conversions: | 7-of-15 | 6-of-13 |
| 4th down conversions: | 2-of-2 | 1-of-1 |
| Turnovers (defensive points off) | 2 (6) | 2 (9) |
| Possession: | 31:15 | 28:45 |
Bradley finished the game 18-of-24 for 183 yards and two touchdowns before having to exit the game. Trotter finished out 19-of-22 for 220 yards, four touchdowns and an interception.
“I’m so proud of Desmond Trotter,” Wommack said. “He answered the bell and made play after play. He’s worked so hard every single day. He’s been the guy ready at a moment’s notice. He was selfless when we put Gio in versus Troy. I didn’t want to burn Gio’s redshirt, but we wanted to give Dez a shot and what a tremendous job he did. We would have loved to be able to execute better so he had a chance to win it at the end.”
Caullin Lacy led with 11 catches for 94 yards and a touchdown. Thomas-Jones had 56 yards on nine catches with the three touchdowns. McReynolds had six catches for 70 yards. Javon Ivory had 85 yards on four catches with a touchdown. Pritchett had four catches for 81 yards.
McReynolds added 79 yards rushing on 19 carries. Trotter had 20 yards on seven carries. Marco Lee Jr had 4 yards on four carries.
Several Jags all finished with six stops each – James Miller, Ricky Fletcher, Quentin Wilfawn, Khalil Jacobs and Charles Coleman III. Wilfawn and Jacobs both had sacks in the game with Jacobs getting the only interception by the Jags.
TJ Finley finished 19-of-28 for 368 yards, three touchdowns and an interception.
Kole Wilson led the Bobcats with six catches for 102 yards and a touchdown. Ashtyn Hawkins led all receivers with 131 yards on five catches with a touchdown.
Ismail Mahdi had 97 yards on 23 carries with a touchdown. Donerio Davenport added 35 yards on six carries. Jahmyl Jeter had two carries for 3 yards and a touchdown.
Next
South Alabama will officially find out their bowl destination on Sunday, December 3rd. Go to usajaguars.com/tickets/bowlgames to secure your tickets to any of the three bowl games that the Sun Belt Conference is tied to in case the Jags are selected to one of them. You will not be charged and the ticket office will contact you BEFORE charging you if you have tickets selected for one of the SBC tie-in bowl games. This helps the Jags with ticket-commitments to lobby for their selection by the respective bowl committees.
See you at the Bowl Game!
Preview: South Alabama Hosts Marshall For Senior Day With Bowl Eligibility Implications
Kickoff: Saturday, November 18, 4:00pm
Venue: Hancock Whitney Stadium, Mobile, AL
TV/Streaming: ESPN+
Radio: 96.1 fm The Rocket, Sports Talk 99.5 fm, iHeartRadio App
Thunderjags on X (formerly known as Twitter): @USAThunderjags
#5 Jersey: Jamie Sheriff
South Alabama (5-5, 3-3 Sun Belt Conference) will look to give their departing seniors one last win at Hancock Whitney Stadium on Saturday when they host Marshall (5-5, 2-4 SBC). If they accomplish the task, they will be the first senior class to earn back-to-back bowl berths in program history.
Both teams enter needing just one win to earn bowl eligibility.
Marshall snapped a five-game losing streak last week behind redshirt freshman Cole Pennington’s first career start. They started the season 4-0 with wins over Albany (21-17), East Carolina (31-13), Virginia Tech (24-17) and Old Dominion (41-35).
Then they hit the rough patch in their season. They lost to @ NC State (41-48), @ Georgia State (24-41), vs James Madison (9-20), @ Coastal Carolina (6-34), and @ App State (9-31).
Marshall head coach Charles Huff is in his third season at the helm. He went 7-6 in his first season with a loss in the New Orleans Bowl against Louisiana-Lafayette. The Herd was still in Conference USA at the time.
Last season Huff lead the Herd to a 9-4 and a 5-3 conference record in their first year in the Sun Belt. They made waves in with a 26-21 win at then #8 Notre Dame and finished the season with a 28-14 win over UConn in the Myrtle Beach Bowl.
Prior to Marshall, Huff was an assistant coach at Alabama for two years.
The Jags were able to break their two-game losing streak themselves with the return of Carter Bradley behind center, an offensive line that were determined to set the line of scrimmage, and a stingy defense.
With two games left for both teams to earn bowl eligibility, both squads would like to go ahead and get that done this week.
Marshall (5-5, 2-4 SBC)
Marshall has a -11 turnover margin on the season. They’ve given the ball away a total of 23 times, 14 interceptions and have lost 9 out of 18 total fumbles. Meanwhile the defense has taken the ball away 12 times, they have 10 interceptions and have recovered 2 out of 9 fumbles.
Offense
| Stat | Average per game |
| Points | 24.4 (83rd) |
| Total Offense | 359.9 (85th) |
| Passing Offense | 230.9 (T-59th) |
| Rushing Offense | 129.0 (97th) |
| Time of Possession | 29:13 |
| Penalty Yards | 55.8 |
Cam Fancher is the leader passer on the team going 186-of-287 (64.8%) for 1,948 yards with eight touchdowns to 11 interceptions on the season. Redshirt freshman Cole Pennington is 27-of-43 (62.8%) for 278 yards with no touchdowns to three interceptions in two game appearances. Pennington made his first career start last week in Marshall’s 38-33 win over Georgia Southern.
The Herd has many receivers involved in their passing game. Five receivers have 20 or more catches on the season and 10 receivers in all have 100+ receiving yards. Caleb Coombs leads the team in catches with 33 catches and receiving touchdowns with two, for 287 yards. DeMarcus Harris leads the receiving corps with 362 yards on 21 catches with a touchdown. In all, eight receivers have touchdowns receptions on the team.
Jaden Harrison has 238 yards on 19 catches with a touchdown. Darryle Simmons has 226 yards on 22 catches.
Rasheen Ali leads the team with 932 yards rushing on 173 carries with 14 touchdowns in nine games played. Ali is tied for 7th in the nation in rushing touchdowns, one TD behind Webb. Ethan Payne has 183 yards on 50 carries. Fancher is third on the team in rushing with 173 yards on 102 carries with two touchdowns in the nine games he’s played in.
| Season Stat | |
| 3rd Downs | 40-of-130 (31%) |
| 4th Downs | 6-of-21 (29%) |
| Red Zone Scoring Attempts | 26-of-34 |
| Red Zone Touchdowns | 17-of-34 |
| Penalties-Yards | 61-558 |
| Fumbles-Lost | 18-9 |
Defense
| Stat | Average per game |
| Points | 28.9 (T-94th) |
| Total Offense | 381.5 (72nd) |
| Passing Offense | 216.3 (50th) |
| Rushing Offense | 165.2 (94th) |
| Time of Possession | 30:47 |
| Penalty Yards | 62.5 |
JJ Roberts leads the team with 73 total stops, 39 solo, with two interceptions, a forced fumble, a pass breakup and a quarterback hurry in nine games played. Eli Neal has 64 total stops, 20 solo, with 6.5 Tackles for Loss, 2 sacks, an interceptions and three quarterback hurries.
Owen Porter leads the team with 13 sacks, is tied for the team lead with 5 sacks, with 50 total stops, 20 solo, 11 quarterback hurries, two forced fumbles and two pass breakups.
Elijah Alston is second on the team with 9.5 TFLs, 4 sacks, 15 quarterback hurries, two pass breakups, and an interception with an 85 yard return for a TD.
Sam Burton co-leads the team with 5 sacks, he has 5.5 TFLs and 8 quarterback hurries.
| Season Stat | |
| 3rd Downs | 44-of-143 (31%) |
| 4th Downs | 9-of-21 (43%) |
| Red Zone Scoring Attempts | 29-of-37 |
| Red Zone Touchdowns | 15-of-37 |
| Penalties-Yards | 68-625 |
| Fumbles-Lost | 9-2 |
Special Teams
Rece Verhoff is 10-of-13 (76.9%) placekicking with a long of 44 with one kick blocked. Kameron Lake is 1-of-2 with a long of 20.
John McConnell is averaging 43 yards per punt, a long of 74 yards, with 16 fair catches, 13 downed inside the 20, 5 kicks of 50+ yards, and one touchback.
South Alabama (5-5, 3-3 SBC)
The Jags continue to have a turnover margin of -2 on the season. They have turned the ball over a total of 16 times, nine interceptions and seven fumbles lost. The defense has taken the ball away from opponents 14 times, seven interceptions and seven fumbles. The Jags gave the ball away once to Arkansas State last week, but took the ball away once as well.
Offense
| Stat | Average per game |
| Points | 29.9 (T-49th) |
| Total Offense | 423.0 (40th) |
| Passing Offense | 258.4 (42nd) |
| Rushing Offense | 164.6 |
| Time of Possession | 29:50 |
| Penalty Yards | 59.70 |
Carter Bradley’s is 186-of-279 (66.7%) for 2,301 yards and 15 touchdowns to 7 interceptions in nine games played. Gio Lopez, with one start but four game appearances, is 27-of-42 (64.3%) for 283 yards with 1 touchdown to 2 interceptions on the season.
Caullin Lacy leads the team with 71 catches, 1,096 yards, and six touchdowns. Lacy ranks 4th in the nation in receiving yards after a 50-yard game last week. Jamaal Pritchett has 650 yards on 44 catches with 5 touchdowns. Lincoln Sefcik has 165 yards on 17 catches with a touchdown. DJ Thomas-Jones has 156 yards on 15 catches.
La’Damian Webb leads the team with 890 yards rushing on 162 carries with 15 touchdowns and an average of 5.5 yards per carry. Webb is 31st in the nation in rushing yards and tied for 2nd in the nation in rushing touchdowns. Kentrel Bullock, despite missing last week in the concussion protocol, has 380 yards on 76 carries with three touchdowns and a 5 yard per carry average. Marco Lee Jr has 186 yards on 41 carries with two touchdowns and a 4.5 yards per carry average.
| Season Stat | |
| 3rd Downs | 57-of-133 (42.9%) (29th) |
| 4th Downs | 12-of-20 (58.8%) |
| Red Zone Scoring Attempts | 32-of-34 |
| Red Zone Touchdowns | 26-of-32 |
| Penalties-Yards | 69-597 |
| Fumbles-Lost | 12-7 |
Defense
| Stat | Average per game |
| Points | 21.1 (37th) |
| Total Offense | 323.7 (25th) |
| Passing Offense | 198.9 (31nd) |
| Rushing Offense | 124.8 (35th) |
| Time of Possession | 30:09 |
| Penalty Yards | 46.7 |
Quentin Wilfawn’s tear over the last three weeks continues to have him pace the defense with 71 total stops, 40 solo, with a team leading 13.5 TFLs and also a team leading 5.5 sacks. He also has 5 quarterback hurries, two forced fumbles, and a pass breakup.
James Miller has 61 total stops, 23 solo, with 4 TFLs, a quarterback hurry and a fumble recovery.
Trey Kiser has 60 total stops, 26 solo, with 8.5 TFLs, 2.5 sacks, two pass breakups and a quarterback hurry.
Jamie Sheriff is third on the team with 6 TFLs and is tied for second on the team with 3 sacks. He leads the team with 7 quarterback hurries with a forced fumble.
Jaden Voisin leads the team with 3 interceptions to go with his 6 pass breakups and a forced fumble.
Ricky Fletcher leads the defense with 11 pass breakups.
| Season Stat | |
| 3rd Downs | 45-of-1330 (33.83%) (43rd) |
| 4th Downs | 7-of-15 (46.67%) |
| Red Zone Scoring Attempts | 19-of-26 |
| Red Zone Touchdowns | 11-of-26 |
| Penalties-Yards | 55-467 |
| Fumbles-Lost | 11-7 |
Special Teams
Diego Guajardo is 10-of-14 (71.4%) placekicking with a long of 46 yards.
Jack Martin is averaging 39.06 yards per punt with a long of 53 yards, 16 fair catches, 10 downed inside the 20 and two kicks of 50+ yards.
Injuries
Carter Bradley returned and played the entire game. At times it looked like he may have been favoring his left knee, but he moved around in the pocket well and even ran a few times. There was a strong northern wind during most of the game which affected his deep passes a bit. Some sailed long on him when the wind was at his back.
Overall Bradley looked good in his return.
Braylon McReynolds returned to the lineup for the first time since his injury suffered against Tulane in the season opener. The coaching staff said they were limiting how much playing time he got in the game. His first time touching the ball he gained 10 yards, so it’s safe to say he is ready to go. The coaching staff will evaluate him throughout the week and may “significantly” increase it workload this Saturday.
McReynolds return came at the perfect time. Kentrel Bullock missed the game after being unable to clear the concussion protocol prior to the game against Arkansas State. Each player and each concussion is different so the timetables to return are completely different each time. Hopefully Bullock will completely recover in time for the game.
Lincoln Sefcik will miss the remainder of the season due to breaking unspecified team rules, not due to injury.
Keys to the Game
Turnovers
Marshall averages 2.3 turnovers a game this season. Last week they gave the ball away twice to Georgia Southern, an INT and a fumble, yet still won the game. Over the five game losing streak they had a total of 14, or nearly three per game.
The Jags defense has not generated as many turnovers this season as they have over the last two seasons. I’m sure the team will look at this game as an opportunity to improve on the turnover margin with some takeaways
Meanwhile the Jaguar offense wants to protect the ball more. Webb had a very uncharacteristic fumble last week against the Red Wolves. It looked as though he was slipping on the turf as the defender knocked the ball loose. Bradley has cut down his interceptions after what looked like he was trying to force the ball downfield into bad coverage.
Turnover margin in a game is one of those key stats teams want to win as it increases their likelihood to win.
Offensive Line
The guys up front did a great job against the Arkansas defense. They limited the Red Wolves to only two sacks and led the way for La’Damian Webb to rush for 163 yards.
That kind of play is exactly what the team needed to help defeat the Red Wolves.
Marshall’s rushing defense is 94th in the nation, so if the offensive line can set the line of scrimmage the Jaguar backfield could have a field day running the ball.
But it all starts up front.
Stadium Presence
South Alabama still has a fan problem. Despite on-campus students not having far to go to view the game, they just didn’t turn out very well against Arkansas State.
It was the Jaguar Marching Band along with the Honor Band that provided most of the crowd noise in the game. They did a very good job of it too!
Everyone in the stadium last week could take a lesson from them.
The stadium was rocking for the Southern Miss game. We need that each and every week at Hancock Whitney Stadium. We need to “Rock the ‘cock” every home game. Whoever programs the in-game music really needs get off their personal playlist and look for some music to energize the crowd. The “Stand up and Shout” on 3rd down needs to go away for the foreboding chimes of “Hell’s Bells.” We need to settle on one good sing-along song to play early in the fourth quarter.
Give Thunderjags a crack at the in-game musical choices!
Senior Recognition
A strong group of seniors will be honored before the game on Saturday. They are in no particular order: Jamie Sheriff, Jamall Hickbottom, Maurice Strong Jr, Carter Bradley, Desmond Trotter, Tanner McGee, La’Damian Webb, Marco Lee Jr, Reggie Smith, Josh McCulloch, Brandon Crum, Jacob Hopper, Lincoln Sefcik, Ke’Shun Brown, Trey Kiser, James Miller, Quentin Wilfawn, Keith Gallmon, Jalen Jordan, Jacob Meeks and Diego Guajardo.
Many of those names you’ve heard mentioned on this site, while watching on television or streaming, or on the radio broadcast. Thank you for what you have done as a Jaguar and for being outstanding ambassadors of the team and the school. We wish you the best in whatever comes next in your journey.
Prediction
The Jags are another double-digit favorite this week with a 10.5 point favorite to win. Every time the Jags have been favored this season I have cringed a bit just because of the uncertainty and the inconsistency.
But I think South Alabama will be ready for Marshall. If the Jag defense can pick up where they left off last week, they should hold Marshall in check like they did Arkansas State no matter who starts at quarterback.
Though the Jaguar offense did just enough to win, we’d like to see them do a bit more.
The weather was a factor last week though. A strong northerly wind with mist doesn’t make for the best playing conditions, particularly throwing the ball. The weather on Saturday looks good, so hopefully that means lots of fireworks and light display for South Alabama.
I think the Jags win and they squeak out a cover while they’re at it.
Go Jags!
Preview: South Alabama Hosts Central Michigan For Homecoming, Final Non-Conference Game
Kickoff: Saturday, September 23, 4pm
Venue: Hancock Whitney Stadium, Mobile, Alabama
TV/Streaming: ESPN+
Radio: 96.1 fm The Rocket, Sports Talk 99.5 fm, iHeartRadio App
Thunderjags on X (formerly known as Twitter): @USAThunderjags
#5 Jersey: Desmond Trotter
This is an important game for the South Alabama Jaguars.
No, it’s not a flashy game against another Power-5 program. It’s not a conference game. It may be homecoming, but that’s not the reason either.
It’s an important game for two reasons: one, it’s next game on the schedule, and two, we get to see how the team responds after the last game.
You may be reading this thinking “man, you make it sound like they lost last week. But they won arguably the biggest game in program history last week against Oklahoma State.” But that’s exactly it. They won the biggest game in program history, now how do they respond?
The Greek philosopher Epictetus wrote, “It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.”
Head Coach Kane Wommack took over the program in 2021 and he has consistently spoken about getting his players to have a neutral mindset. You cannot get too high on emotion, but you cannot get to low either. This week will be a big test for his team to see if they have that neutral mindset nailed down, at least from the emotional high that was last week.
The Jags (2-1) earned a program-defining win last Saturday in dominating fashion. They took a 23-0 lead into halftime and by the time the final whistle blew, they posted a stunning 33-7 beat-down of a Power-5 program in their own stadium. One of the intriguing stats we noted was that the Jags rushed for more yards (248) than Oklahoma State gained in total offense (208) for the entire game.
South Alabama has been showered with praise since the game ended. They were named the Cheez-It’s team of the week (which brought them a big delivery of assorted boxes of Cheez-It’s on Monday). They were honorably mentioned in Matt Mitchell’s “SEC Roll Call”, a weekly comedy sketch he does recapping the previous weeks performances. But they also have Homecoming festivities this coming week.
How they turn around and respond in this game could really define the remainder of the season.
This paragraph may induce PTSD, so be warned. In 2016, South Alabama traveled to Starkville, MS and earned their first win over a Power-5 and SEC program with a 21-20 win. Coincidentally, it happened to be coach Wommack’s first game with the Jaguars as defensive coordinator too. However the Jags lost the following week to Georgia Southern 24-9 as well as the next week at Louisiana-Lafayette 28-23. Then they needed overtime to survive an upset bid by Nicholls 41-40. Similarly in the 2016 season, they were able to defeat the then #19 ranked San Diego State Aztecs 42-24, but lost back-to-back games to Arkansas State (17-7) and Troy (28-21) afterwards.
Coach Wommack keeps stressing “consistency.” This game will be a big measuring stick for how much consistency the coaching staff has been able to instill into this program.
South Alabama (2-1)
In a way the Oklahoma State game was a carry-over from the second half of the Southeastern Louisiana game. The Jaguar offense scored on their first three possessions and four of their six first-half possessions, not counting the last possession with a mere 18 seconds left before halftime.
The defense kept the Cowboys off the scoreboard until early in the fourth quarter, and the longest plays from scrimmage was a 21 yard quarterback run and a 15 yard pass completion.
The Jags are +1 in turnover margin for the season. They have thrown three interceptions and lost three of the four fumbles they’ve committed. Defensively the Jags have forced five fumbles and recovered all of them while also collecting a pair of interceptions.
Offense
South Alabama’s mantra ‘Run The Damn Ball’ was on full display in Stillwater. La’Damian Webb, even on a play-count, rolled up an impressive 151 yards rushing on 18 carries with a pair of touchdowns. It was highlighted by a 65 yard touchdown in the fourth quarter that put the final dagger in the Cowboy’s heart.
Kentrel Bullock also had 18 carries for 71 yards and Marco Lee Jr had 6 carries for 30 yards.
Carter Bradley was 10-of-16 for 152 yards and two touchdowns, including a beautify placed 57-yard strike to Caullin Lacy.
Lacy led the Jags receivers with 5 catches for 104 yards and both of Bradley’s touchdown passes. Lincoln Sefcik had three catches for 21 yards. Javon Ivory and Bullock had one catch each for 17 and 10 yards respectively.
Lacy has really elevated his play after Devin Voisin was lost for the season to a knee injury last week. He was already a big-time playmaker before!
Josh McColloch suffered a knee injury mid-week and did not play, however the offensive line had their best outing so far this season with Jordan Davis stepping up and starting in McCulloch’s place.
The Jags are averaging 389.7 total yards of offense, 201 yards passing and 188.7 yards rushing per game. The running back corps are averaging 5 yards per attempt through three games.
The offense is converting 20-of-39 (51%) of their 3rd down attempts and 3-of-4 (75%) of their 4th down attempts. In the red zone they have scored on all 9 of their trips, with seven of them being touchdowns.
However, Bradley has been sacked 7 times on the season for 50 yards, but only twice last week by the Cowboys.
Defense
Coach Wommack, defensive coordinator Corey Batoon, and assistant coach Jay Hopson seemed to have really turned around the secondary after Tulane exploited them for several explosive plays. They only allowed 208 total yards of offense, 114 passing yards and 94 rushing yards to the Cowboys.
Through three games the defense is allowing an average of 352 yards of total offense, 252.7 passing yards and 99.3 rushing yards per game.
Opponents are converting just 13-of-34 (38%) of their 3rd down attempts. Of the 11 trips into the red zone for opponents, they have scored on 8 of them with only 4 coming as touchdowns.
James Miller leads the defense with 19 total stops, 10 solo, with a fumble recovery. Jaden Voisin is next behind him with 16 total stops, nine solo, with a forced fumble. Trey Kiser is third with 15 total stops, eight solo, with a tackle for loss, a pass breakup, and a quarterback hurry.
Brock Higdon leads the defense with 2 sacks on the season. Jamie Sheriff, Quentin Wilfawn, Khalil Jacobs, and Maurice Strong Jr have one sack each.
Yam Banks and Marquise Robinson both have one interception each.
Special Teams
Diego Guajardo made good on both of his attempts against OSU last weekend and is 3-of-4 on the season with a long of 42. His only miss was from 52 in the season-opener against Tulane.
Jack Martin is averaging 43.4 yards per attempt, with a long of 53 yards. He has four fair catches, four downed inside the 20.
Central Michigan (1-2)
Despite the Chippewa’s record, they have been playing some pretty good football on the season. Both of their two losses come at the hands of Power-5 programs. The season opener was a 31-7 loss at Michigan State and last week they kept it close in the first half at Notre Dame before the Fighting Irish pulled away in the second half for a 41-17 win.
Between the two losses, the Chippewas earned a win against #11 ranked FCS New Hampshire 45-42 on a field goal as time expired. They led 42-28 with under six minutes left in the game. New Hampshire tied the game with a 71-yard catch-and-run with just over three-minutes left in the game.
Last week against Notre Dame, the Chippewas cut the lead to 7 before halftime before the Irish pulled away in the second half. The Irish, who put up 578 yards of total offense, took back any momentum with a 74 yard touchdown drive in only 7 plays to start the third quarter and never looked back.
Overall they are -1 on turnover margin. Offensively they have fumbled three times but recovered them all, however they have thrown three interceptions. Defensively they have one interception and a forced fumble that they’ve recovered.
Offense
The Chippewa offense is averaging 23 points, 309 yards of total offense, 145.7 passing yards, and 163.3 rushing yards per game. They are only converting 11-of-44 (25%) of their 3rd down attempts but they have converted 4-of-5 (80%) of their 4th down attempts.
Quarterback Bert Emanuel Jr missed the Notre Dame game with an illness but is expected to return and presumably start on Saturday. He is 18-of-36 (50%) for 280 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions in those two games. Jase Bauer is 13-of-29 (44.9%) for 157 yards.
The top two receivers both have five catches. Chris Parker has 142 yards on his 5 catches with a touchdown. Tyson Davis has 92 yards with his five catches.
They have five players with three catches each. Jesse Prewitt III has 91 yards and a touchdown, Mitchel Collier has 30 yards, Marion Lukes has 28 yards, Myles Bailey has 11 yards, and Sam Hicks has 7 yards.
Myles Bailey leads the Central Michigan rushing attack with 186 yards on 38 carries with two touchdowns. Emanuel Jr is the next leading rusher, even with sack-adjusted yardage figured in, with 142 yards on 38 carries with two touchdowns in two games played. Marion Lukes has 75 yards on 19 carries. Quarterback Jase Bauer has 43 yards on 15 carries with a touchdown. BJ Harris has 11 carries for 32 yards, the last back with double-digit carries on the team.
Defense
Central Michigan runs multiple fronts. They will switch between 3 and 4 down linemen which give an even and odd look to the offensive line. So the Jaguar offensive line will need to stay on the same for their protection schemes. They have played pretty well against the run, but have been quite susceptible to explosive passing plays.
They are allowing an average of 38 points, 507.3 total yards of offense, 371.3 passing yards, and 136 rushing yards per game.
Opponents are converting 16-of-39 (41%) of their 3rd down attempts and 3-of-6 (50%) of their 4th down attempts.
Donte Kent leads the defense with 26 total stops, 18 of them solo, with a tackle for loss (TFL) from the secondary. Kyle Moretti is right behind him with 25 total stops, 14 solo, with two TFLs from his linebacker position. It drops off to 16 total, 7 solo, stops for Trey Jones from the secondary. Then Justin Whiteside has 13 total stops, 11 solo, for the highest ranking defensive lineman.
Jacques Bristol leads the team with three TFL’s with a sack, as part of his 11 total tackles. He is tied with Michael Heldman and Maurice White for sack leader. Heldman leads the team with 4 quarterback hurries.
Elijah Rikard is the only player on the defense with an interception.
Special Teams
Tristan Mattson, a redshirt-junior transfer from Arkansas State, is 2-of-3 on the season. His long is 47 yards, which was his first attempt of the season and came against New Hampshire as time expired. He also handles kickoff duty and has nine touchbacks on his 13 kickoff attempts.
Jake Walrath is averaging 45.1 yards across his 21 punt attempts. His longest kick was 63 yards. He has two touchbacks, five fair catches, five downed inside the 20 and seven kicks of 50+ yards. He can really flip field position in a hurry.
Keys to the Game
Neutral Mindset
The Jags will be coming off a big win over a Power-5 opponent. It’s also Homecoming week. This is a textbook upset script for the Chippawa’s. It also doesn’t help that they want revenge for last season and to get back to .500 on the season.
Coach Wommack speaks about having a neutral mindset. There are several keys to the neutral mindset. He doesn’t want players to get too emotionally high nor too emotionally low after a game, or even after a play. The players need to approach each play as its own entity, when the play is over it’s time for the next play. It doesn’t matter if the previous play was a big loss or a huge gain; you have to line up for the next play just the same. Each time you line up for a play, just do your job and trust your teammate to do his.
Taking what the defense gives
The Chippewa defense has been quite good against the run. While their passing numbers aren’t that good to observe, they haven’t been that bad against the pass either. Their biggest problem is explosive plays through the air, similar to what the Jags had trouble with against Tulane. They will be working to make similar adjustments this week and hope they show on the field when they arrive in Mobile on Saturday.
Carter Bradley may have to put the ball in the air more than he did against Oklahoma State for the Jags to win. If the Chippewa’s continue to be susceptible to the pass, that’s what the Jags need to exploit.
But a productive running game will also help loosen up the secondary too.
Offensive Line
Last Saturday, the Jags offensive line played arguably the best game of football in program history. They opened running lanes for the Jaguar running backs and they were pretty good in pass protection. Bradley was sacked twice in the game, but did not have a single quarterback hurry on the stat sheet.
Consistency is stacking one good game after another. They could really use another outing like that this week.
Not to keep repeating it, but Central Michigan has been good against the run. If they are able to get success stopping the Jags rushing game, they will turn up the pressure on Bradley and try to get him to force the ball downfield. Two of his three interceptions this season can be contributed to him trying to force the ball under pressure.
Injuries
Reggie Smith was injured late in fall camp and will miss the season. Braylon McReynolds suffered a broken collarbone against Tulane and will likely miss the entire regular season.
Before the game last Saturday, we found out that both Devin Voisin and Keith Gallmon Jr will also miss the rest of the season as well.
Gallmon Jr suffered a torn pectoral muscle early in the game against Southeastern Louisiana. This is the second time in as many seasons he has suffered the same injury and missed an entire season. However this time it’s the opposite pectoral as the one injured in 2022.
Voisin suffered a knee injury in the second half against SLU.
Thankfully, the Jags stayed pretty healthy against Oklahoma State last week.
Prediction
The Jags are pretty much a 14.5 point favorite across the board on most odd-maker sites. I was glad my prediction last week was completely wrong. When I pick against the Jags, I’m more than happy to be wrong.
It may be early for the Chippewa’s to circle the wagons, but I’m sure they feel an urgency for a win before they start conference play. They had 12 players out with Covid last Saturday and was within one score of Notre Dame at halftime (21-14). Thankfully the game will be at Hancock Whitney Stadium.
The Jags offensive strengths play into some of the strengths of Central Michigan’s defense. It will be interesting to watch how it plays out.
I’m going with the Jags to win, but maybe they don’t cover the 14.5 spread but barely. I think a strong second half leads to a Jags win 31-17, just under the spread.
Go Jags!
South Alabama Puts On A Football Clinic, Dominates Oklahoma State 33-7 In Stillwater
South Alabama went to Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater, Oklahoma on a mission.
Mission Completed: 33-7.
The South Alabama Jaguars (2-1) completely dominated Oklahoma State (2-1) in every phase of the game, from beginning to end. The offensive line protected Carter Bradley and they opened holes for the running backs. The defense shut down the Cowboys rushing attack and the secondary played up to their talent level. The Jags dominated the time of possession. They didn’t turn the ball over. The special teams played flawlessly and even got a takeaway on a muffed punt late in the game to seal the win.
This is only the second win by South Alabama over a Power-5 team. It was by far the most decisive win. The previous Power-5 win was over Mississippi State in Starkville by a score of 21-20.
Carter Bradley threw two touchdown passes to Caullin Lacy in the first half, including a 57 yard touchdown with just over a minute left before halftime. La’Damian Webb rushed for 151 yards and two touchdowns, the second touchdown a 65 yard scamper right up the gut of the Cowboy defense midway through the fourth quarter to seal the game.
They took a commanding 23-0 lead into the halftime locker room.
The Cowboys offense finally showed signs of life late in the third quarter. They finally got on the scoreboard to avoid a shutout with 12:14 left in the game.
The Jaguar offense went three and out, but Jack Martin’s punt was muffed and recovered by Travis Drosos at the OSU 24 which led to a field goal and a 26-7 advantage.
When Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy was faced with a 4th and 12 with about eight minutes left, he all but signaled it was over by sending in the punt team.
Then on the second play from scrimmage Webb broke free on his final carry of the game and took it 65 yards and the final score of the game.
Stats
South Alabama
South Alabama put up 395 yards of total offense, 243 yards rushing and 152 passing. They were 6-of-14 on 3rd down for the game, with most of their failures to convert coming in the second half. They held the ball for 34:35 and were flagged eight times for only 40 yards.
Bradley was 10-of-16 for 152 yards and two touchdowns. Desmond Trotter came in late but didn’t attempt a throw.
La’Damian Webb led all rushers with 151 yards on 18 attempts with two touchdowns. He averaged 8.4 yards per carry.
Kentrel Bullock had 18 carries for 71 yards. Marco Lee had 30 yards on six carries.
Caullin Lacy led all receivers with 104 yards on 5 catches with a pair of touchdowns. Lincoln Sefcik had three catches for 21 yards. Javon Ivory had one catch for 17 yards.
Oklahoma State had 208 yards of total offense, 114 passing and 94 rushing. They were only 4-of-15 on 3rd down attempts and only held the ball for 25:20. They were flagged seven times for 64 yards.
Diego Guajardo was perfect on two attempts from 39 and 42 yards respectively. Jack Martin averaged 43.8 yards across his five punts with one going 53 yards and three of them being downed inside the 20.
Oklahoma State
Alan Bowman started the game and went 6-of-12 for 42 yards and an interception. Gunnar Gundy came in and went 9-of-18 for 64 yards. Garret Rangel came on late and was 1-of-5 for 8 yards.
Jaden Bray caught 5 passes for 42 yards. Josiah Johnson caught two for 25 yards. Ollie Gordon had two catches for 13 yards.
Elijah Collins led the Cowboys with 31 yards rushing on 9 carries. Gundy added 27 yards on 10 carries. Jaden Nixon had 23 yards on five carries with the only Cowboy score.
Wes Pahl punted eight times with an average of 43 yards.
Final Analysis
This was the type of play that we’ve been looking for this season. It was also the type of play coach Wommack was looking for too.
“I thought our guys are starting to play to the level we’re capable of.” Said coach Kane Wommack. “We really haven’t played well the first two weeks, particularly in the first half. We were able to establish the run early, which gave us some one-on-one shots. We liked some matchups against a couple of their DBs, and we were able to get those matchups early. I think the nice thing is we knew we were very capable of coming in here and executing at a high level and physically putting a team away.”
Tulane exposed similar deficiencies that Western Kentucky exploited in the bowl game to finish the 2022 season. Some adjustments were evident last week against Southeastern Louisiana. But this week the Jags secondary locked all but locked down the Cowboys usually prolific receiving corps.
Before the game we found out that wide receiver Devin Voisin had torn his ACL against SLU and will miss the season. It was also released that Keith Gallmon tore his right pectoral muscle, the opposite one that caused him to miss the entire 2022 season and will miss the rest of the 2023 season.
Braylon McReynolds suffered a broken collarbone against Tulane and had surgery to correct it. He will likely miss most if not all of the Jags regular season. But coach Wommack left it open that he could possibly return before the end of the season or in postseason play.
Jordan Davis started at left tackle in place of Josh McCulloch after he suffered a knee injury in practice. McCulloch’s injury is not considered season-ending though.
Next
South Alabama returns home for their final non-conference game to host Central Michigan on homecoming. The game is scheduled to kickoff at 4pm at Hancock Whitney Stadium and will be streamed on ESPN+.
Preview: South Alabama Opens Season At #24 Tulane
Kickoff: Saturday, September 2 7:00 PM
Venue: Yulman Stadium – New Orleans, LA
TV/Streaming: ESPNU
Radio: 96.1 fm The Rocket, Sports Talk 99.5 fm, iHeartRadio App
#5 Jersey: Devin Voisin
Thunderjags on X (Formerly Twitter): @USAThunderjags
Preface
The Thunderjags family have been going through a lot over the last few months and our coverage leading up to the season has been basically non-existent unfortunately. It’s been a struggle to get back into gear. We have and continue to be a partnership, but while my family life has calmed down a little bit lately and I am eager to get back to some normalcy, my partner is still going through his own family issues. However you send support, I would humbly ask you to keep my partner, his family (and also my family) in your thoughts, prayers, or however you support people in your personal belief system. Speaking for both Thunderjags, we appreciate it!
Now, on with the preview!
The Season Is Here
South Alabama will open their 2023 campaign with a top 25 matchup versus the Tulane Green Wave in New Orleans at Yulman Stadium.
Tulane was the darling of bowl season finishing with a 12-2 record, which included a win over UCF in the AAC championship game. That win vaulted Tulane into a New Years Day 6 bowl game as the top ranked team with the best record in the Group of Five conference. The Green Wave then defeated the top 10 ranked USC Trojans 46-45 in the Cotton Bowl.
South Alabama finished their 2022 campaign with a 10-3 record. Marking their best FBS season in program history with five straight wins to close out the regular season. However, their streak would come to an end in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl with a 23-44 loss and remain winless in three bowl game appearances over the program’s short history.
Between these two programs, there are lofty expectations for 2023.
But past performance does not guarantee future results, especially not in college football.
Tulane
Tulane finished 2022 ranked 9th in the nation in the AP poll. But you only have to look back to 2021 and the Green Wave’s 2-10 record to understand how preseason rankings don’t necessarily indicate how a new team and a new season will perform. But eighth-year head coach Willie Fritz hopes to maintain the standard set forth by the 2022 team.
Offense
The Green Wave returns three-year starter Michael Pratt who threw for 3,009 yards and 27 touchdowns last season. However, they have to replace running back Tyjae Spears, who was the Cotton Bowl MVP, that rushed for 1,581 yards and 19 touchdowns last season.
Coach Fritz has not said who will be replacing Spears, but that he had five good running backs and they will be testing them out over the first few games.
The likely starters on the offensive line are all senior or redshirt-seniors that have quite a bit of experience under their respective belts. They also weigh an average of 308lb.
At receiver they have a somewhat untested group of potential starters. A senior transfer from Notre Dame who only saw five snaps in the season opening game in 2021. His usage has trended down from 2019 when he played in 12 games with three starts until sitting out the remainder of the 2021 season.
Defense
The Tulane defense lines up in a base 4-2-5 package, similar to the Jags. The defensive line is experienced and deep but their likely starting linebackers seem to be less experienced.
The secondary is comprised of all upper classmen but the likely starters are mostly transfers into the program at one time or another.
Special Teams
Punter Casey Glover (R-Sr) returns from a season where he averaged over 41 yards per attempt with 20 fair catches, 20 downed inside the 20, 9 punts of 50+ yards and 0 blocks. His longest recorded punt was 65 yards. Glover is also the kickoff specialist and played in all 14 games last season with 45 touchbacks and only one kick out of bounds.
Also returning is placekicker Valentino Ambrosio (R-Sr). He transferred in from Rutgers last season. For the Green Wave he played in eight games going 10-of-11 with a long of 47 yards.
Ethan Hadak (R-Jr) played in 34 games over three seasons for the Green Wave, including all 13 last Fall.
South Alabama
The Jaguars enter the third season under the direction of head coach Kane Wommack with an unprecedented set of expectations. Despite the expectations from what some may consider a season where the Jags overachieved, the players and coaches, when they allow themselves to look back, they see both an amazing season with some undertones of slight underachievement.
They lost to UCLA on a last second field goal and lost to their rival Troy 6-10 in a defensive slug match. But many took the loss to Western Kentucky personal, include coach Wommack.
The Jags felt like they could have easily been in the Conference Championship game and could have been the Group of Five representative in the New Years Day 6 bowl games.
Offense
Coach Wommack and offensive coordinator Major Applewhite return nine starters on an offense that put up an average of over 31 points per game last season. Receiver Jalen Wayne was drafted by the Cleveland Browns but leaves a very talented and experienced pair of receivers for quarterback Carter Bradley to target.
Speaking of Carter Bradley (Sr) he set school records in passing yards (3,326), completions (276), and touchdowns (28) in his first season at USA. He ranked in the top 50 nationally in 11 different categories. He has been named to at least five different watch lists this season including: Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, the Manning Award, the Davey O’Brien Award, The Wuerffel Trophy, and the Maxwell Award Watch Lists.
Veteran Desmond Trotter will back up Carter and freshman Gio Lopez is listed as 3rd string, seemingly beating out redshirt-freshman Bishop Davenport, a Utah State transfer.
La’Damian Webb (R-Sr) returns after setting the regular season rushing yard mark with 1,015 yards in his first regular season with the program. He saw action in 12 games, missing only one with an injury but was held to minimal carries in two others due to injury. He ran for 152 yards and three touchdowns against Arkansas State and then for 247 yards and four touchdowns (both school records) against Georgia Southern in a game where he willed his team to victory. He ranked in the top 50 in seven categories nationally including 13th in rushing touchdowns and 10th in total touchdowns.
Webb is backed up by Braylon McReynolds (So) who played in 11 games as a true freshman with 326 yards on 59 carries. He was able to show his speed and explosiveness only a few times last season, but look for him to get more opportunities this season.
The staff added Kentrell Bullock (Jr), an Ole Miss transfer, and he will also factor into the rotation with McReynolds.
Marco Lee (Sr) returns after his first season with the Jags where he had 67 carries for 247 yards and four touchdowns, including a pair of touchdowns against UCLA. He will be the bruiser back they can send in for those tough goal line and short yardage situations.
Replacing Wayne as the starter in week one is Jamaal Pritchett (So). He saw action in eight games last fall but only has two catches to his resume. On the other side is Devin Voisin (R-Jr) who played in all 13 games. He was named an honorable mention All-SBC team and All-Conference by Phil Steele. He had 64 catches for 867 yards and five touchdowns on the season, including a season-high 11 catches and 153 yards in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl against Western Kentucky.
Caullin Lacy (Jr) started all 13 games last season in the slot with a team-high 65 catches for 816 yards and six touchdowns with a career high 12 catches for 133 yards against Louisiana-Monroe. He also serves as the primary punt returner with 21 returns for 189 yards and a touchdown return against Louisiana Tech.
What may be one of the more underrated positions of strength on the offense is at tight end. The Jags return five seasoned and talented players in Lincoln Sefcik (Sr), DJ Thomas-Jones (Sr), Brandon Crum (Sr), Jacob Hopper (Jr), and Todd Justice (R-Jr). While they haven’t been featured pass receivers over the last few seasons, they are excellent possession receivers and tend to come through when the ball is thrown their way and a catch is needed.
Sefcik and Thomas-Jones will likely split starting duties again this season.
But what allows the offense to do what it does, the offensive line returns all but one starter from last year. James Jackson is gone since his eligibility was exhausted. But Josh McCulloch (Sr), Dontae Lucas (Sr), Reggie Smith (Sr), and Adrein Strickland (So) all return. Reggie Smith will move over to center and James Robinson (R-Jr) will start at left guard. Robinson transferred in from Tennessee and saw action in eight games last year as a backup guard and also on special teams.
Defense
The defense returns their own fair share of starters from last year while returning some talented players from injury too.
Jamie Sheriff (R-Sr), Wy’Kevious Thomas (R-Jr), and Charles Coleman (Sr) all return as starters on the defensive line. Brock Higdon (R-Jr), Jamall Hickbottom (Sr), and Carlos Johnson (Jr), Nathan Rawlins-Kibonge (R-So), and Maurice Strong Jr. (Sr) all return with game experience from last season. Unfortunately it seems that Ed Smith (So) will miss this game and possibly the season with an injury in the last practice of fall camp.
James Miller (Sr), Trey Kiser (Sr), and Quentin Wilfawn (R-Jr) all return as starters at linebacker. Ke’Shun Brown (R-Jr) also has starting experience and returns to bolster the group as a reserve along with Khalil Jacobs (So) and LaMondre Brooks (So) are both listed on the two-deep with game experience from last season.
The coaching staff added Gavin Forsha (Jr) from Kansas State, Taylor Milton (Jr) from Texas A&M, Emauri Sibley (So) from JuCo ranks, and Eli Webb (So) from Belhaven to add some additional depth at linebacker.
Ricky Fletcher (So) and Marquise Robinson (Jr) return as starting corners with Reggie Neely (Jr) and Dallas Gamble (R-Jr) both return with game experience as reserves.
Keith Gallmon (R-Sr) returns at free safety after missing all of 2022 with an injury. He is backed up by Rickey Hyatt (R-Jr). Jaden Voisin (R-Jr) or Jalen Jordan (Jr) are listed as the starter at Rover. Yam Banks (Jr) is back to start at Husky after leading the team with six interceptions last season.
The coaching staff added a long list of players in the offseason to add quality depth in the secondary. Reggie Neely (Jr Juco), Eli Ntsasa (Jr community college), Cameron Rutledge (Jr Division II transfer), Wesley Miller (R-Fr Mississippi State), Jordon Buchanan (R-Fr Purdue), Jamarrien Burt (R-Fr Oklahoma), Brian Dillart (R-So West Georgia), and Mike Harris (R-Jr Baylor) all transferred.
Coach Wommack also hired former Southern Miss head coach Jay Hopson, who previously served two years as Director of High School Relations at Mississippi State to coach the cornerbacks along with defensive coordinator Corey Batoon, who coaches the safeties, but calls plays from the press box during games.
Special Teams
Diego Guajardo (Sr) will handle placekicking duties, his fourth season as the starter. Desmond Trotter or Jack Martin are listed as serving as the holder. Jacob Meeks (Sr) will return to serve as kickoff specialist. With Jack Brooks deciding to depart the team, Jack Martin (Sr) who transferred from Alabama but didn’t see any action in 2022, is listed along with true freshman Aleksi Pulkkinen from Helsinki Finland as the punter.
Travis Drosos (Jr) will handle the long snapping duties with Anthony Zaccaro (Jr) backing him up.
Caullin Lacy will handle punt returns and Braylon McReynolds and Caullin Lacy will line up for kickoff returns.
Keys to the Game
Consistency
More often than not, the team that executes more consistently in the first game of the season tends to win the game.
Over the last two seasons with Coach Wommack and his staff, they have been pretty consistent in the early games of the season. In 2021 they defeated Southern Miss, now a fellow conference member, in the season opener. Then in 2022 they handled FCS Nicholls as expected, but they also went to Central Michigan and defeated the Jim McElwain coached Chippewas with consistent execution.
Quarterback Pressure
South Alabama was picked apart by a very talented and experienced quarterback at Western Kentucky. It really exposed and exploited the secondary as the weak point of the Jaguars defense.
Tulane is returning a three-year starter at quarterback who completed 62% of his passes last season for 2,684 yards while also rushing for 494 yards. They may not set off alarm bells, but Pratt has shown that he a player.
He is regarded enough to be named to the Maxwell Award Watch List in 2022 and again for this season.
Tulane will definitely test all aspects of the Jaguar defense. If the Jags defensive front can’t get pressure on Pratt and the Jag secondary struggles against the pass, it could be another long game in New Orleans.
Running Backs
The edited mantra for the Jags last season was “Run the Dang ball.” It was such a thing that strength and conditioning coach Matt Shadeed was, I believe, the first one to have a shirt made to wear at practice with….a version….of the saying prominently displayed on it.
And La’Damian Webb sure did his part!
This may be the deepest and most talented group of running backs, from top to bottom, that have all suited up for the Jags in one season. They may only be three listed on the two-deep chart, but there are five running backs who could easily be put in to start.
Last season the Jags averaged just over 155 yards per game rushing. They have a good opportunity with the talent they have to improve on that this season.
Meanwhile Tulane averaged just under 205 yards rushing per game. Their leading rusher, Tyjae Spears, is gone this season which leaves their top returning rusher as quarterback Michael Pratt.
Coach Fitz and his staff will undoubtedly find someone who fill Spears’ cleats.
The Jags defense held opponents to just over 92 yards rushing per game last season. So this could be a very interesting matchup on the field Saturday night.
Prediction
South Alabama is a 6.5 point underdog to Tulane in New Orleans.
The first game of a new season is often a tricky one. It can set the tone for the entire season to come. You find out quickly where you need to improve and likely where your strengths lie.
This couldn’t be truer than this season opener.
Two teams who exceeded expectations last season who now have higher expectations for this season. But we also have two teams that couldn’t be more opposite once the final whistle sounded last season.
Tulane held off a top 10 ranked USC, while the Jaguars suffered their worst loss of the season in their bowl game. Coach Wommack, his staff and the players all looked back at what the season could have been. A one-point loss on the road at UCLA on a field goal as time expired, a four-point loss at home against Troy in their lowest offensive output of the season, but then the 21-point loss to Western Kentucky in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl
South Alabama still has the bitter taste of defeat fresh in their mouth. But they are also going back to the same city where that bitterness originated.
I can’t help but think that’s some extra motivation.
While I may be looking at this through my red, white and blue glasses, I think the Jags not only cover the spread, but they win outright 38-34.
Preview: R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl – South Alabama vs Western Kentucky
Kickoff: Wednesday, December 21, 8:00pm
Venue: Caesars Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana
TV/Streaming: ESPN
Radio: 96.1 fm The Rocket, Sports Talk 99.5 fm, iHeartRadio App
Thunderjags Twitter: @USAThunderjags
South Alabama’s march towards the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl is quickly reaching its end. The Jags will tee it off against the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers at 8pm on Wednesday, December 21st in the Big Easy.
Jaguar fans have been eager to earn a bowl invite since their last trip in 2016.
Six years is a long time to wait for another shot to win the schools first bowl game. While the Jags were favored to be bowl eligible in preseason prognostications, few outside of Jag Nation thought they would be rolling into the post season with a 10-2 record. Much less only losing their two games by a combined 5 points.
While playing in a bowl game is a huge accomplishment for the team, the extra practices leading up to the bowl game is huge in and of itself. It’s additional reps for the young players and keeps momentum going to bridge the football season into spring football.
Head coach Kane Wommack said in his press conference leading up to game week that the team has gone back to a fall camp practice schedule. They were doing fundamental drills that haven’t been run since August due to time. But they are still doing preparation for Western Kentucky at certain times throughout those practices. Once they got to game week, then they started their usual game-week preparation.
Western Kentucky
The Hilltoppers are no stranger to South Alabama. They were fellow members in the Sun Belt Conference from 1982 until their departure in 2014. The Jags and Hilltoppers had a particularly strong rivalry in men’s basketball over the years.
The one and only time the Jags and Hilltoppers met on the gridiron, the Jags won 31-24 back in the 2013 season.
Now the Hilltoppers come in representing Conference USA with an 8-5 record on the season. They were allowed to schedule a 13th regular season game by the NCAA as compensation for traveling to play at Hawaii. Some of their noteworthy games on the season: 33-30 loss at Indiana, 73-0 win over Florida International, 31-28 loss to CUSA Champ UTSA, and a 32-31 win over Florida Atlantic in overtime in the regular season finale.
Offense
Western Kentucky is the #2 ranked passing offense team in the nation, behind only Washington and ahead of #3 Tennessee and #4 Georgia Southern. Their rushing offense ranks 72nd in the nation. They rank 10th in total offense in the nation.
On the season Western Kentucky averaged 35.8 points (18th nationally), 483.5 total yards (9th nationally), 339.2 passing yards (2nd nationally), 144.3 rushing yards (72nd nationally), and 28:52 time of possession per game (92nd nationally).
They converted 72-of-175 (41%) of their 3rd down attempts (T46th nationally) and 15-of-37 (41%) of their 4th down attempts (105th nationally).
They possessed the ball in their opponents red zone 53 times, scoring on 44 of those possessions (83%) with 34 of them being touchdowns (64%) (71st nationally).
Austin Reed went 353-of-548 (64.4%) for 4,249 yards, 36 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions at quarterback. Two other players saw some playing time but neither one had any significant numbers for the season. Reed actually put his name in the transfer portal, but has since removed it to stay at WKU.
In total, WKU had seven receivers who had over 100 yards receiving on the season, four of them with over 500 yards on the season, and also seven receivers who caught touchdowns. Malachi Corley led the team with 1,181 yards on 90 catches with 9 touchdowns. Daewood Davis added 872 yards on 63 catches with 7 touchdowns in 12 games played. Jaylen Hall had 731 yards on 59 catches with 5 touchdowns. Michael Mathison added 580 yards on 49 catches with 3 touchdowns.
Kye Robichaux and Davion Ervin-Poindexter were the top two running backs on the season. Robichaux, a sophomore, rushed for 496 yards on 73 carries with three touchdowns in only eight games played, he suffered an injury against North Texas and saw action in only one other game the rest of the season. Robichaux is listed 3rd on the depth chart at running back. Ervin-Poindexter rushed for 492 yards on 107 carries with 3 touchdowns as well. Quarterback Reed has logged 199 yards on 87 attempts with eight touchdowns.
Defense
The Hilltopper defense is allowing an average of 23.5 points (44th nationally), 380.8 total yards (69th nationally), 225.2 passing yards (70th nationally), 155.6 rushing yards (75th nationally), and 31:08 time of possession per game this season.
Opponents are converting 68-of-194 (35%) of their 3rd down attempts (39th nationally) and 14-of-28 (50%) of their 4th down attempts on the season (T62nd nationally).
Opponents have scored on 36-of-41 (88%) of their trips into the red zone. With 24 (59%) of them result in touchdowns (98th nationally).
JaQues Evans leads the team with 100 total stops, 60 of them solo. Evens also leads the team with 11 tackles for loss, and sacks with 7.5, two fumble recoveries, and a blocked kick. Derrick Smith is next with 90 total stops, 56 solo with six tackles for loss and three sacks and an interception. Kahlef Hailassie has 65 total stops, 44 of them solo, 8 tackles for loss (2nd on team), three sacks, 2 interceptions and a fumble recovery.
Kaleb Oliver and Upton Stout are the team co-leaders with three interceptions each. .
Special Teams
Brayden Narveson converted all 59 of his extra point attempts on the season. He also went 15-of-21 on field goal attempts with a long of 51 yards.
Cory Munson has handled all but one punt on the season. Munson is averaging 61.1 yards per punt with 34 touchbacks and 3 kicked out of bounds. Narveson punted once on the season for 65 yards and a touchback.
Transfer Portal
Most of WKU’s student athletes entering the transfer portal are on the defensive side of the ball. Edge rusher and leading tackler JaQues Evans entered the transfer portal on 12/14. He joined fellow edge rusher Dante Walker who joined on 12/12. Safety Arthur Brathwaite entered on 12/7.
Offensive tackle Luke Slusher and wide receiver Joshua Simon both entered the portal on 12/6.
On 12/5 Wide receiver Barry Wagner, safety Talique Allen, quarterbck Darius Ocean, and offensive tackle Rusty Staats all entered the portal.
12/1 starting kicker Brayden Narveson entered his name into the transfer portal.
South Alabama
As has been already mentioned, this is the Jags first bowl appearance since 2016 and only the 3rd bowl appearance in program history.
Head coach Kane Wommack only needed two seasons to get the Jags into a bowl game and to record their best record as a FBS program. The New Orleans Bowl gives them the opportunity to add one more to their win column and to notch the programs first bowl win.
Offense
The Jags are averaging 31.9 points (T41st nationally), 423.8 total yards (40th nationally), 259.2 passing yards (42nd nationally), 164.6 (57th nationally) rushing yards, and 32:24 time of possession (18th nationally) per game this season.
They are converting 77-of-179 (43%, 35th nationally) of their 3rd down attempts, and 17-of-26 (65.4%, T21st nationally) of their 4th down attempts.
Of the Jags 49 trips into the red zone, they’ve scored on 41 of them (83.7%) and scored touchdowns on 30 (61.2%) of those trips. Those numbers rank them at T68 nationally in red zone offense.
Quarterback Carter Bradley, who came to South Alabama from Toledo, has gone 240-of-374 (64.2%) for 2,983 yards, 25 touchdowns and 10 interceptions during the regular season. Desmond Trotter appeared in four games going 14-of-18 for 127 yards.
South Alabama had a trio of receivers with over 50 receptions and 700-yards receiving on the season. Jalen Wayne led the trio with 793 yards and 9 touchdowns on 56 catches. Caullin Lacy led the trio with 58 catches for 759 yards and six touchdowns. Devin Voisin, who came on later in the season, caught 53 passes for 718 yards and four touchdowns.
Behind the three-headed beast of receivers, the next closest is Braylon McReynolds with 188 yards on 17 catches with a touchdown.
La’Damian Webb led the Jags backfield with 1,015 yards on 197 carries with 13 touchdowns. He missed one game due to an injury.
McReynolds finished his true freshman regular season with 311 yards on 55 carries as the second leading rusher. Marco Lee rushed for 247 yards and four touchdowns on 67 carries. Omni Wells rushed for 234 yards on 55 carries.
Defense
The Jags are allowing an average of 19.4 points (T14th nationally), 302.6 total yards (11th nationally), 215.0 passing yards (51st nationally), 87.6 rushing yards (4th nationally), and 27:11 time of possession per game.
Opponents converted 49-of-164 (29.9%, 11th nationally) of their 3rd down attempts, and 15-of-26 (57.7%, T105th nationally) of their 4th down attempts.
Opponents have possessed the ball in the red zone 35 times during the regular season and scored on 28 of those trips (80%), with only 17 being touchdowns (48.6%) those numbers lands them at T36th nationally.
Jaden Voisin finished the regular season with 76 total stops, 42 of them solo, to lead the team. He added 6 tackles for loss, two interceptions, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. Trey Kiser had 71 total stops, 53 solo, with four sacks and a forced fumble on the season. Kiser and CJ Rias are team co-leaders with 10 tackles for loss each. Jamie Sheriff leads the team with six sacks.
Yam Banks leads the team with 5 interceptions on the season while also leading with 10 pass breakups and five quarterback hurries.
Special Teams
Jack Brooks has 53 punts on the season with an average of 42.8 yards per kick with 16 kicks downed inside the 20, 11 fair catches, 10 punts of 50+ yards and only 3 touchbacks.
Diego Guajardo finished the season 17-of-18 on field goals with a long of 49 yards, and 44-of-45 on extra point attempts.
Transfer Portal
Only two Jaguars who have entered the portal have been Anterrious Gray, who left the team to enter his name into the portal during the season, and reserve quarterback Eli Gainey.
Keys to the Game
Pass Defense
Western Kentucky is a very prolific passing offense led by the most prolific quarterback the Jags will have faced all season. In addition, the Jags have had their share of injuries in the back end of the defense. Keith Gallmon Jr was lost in preseason camp, Marvin Martin was lost during the season with very serious hit in practice, Quentin Wilfawn was lost during the season due to a shoulder injury.
It seems the Jags have been particularly susceptible to inside slants. But when they are able to shut down their opponents rushing attack and are able to get pressure on the quarterback with their defensive front, they have been able to drop a linebacker and take away that play.
The Hilltoppers rank above Georgia Southern (4th ranks passing offense nationally), which the Jags were able to defeat in Statesboro. The Jags held them to almost 50 yards below their season average and only allowed seven points in the second half.
Turnovers
Turnovers as a “key to the game” is pretty obvious. It’s always a key to the game.
An interesting college football stat is that, if your team averages a turnover margin of +1 per game, you should expect them to win 8 or 9 games if all other things are equal (but they never are).
However teams often have more turnovers in bowl games, possibly due to the time between their final regular season game and the bowl game. Call it rust, or just a long layoff, but teams often suffer from the “turnover bug” in postseason play.
It’s a no-brainer that if you get more turnovers than you give away, your chance of winning is higher.
The Jags offense has been very good all season protecting the ball. They’ve had 10 fumbles all season but lost only 4 of them to their opponents. Bradley has thrown 10 interceptions but he threw half of them in the final four games of the season, three in the last two while he was nursing an injured non-throwing shoulder.
Run The D*mn Ball
RTDB has become a mantra for the Jags. It was mentioned that Director of Football Athletic Performance, Matt Shadeed, printed “RTDB” on a sheet of paper and taped it to his shirt for a practice and that was when they adopted it as their mantra. Now they have actually printed shirts that have been worn by coaches in practices.
La’Damian Webb has shouldered the workload in a few games and basically willed the team to a win. The offensive line opened a crease and Webb would explode through them to grind out first down and melt the clock. That has helped him to be only the second 1,000 yard rusher in Jaguar history.
He scored the final three touchdowns against Georgia Southern in the Jags come-from-behind win and ate clock while doing it. He even did that after having the flu during the week leading up to the game.
A strong run game will minimize opponent’s possessions and shorten the game. Braylon McReynolds showed he can fill in for Webb in the final two games of the season when Webb was hampered by a foot injury. Marco Lee and Omni Wells also had a huge game filling in for Webb and McReynolds when they both missed a game early in the season.
Prediction
South Alabama opened at a 7.5-point favorite but the spread has shrunk to only a 4.5 point favorite for the Jags.
Coach Wommack and his staff are great and preparing for games as well as master motivators. I expect the Jags to come out fast. The team, especially the seniors, will be highly motivated to earn the first bowl win in program history. Excluding players who have transferred from other programs, there’s no one on the team who have been to a bowl game before.
I think the Jags win but I think it will be a close, hard-fought game where they don’t cover the spread. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see the Jags having to mount a game winning drive late in the game.
Go Jags!
South Alabama Downs Southern Miss 27-20 To Earn Ninth Win
South Alabama (9-2, 6-1 SBC) scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter and recovered an onside kick attempt by Southern Miss (5-6, 3-4 SBC) to preserve the win. The Jags finish their road season 5-1, their only loss a 32-31 walk-off loss at UCLA. It also runs the Jags record against USM to 3-0 all-time as well.
The Jags scored their second touchdown in the fourth quarter with 1:53 left to seal the game. Southern Miss kicked a field goal with :13 left in the game to set up the onside kick attempt needing two scores. The onside kick went to Devin Voisin who got his body in front of it but didn’t cleanly field it. The ball was underneath him as he turned around looking for it. Two USM players dove for it but also didn’t cover it and actually knocked it into Voisin’s chest to cover.
It looked like South Alabama was going to start the game fast again. Braylon McReynolds took the handoff on the second snap 64 yards. But the offense stalled and settled for a short Diego Guajardo field goal for the first points of the game.
After forcing a three-and-out defensively and a 16-yard punt return, the Jags looked to ready for another drive for points. However, Carter Bradley didn’t see a defender hiding behind a referee in the middle of the field and threw it right to him for an interception. Southern Miss drove the short field and Frank Gore Jr ran in untouched off left tackle to give the Eagles the lead 7-3.
After a failed fake punt, the Jags gave Southern Miss the ball at the Jags 36. But the defense held strong at the 5-yard line and forced a field goal giving Southern Miss a 10-3 lead about midway through the second quarter.
The Jags answered back quickly with two big plays for 29 yards each by Braylon McReynolds and Devin Voisin. Bradley found Jalen Wayne crossing in the back of the end zone and hit him in stride to tie the game at 10-each.
Desmond Trotter came in for the final possession of the half after Bradley went to the locker room early to get some treatment on his left shoulder. Trotter led the Jags on a quick drive to set up Guajardo for a 49-yard field goal to end the first half with a 13-10 lead.
After trading punts back and forth in the 3rd quarter, Southern Miss scored on a broken play to regain the lead. Quarterback Trey Lowe and Frank Gore Jr both moved left looking to the sideline, but the center snapped the ball behind Gore. Gore picked up the ball and threw it deep to an open receiver in the end zone for a 29-yard touchdown with 1:09 left in the quarter.
Stats
South Alabama dominated Southern Miss in yardages. The Jags had 411 total yards of offense to 298, they threw for 257 yards to USM’s 196, and rushed for 154 to 102.
The Jags were 5-of-13 on 3rd down attempts and converted 2-of-4 attempts on 4th down.
Southern Miss had a 31:14 to 28:46 time of possession edge.
Carter Bradley went 15-of-22 for 238 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions. Desmond Trotter went 2-of-4 for 19 yards on one possession at the end of the first half.
Devin Voisin led the Jags receiver corps with 6 catches for 97 yards and a touchdown. Jalen Wayne caught 4 passes for 33 yards and a touchdown. Braylon McReynolds added 3 catches for 66 yards. Caullin Lacy caught one pass, a touch pass sweep, for 33 yards and a touchdown.
True freshman Braylon McReynolds carried the ball 15 times for 100 yards, his first 100-yard game as a Jaguar. Marco Lee added 25 yards on six carries and was key converted some short first downs.
Trey Lowe was 18-of-33 for 167 yards and an interception. Frank Gore Jr completed his only pass attempt for a 29-yard touchdown.
Jason Brownlee led all receivers with 7 catches for 109 yards and a touchdown. Latreal Jones caught three for 26 yards.
Next
A few Jaguar players were banged up in the game but none were kept from returning. Carter Bradley injured his shoulder on the touchdown pass to Jalen Wayne. Wayne, on the same play, rolled and hit the wall with his knee. After wincing in some pain, he eventually jogged off slightly favoring the right knee he hit.
A few defensive secondary players were banged up too.
La’Damian Webb traveled with the team and came out to warm but, but quickly changed back into his street clothes.
Hopefully all those guys will be good to go by next Saturday.
South Alabama returns home for their regular season finale against Old Dominion. The Jags and the Monarchs will kick off at 11am on Saturday, November 26 at Hancock Whitney Stadium as South Alabama goes for their first 10-win season as a FBS program.
Preview: South Alabama Opens Conference Play At Louisiana
Kickoff: Saturday October 1, 4:00pm
Venue: Cajun Field, Lafayette, LA
TV/Streaming: ESPN+
Radio: 96.1 fm The Rocket, Sports Talk 99.5 fm, iHeartRadio App
#5 Jersey: Desmond Trotter
Thunderjags Twitter: @USAThunderjags
South Alabama (3-1) took another big step forward last Saturday against Louisiana Tech (1-3). Though they opened the game with a big play, it was called back due to a penalty. But they didn’t let the adversity affect them.
If anything, they used it as motivation.
They took the opening possession and marched 80 yards over six plays in just over two minutes to put the points back on the board. Then after the defense held La. Tech to a 3-and-out, Caullin Lacy returned the punt 57 yards for a touchdown. He was also named the Sun Belt Conference Specials Teams Player of the week for that. From there, they mostly cruised to a 38-14 win.
Yet the game was still full of adversity.
The Jags were flagged for 14 penalties, totaling 131 penalty yards. It also saw a targeting penalty called down from the press box when Brock Higdon was seemingly pushed into the quarterback. Head coach Kane Wommack appealed the subsequent disqualification in the first half of the next game, however his appeal was denied.
That game is now behind them, as is their non-conference slate of game. Now they face the next test of their season: conference play.
What better way to start your conference schedule than to begin with the perennial powerhouse in your division. The Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns have won the Sun Belt Conference Western Division championship the last four years (2018-2021), they shared the 2020 conference championship with Coastal Carolina due to Covid cancellation of the championship game, and they won the 2021 conference championship game versus Appalachian State in Billy Napier’s final game as head coach before leaving for the University of Florida.
Louisiana-Lafayette (2-2, 0-1 SBC)
The Ragin’ Cajuns are led by first year head coach Michael Desormeaux. He played college football for the Cajuns before a short-lived career with the Jacksonville Jaguars and Calgary Stampeders. He spent six seasons in the high school coaching ranks, three of them as a head coach, before making the jump to collegiate coaching.
He joins the Cajuns in 2016 as running backs coach, then served as tight ends coach for four seasons. Last year he was co-offensive coordinator and tight ends coach before being selected as head coach.
The Cajuns opened the season with a pair of wins over Southeastern Louisiana (24-7) and Eastern Michigan (49-21), both at home. However, they’ve come up short the last two contests against Rice (21-33) and Louisiana-Monroe (17-21), both on the road.
Offense
The Cajuns aren’t the Cajuns of the last few years. Quarterback Levi Lewis is gone and they return only one major contributing running back from a year ago. Chris Smith led the team rushing last season with 855 yards on 153 attempts. He had a career outing against Arkansas State when he ran for 238 yards on 24 carries with two touchdowns.
After Smith, they only return one other running back who saw action last season. He only had eight carries for 14 yards though.
As a team the Cajuns are averaging 27.75 points, 340.5 total yards, 233.25 passing yards, and only 107.3 rushing yards and 27:48 time of possession per game.
They are converting 40% of their 3rd down attempts (22-of-55) and 25% of their 4th down attempts (2-of-8). They are winning big in the turnover margin so far with a +9 turnover margin (3 turnovers to 12 takeaways). They have already logged nine interceptions through four games this season.
Of their 13 trips into opponents red zone, they have scored on 10 of those trips, with eight of them being touchdowns.
Chandler Fields leads the quarterback duo going 50-of-88 for seven touchdowns, and two interceptions. Ben Wooldridge is 30-of-45 for 350 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions.
Michael Jefferson leads the receiving corps with 17 catches for 259 yards and two touchdowns. Johnny Lumpkin and Chris Smith are the only other players to log double digit receptions (10). Lumpkin has 99 yards and three touchdowns while Smith has 91 yards. John Stephens Jr is the only other receiver with over 100 yards receiving (103 to be exact) with one touchdown.
Chris Smith leads the rushing attack with 157 yards on 35 carries with two touchdowns. Terrence Williams is the only other rusher over the century mark with 104 yards on 29 carries. Three other players have double-digit carries, Jocob Kibodi (19 for 96 yards), Dre’lyn Washington (17 for 65 yards and a touchdown), and Chandler Fields with 16.
Defense
Opponents are averaging 20.5 points, 372.3 total yards of offense, 241 passing yards, 131.3 rushing yards and 31:58 time of possession per game against the Cajuns.
They are converting just over 44% of their 3rd down attempts (26-of-59) and just under 43% of their 4th down attempts (3-of-7). The defense has taken the ball away from their opponents 12 times, nine of them interceptions and three fumbles.
Opponents have been in the red zone 13 times and came away with scores 12 of those trips, ten of them coming as touchdowns.
Jourdan Quibodeaux is the leading tackler with 31 total stops, 12 of them solo from his linebacker position. Kam Pedescleaux is right behind him with 30 total stops, 18 solo with a forced fumble and an interception. No player on defense has more than one interception on the season.
Special Teams
Preston Safford is 2-of-4 on the season on field goals, his longest make is 36 yards. His two missing came from a 50+ yard attempt and a 40+ yard attempt.
Rhys Byrns has punted 19 times with an average of 45.3 yards per punt with two touchbacks, five fair catches, 6 downed inside the 20 and four kicks of 50+ yards.
Eric Garror has returned 9 punts, one of them for a touchdown.
South Alabama (3-1, 0-0 SBC)
For the second-consecutive season the Jags have started the year 3-1. However the one loss last season was to the very opponent they face this weekend, Louisiana-Lafayette.
In that game the Cajuns jumped out to a 20-0 lead before the Jags began their rally. They shut out the Cajuns in the second half. Diego Guajardo has his worst outing at a Jag that night with a blocked extra point, missing a second extra point, and missing a 37-yard field goal with 1:06 left in the game to take the lead and possibly win.
The Jags may have lost 18-20, but they made a statement to the Cajuns and to the Sun Belt Conference that they were ready to play.
Offense
In only his second season at the helm, coach Wommack and offensive coordinator Major Applewhite have transformed the Jaguar offense into something powerful.
The Jags rank 44th nationally in total offense, 61st nationally in rushing offense, and 35th in passing offense. But most of all they are tied for 29th nationally in scoring offense, something that Jag fans would not have believe two years ago.
On the season the Jags are averaging 38.75 points, 449.5 total yards, 284.25 passing yards, and 165.3 rushing yards, and 33:39 time of possession per game.
They are converting just over 46% of their 3rd down attempts (25-of-54) and 33% of their 4th down attempts (1-of-3). They have turned the ball over 4 times, three of them interceptions and only one fumble, which places them at +6 turnover margin on the season.
Of their 19 trips into the red zone, the offense has scored 16 times, only three of them being field goals.
Carter Bradley is 83-of-124 for 1,029 yards, 10 touchdowns and three interceptions on the season. Desmond Trotter, in only two games of action, is 12-of-14 for 108 yards.
Jalen Wayne leads the receiving corps with 22 catches for 309 yards and three touchdowns after being held mostly in check by Louisiana Tech last week. Caullin Lacy has 18 catches for 258 yards and two touchdowns. Devin Voisin, who has come on of late, has 16 catches for 152 yards and a touchdown. La’Damian Webb has 11 catches for 118 yards and a touchdown, some of those come by a jet sweep like play that counts as a forward pass.
Webb leads the rushing attack with 388 yards on 68 carries with five touchdowns. Terrion Avery currently resides as second on the team in rushing with 82 yards on 21 carries. Braylon McReynolds has 79 yards on 15 carries. Omni Wells has 46 yards on 12 carries. Marco Lee adds 39 yards on 15 carries with two touchdowns.
However it was released this week that Avery is no longer on the team. Additionally offensive linemen Antawn Lewis and Anterrious Gray are both no longer with the team. How much that affect the team down the stretch will remain to be seen. Both Lewis and Gray both have experience as starters in 2021 but were beat out at their positions to begin the season. Both came to USA as Division I transfers and are fifth-year seniors.
But the offensive line group started the season with 21 players, so they should have enough bodies but will the loss of experience come back to haunt them some? We’ll have to wait and see.
Defense
The Jags defense is picking up from where they left off last season. They rank 27th nationally in total defense, 67th nationally in passing yards allowed, and 17th nationally in rushing defense, and are tied for 37th nationally in scoring defense.
Jaden Voisin leads the defense with 20 total stops, 11 solo, with three tackles for loss, two pass breakups and a quarterback hurry. Jalen Jordan is right behind him with 19 stops, 10 solo. Trey Kiser is next with 18 stops, 14 solo, a sack and a fumble recovery. Quentin Wilfawn, who missed last weeks game due to injury, comes in 4th with 17 stops, 13 solo, with 1.5 tackles for loss. CJ Rias leads the team with two sacks.
Despite only recording one tackle last week, Yam Banks was a huge force for the defense against La. Tech. He accounted for three of the five takeaways. He picked off two passes, returning one for a touchdown, and recovered a fumble.
Special Teams
Diego Guajardo is a perfect 5-for-5 on field goal attempts on the season with a season long 48 yarder, has only missed one of his 19 extra point attempts.
Jack Brooks has punted 17 times this season with an average of 43.4 yards per kick. He has a long of 58 yards, four punts of 50+ yards, one touchback, one fair catch, seven downed inside the 20 yard line.
Braylon McReynolds has returned 6 kickoffs for an average of 21.5 yards per return.
Lacy has fielded six punts with one returned 57 yards for a touchdown last week against La. Tech.
Keys to the Game
Establishing the run
The Cajuns have had a lot of success making teams lean towards the pass over the run. They have been able to pick off nine passes through four games, which is worth noting for sure.
The Jags have had a lot of success this season running the ball. This has really helped the offense be more balanced and more efficient in across the board.
It all starts with the offensive line though. But it also helps a lot to have a dynamic running back like La’Damian Webb who manages to seemingly never go down on the first hit.
Cleaning up the mistakes
Last week the Jags were hit with 14 penalties. They were flagged for 10 against Nicholls to start the season and they had nine against Central Michigan the week after that. But then two weeks ago in their last second loss to UCLA the Jags only committed four penalties.
In a close game, penalties can mean a win or a loss. A poorly timed flag can move you out of field goal range or make a 3rd or 4th and short into a 3rd or 4th and long for the offense. A 3rd and long can turn into a 3rd and short, or a 3rd down stop can turn into a 1st down for your opponent, all by the drop of a yellow hanky.
I tend to think of penalties in four categories: strategy, mental mistakes, aggressive play, and frustration. Strategic penalties are like taking a delay of game before a punt or a defender committing pass interference when they would have been beat for a touchdown.
Sometimes you’re going to get a penalty from aggressive play, they just happen sometimes. You don’t want them to, but sometimes they come with the game. Mental mistakes, or lack of good execution, should only happen occasionally but they can and should be worked on and corrected. Penalties out of frustration are the worst in my book. They are overly aggressive play, they are taking pot shots when its just not needed. These can escalate quickly and can rob you of your players and lead to a string of penalties.
In the end, you strive to commit zero penalties but you particularly want to avoid penalties in key situations. When you are averaging almost 10 flags per game, at some point it’s going to bite you in the rear if you don’t get it cleaned up.
Winning On the Road
Last year the Jags were 1-5 on the road. From 2018 through 2020 the Jags road records were 0-6, 0-6, and 2-3. South Alabama has not won three games on the road in a single season since 2014.
It’s time to get that monkey off the back.
This team has the feel of something special. They’ve already gone on the road once and won against a fellow Group of 5 school in Central Michigan. They also went across the country and went toe-to-toe with a Power 5 school in UCLA and outplayed them for the majority of the game only to lose on a field goal as time expired.
The culture is different. The play is different.
It takes a different mentality to win on the road. You’re out of your normal routine and out of your comfort zone. You’re in a stadium with mostly fans cheering against you. It takes extra focus to tune out all of the distractions and to focus on the fundamentals of your assignments each play.
It seems that this team has that about them. They have the talent, they have the focus, and they have the preparation and gameplan each and every week.
But they also have a swagger about them too. Not a pompous air, but they exude that they know they have a winning gameplan, that they feel that they have out worked their opponent all week and are ready to execute at a high level each and every play. They have an air about them that they are ready for that next step.
Now is the time to take that next step forward for the program.
Prediction
This Jags team has a different feel about them. They don’t let their emotions get too high and they don’t let them get too low. They know they have business to take care of and winning one game is not the goal.
They wanted to win against UCLA but they didn’t let the loss affect them. They came back the next week and was quick to jump on La Tech from the opening kick.
But there’s more to Louisiana-Lafayette. It’s a big personal. They have been the western division champ for the last four seasons. They are the bar in the West, even if coach Napier is no longer there.
The Cajuns lead the series 8-2 with wins in the last six consecutive meetings. The Jags are also 0-5 at Cajun Field in Lafayette.
What better way to signal to the west and the entire Sun Belt Conference that the Jaguars of South Alabama are here and ready to play. This could be the win that, when we write the season retrospective to close the book on the 2022 season, we point to this game and say “that was the changing of the guard.”
Last season was very nearly a Jags win. Some unfortunate plays on special teams in wet conditions was the difference between a loss and a win.
Cajun fans have their hands hovering over the panic button after dropping games to Rice and Louisiana-Monroe. As we have seen many times the scripted quarterback rotation just doesn’t seem to work as well as some coaches tend to think it will.
I think the Cajuns will compete hard to keep from dropping three consecutive games. The loss to Rice ended the national longest active winning streak. The loss to ULM snapped a 16-game winning streak against Sun Belt Conference West Division opponents and the back-to-back losses are the first since the final two games of the 2018 season. Plus it’s their homecoming game.
The Jags are an 8.5 point favorite on the road against the Cajuns. I think South Alabama will win and cover, 31-21.
Go Jags!