Preview: South Alabama Travels To Louisiana-Lafayette For West Division Showdown
Kickoff: Saturday, November 16, 6pm
Venue: Cajun Field, Lafayette, LA
TV/Streaming: ESPN+
Radio: 96.1 fm The Rocket, Sports Talk 99.5 fm, iHeartRadio App
Thunderjags on X (formerly known as Twitter): @USAThunderjags
The South Alabama Jaguars are back on the road this weekend for the first road game in over a month. They travel to Lafayette, LA to take on the West Division leading Ragin’ Cajuns for a very pivotal game as the end of the regular season is quickly approaching.
The Jags (4-5, 3-2 Sun Belt Conference) all but had their hopes to represent the west in the conference title game dashed two weeks ago. Georgia Southern took advantage of two opportunities given to them and seized control of the game for a 34-30 defeat of USA on November 2nd. A game the Jags should have won.
The Cajuns (8-1, 5-0) may be playing some of their best football of the season right now. They enter the game coming off of a 55-19 blowout of Arkansas State at Cajun Field last Saturday.
This is an opportunity for the Jags to earn a season-defining win and creep one game closer to bowl eligibility. They’ve already let two conference wins slip from their grasp this season. They held the lead against both Arkansas State and Georgia Southern when they held the lead late in the game. They cannot afford to let any more slip away as their path to earn bowl eligibility is narrowing by the week.
The Cajuns have a history of winning and their home stadium is a difficult place to play. Head coach Major Applewhite and the Jags have their work cut out for them this week. Hopefully coming into the game after an off week will work to their advantage.
Let’s dig into the opponent some along with the season stats to this point.
Louisiana-Lafayette
The Cajuns are under the direction of Michael Desormeaux, who is in his third season as head coach of the program. He was a former record-setting quarterback for Louisiana-Lafayette.
In both seasons as head coach, he’s led ULL to its fifth and sixth-consecutive bowl games, which is a school record. He has a career head coaching record of 21-15 (11-9 SBC) including his win in the 2021 New Orleans Bowl as interim head coach. However, he has lost both bowl games he’s coached since then.
He was named the head coach after joining the staff in 2016 and helped the program win four consecutive SBC West Division titles (2018-2021) and won its first outright SBC Championship in program history in 2021 when he was serving a Co-Offensive coordinator. His offense ranked 3rd in the Sun Belt in both scoring offense and total offense during the 2021 13-win season.
Desormeaux was the only member that Billy Napier retained from the previous staff when he was hired.
Offense
Ben Wooldridge is 177-of-258 (68.6%) for 2,301 yards with 17 touchdowns and 4 interceptions. Chandler Fields is 10-of-12 (83.3%) for 97 yards on the season in three games.
The Cajuns spread the ball around pretty equally. They have five players with 21 or more pass receptions and over 200 yards receiving on the season.
Terrance Carter has 558 yards on 36 catches (both lead the team) with four touchdowns. Lance LeGrendre has 515 yards on 27 catches with four touchdowns. Harvey Broussard has 271 yards on 18 catches for three touchdowns.
Similarly, the offensive backfield spreads the ball around a lot too. They have three running backs with over 400 yards rushing and over 50 carries each. Bill Davis leads the backfield with 585 yards on 98 carries with 5 touchdowns. Zylan Perry has 463 yards on 73 carries with two touchdowns. Dre’lyn Washington has 412 yards on 56 carries with 5 touchdowns. Ben Wooldridge has 190 yards on 56 carries with 5 touchdowns.
| Stat | Average per game |
| Points | 32.2 |
| Total Offense | 392.4 |
| Passing Offense | 216.7 |
| Rushing Offense | 175.7 |
| Time of Possession | 29:06 |
| Penalty Yards | 48.6 |
| Stat | Cumulative for Season |
| 3rd Downs | 68 of 167 (41%) |
| 4th Downs | 11 of 20 (55%) |
| Red Zone Scoring Attempts | 42 of 52 (81%) |
| Red Zone Touchdowns | 30 of 52 (58%) |
| Penalties – Yards | 79 – 632 |
| Fumbles – Lost | 27 – 12 |
Defense
KC Ossai leads the team with 76 total stops, 41 solo, with two tackles for loss, three pass breakups and 0.5 sacks. Carmycah Glass has 51 total stops, 30 solo, with 3.5 TFLs and 0.5 sacks.
Cameron Whitfield leads the team with five sacks and six TFLs.
Tyrone Lewis and Tyree Skipper are both tied for the team lead with four interceptions each.
| Stat | Average per game |
| Points | 28.6 |
| Total Offense | 385.8 |
| Passing Offense | 215 |
| Rushing Offense | 170.8 |
| Time of Possession | 30:51 |
| Penalty Yards | 48.9 |
| Stat | Cumulative for Season |
| 3rd Downs | 89 of 200 (45%) |
| 4th Downs | 23 of 31 (74%) |
| Red Zone Scoring Attempts | 48 of 58 (83%) |
| Red Zone Touchdowns | 37 of 58 (64%) |
| Penalties – Yards | 70 – 636 |
| Fumbles – Lost | 16 – 9 |
Special Teams
Nathan Torney is averaging 39.6 yards per punt with 10 fair catches, 5 downed inside the 20 and a long of 54 yards.
Kenneth Almendares is 19-of-21 placekicking (90.5%) with his only misses coming from 50+ yards. He does have a season long of 53 yards to his credit.
Jacob Bernard returns most puts for the Cajuns and he is averaging 5.8 yards per return. His longest was 32 yards.
South Alabama
Offense
The Jags currently sit 1st in the conference in scoring offense, 2nd in the Sun Belt Conference in rushing offense while 2nd in the conference in total offense and time of possession. Nationally the Jags are 15th in rushing offense, 21st in scoring offense, 14th in total offense, 35th in time of possession. But they are also 2nd nationally in Passes Had Intercepted (2), 5th Turnovers Lost (6), and 5th in Punt Returns (17.5).
| Stat | Average per game |
| Points | 35.2 |
| Total Offense | 457.1 |
| Passing Offense | 266.8 |
| Rushing Offense | 190.3 |
| Time of Possession | 32:29 |
| Penalty Yards | 44.4 |
| Stat | Cumulative for Season |
| 3rd Downs | 54 of 108 (50%) |
| 4th Downs | 7 of 12 (58.3%) |
| Red Zone Scoring Attempts | 40 of 43 (93%) |
| Red Zone Touchdowns | 27 of 43 (62.8%) |
| Penalties – Yards | 51 – 400 |
| Fumbles – Lost | 3 – 0 |
Gio Lopez is 150-of-230 (65.2%) for 1,889 yards with 14 touchdowns to 2 interceptions. Bishop Davenport is 28-of-48 (58.3%) for 293 yards with 1 touchdown.
Jamaal Pritchett continues to distance himself from the remainder of the receivers. He has 62 catches for 769 yards and 7 touchdowns. Devin Voisin has 27 catches for 326 yards. Jeremiah Webb has 333 yards on 20 catches with two touchdowns.
Fluff Bothwell barely holds the team lead in rushing yards with 611 on 91 carries while leading the team with 10 rushing touchdowns. He also ranks 1st in the conference with his 10 touchdowns and 10th nationally in rush yards per carry (6.77). Kentrel Bullock has 606 yards on 102 carries with 5 touchdowns. Lopez has rushed for 393 yards on 62 carries with 4 touchdowns.
Defense
The Jags defense stacks up pretty good in the several categories in the conference. They are 2nd in Rush Defense, 3rd in 3rd down defense and red zone defense, 4th in scoring defense and 1st down defense, 6th in 4th down defense, and 7th in total defense.
| Stat | Average per game |
| Points | 21.8 |
| Total Offense | 335.4 |
| Passing Offense | 173 |
| Rushing Offense | 162.4 |
| Time of Possession | 27:31 |
| Penalty Yards | 44.8 |
| Stat | Cumulative for Season |
| 3rd Downs | 51 of 111 (46%) |
| 4th Downs | 8 of 9 (88.9%) |
| Red Zone Scoring Attempts | 25 of 25 (100%) |
| Red Zone Touchdowns | 18 of 25 (72%) |
| Penalties – Yards | 44 – 403 |
| Fumbles – Lost | 6 – 3 |
Blayne Myrick paces the defense with 68 total stops, 28 solo, with one sack and 5 TFLs. Jordan Scruggs is next on the team with 49 total stops, 23 solo, with 3 TFLs and an interception.
Jaden Voisin leads the team with 3 interceptions. Courtney McBride Jr leads the team with 4 sacks and 6.5 TFLs.
Special Teams
Aleksi Pulkkinen is averaging 41.7 yards per punt with 13 fair catches, 13 downed inside the 20-yard line, two touchbacks and 2 50+ kicks and a long of 67 yards.
Laith Marjan is 14-of-15 (93.3%) with his only miss coming from 50+ yards out. He has a season long of 49 yards.
Pritchett is averaging 17.5 yards per punt return with one touchdown on the year.
Braylon McReynolds, after re-emerging for the Jags, showed up on kickoff returns and is averaging 25.3 yards per return over his three kick returns. Unfortunately, he fumbled in his second return attempt that gave Georgia Southern a big boost of momentum to get back into the game.
Keys to the Game
Don’t beat yourself
The Jags were mired with 13 penalties for 99 yards, with 10 of them coming from the offense. Six were false starts, three holding and one offensive pass interference. This was at home too, not on the road in a loud stadium in hostile environment.
While the officiating in the game, and the conference, is something that can easily be debated (look for more about this soon). You still have to play very disciplined football and you just cannot set your team back like that so many times.
That has to be cleaned up to compete against the Cajuns.
Turnovers
One key turnover very early in the fourth quarter solidly swung the momentum into Georgia Southern’s favor. After the Jags had taken a commanding 30-14 lead, but had just given up a touchdown after miscommunication on the kickoff gave the Eagles a short field. On the kickoff, Braylon McReynolds took the kickoff at the 3-yard line but fumbled the ball on the return giving the Eagles the ball at the Jaguars 21-yard line. Just a couple plays later they had cut the lead to a mere 3 points.
The Jags have a +7-turnover margin on the season while the Cajuns have a +8-turnover margin. The Cajuns have 9 interceptions while the Jags have 11 takeaways by interception. Since both teams protect the ball very well, but generate takeaways, if either team can force one it could prove to be big storyline in this game.
The Jags rank 2nd in the nation with only 2 interceptions thrown on the season.
Stretching the Defense
The Jags and Gio Lopez have not been very accurate taking deep shots downfield. From memory, it has seemed that Lopez has been overthrowing his receivers lately. It could be from his limited reps in practice due to his lingering turf toe injury. Hopefully with some extra rest his toe will be in better shape going into the game against the Cajuns and have allowed him more practice reps during game week.
If he can stretch the field on some deep passes, it will further open up running lanes and play action passes.
Prediction
After being favored over the last few games, the Jags now find themselves the underdog on the road. The Cajuns are a 7-point favorite to win.
The Cajuns lead the series 9-3 and have a 5-1 record at home. This game could have a lot of fireworks as these two teams are two of the top offenses in the conference. The Cajuns just edge out the Jags in total offense 457.1 to 455.1.
I don’t have the best feeling about this after watching what the Cajuns did last week against Arkansas State and the week before against Texas State. It really depends which Jaguar team gets off the bus for the game.
I think with an extra week to prepare, I think the Jags cover but Cajuns pull out the win.
Go Jags!
South Alabama Falls At Home To Georgia Southern 34-30
South Alabama had a nightmare of a fourth quarter. They allowed 20 points in the final stanza to fall 34-30 to Georgia Southern and continuing “the streak” of winning and losing in pairs.
“We have to play better,” said head coach Major Applewhite. “We were our own worst enemy. … We just did not play clean enough in the fourth quarter. Give them credit for coming back and winning the ball game, but we certainly made it a little bit easier.”
The Jags (4-5, 3-2 Sun Belt Conference) scored 27-unanswered points after the Eagles (6-3, 4-1 SBC) took a 14-3 lead around midway through the second quarter. South Alabama got a touchdown to answer when Fluff Bothwell took it in from 1-yard out. Laith Marjan added a field goal with just 7 seconds left in the half for a 14-13 deficit going into the locker room.
The opening drive of the second half was going well until the Jags got into the red zone. DJ Thomas-Jones caught a pass and was forced out of bounds at the 1-yard line, but Devin Voisin drew a flag for an offensive pass interference. This was followed by a flag for holding on Kenton Jerido. On 3rd and goal at the 25. Gio Lopez found Jamaal Pritchett but he could only manage 19 yards and head coach Major Applewhite settled for a 24-yard field goal by Laith Marjan to take a 15-14 lead.
The next South Alabama possession moved well again…until the Jags got into the red zone again. Jeremiah Webb was flagged for a false start on first down. But Full Bothwell was not going to be denied. He covered the 22 yards for his second touchdown of the game and his 10th of the season, to give the Jags a 23-14 lead at the 5:08 mark of the third quarter.
After a turnover on downs near midfield, the Jaguar offense moved the ball down the field quickly. Lopez connected with Devin Voisin at the 6-yard line, he advanced up to the field to the 3-yard line when he was hit and fumbled the ball forward into the end zone. Thankfully Pritchett was aware and fell onto the ball in the endzone for a touchdown to give the Jags a 30-14 lead with seconds left in the third quarter.
A sky kick on the kickoff was returned 25-yards by the up-man to the Jags 46-yard line. Starting the fourth quarter facing 2nd and 9, the Eagles decided to throw deep and quarterback JC French found Josh Dallas behind the defense for a 45-yard touchdown.
“We had a miscommunication on special teams,” Applewhite said about the kick. “It took the air out of the stadium when we gave them great field position and those are the type of things we can’t do down the stretch as a ball club and expect to win games.”
Braylon McReynolds returned the ensuing kickoff 18 yards before the refs ruled a fumble was recovered by Georgia Southern. The video replay seemed to show a Jag player falling on the ball cleanly then an Eagle jumped on and wrestled the ball away. But two plays later Georgia Southern was back on the board with another touchdown, cutting the Jags lead to 30-27 with only 50 seconds off the clock in the final quarter.
The next Jags possession started with yet another false start leading to the offense going three-and-out.
Georgia Southern was aided again by the guys in striped shirts when Reggie Neely, who was lowering his body for a tackle, was ruled to be targeting because the ball carrier lowered his head which led to a helmet to helmet hit.
(As an aside, when a defender lowers his body for a tackle and the ball carrier lowers his head for a hit, it should not be flagged as a targeting penalty.)
A few plays later quarterback Dexter Williams threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to Dalen Cobb to give the Eagles the final margin of 34-30.
The Jags following possession started with yet another holding penalty to get the behind the down and distance schedule. Gio Lopez threw deep right intended for Jeremiah Webb, who seemed to be cutting in and had to re-adjust to Lopez’s pass going to the outside, but the Eagles intercepted it at the Georgia Southern 34.
Bishop Davenport came in for Lopez after he went into the trainers’ tent after the interception for what seems to have been a concussion check. On 3rd and 6 at the Eagles 16, Davenport took a sack for a loss of 7-yards. On 4th & 13 the Eagles sent the house on a blitz. Davenport attempted to spin and move up in the pocket but was taken down for a 9-yard loss.
“It’s a tough situation,” Applewhite explained. “I mean, their ears are pinned back, they know exactly what the situation is and it’s not an ideal spot for Bishop. But we’ve got to somehow, some way, get the ball out.”
With all three timeouts left, the Jags just needed a defensive stop, but a flag for defensive delay of game all but sealed the game when the Eagles were able to gain just enough to convert a first down on 2nd & 4.
Stats
South Alabama
Gio Lopez finished the game 22-of-30 for 257 yards with a touchdown and an interception, only his second on the season. Bishop Davenport was 1-for-2 for 17 yards in relief.
Jamaal Pritchett led all receivers with 12 catches for 107 yards and a touchdown (on the Voisin fumble). Voisin finished with 5 catches for 66 yards.
Kentrel Bullock led all rushers with 101 yards on 17 carries. Lopez added 43 yards on 7 carries. Bothwell had just 31 yards on 6 carries with two touchdowns.
Georgia Southern
JC French was 22-for-27 for 198 yards and two touchdowns. Dexter Williams III was 3-of-5 for 33 yards and a touchdown.
OJ Arnold had 6 catches for 42 yards. Josh Dallas had 5 catches for 96 yards and two touchdowns. Dalen Cobb had 5 catches for 54 yards and a touchdown.
| Stat | South Alabama | Georgia Southern |
| Total Yards | 458 | 337 |
| Passing Yards | 274 | 231 |
| Rushing Yards | 184 | 106 |
| Penalties | 13 – 99 | 5 – 41 |
| 3rd downs | 5-of-12 | 7-of-16 |
| 4th downs | 1-of-2 | 3-of-4 |
| Time of possession | 28:08 | 31:52 |
| Turnovers | 2 (7) | 0 (0) |
Next
The Jags have a bye week before hitting the road for Lafayette, Louisiana to face the first-place Ragin’ Cajuns on Saturday, November 16.
South Alabama needs to find two wins over the final three games of the season in order to get to their third-consecutive bowl game.
Preview: South Alabama vs Georgia Southern
Kickoff: Saturday, November 2, 6:30pm
Venue: Hancock Whitney Stadium, Mobile, AL
TV/Streaming: ESPNU
Radio: 96.1 fm The Rocket, Sports Talk 99.5 fm, iHeartRadio App
Thunderjags on X (formerly known as Twitter): @USAThunderjags
#5 Jersey: TBA
South Alabama enters this week’s game with an even record overall and looks to both break some bad patterns and continue some good patterns when they host Georgia Southern on Saturday night at Hancock Whitney Stadium.
The Jags (4-4, 3-1 Sun Belt) comes in after winning their last two match-ups on the season, both at home. This will be the third and final game of a three-game home stand by the Jags. They also have a two-game streak going against Georgia Southern (5-3, 3-1 SBC).
They are also the only two wins the Jags have had in nine meetings between the two programs.
We also alluded to breaking a streak. Dating back to the 2023 season the Jags have had a curious pattern going. They tend to win and lose in pairs. It’s not a perfect pattern, it was technically broken by the win in the 68 Ventures Bowl.
Or was it just interrupted?
Head Coach Major Applewhite can have a testy side to him. Last week when a reporter brought up that his team was 3-0 in weeknight games but 0-4 in Saturday games, he didn’t seem very…entertaining of that question. This week the same reporter asked about “the pattern” as I have referred to it.
“This is about as much prosperity as we can handle,” Applewhite joked. “So, everybody brace themselves it’s time to go win three in a row.”
It’s good to see both sides of coach Applewhite, throwing some shade and also tossing out a laugh.
The Eagles come to Mobile tied for first place in the Sun Belt East Division and looking to keep it that way. But they are tied with Old Dominion who holds the tiebreaker based on their 47-19 head-to-head loss on Thursday, October 17. They will have a slight advantage over the Jags since they will be coming in with a couple extra days to prepare.
But enough of that, let’s take a look at some of the team stats.
Georgia Southern
Clay Helton is in his third season at the helm in Statesboro. He’s led the Eagles to back-to-back 6-7 seasons with losses in the Camellia Bowl (2022) and the Myrtle Beach Bowl (2023). He came to Georgia Southern after spending 11 years at USC in all. He started as the quarterbacks coach under Lane Kiffin then was promoted to offensive coordinator in 2013. He served at interim head coach when the previous interim head coach, Ed Orgeron, resigned following the hiring of Steve Sarkisian. In the 2015 season he served as the interim head coach again when Sarkisian took a leave of absence. USC then they promoted him to the head coach.
Helton went 46-24 over his time as head coach at USC and notably with a win in the 2017 Rose Bowl over Penn State.
Fans in Statesboro are getting a little itchy to get back to their winning way more like they had previously. Everything was looking up and up until their upset loss to Old Dominion.
Offense
Ryan Aplin has helped Helton transform Georgia State into a passing team. After setting just about every passing record for the Eagles in 2022, the 2023 season saw the Eagles finish in the top 20 nationally in passing yards per game with many of the records previously set falling again.
| Stat | Average per game |
| Points | 28.6 |
| Total Offense | 379.1 |
| Passing Offense | 252.1 |
| Rushing Offense | 127 |
| Time of Possession | 30:24 |
| Penalty Yards | 47.5 |
| Stat | Cumulative for Season |
| 3rd Downs | 50 of 112 (44.6%) |
| 4th Downs | 6 of 9 (66.7%) |
| Red Zone Scoring Attempts | 25 of 27 (92.6%) |
| Red Zone Touchdowns | 22 of 27 (81.5%) |
| Penalties – Yards | 45 – 380 |
| Fumbles – Lost | 16 – 7 |
JC French is 169 of 265 (63.8%) for 1,790 yards with 12 touchdowns and six interceptions. He is also the fourth leading rusher on the team with 138 yards on 68 attempts with one touchdown.
Dalen Cobb leads the team in catches with 37 for 434 yards and three touchdowns. Derwin Burgess Jr leads the team in receiving yards with 440 on 35 catches with three touchdowns as well.
Josh Dallas has 25 catches for 325 yards and a pair of touchdowns. LV Bunkley-Shelton has 20 catches for 216 yards. Tyler Fromm has 18 catches for 211 yards and two touchdowns as the final pass catcher with over 100 yards receiving for the season.
Jalen White leads the ground game with 393 yards on 92 carries with seven touchdowns. OJ Arnold has 253 yards on 43 carries with three touchdowns. David Mbadinga adds 145 yards on 35 carries with a pair of touchdowns.
Defense
Brandon Bailey is in his second season as defensive coordinator for Georgia Southern. In 2023 the Eagles finished top 30 nationally in passes intercepted, defensive touchdowns and tackles for loss.
In 2022 he was the youngest defensive coordinator in FBS while at the University of Buffalo. His defense finished 7th nationally with 28 turnovers, 7th nationally in interceptions with 13, and 2nd nationally with 15 forced fumbles. They were 4th in the MAC in scoring.
| Stat | Average per game |
| Points | 30.5 |
| Total Offense | 457.6 |
| Passing Offense | 272.5 |
| Rushing Offense | 185.1 |
| Time of Possession | 29:36 |
| Penalty Yards | 83.9 |
| Stat | Cumulative for Season |
| 3rd Downs | 51 of 110 (46.4%) |
| 4th Downs | 5 of 13 (38.5%) |
| Red Zone Scoring Attempts | 24 of 26 (92.3%) |
| Red Zone Touchdowns | 19 of 26 (73.1%) |
| Penalties – Yards | 69 – 671 |
| Fumbles – Lost | 8 – 3 |
Marques Watson-Trent (r-Sr LB) far and away leads the team with 77 stops, 34 solo. He also leads the team with 6.5 tackles for loss and is in a three-way tie for second on the team with 1.5 sacks. He is a big disrupter too with four forced fumbles, two quarterback hurries and a pass breakup.
Marc Stampley II (Jr DB) leads the team in sacks (2) and pass breakups (7), and is tied for the team lead in interceptions (2).
Special Teams
Alex Smith is averaging 43 yards per punt attempt with 20 fair catches, 15 downed inside the 20, 5 punts of over 50 yards, and a long of 63 yards.
Gavin Stewart is 7 of 9 placekicking for the Eagles with a long of 53 yards. He is 24 of 26 on extra point attempts.
South Alabama
Offense
The Jags currently sit 1st in the Sun Belt Conference in rushing offense and scoring offense while 2nd in the conference in total offense and time of possession. Nationally the Jags are 14th in rushing offense, 22nd in scoring offense, 19th in total offense, 29th in time of possession. But they are also 2nd nationally in Passes Had Intercepted (1), Turnovers Lost (4), and 3rd in Punt Returns (21.5).
| Stat | Average per game |
| Points | 36.3 |
| Total Offense | 454.8 |
| Passing Offense | 238.5 |
| Rushing Offense | 216.3 |
| Time of Possession | 31:41 |
| Penalty Yards | 70.5 |
| Stat | Cumulative for Season |
| 3rd Downs | 43 of 102 (42.2%) |
| 4th Downs | 6 of 10 (60%) |
| Red Zone Scoring Attempts | 32 of 38 (84.2%) |
| Red Zone Touchdowns | 24 of 38 (63.2%) |
| Penalties – Yards | 63 – 564 |
| Fumbles – Lost | 7 – 3 |
After a predominantly ground game last week Gio Lopez is 128 of 200 (64%) for 1,632 yards, 13 touchdowns and 1 interception.
Behind his career-high 11 catches last week, Jamaal Pritchett has 50 receptions for 662 yards and 6 touchdowns for the season. Second place on the team in receptions is Devin Voisin with 22 for 260 yards. Jeremiah Webb is third on the team in receptions with 17 but second on the team in reception yardage with 276 and a pair of touchdowns. DJ Thomas-Jones is second on the team in touchdown receptions with 3.
Fluff Bothwell continues to lead the Jags rushing attack with 580 yards on 85 carries with 8 touchdowns as a true freshman. His average of 6.88 yards per carry is 9th in the nation while his rushing touchdowns is 28th, but 1st among true freshmen.
Kentrel Bullock is not too far behind him with 505 yards on 85 carries with 5 touchdowns. Lopez is third on the team with 350 yards on 55 carries with 4 touchdowns. His 5.93 yards per carry ranks 38th nationally.
Defense
The Jags defense stacks up pretty good in the several categories in the conference. They are 2nd in Rush Defense, 3rd in 3rd down defense and red zone defense, 4th in scoring defense and 1st down defense, 6th in 4th down defense, and 7th in total defense.
| Stat | Average per game |
| Points | 23.6 |
| Total Offense | 401.7 |
| Passing Offense | 268.4 |
| Rushing Offense | 133.3 |
| Time of Possession | 28:19 |
| Penalty Yards | 47.3 |
| Stat | Cumulative for Season |
| 3rd Downs | 39 of 107 (36.5%) |
| 4th Downs | 4 of 11 (36.4%) |
| Red Zone Scoring Attempts | 22 of 28 |
| Red Zone Touchdowns | 13 of 28 |
| Penalties – Yards | 42 – 378 |
| Fumbles – Lost | 8 – 3 |
Blayne Myrick continues to pace the team with 58 total stops, 23 solo. He also has a sack, 5 tackles for loss, two pass breakups and a forced fumble to his resume. Jordan Scruggs is second on the team with 41 total stops, 19 solo, with an interception and a pass breakup.
Courtney McBride leads the team with 3 sacks. Tyler Thomas is next with 2 sacks.
Jaden Voisin’s three interceptions leads the team and is 14th nationally.
Wesley Miller’s interception against ULM ties him with Lardarius Webb for second on the team with two each.
Special Teams
Aleksi Pulkkinen averages 41.9 yards per punt with 13 downed inside the 20, 12 fair catches, 2 touchbacks, two kicks of 50+ yards and a season long of 67 yards.
Laith Marjan is 11 of 12 (91.7%) in field goals for the season, his only miss was from 52 yards. His season long is 49 yards. He is now officially 26 of 28 on extra points, but that counts as a miss against ULM was due to a poor snap and hold.
Jamaal Pritchett is still averaging 21.9 yards per punt return with the 1 touchdown on the season.
Keys to the Game
Turnovers
Georgia Southern’s defensive coordinator Brandon Bailey prioritizes defensive turnovers. They’ve forced seven interceptions but have only recovered three fumbles of the eight fumbles by opponents. On the other hand, the Eagles offense has turned the ball over 13 times (6 INT, 7 fumbles). Astonishingly, the Eagles have put the ball on the ground 16 times. So overall the Eagles are -3 in turnover margin.
South Alabama is very protective of the ball with only 4 offensive turnovers (3 fumbles, 1 INT). Defensively the Jags are pretty good at generating takeaways with 14 overall (11 INT, 3 fumbles) for a turnover margin of +11.
If past patterns continue, the Jags may have some opportunities to force some turnovers.
RTDB
The Jags found their offensive identity again last week: Run the damn ball.
In three of their four wins this season, the Jags have rushed for 300+ yards. The second half against ULM the Jags fully committed to the run and they ran all over the Warhawks.
The running back trio of Bothwell, Bullock and McReynolds were able to shoulder the run load and Gio only had to give the ball off. On passes, he stayed in the pocket more and didn’t move out immediately when he felt some pressure. Hopefully that was planned and not a change due to his lingering turf toe injury from week 1.
Getting the running backs rolling is a huge advantage for the Jags.
Pass Rush
Georgia Southern is predominantly a passing offense. Historically this has given the Jags problems. Generating a pass rush has been problematic in those instances. If they can get to the quarterback and make him uncomfortable, they can disrupt what they do and maybe force some more interceptions out of their quarterback.
Prediction
South Alabama is in the thick of the Sun Belt Conference West race. They have a chance to make another statement with a win. ULM entered with a darling storyline and the Jags were able to make a statement last week. Now they have a chance to knock off one of the eastern division leaders.
But it would also be nice to break “the pattern” and continue the current streak against the Eagles.
The Jags enter the match-up as a 6.5-point favorite. Once again, I have a feeling that the line is too high for whatever reason. I think the Jags win, but I don’t think they’ll cover. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again here, I’m completely open to them proving me wrong.
Go Jags!
Jags Dominate Second Half, Cruise To 46-17 Win Over ULM
South Alabama needed to find their offensive identity, it may have taken some time, but they found themselves in the second half as the Jags rolled to a 46-17 win.
The Jags (4-4, 3-1 Sun Belt Conference) shut out Louisiana-Monroe (5-2, 3-1 SBC) in the second half while putting up 34 points on the scoreboard. They went into the locker room after giving up a field goal as time expired with a 17-12 deficit. But the Jags that went into the locker room were not the same guys who came out in the second half.
South Alabama came out just dominated the second half from kickoff to final whistle. They outgained the Warhawks 316 to 108 after halftime, almost all of it on the ground. In all they put up 355 yards rushing in the game with four different players with rushing touchdowns.
When asked about what he said to the team at halftime, head coach Major Applewhite said he “didn’t say anything special. I told our guys if we play the hardest the longest, we will win the football game. It’s a possession game and everyone in the locker room knew that it was going to be like this. If we go down and score on offense to start the half we’ll take the lead, if we don’t go down and score it’ll be a two-possession game.”
They scored on all three of their 3rd quarter possessions then demoralized them with an 11-play, 93-yard drive in the fourth quarter.
“It was just our preparation,” running back Kentrel Bullock said. “That’s what we worked on the majority of the week. We prepared to run the ball and we executed pretty well.”
After taking the opening kickoff of the second half, the Jags marched right down the field. Fluff Bothwell carried the ball on the final four snaps and covered the final 39 yards for this first touchdown of the game. It gave the Jags the lead for good and the way the offense did it, they made a resounding statement.
On ULM’s first snap of the second half, Bubba Thomas tipped the pass near the line and Wesley Miller came away with the interception putting the offense back in business at the Warhawk 28.
After a pair of penalties for a false start and an ineligible player downfield, the Jags were facing 1st and goal at the 13. But that was no problem. Kentrel Bullock found a huge hole on the right side of the line and scored. A bad snap led to a failed extra point leaving the Jags up 25-17.
A three and out punt by the defense put the Jaguar offense in business at their own 40-yard line about midway through the third quarter. Eight of the nine snaps were all run plays starting with Braylon McReynolds, then a run by Bothwell, but Gio Lopez would finish out the drive with a 5-yard touchdown run for a 32-17 advantage.
South Alabama’s defense refused to let the Warhawks get into the end zone. On a 4th and goal at the 7, the Jags stayed tight in their coverage and forced the Warhawk quarterback to throw it through the back of the end zone.
Once again, the offense only threw one pass on the next drive. But they didn’t need to throw either. Kentrel Bullock started the drive but it was Full Bothwell who pounded the Warhawk defense into submission with six consecutive runs covering the final 55-yards for his second touchdown of the game and a 37-17 advantage.
The defense got the ball back after a failed 4th down attempt. It only took two plays by Braylon McReynolds to put the Jags on the scoreboard once more, capped off by a 24-yard run into the end zone.
The Warhawks threatened to end the second half shutout but true freshman Ty Goodwill came away with the interception in the end zone to let Lopez kneel it twice for the win.
“I thought he [offensive coordinator Rob Ezell] did a great job of using them [running backs] the right way,” head coach Major Applewhite explained. “Our tailbacks were doing a great job running the ball, along with the offensive line. The tempo was giving them [ULM] problems. They weren’t getting hands on the ground, they weren’t coming off the ball. So we were able to get a little bit more of a push than normal and our backs were finding creases and running hard.”
The first half was a different story.
On the first drive the Jags called a more balanced game with a mix of passes and runs, but it was the run game that found the most traction on the first drive. Kentrel Bullock had runs of 14 and 22 before punching it into the endzone on a hard 4 yard run for a 7-0 lead.
Outside of that, the Jags really didn’t put together another a good drive in the first quarter. They did manage a short drive for a 48-yard Laith Marjan field goal.
Stats
| South Alabama | Louisiana-Monroe | |
| Total Yards | 523 | 387 |
| Passing Yards | 168 | 149 |
| Rushing Yards | 355 | 238 |
| 3rd Downs | 7 of 13 | 3 of 15 |
| 4th Downs | 0 of 0 | 2 of 4 |
| Penalties – Yards | 6 – 70 | 2 – 20 |
| Turnovers (points) | 2 (6) | 1 (0) |
South Alabama
Gio Lopez was 18-of-30 (60%) for 168 yards passing and added 25 yards rushing on 3 carries with a touchdown.
Kentrel Bullock led all rushers with 141 yards on 18 carries with two touchdowns. Full Bothwell had 119 yards on 17 carries for two touchdowns as well. Braylon McReynolds, in his first action in several games, had 73 yards on eight carries and a touchdown.
Jamaal Pritchett set a new career mark with 11 catches in a game for 89 yards. Devin Voisin had 36 yards on three catches.
Dalton Hughes and Blayne Myrick both led the team with 7 total stops each, Hughes with two solo and Myrick with three solo. One of Myrick’s stops was a sack. Hughes and Carlos Johnson Jr combined for a sack too.
Louisiana-Monroe
Aidan Armenta went 11 of 23 (47.8%) for 149 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions.
Javon Campbell had 77 yards on two catches. Davon Wells had 60 yards on two catches with a touchdown.
Ahmad Hardy rushed for 104 yards on 20 carries. Hunter Herring, the other quarterback, had 72 yards on 4 carries with a touchdown.
Next
South Alabama will host Georgia Southern on Saturday, November 2nd for a 6:30pm kickoff for Military Appreciation Day and the final Saturday home game this season at Hancock Whitney Stadium. The game will air on ESPNU.
Preview: West Division Showdown Against ULM
Kickoff: Saturday, October 26, 4pm
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: TBA
Homecoming is a special tradition that dates back to the early 20th century. A number of schools claim they started the tradition as early at 1909, but a few sources have given the honor to the University of Missouri in 1911 when they faced Kansas and encouraged alumni to attend.
What does this have to do with South Alabama? Nothing really, other than this is homecoming week for the Jags.
Schools have started scheduling “easy” games for homecoming if they have the ability. With Sun Belt schools, they are…encouraged… to schedule all of their non-conference games in the first four weeks of the season. With schools who adhere to that scheduling “suggestion” that leaves scheduling your homecoming game against a conference foe.
That’s where we are now.
South Alabama (3-4, 2-1 Sun Belt Conference) will host their annual homecoming game this Saturday with the ULM Warhawks (5-1, 3-0 SBC).
Yes, you read that right! A Saturday game at Hancock Whitney Stadium! The Jags last played a Saturday home game in the season opener on August 31st.
Scheduling a conference opponent as your homecoming foe can be bulletin board material. Which ULM head coach Bryant Vincent has already alluded to this in his weekly press conference. They also enter the game after a full bye week, they last played on October 12th.
The Warhawks are out to a 5-1 start on the season for the first time ever as a FBS team and the first since 1987 when they played in Division I-AA (now known as FCS). Their 3-0 start in conference play is their first since 2017.
ULM has made a very quick turnaround since the hiring of Vincent. They were picked to finish last in the conference in the SBC Preseason poll but are currently tied atop the SBC West Division standings with Louisiana-Lafayette. Two of their three conference wins have been against teams that aren’t very good. Troy, which we previewed last week, has been plagued by injuries, loss of talent, and a coaching change. Last time out they defeated a downtrodden and dejected Southern Miss team who just fired their head coach after their latest loss. But in between those two games they defeated a James Madison team that has also seen a coaching change after last season’s magical run.
USA enters the game after a long rest from their Tuesday night win over Troy. The 25-9 victory broke a six-game losing streak to the in-state rival and hopefully propels them toward a strong finish down the stretch. They need at least three wins in their final five games to get bowl eligible for the third consecutive season, which would be another milestone for the rather young program.
South Alabama has an opportunity to knock off one of the top teams in the conference and the western division. While the Jags don’t completely control their destiny after the loss to Arkansas State, they have the remainder of the western division on their schedule to round out the season. If they win out, they still need a little help with Arkansas State.
But for that scenario to play out, they need to win on Saturday.
Louisiana-Monroe
Bryant Vincent was named the head coach in December of 2023 after ULM had only won 10 games in the previous three seasons under Tery Bowden.
Vincent has the Warhawks sitting at 5-1 and just one game away from bowl eligibility, which would be the first time since the 2018 season the Warhawks has won six games in a season.
Vincent was the offensive coordinator at the University of New Mexico for the 2023 season. He helped lead the Lobos to a top-20 ranking in red zone offense and rushing offense.
Prior to New Mexico, he was at UAB from 2018 to 2022 where he served as the offensive coordinator and interim head coach in 2022 when Bill Clark retired due to health reasons. He led the Blazers to a 7-6 record and a win the 2022 Bahamas Bowl. UAB’s offense averaged 30.1 points per game and 438.2 yards per game, which was in the top 35 of the nation. Also, during his tenure at UAB the Blazers set a FBS-program record for wins in a season (11-3), as they went 48-27 overall in his six seasons there. In the 2018 season alone the offense set new records for total points (418), total touchdowns (53), rushing touchdowns (32), total yards (5,680), and rushing yards (2,818).
Prior to UAB, Vincent was offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at South Alabama. He helped lead the Jags to the 2016 Nova Home Loans Arizona Bowl and record setting quarterback Dallas Davis, who at the time, threw for a school record 2,706 yards.
Before USA for the second time, he was hired at UAB as the offensive coordinator for a season in 2014 before the program was shut down. Before that he was at USA as tight ends coach in 2011 and then quarterbacks in 2012.
He was an accomplished high school football coach before jumping ranks to the college game. He was the 5A coach of the year at Greenville in 2006 and then went 39-13 at Spanish Fort High School from 2007-2010 winning a state title in his final season with the Toros.
Offense
In the press release announcing the finalization of Vincent’s staff it had Jamaal Fobbs as offensive coordinator, whoever it’s not on his official title. Before ULM he was assistant head coach and offensive coordinator at Mile College. Before that he spent six seasons as the running backs coach for Tulane.
His experience building Tulane’s rushing attack into the top rush game in the AAC in 2020 with an average of 217.1 yards per game and 32 touchdowns (2nd nationally).
| Stat | Average per game |
| Points | 22.8 |
| Total Offense | 279.8 |
| Passing Offense | 123.5 |
| Rushing Offense | 156.3 |
| Time of Possession | 31:23 |
| Penalty Yards | 56.5 |
| Stat | Cumulative for Season |
| 3rd Downs | 29 of 80 (36.3%) |
| 4th Downs | 6 of 8 (75%) |
| Red Zone Scoring Attempts | 14 of 14 |
| Red Zone Touchdowns | 8 of 14 |
| Penalties – Yards | 47 – 339 |
| Fumbles – Lost | 3 – 1 |
Aidan Armenta is the Warhawks leading passer going 37 of 62 (59.7%) for 481 yards, 4 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. General Booty is 28 of 53 (52.8%) for 241 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions.
Jake Godfrey is the teams leading receiver by yardage with 191 on 13 catches with a touchdown. Davon Wells is the teams leading pass catcher with 16 receptions for 108 yards and a touchdown. Three other receivers each have caught one touchdown each.
Ahmad Hardy leads the team rushing with 500 yards on 99 carries with 6 touchdowns. James Jones has 172 yards on 43 carries with a touchdown.
Defense
Earnest Hill came to ULM from UAB after two seasons at UAB as the Stars/Nickels coach. Before UAB he was the running backs coach at South Alabama during the 2021 season.
Prior to USA he was head coach at McGill-Toolen Catholic High School where he went 40-8 overall with a state championship game appearance in his first season at the helm.
Through the first half of the season the defense has played very strong. If you take out the 51-3 loss to #1 Texas, the Warhawks are allowing an average of 13.8 points per game and will be an interesting matchup against the South Alabama offense.
| Stat | Average per game |
| Points | 20 |
| Total Offense | 341.3 |
| Passing Offense | 189.8 |
| Rushing Offense | 151.5 |
| Time of Possession | 28:37 |
| Penalty Yards | 66.2 |
| Stat | Cumulative for Season |
| 3rd Downs | 30 of 79 (38%) |
| 4th Downs | 4 of 15 (26.7%) |
| Red Zone Scoring Attempts | 16 of 17 |
| Red Zone Touchdowns | 10 of 17 |
| Penalties – Yards | 56 – 397 |
| Fumbles – Lost | 8 – 4 |
Carl Glass Jr leads the team in stops with 48, 20 solo, with a half sack, two quarterback hurries, and a forced fumble. Wydett Williams Jr leads the team in interceptions with 3 but is also second on the team with 47 total stops, 20 solo, with a sack, two pass breakups and a fumble recovery.
Billy Pullen leads the team with 4 sacks. Tristan Shorter is right behind him with 3 sacks.
Kevontay Wells leads the Warhawks with 7.5 tackles for loss with Pullen in line behind him with 5.5 TFLs.
Special Teams
Makenzie Ryan is averaging 39.6 yards per punt on his 31 kicks, with 15 downed inside the 20, nine fair catches, 3 touchbacks and 2 kicks of 50+ with his longest going 59 yards.
Max Larson is 8-of-10 on field goals with both of his misses coming from 40+ yards via blocks. His season long is 47 yards. He is also 14-of-15 on extra point attempts.
Davon Wells is averaging 7.4 yards per punt return across his 5 returns.
South Alabama
Thankfully the Jags had a long rest after the last game to prepare for this week. It also allowed them extra time to let the emotional high to wear off from the rivalry game win over Troy. Also to allow some extra time for players to heal from a very physical game.
While the defense played very good against Troy, the offense struggled against what is still a very strong defensive unit for the Trojans. The offensive line and the Troy defensive front were battling hard every down and made the Jags earn every yard they gained.
Defensively the Jags held the Trojans under 100 yards of total offense until late in the third quarter.
Offense
| Stat | Average per game |
| Points | 34.9 |
| Total Offense | 445 |
| Passing Offense | 248.6 |
| Rushing Offense | 196.4 |
| Time of Possession | 31:56 |
| Penalty Yards | 70.6 |
Gio Lopez is 110-for-170 (64.7%) for 1,464 yards, 13 touchdowns and 1 interception in the six games he’s played this season.
Jamaal Pritchett leads the team with 39 catches for 573 yards and 6 touchdowns. Jeremiah Webb is coming up the list and is second on the team in receiving yards with 253 on 15 catches with 2 touchdowns. Devin Voisin has 224 yards on 19 catches.
Fluff Bothwell leads the team with 461 yards on 68 carries with 6 touchdowns. Kentrel Bullock has 364 yards on 67 carries with three touchdowns. Gio is third on the team with 325 yards on 52 carries with three touchdowns.
| Stat | Cumulative for Season |
| 3rd Downs | 36 of 89 (40.5%) |
| 4th Downs | 6 of 10 (60%) |
| Red Zone Scoring Attempts | 27 of 32 |
| Red Zone Touchdowns | 19 of 32 |
| Penalties – Yards | 57 – 494 |
| Fumbles – Lost | 6 – 2 |
Defense
| Stat | Average per game |
| Points | 24.6 |
| Total Offense | 403.7 |
| Passing Offense | 285.4 |
| Rushing Offense | 118.3 |
| Time of Possession | 28:04 |
| Penalty Yards | 52.6 |
| Stat | Cumulative for Season |
| 3rd Downs | 36 of 92 (39.1%) |
| 4th Downs | 2 of 7 (28.6%) |
| Red Zone Scoring Attempts | 21 of 26 |
| Red Zone Touchdowns | 12 of 26 |
| Penalties – Yards | 40 – 368 |
| Fumbles – Lost | 7 – 3 |
Blayne Myrick leads the defense with 51 total tops, 20 solo, with 4 TFLs, two pass breakups and a forced fumble. Jordan Scruggs is next with 36 total stops, 17 solo, with 2.5 TFLs, an interception and a pass breakup.
Jaden Voisin leads the team with three interceptions, and is tied for the career record at South Alabama. Lardarius Webb Jr has two interceptions. Scruggs and three other players have one interception each.
Courtney McBride Jr leads the team with 3 sacks. Tyler Thomas has two sacks.
Special Teams
Aleksi Pulkkinen is averaging 40.5 yards per kick across his 24 punts with 11 downed inside the 20, 10 fair caught and 1 kick of 50 yards.
Laith Marjan is 10-of-11 on the season with the only miss coming from a 52-yard attempt. His longest made attempt was from 49 yards. He is also 21-of-22 on extra point attempts.
Keys to the Game
Offensive Identity
The Jags offense needs to find its identity again. After putting up 135 points in the two games against Northwestern State and Appalachian State, the Jags are averaging only 17 points per game over their last three. Or if you want to toss aside the LSU game, the Jags are averaging 20.5 points per game over their last two outings against Sun Belt opponents.
Either way you stack it, their offense isn’t running with the same effectiveness as it did over the first few games of the season. Some of it can be blamed on injuries. Reed Buys, arguably the best offensive lineman, has missed some playing time. Gio Lopez suffered a turf toe injury in the season opener and sat out the second game. But that injury will continue to plague him the rest of the season until he can rest it for an extended amount of time.
The Warhawks defense has been a scrappy, stingy bunch and they will do whatever they can to disrupt the Jags offense and keep them off the scoreboard. So, they need to find what their identity going forward is going to be and quick.
Penalties
The Jags had 100 yards assessed in penalty yardage against the Trojans. There were only nine flags on them too. That’s a lot of yardage to give back. That’s over half of the Trojans offensive yardage total for the game in just penalties for the Jags.
The worst were the offensive procedure penalties that kept putting the Jags behind the down and distance schedule.
Cleaning up these issues with recurring procedure penalties need to be a high priority.
Stopping the Run
This is a strength of the Jags defense, but ULM’s offense is predicated on the run game. If they have problems stopping the run, it could be a long night for South Alabama.
But the linebacker corps, which was already thin, lost one of their most experienced players for the season last week. Gavin Forsha suffered a knee injury against Troy and sounds like he is out for the season.
How will this affect the defense? We’ll soon see.
Prediction
The Jags entered at a 7.5-point favorite and it’s been shown that my predictions against the spread with USA has not been the best. But let’s do this again.
ULM seems to be playing well but if you look closer at their schedule so far, you really don’t get a sense of the team. The Texas game went about as expected honestly. The overall record of their opponents so far is 17-24 with three opponents with only one win on their resumes and all three of them being wins over FCS programs.
The win over UAB was more satisfactory in a revenge storyline, but you cannot count it as a quality win when their record is 1-6 with their only win over FCS Alcorn State.
The quality win of the season so far is James Madison (5-2), who’s only other loss is Georgia Southern.
Similar to the last two wins, the Jags need to jump on the Warhawks early and force ULM to play from behind. Their offense really doesn’t lend itself to play from multi-score deficit. Their identity on offense is to run the ball and chew the clock. Coaches on both sides have been saying that possessions will be at a premium in the game.
So, a bonus Key to the Game will be turnovers. Both teams are good at forcing turnovers. The Jags are +9 for the season and ULM is +4. If possessions are at a premium as the coaches alluded to, a turnover that leads to points would be a huge advantage to the benefiting team.
I think the Jags win, but I don’t think they cover the 7.5.
Go Jags!
Preview: Battle For The Belt 2024
Kickoff: Tuesday, October 15, 6:30pm
Venue: Hancock Whitney Stadium, Mobile, AL
TV/Streaming: ESPN2
Radio: 96.1 fm The Rocket, Sports Talk 99.5 fm, iHeartRadio App
Thunderjags on X (formerly known as Twitter): @USAThunderjags
#5 Jersey: Fluff Bothwell
Battle for the Belt.
The yearly renewal of the in-state rivalry between South Alabama and Troy has been fairly one sided over the last few years but the animosity between the two remains as heated as ever. Troy has won the last six meetings between the two, including a 28-10 victory last season that saw Gio Lopez get his first career start as a true freshman.
The Jags (2-4, 1-1 Sun Belt Conference) and the Trojans (1-5, 0-2 SBC) both enter the game with something to prove and two-game losing streaks each. The Jags dropped a lopsided game at LSU then just over a week ago they lost a heart breaker at Arkansas State on a field goal with under a minute to go. Troy fell to Louisiana-Monroe and Texas State at home and see their path to a bowl game shrinking.
Both teams enter with a sense of urgency on top of the drive of playing in a rivalry game.
South Alabama hasn’t defeated Troy since the 19-8 defensive battle at Troy in 2017. Six consecutive losses. Steve Campbell went 0-3 and Kane Wommack went 0-3 in their coaching careers in the Battle for the Belt. Now head coach Major Applewhite gets to see how we fares in the rivalry.
The Jag seniors have never held the belt after a win while the Troy seniors have never had it leave their possession.
With two new head coaches, what does the 2024 renewals have in store for us?
Troy
The Trojans are led by first-year head coach Gerad Parker. He was selected to fill the position left vacant when Jon Sumrall left to take the head job at Tulane. He posting a 23-4 record overall and 16-2 in conference play during his time at Troy.
Parker previously served as offensive coordinator at Notre Dame for the 2023 season, where the Fighting Irish ranked 8th national averaging 39.1 points per game, 12th nationally in passing efficiency, and 29th in total offense. The Irish finished with a 9-3 record.
The 2022 season he was the tight ends coach at Notre Dame. Previous to Notre Dame, Parker served as the offensive coordinator at West Virginia for 2020-2021. Before that he had stops at Penn State, Duke, Purdue, Marshall, and UT Martin. He served as interim head coach for six games at Purdue in 2016.
The Trojans entered the season with only 11 seniors and only returned a few starters.
Offense
The offense is led by Sean Reagan who returns to Troy for his 11th season overall as a coach. He returns after a 5-year stint at West Virginia under former Troy head coach Neal Brown. Prior to his first stint at Troy, he served as a graduate assistant at Texas Tech.
In 2018 he was Co-offensive coordinator before leaving with Brown for West Virginia. He worked in varying capacities until he was named passing game coordinator for the 2023 season.
| Stat | Average per game |
| Points | 20.7 |
| Total Offense | 334.2 |
| Passing Offense | 202.3 |
| Rushing Offense | 131.8 |
| Time of Possession | 28:32 |
| Penalty Yards | 69 |
| Stat | Cumulative for Season |
| 3rd Downs | 38-of-79 (48.1%) |
| 4th Downs | 3-of-7 (42.9%) |
| Red Zone Scoring Attempts | 13 of 13 |
| Red Zone Touchdowns | 8 of 13 |
| Penalties – Yards | 44 – 414 |
| Fumbles – Lost | 8 – 3 |
Goose Crowder is the Trojans starting quarterback but he’s missed time due to injury, including their previous game against Louisiana-Monroe. He is 43 of 62 (69.4%) for 543 yards and 5 touchdowns in five games played. Tucker Kilcrease, who started last week against the Warhawks, is 26 of 44 (59.1%) for 383 yards and three touchdowns. Matthew Caldwell has seen action in four games and is 27 of 45 (60%) for 288 yards with a touchdown and an interception but he too was injured.
Devonte Ross leads the Trojans with 31 catches for 556 yards and 7 touchdowns. Peyton Higgins has 20 catches for 187 yards. Zeriah Beason has 13 catches for 172 yards.
Damien Taylor leads the Trojan rushing attack with 399 yards on 68 carries with 2 touchdowns. Gerald Green has 201 yards on 47 carries with a touchdown. Kilcrease is third on the team with 118 yards on 34 carries.
Defense
The defense is under the direction of Dontae Wright, who also comes to Troy from West Virginia where he coached safeties from 2020-23. Before WVU he coaches safeties at Western Michigan 2018-19.
He previously served as defensive coordinator at Tennessee Tech in 2017 and at Morehead State in 2015.
| Stat | Average per game |
| Points | 27.8 |
| Total Offense | 380.7 |
| Passing Offense | 198.8 |
| Rushing Offense | 181.8 |
| Time of Possession | 31:28 |
| Penalty Yards | 54.3 |
| Stat | Cumulative for Season |
| 3rd Downs | 30-of-70 (42.9%) |
| 4th Downs | 2-of-6 (33.3%) |
| Red Zone Scoring Attempts | 19 of 21 |
| Red Zone Touchdowns | 13 of 21 |
| Penalties – Yards | 35 – 326 |
| Fumbles – Lost | 4 – 1 |
Jordan Stringer (Jr LB) leads the team with 43 total stops, 20 solo, with 3 TFL’s, a sack and an interception. Justin Powe (Sr S) has 37 total stops, 23 solo, with a TFL and an interception.
Phillip Lee leads the team with 5 TFL’s. Six different players have one sack each as well as three different players have one interception each.
Special Teams
Robert Cole is averaging 40.4 yards per punt with 12 fair catches, 3 downed inside the 20, a touchback and a long of 59 yards.
Scott Taylor Renfroe is 7 of 8 on field goal attempts with a long of 49 yards and is also 13 of 14 on extra point attempts.
Ross leads the Trojans with an average of 36 yards per return across his 3 punt returns, with one returned for a touchdown.
South Alabama
The Jaguar offense and defense played out of character last time out against Arkansas State. The offense couldn’t move the ball consistently or well enough to score for most of the game. The defense, who played poorly over the first two games and LSU, played great holding the Red Wolves to only 18 points. Unfortunately, they couldn’t get a stop when it mattered most though. Arkansas State marched right down the field on their final drive to set up the game winning field goal.
But what plagued the Jags the most last week were penalties. When you are penalized 11 times for a total of 100 yards, it’s hard to win a game.
While South Alabama has a very favorable turnover margin (+6), their only turnover last week was an interception at a terrible time. The interception thrown by Gio Lopez was the first interception thrown on the season by any Jaguar quarterback. They have fumbled six times but only lost the ball twice. Meanwhile the defense has recovered three fumbles and picked off opposing quarterbacks six times.
Offense
| Stat | Average per game |
| Points | 36.5 |
| Total Offense | 466.2 |
| Passing Offense | 263.7 |
| Rushing Offense | 202.5 |
| Time of Possession | 31:16 |
| Penalty Yards | 65.7 |
| Stat | Cumulative for Season |
| 3rd Downs | 31 of 74 (41.9%) |
| 4th Downs | 6 of 10 (60%) |
| Red Zone Scoring Attempts | 24 of 28 |
| Red Zone Touchdowns | 19 of 28 |
| Penalties – Yards | 48 – 394 |
| Fumbles – Lost | 6 – 2 |
Gio Lopez is 94 of 149 (63.1%) for 1,306 yards, 12 touchdowns and one interception in five games. Bishop Davenport is 27 of 46 (58.7%) for 276 yards and a touchdown.
Jamaal Pritchett leads the receiving corps by a wide margin, he has almost 3x the catches as the next receiver on the team. He has 36 catches for 531 yards and 6 touchdowns. Devin Voisin has 18 catches for 221 yards. Jeremiah Webb has 12 catches for 224 yards and a touchdown. Anthony Eager has 6 catches for 122 yards and two touchdowns.
Fluff Bothwell leads the Jags with 408 rushing yards on 56 carries with 6 touchdowns. Kentrel Bullock has 326 yards on 52 carries with 3 touchdowns. Lopez has 258 yards on 41 carries with 2 touchdowns.
Defense
| Stat | Average per game |
| Points | 27.2 |
| Total Offense | 442.3 |
| Passing Offense | 310.3 |
| Rushing Offense | 132 |
| Time of Possession | 28:44 |
| Penalty Yards | 55.7 |
| Stat | Cumulative for Season |
| 3rd Downs | 32 of 79 (40.5%) |
| 4th Downs | 2 of 5 (40%) |
| Red Zone Scoring Attempts | 19 of 24 |
| Red Zone Touchdowns | 12 of 24 |
| Penalties – Yards | 31 – 283 |
| Fumbles – Lost | 6 – 3 |
Blayne Myrick paces the team with 50 total stops, 20 solo, with 4 Tackles for Loss, 2 pass breakups and a forced fumble. Jordan Scruggs is next in line with 30 total stops, 13 solo, with 2.5 TFL’s, and interception and a pass breakup.
Courtney McBride Jr and Tyler Thomas shared the lead with 2 sacks each.
Jaden Voisin leads the team with two interceptions. Scruggs, Amarion Fortenberry, Lardarius Webb Jr., and Chrystyile Caldwell have one pick each.
Special Teams
Aleksi Pulkkinen continues to be the team’s punter with an average of 41.2 yards per attempt across his 20 punts with 11 downed inside the 20 and 8 fair catches.
Laith Marjan is 7-of-8 on field goal attempts this season with a long of 49 yards and his only miss was from about 52 yards and has made 19 of his 20 extra point attempts.
Pritchett is averaging 24.5 yards per punt return including a 62-yard touchdown return against Northwestern Louisiana.
Keys to the Game
Injuries
The Jag offensive line dictate how the offense goes. Reed Buys missed about half or more of the Arkansas State game and the offense floundered outside of the two touchdown drives. It’s affected both the running and passing game.
It seemed fairly obvious that Gio Lopez was being affected by the turf toe some. He was moving around differently and was off on his deep throws.
With the additional time since the last game hopefully the Jags have been able to get a little rest and treatment so they can get back to closer to full strength again.
Quarterback Pressure
The defense was able to get plenty of pressure on App State’s quarterback but couldn’t generate much against LSU or Arkansas State. On the final drive by the Red Wolves they just couldn’t generate anything, and they got picked apart with the cushion they gave the receivers.
Troy has had plenty of injuries but the quarterback position has been affected a lot this season. In six games they have had to start three different signal callers due to injury. But no matter who is starting behind center, the Jags have to generate pressure.
Penalties
The Jags can’t beat themselves with penalties. They were flagged several times offensively for various infractions last game. Offensive penalties hurt you in two key ways: they put you behind the sticks and they rob you of momentum. The Jags had it 2nd and 10 at the ASU 11 yard line late in the game. They were then flagged for a false start and a hold over the next three plays which made it 3rd and 25 at the 26-yard line. Fortunately, Lopez was able to find Pritchett for a touchdown on the next play, but they didn’t make it any easier on themselves with those two penalties.
Cleaning up those penalties will be key this week. Also making sure they stay disciplined mentally heading into a rivalry game should be a focus for the players and coaches. They can’t allow themselves to lose focus and get drawn into committing penalties if they encounter any adversity or jawing back and forth.
Prediction
It’s dangerous to play a rival when they’re licking their wounds with their backs against the wall.
While Troy’s record is bad, South Alabama’s record isn’t much better. Both teams need a win if they want to get bowl eligible and they both are seeing the number of games remaining dwindling. Both teams could easily have two more wins than their current records reflect.
But if South Alabama plays up to their capabilities, they can beat anyone left of their schedule. It just depends which team shows up at Hancock Whitney Stadium Tuesday night.
It’s times to bring the belt back to Mobile.
The Jags are a 13.5-point favorite in the game. I think the Jags win, but I don’t think they cover. Jags win a close game to get the belt back against a Troy team that’ll pull out all the stops.
Go Jags!
Preview: South Alabama Travels To Arkansas State In West Division Showdown
Kickoff: Saturday, October 6, 6pm
Venue: Centennial Bank Stadium, Jonesboro, AR
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: TBA
South Alabama went to LSU last Saturday and was in the game for about three plays. Well, technically it was about nine plays, but it only took LSU three offensive snaps to really show where the game was going. On those three plays they gained 158 yards and put two touchdowns on the scoreboard.
The Jags (2-3, 1-0 Sun Belt) could never really mount a comeback after that as LSU (4-1) showed they had the bigger, stronger, faster team on Saturday night in Tiger Stadium.
The Jaguar offense protected the ball very well, the defense generated two turnovers to further bolster their turnover margin on the season to +7 after picking off Garrett Nussmeier twice in the contest. Neither Gio Lopez nor Bishop Davenport have thrown an interception this season, which makes the Jags one of only five schools who haven’t had a pass intercepted yet on the season.
Now that the Jags have concluded their non-conference slate, the focus is now on the remaining seven games that are all conference contests. Next up in Arkansas State (2-2, 0-0).
Arkansas State
The Red Wolves are led by fourth-year head coach Butch Jones. He holds a 13-28 record at ASU with a 6-18 conference record since taking over the program. The win total has improved each season under his leadership and led them to the Camellia Bowl last season (loss to Northern Illinois 21-19).
Over his 14 seasons as a head coach, Jones is 97-82 with previous stops at Central Michigan (2007-2009), Cincinnati (2010-2012), and Tennessee (2013-2017). He served as an offensive analyst and special assistant to the head coach at Alabama from 2018-2020.
Last season the Jags earned a hard-fought victory over the Red Wolves in Mobile when they needed to win two of the last three in order to get bowl eligible.
Arkansas State (2-2, 0-0 SBC) opened the season with a pair of close wins over FCS Central Arkansas and Tulsa but have lost their last two matchups at #16 Michigan (28-18) and at Iowa State (52-7).
So far this season the Red Wolves have a turnover margin of -2. They have given the ball away on 5 interceptions and lost four fumbles while the defense has taken the ball away from opponents six times by interception and only recovered one fumble.
Offense
The Red Wolves offense is under the direction of Keith Heckendorf in his sixth season at the position. He held the position for the two years before Jones took over. Under his guidance, the Red Wolves offense has put up lots of numbers through the air. True freshman Jaylen Raynor was the first true-freshman quarterback to be named SBC Freshman of the Year since 2007 and only the second in conference history. He finished with 2,543 yards passing with 17 touchdowns along with 380 yards rushing and five more touchdowns.
Raynor is 69-of-128 for 780 yards with 3 touchdowns and 5 interceptions passing and is leading the rushing attack with 143 yards on 44 carries with 2 touchdowns. Timmy McClain is 11-of-18 for 132 yards and three touchdowns in limited action, mostly when Raynor was benched against Iowa State.
Corey Rucker leads the receiving corps with 265 yards on 17 catches with 2 touchdowns. Courtney Jackson has 150 yards on 14 catches. Reagan Ealy has 140 yards on 11 catches.
Behind Raynor is Zak Wallace who has 134 yards on 40 carries with 2 touchdowns. Freshman Devin Spencer has 80 yards on 16 carries in three games. Junior Ja’Quez Cross has 61 yards on 21 carries.
| Stat | Average per game |
| Points | 21.8 |
| Total Offense | 328.8 |
| Passing Offense | 228 |
| Rushing Offense | 100.8 |
| Time of Possession | 29:28 |
| Penalty Yards | 53 |
| Stat | Cumulative for Season |
| 3rd Downs | 31-of-71 (43.7%) |
| 4th Downs | 3-of-5 (60%) |
| Red Zone Scoring Attempts | 8-of-9 |
| Red Zone Touchdowns | 6-of-9 |
| Penalties – Yards | 21 – 212 |
| Fumbles – Lost | 8 – 4 |
Coming off a bye week, the Red Wolves have a pair of offensive linemen who are trending towards returning to the lineup. Coming into the season Arkansas State expected to have a better running game but it has yet to appear.
Will they debut a more improved run game when the Jaguars come to town?
Defense
Defensive coordinator Rob Harley is in his fourth season as the defensive play caller for the Red Wolves. Statistically the defense had improved along with the results in the win-loss column. Their red zone defense improved by 82 spots in the national rankings as well as ranking 20th in the nation with an average of 6.8 Tackles for Loss per game.
Marvin Ham (R-Sr LB) and Justin Parks (Sr-Safety) pace the defense with 31 total stops each. Ham has 10 solo with a quarterback hurry, 2.5 TFL’s and .5 sacks. Parks has 15 solo, 1.5 TFL’s, a pass breakup and a forced fumble. Trevian Thomas is third on the team with 29 stops, 16 solo.
Thomas and Dontay Joyner are team co-leaders with 2 interceptions each. Two other defenders have one interception each.
Jayden Jones leads the team with 4 TFLs and 2 sacks.
| Stat | Average per game |
| Points | 33.8 |
| Total Offense | 429.8 |
| Passing Offense | 195.8 |
| Rushing Offense | 234 |
| Time of Possession | 30:31 |
| Penalty Yards | 50.3 |
| Stat | Cumulative for Season |
| 3rd Downs | 24-of-49 (49%) |
| 4th Downs | 2-of-2 (100%) |
| Red Zone Scoring Attempts | 15-of-15 |
| Red Zone Touchdowns | 13-of-15 |
| Penalties – Yards | 26 – 201 |
| Fumbles – Lost | 3 – 1 |
The Red Wolves defense also has a few players that have been out due to injuries. Unlike their offensive counterparts, their return seems to be less certain. Massachusetts transfer senior cornerback Jordan Mahoney and senior Texas A&M transfer defensive lineman Micaiah Overton are two key pieces the Red Wolves hope to return.
ASU has been susceptible to big, pass-catching tight ends. Could this be a game where Coach Applewhite and offensive coordinator Rob Ezell lean more on DJ Thomas-Jones?
Special Teams
Ryan Heicher is averaging 44.2 yards per punt attempt with 10 fair catches, 7 downed inside the 20, 4 kicks of 50+ yards and a long of 56 over his 20 kicks.
Clune Van Andel is 3-of-6 on his field goal attempts with a long of 44 yards and only 1-of-4 from 30+ yards out.
Courtney Jackson is averaging 17.5 yards per punt return over his 8 returns including one for a 77-yard touchdown.
South Alabama
The Jaguars record-setting run over the last two games came back to earth against LSU. While the Jags looked great against App State, a fellow Sun Belt program, they didn’t match up very well against one of the upper programs in the SEC.
The second half was a bit different, with the Jags scoring their only touchdown while holding LSU to only one touchdown.
This week will be more telling as the Jags return to conference play.
Offense
South Alabama couldn’t establish a running game and the LSU defense was able to routinely get pressure on Lopez and Davenport. The offensive line was outplayed at the line of scrimmage, but still look to be a really good group that have been improving week after week.
Lopez is 73-of-114 (64%) for 1,014 yards and 10 touchdowns through the air. Bishop Davenport is 27-of-45 (60%) for 276 yards and a touchdown.
Jamaal Pritchett, despite leaving the game early against LSU, still leads the team with 29 catches for 394 yards and 4 touchdowns. Devin Voisin is next on the team with 17 catches for 207 yards.
Anthony Eager has 114 yards on 5 catches with two touchdowns. He scored the only touchdown against LSU as he stepped up when Pritchett was unavailable.
Tight end DJ Thomas-Jones adds 60 yards on only 7 catches with 3 touchdowns.
True freshman Fluff Bothwell leads the team with 376 yards on 47 carries with 6 touchdowns. Kentrel Bullock has 260 yards on 39 carries with 3 touchdowns. Lopez in third on the team with 204 yards on 31 carries with 2 touchdowns.
| Stat | Average per game |
| Points | 40.6 |
| Total Offense | 468.8 |
| Passing Offense | 258 |
| Rushing Offense | 210.8 |
| Time of Possession | 31:19 |
| Penalty Yards | 58.8 |
| Stat | Cumulative for Season |
| 3rd Downs | 25-of-61 (41%) |
| 4th Downs | 5-of-8 (62.5%) |
| Red Zone Scoring Attempts | 23-of-25 |
| Red Zone Touchdowns | 18-of-25 |
| Penalties – Yards | 37 – 294 |
| Fumbles – Lost | 5 – 2 |
Defense
Blayne Myrick continues to lead the defense with 37 total stops, 12 solo, with 2 pass breakups, a TFL and a forced fumble. Jordan Scruggs is next with 25 total stops, 10 solo, with 1.5 TFL’s, a pass breakup and an interception.
Jaden Voisin leads the team with 2 interceptions and has 24 total stops, 16 solo. Scruggs, Amarion Fortenberry, Lardarius Webb Jr and Caldwell Chrystyile each have an interception.
Four Jags all share the lead with one sack each.
| Stat | Average per game |
| Points | 29 |
| Total Offense | 448.6 |
| Passing Offense | 303.4 |
| Rushing Offense | 145.2 |
| Time of Possession | 28:41 |
| Penalty Yards | 56.6 |
| Stat | Cumulative for Season |
| 3rd Downs | 27-of-64 (42.2%) |
| 4th Downs | 1-of-4 (25%) |
| Red Zone Scoring Attempts | 14-of-19 |
| Red Zone Touchdowns | 11-of-19 |
| Penalties – Yards | 31 – 283 |
| Fumbles – Lost | 5 – 3 |
Special Teams
Aleksi Pulkkinen handled all of the punting duties against LSU and is averaging 41 yards per kick with 7 downed inside the 20, 6 fair catches and 1 punt of 50 yards is his longest.
Laith Marjan is 6-of-7 on the season with a season long of 49 yards last week against LSU.
Jamaal Pritchett is averaging 28 yards per punt return over his 7 returns including one touchdown return of 62 yards.
Keys to the Game
Quarterback Pressure
In the two games prior to LSU the Jags defense generated more pressure on the quarterback and forced bad passes and even some interceptions. They didn’t allow the quarterback to hang in the pocket and wait for a receiver to get open to pick the defense apart.
Even the week before against Ohio, while they didn’t generate a lot of qb pressure, they started to generate some and it showed both on the scoreboard and on the stat sheet. Though they didn’t manage a win, they played well enough to win.
Against LSU the Jags only managed to get the slightest pressure on the qb and even then, they managed force a couple of incompletions and two interceptions.
Arkansas State is so predominantly a passing team that getting pressure on Raynor will be key to disrupt their game script and prevent them from running up-tempo to take advantage of matchups. Plus Raynor already has five interceptions on the season, the Jags could add to their interception column.
Establishing the Run
When the Jags can run the ball, their offense runs much more efficiently. The Red Wolves allow an average of almost 200 yards rushing per game. With Bullock, Bothwell, PJ Martin, and Braylon McReynolds, who we haven’t seen in a few games, South Alabama has a strong rotation of backs to keep fresh legs in the game and pound on the ASU defense.
Explosive Plays
Explosive plays have caused havoc against the South Alabama defense. In almost every game the defense has allowed an explosive play for a touchdown. Even against Northwestern State they gave up a 74-yard touchdown catch and run for the Demon’s only touchdown of the game.
Last week explosive plays doomed them from the start with a 71-yard touchdown pass and run on the first snap of the game. Then LSU’s second offensive snap they rush for 86 yards before being stopped at the 1-yard line (they scored on the very next play).
Prediction
South Alabama is a 2.5-point favorite against Arkansas State in Jonesboro. Only recently have the Jags found any success on the road in Arkansas. The Jags have won the previous two meetings in Jonesboro, however they were 0-for-4 at Centennial Bank Stadium prior to that. They’ve also won the five meetings overall between the two programs.
Arkansas State is not an easy place to play, or even to get to really. Which may be a reason why it’s a tough location to play.
While this isn’t the same Arkansas State team that the Jags have faced in Jonesboro that previous two match-ups there, they have improved somewhat.
Injury wise, the Jags are trending well this week. Jamaal Pritchett left the LSU game late in the first quarter and was in the concussion protocol returned to practice on Wednesday in a limited capacity. Cornerback Reggie Neely (ankle in the season opener) and safety Trent Singleton (R-So) transfer from Mississippi State (foot injury in preseason camp) are both expected to be available to play. Gio Lopez was pulled from the game in the fourth quarter after a sack, Applewhite explained that he got up “gimpy” so they took him out as a precaution.
I think the Jags win and cover. They have a lot to play for this season and they won’t let last week define their season.
Go Jags!
Preview: South Alabama Visits #14 LSU For Nighttime Showdown In Death Valley
Kickoff: Saturday, September 28, 6:45pm
Venue: Tiger Stadium, Baton Rouge, LA
TV/Streaming: SEC Network
Radio: 96.1 fm The Rocket, Sports Talk 99.5 fm, iHeartRadio App
Thunderjags on X (formerly known as Twitter): @USAThunderjags
#5 Jersey: TBA
South Alabama travels to Baton Rouge to play in one of the toughest environments in college football: Tiger Stadium. The Jags (2-2) are in the second game of a three-game road swing after their 48-14 dismantling of Appalachian State on Thursday, September 19th in Boone, NC. The #14 ranked LSU Tigers are looking to handle business and get to their bye week to rest and heal up.
The Jags are considered one of the hottest teams in the nation right now. Over the last two weeks they have outscored their opponents by a combined score of 135-24. Head coach Major Applewhite and offensive coordinator Rob Ezell have been making all the right calls offensively and defensive coordinator Will Windham has been doing the same on the opposite side of the ball.
Meanwhile LSU (3-1) enters the game in the second game of a three-game homestand by welcoming USA. Last week the Tigers held UCLA scoreless in the second half to pull away for a 34-17 win after taking a 17-all tie into halftime. The Tigers opened the season with a narrow loss to USC in the Vegas Kickoff Classic then followed with a closer-than-expected game against Nicholls (44-21) and a narrow victory on the road at South Carolina (36-33).
This will be the highest ranked opponent the Jags have faced since they took the field against #10 ranked Oklahoma State in 2017 and the first ranked opponent since playing #25 Louisiana-Lafayette in 2020.
LSU
LSU is led by third-year head coach Brian Kelly, who LSU hired away from Notre Dame after 12 seasons as the head guy there. He was 92-40 with the Fighting Irish after vacating 22 wins in the 2012 and 2013 seasons due to academic misconduct. He also had a record of 4-6 in bowl games after a vacated win in the 2013 Pinstripe bowl.
So far Kelly is 23-8 and 13-4 in SEC games at LSU. His career record is 286-104-2 in his 34th year as a head football coach.
Before Notre Dame, he spent 13 seasons at Grand Valley State (118-35-2 from 1991-2003), three seasons at Central Michigan (19-16 from 2004-2006), and four seasons at Cincinnati (34-6 from 2006-2009).
Getting into the stats, the Tigers have been able to generate six turnovers defensively and have forced nine fumbles overall. They have a +3-turnover margin through the first four games of the season.
Offense
Garrett Nussmeier is the Tigers’ starting quarterback going 113-of-160 (70.6%) with 13 touchdowns and two interceptions on the season.
Mason Taylor is the leading pass catcher on the team with 25 receptions for 237 yards and a touchdown. Aaron Anderson leads the team in receiving yards with 298 on 21 catches with a touchdown. Kyren Lacy is the teams leading scoring receiver with 5 touchdowns on 20 catches with 245 yards. CJ Daniels adds 199 yards on 17 catches while Zavion Thomas rounds out the double-digit receptions with 10 catches for 76 yards and two touchdowns.
The Tigers have two 100-yard rushers on the season. Josh Williams has 134 yards on 36 carries with two touchdowns while averaging 3.7 yards per carry. Caden Durham has 116 yards on 22 carries with two touchdowns while averaging 5.3 yards per carry.
Keleb Jackson has 95 yards on 26 carries while John Emery Jr has 61 yards on 10 carries.
| Stat | Average per game |
| Points | 33.5 |
| Total Offense | 418.5 |
| Passing Offense | 239.8 |
| Rushing Offense | 119 |
| Time of Possession | 27:54 |
| Penalty Yards | 83.3 |
| Stat | Cumulative for Season |
| 3rd Downs | 25-of-51 (49%) |
| 4th Downs | 2-of-5 (40%) |
| Red Zone Scoring Attempts | 17-of-20 |
| Red Zone Touchdowns | 13-of-20 |
| Penalties – Yards | 31 – 237 |
| Fumbles – Lost | 1 – 1 |
Defense
Whit Weeks leads the defense with 30 total stops, 17 solo, with 1.5 tackles for loss. Greg Penn III is second on the team with 24 stops, 10 solo, with 1 TFL and a forced fumble.
As a team the Tigers have 12 sacks with Bradyn Swinson leading the team with 5 for a loss of 45 yards with two quarterback hurries and two forced fumbles. Sai’vion Jones is right behind him with 4 sacks (19 yards) with two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery.
The defense only has two pass interceptions. Zy Alexander and Jardin Gilbert each have one pick each.
However, the Tigers have lost Harld Perkins Jr for the season due to an ACL tear. While he hasn’t put up flashy numbers, he has been a player offenses have had to account for every play. Could that be a factor in this game?
| Stat | Average per game |
| Points | 24.5 |
| Total Offense | 358.8 |
| Passing Offense | 321.3 |
| Rushing Offense | 134.7 |
| Time of Possession | 31:57 |
| Penalty Yards | 64.7 |
| Stat | Cumulative for Season |
| 3rd Downs | 17-of-46 (37%) |
| 4th Downs | 2-of-6 (33%) |
| Red Zone Scoring Attempts | 11-of-12 |
| Red Zone Touchdowns | 8-of-12 |
| Penalties – Yards | 36 – 333 |
| Fumbles – Lost | 9 – 4 |
Special Teams
Peyton Todd has handled the majority of the punting duties with an average of 40.7 yards per kick, five fair catches and two downed inside the 20. Blake Ochsendorf is averaging 37.7 yards per attempts with one fair catch and all three of his attempts downed inside the 20.
Damian Ramos is 5-of-6 on field goals this season with a long of 45.
South Alabama
After a pair of losses to begin the season, the Jags have gelled as a team and found their footing in their last two games. The offensive line, who lost a few players in summer camp for various reasons, have improved leaps and bounds over the first four games. They controlled the line of scrimmage against Appalachian State. They’ll face their toughest test yet when they take on LSU Saturday night.
Similarly, the defense has matured a lot over the first four weeks. After only returning two starters, the Jags started the season with a bit of a learning curve experience wise. They’ve improved each and every week. Over the first two weeks the defensive front couldn’t get any pressure on the quarterback, then last week they were harassing Joey Aguilar on pretty much every play.
The Jags have a +5-turnover margin on the season with only two fumbles lost while the defense has a total of 7 take-aways (4 interceptions and 3 fumble recoveries).
Offense
The offense starts with Gio Lopez, who showed that his turf toe injury is not bothering him anymore. He is 57-of-92 (62%) with nine touchdowns and no interceptions on the season.
Jamaal Pritchett continues to lead the receiving corps in receptions (26), yards (354), and touchdowns (4). Devin Voisin has 16 catches for 206 yards on the season. Jeremiah Webb adds 10 catches for 185 yards with a touchdown. DJ Thomas-Jones has 6 catches for 52 yards with three of them being touchdown receptions.
True freshman Fluff Bothwell has emerged as the Jags leading back with 359 yards on 37 carries with six touchdowns through four games. Kentrel Bullock has 204 yards on 30 carries with three touchdowns.
Both Bothwell and Bullock have recorded 100-yard games the last two games.
Gio Lopez is third on the team with 171 yards on 21 carries with a pair of touchdowns.
| Stat | Average per game |
| Points | 48.3 |
| Total Offense | 502.8 |
| Passing Offense | 267.3 |
| Rushing Offense | 235.5 |
| Time of Possession | 31:24 |
| Penalty Yards | 64.8 |
| Stat | Cumulative for Season |
| 3rd Downs | 21-of-47 (44.7%) |
| 4th Downs | 4-of-5 (80%) |
| Red Zone Scoring Attempts | 23-of-24 |
| Red Zone Touchdowns | 18-of-24 |
| Penalties – Yards | 32 – 259 |
| Fumbles – Lost | 4 – 2 |
Defense
Blayne Myrick continues to pace the defense with 34 total stops, 11 solo, with two pass breakups and a forced fumble. Jordan Scruggs and Jaden Voisin are next with 21 stops each, Voisin with 13 solo while Scruggs has 9 solo and 1.5 Tackles for loss.
The Jags defense has intercepted four passes on the season, Scruggs earned the Sun Belt Player of the Week honor with his 96-yard interception return, it would have been a 100-yard touchdown return however an App State defender pulled him down from behind with a horse collar tackle. Voisin, Amarion Fortenberry, and Chrystyile Caldwell each have one interception each.
Defensively the Jags only have four sacks on the season. Jordan Norman, Maurice Strong Jr, Courtney McBride Jr, and Tyler Thomas have collected one sack each.
| Stat | Average per game |
| Points | 25.8 |
| Total Offense | 394 |
| Passing Offense | 271.8 |
| Rushing Offense | 122.3 |
| Time of Possession | 28:36 |
| Penalty Yards | 60.8 |
| Stat | Cumulative for Season |
| 3rd Downs | 21-of-55 (38%) |
| 4th Downs | 1-of-4 (25%) |
| Red Zone Scoring Attempts | 10-of-14 |
| Red Zone Touchdowns | 7-of-14 |
| Penalties – Yards | 27 – 243 |
| Fumbles – Lost | 5 – 3 |
Special Teams
Aleksi Pulkkinen has handled most of the punting duties, he’s averaging 38 yards per kick across his nine punts with five downed inside the 20-yard line and three fair catches. Jack Martin is averaging 45 yards per kick across his three punts with one touchback.
Laith Marjan is 5-of-6 on field goals this season with a long of 39. His only miss came from over 50 yards. He’s only missed one of this 18 extra point attempts, his first attempt after halftime last week went off the left upright.
Pritchett is averaging 28 yards per return in seven punt return opportunities with one 62-yard touchdown return.
Keys to the Game
Communication
When playing in big games on the road in a hostile environment, communication is at a premium. Death Valley at night is notoriously loud with Tiger Stadium actually registering on the seismograph a couple of times in big games. When the game is on the line, the Tiger fans can get loud and raucous.
But South Alabama just played in front of a loud crowd in Boone, NC. Are they the same? No, but the team knows what to expect and they can be prepared.
With the new in-helmet communications from the sideline, getting the play onto the field is a bit easier but any pre-snap adjustments still need to be communicated. Hopefully they can stay on the same page in all phases of the game because LSU will take advantage of any miscue.
Fundamentals
Defensively the Tigers have taken the ball away from opponents six times in four games. But they have forced 9 fumbles through those same four games. But the Jags have been very surehanded on the season with only two turnovers, one of them on a muffed punt. Continuing to keep possession of the ball will be big fundamentally.
Tackling will be a big factor. The Jags cannot let LSU run through arm tackles and pick up additional yards after contact. In the first two games the Jags had problems tackling but in the last two games have been more fundamentally sound.
The offense needs to stay on schedule because the LSU defense is blitz happy on 3rd down.
“A little Magic”
Something unexpected needs to go South Alabama’s way.
South Carolina had a pick-six that would have given them the lead late, but it was called back in a poor flag on what should have been a good play (that’s a discussion for another day).
LSU hasn’t looked the best this season and struggled against Nicholls. The Tigers narrowly led 23-21 early in the third quarter before finally pulled away from the FCS program.
If the Jags can get an unexpected play or two to go their way at an opportune time it will quiet the crowd and energize the Jaguars. A little voodoo magic if you will.
Prediction
LSU opens as a 21.5-point favorite over the Jags across most of the betting odds websites.
The Tigers are thought to have better players top-to-bottom because they are an SEC program. They should, shouldn’t they?
Perhaps the Jags can catch the Tigers asleep and looking ahead to having a week off to prepare for Ole Miss. But having a week off after the Jags will perhaps keep the Tigers focused enough for a little G5 Sun Belt team from Mobile.
As much as I want to pick the Jags to win or even to cover the spread, my head tells me that the Tigers in Tiger Stadium is a very tough draw. Then play it at night after the Tiger fans have had all day to marinade and it’s a very tough draw.
I think LSU wins and covers at home but maybe the score to cover comes late so it looks like a better win than it actually was. But I would LOVE to have South Alabama prove me wrong. They’ve been doing it all season so far, why not another week…
Go Jags!
Jaguars Dominate App State 48-14 In Big Conference Opening Road Win
South Alabama picked up right where they left off last week in their 48-14 win. But this week it was against an Appalachian State football team in a sold-out Kidd Brewer Stadium that was the preseason favorite to win the Sun Belt Conference championship instead of an FCS program.
It was the first win against Appalachian State since 2014 and breaks a 4-game losing skid against them.
The Jags (2-2, 1-0 Sun Belt) took the opening possession right down the field to establish their dominance. Gio Lopez took the second snap of the game and slashed the Mountaineer defense for 50 yards. Then a couple plays later he connected with DJ Thomas-Jones over the middle for a 10-yard touchdown.
One of the questions entering the game was answered quickly.
The Jag defense allowed one first down and forced App State to punt on their opening possession. Jamaal Pritchett’s 21-yard punt return gave the offense the ball near midfield. But it was Fluff Bothwell’s turn to make some fireworks. He had runs of 20, 7, and then the final 22 yards on three-consecutive carries to make it 14-0 in the first quarter.
The Mountaineers thought they had pinned the Jags back at their 5-yard line early in the 2nd quarter. A flag for a hold set them back to the 3-yard line, but the Jags were not going to be deterred. A steady mix of Lopez and Bothwell moved the ball down the field. Kentrel Bullock gave Bothwell a rest but didn’t let the running production fall off. Lopez covered the final 31 yards on his own to put the Jags up 21-0.
It was probably the Jags best drive of the game. They ran 13 plays and burned over half of the quarter off the clock.
When it looked like App State was going to put points on the board, Jordan Scruggs intercepted the pass in the end zone and was off to the races. It took a horse collar tackle to bring him down from behind at the 5-yard line to save a touchdown. Kentrel Bullock got to benefit from the tackle and penalty to get a 2-yard touchdown for a 28-0 lead.
The Mountaineers ended the shutout with a hail Mary touchdown as time expired for a halftime score of 28-7.
The Jaguar defense got a turnover on downs near midfield and the offense only needed three plays to get back on the scoreboard. Two passes to Jamaal Pritchett with a Bullock run in between and the Jags were up 34-7 after Laith Marjan saw his PAT go off the left upright no good.
Bothwell added another touchdown in the third quarter showing his excellent balance and ability to stay on his feet to put the Jags up 41-7.
Bishop Davenport took over at quarterback in the fourth quarter and led a scoring drive of his own. Davenport and Iverson Celestine kept the ball on the ground the entire drive for a 9 play, 55-yard drive using up six minutes.
App State added a trash-time score against the second- and third-string defense with 52 seconds left in the game.
“I think everybody on our team knew they were capable of this, but to be able to come do it on the road against a quality opponent – a traditionally really good program, kind of the standard bearer for our conference along with a couple of other schools – there’s a lot of excitement in our locker room,” head coach Major Applewhite explained. “There is a lot of time left in the season, but it’s great that we all came tonight and had this type of win.”
Stats
| Stat | South Alabama | App State |
| Total Yards | 474 | 385 |
| Passing Yards | 154 | 266 |
| Rushing Yards | 320 | 119 |
| Penalties – Yards | 9 – 69 | 6 – 47 |
| 1st downs | 26 | 23 |
| 3rd downs | 6-of-10 | 4-of-13 |
| Avg Yards per Play | 7.1 | 5.7 |
| Red Zone | 5-of-5 | 1-of-4 |
| Time of Possession | 34:12 | 25:48 |
| Turnovers (points off) | 1 (0) | 2 (7) |
The 320 yards rushing is the 4th most in program history against Division I teams.
South Alabama
Gio Lopez was 16-of-24 passing for 154 yards and 2 touchdowns through the air. He added 105 yards rushing on 7 carries with another touchdown.
“It means a lot, going into somebody else’s house and not just winning, but executing all game,” Lopez said. “It was a good team win for our first road win of the season.”
Fluff Bothwell led all rushers with 116 yards on 14 carries with two touchdowns. Bullock added 46 yards on 11 carries with a touchdown.
Jamaal Pritchett led the Jags receivers with 68 yards on 6 catches with a touchdown. Jeremiah Webb added 38 yards on 4 catches. Devin Voisin, wearing the #5 jersey, had 22 yards on three catches. DJ Thomas-Jones had one catch for a 10-yard touchdown.
Blayne Myrick led the Jags with 9 total stops, 2 solo, with .5 tackles for loss and a pass breakup. Courtney McBride Jr had the only sack of the game for USA.
Jordan Scruggs had the only Jaguar take-away in the game. “We were in a zone, where I have to play in between the Number 1 and Number 2 receiver,” he explained. “I just read the quarterback’s eyes and made a play. I tried to score, but I got too tired and he caught me.”
App State
Joey Aguilar was held to 21-for-40 passing with 266 yards with a touchdown and an interception.
Maquel Haywood rushed for 47 yards on 7 attempts with a touchdown. Kanye Roberts had 38 yards on 8 carries.
Kaedin Robinson led with 85 yards receiving on 6 catches. Christian Horn had 47 yards on 4 catches. Dalton Stroman had 2 catches for 60 yards, including the hail Mary reception at the end of the half to put the first points on the board for App State. Six Jaguars combined for 9 quarterback hurries.
Jordan Scruggs got his first interception of the season and returned it 96 yards before he was taken down from behind.
Next
The Jags will travel to Baton Rouge, LA to take on a nationally ranked LSU squad for a 6:45 kickoff on the SEC Network on Saturday, September 28. This will be the second game of three-consecutive road games for the Jags.
South Alabama Rewrites Record Books In 87-10 Trouncing Of Northwestern State
South Alabama took the opportunity to exorcise some demons on Thursday night at Hancock Whitney Stadium in a historic 87-10 win over Northwestern State.
The Jags (1-2) set a new Sun Belt Conference record for points as they get their first win of the season and the first under new head coach Major Applewhite. Despite a short week and the threat of a hurricane, the Jags never let the game be in doubt against Northwestern State (0-3).
Jamaal Pritchett got the party started a mere 1:36 into the game when he took the first punt of the game 62 yards to the house. They would take a 14-0 lead on their first offensive snap after Jaden Voisin intercepted JT Fayard’s pass. Gio Lopez got the start after missing last week with a turf toe injury, connected with Jeremiah Webb for a 39-yard touchdown.
They weren’t even four full minutes into the game with only eight seconds of possession and were up two scores.
The Jags were up 24-3 in the first quarter after a 28 yard field goal by Laith Marjan when the Jags defense gave up their only touchdown of the night. The defense bit on a screen pass allowing Myles Kitt-Denton to get behind the defense. JT Fayard laid a perfect pass to him and 75 yards later the Demons had a touchdown.
South Alabama added four touchdowns in the third quarter to take a 52-10 lead into halftime.
They would score four more touchdowns in the third quarter, one a pick-six by redshirt sophomore Chrystyile Caldwell, before the coaches would mutually agree to a 6 minute fourth quarter. And yet redshirt freshman Jarvis Durr still tacked on one last touchdown.
The 87 points put on the scoreboard by the Jags eclipsed the previous record by a Jaguar team (64 three times against Division II or NAIA opponents in the program’s infancy). It also beats the 59 points scored last season in the 68 Ventures Bowl against a fellow FBS school.
It also set a new scoring record in Sun Belt Conference history, beating out Arkansas State’s 83 points scored against Texas Southern in 2008 and Georgia Southern against Savannah State in 2014.
Stats
The stats read like playing EA College Football on easy mode.
| South Alabama | Northwestern State | |
| Total Yards | 620 | 237 |
| Passing Yards | 257 | 171 |
| Rushing Yards | 363 | 66 |
| Penalties – Yards | 7 – 60 | 7 – 60 |
| 1st Downs | 22 | 8 |
| 3rd Downs | 4-of-7 | 3-of-15 |
| Avg Yards per Play | 11.7 | 4.2 |
| Red Zone | 9-10 | 1-1 |
| Time of Possession | 33:13 | 26:47 |
South Alabama
Gio Lopez got one possession in the second half and ended the night going 15-of-19 for 257 yards and 4 touchdowns.
Devin Voisin led the Jag receivers with 47 yards on three catches. DJ Thomas-Jones had 3 catches for 34 yards and two touchdowns. Jeremiah Webb and Jamaal Pritchett both had a touchdown each.
True freshman Fluff Bothwell ended the night with 143 yards on just 7 carries with two touchdowns, averaging 20.4 yards per carry. Kentrel Bullock broke the century mark with 102 yards on 8 carries with 2 touchdowns as well. Bothwell and Bullock are the fourth duo in school history to each rush for over 100 yards in a game.
PJ Martin came up short of making it three 100 rushers with 72 yards on 6 carries with a touchdown. Jarvis Durr got the final rushing touchdown of the game.
Maurice Strong Jr led the defense with 7 total stops, 4 solo, with two TFL’s and a sack. Jaden Voisin had 5 total stops, 3 solo, with an interception. Freshman Amarion Fortenberry and Chrystyile Caldwell both came away with an interception each.
In all, the Jags forced four turnovers with Julian Demby recovering a fumble.
“I’m proud of the way our guys played, the way they responded coming off a loss,” head coach Major Applewhite said after the game. “In a short week, the staff did an outstanding job. I know people say that a lot, it sounds cliché, but they did. Our practices were good, we went a little bit more Wednesday that we normally do the day before a game and there was no complaining. I was proud of the guys and the way the coaches got them to play today.”
While Pritchett’s receiving numbers weren’t very high, he finished the game with 124 punt return yards with a touchdown. He led the team in All-Purpose yards with 146, just edging out Bothwell’s 143.
“It was definitely a big win for us to get the ball rolling and move on to the next game and keep it rolling,” Pritchett said. “I don’t think I’ve ever been on a team that scored 87 points, even in basketball.”
Northwestern State
JT Fayard led the way for the Demons going 9-of-23 for 165 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions.
Kitt-Denton led the Demons with 80 yards on three catches with the lone touchdown. Twon Hines had 59 yards on three catches.
Zay Davis led the team in rushing with 32 yards on 9 carries. Kennieth Lacy added 14 yards on 10 carries.
Christian Williams led the Demons with 6 total stops, 4 solo. Caesar Magee III was next with 5 total stops, all solo.
Next
South Alabama will have a full week to prepare for their road trip to Boone, NC to face Appalachian State on Thursday, September 19 to open their Sun Belt Conference schedule. The game is set for a 6:30pm kickoff on ESPN.
