South Alabama Gets First-Ever Win At Arkansas State 38-31
South Alabama’s Jalen Tolbert set a new single game record with 252 yards receiving on 10 catches with three touchdowns leading the Jags to a 38-31 win over Arkansas State. This is the first win in Jonesboro in seven tries and the first road conference win since their 2017 win over Troy.
The Jaguars (4-6, 3-4 Sun Belt Conference) needed a defensive took it down to the final play but Jeremiah Littles sacked Layne Hatcher at the South Alabama 13 yard line to end the game. Arkansas State (3-7, 1-6 SBC) drops their fifth-straight game and their first losing season since 2010.
Arkansas State opened the game and scored on their first possession after the Jags were forced to punt. The Jags tied it with :35 left in the first quarter when Desmond Trotter ran it in from 2 yards out.
The Jags took the lead 14-7 in the second quarter when Trotter connected with Kawaan Baker for a 26 yard touchdown.
The Red Wolves tied the game up late in second quarter on a 25 yard touchdown pass by Logan Bonner to Brandon Bowling.
The Jags punt after a short 5 play possession using only 38 seconds off the clock. Arkansas State were not content to go into halftime tied and quickly marched down the field to the Jaguar 18 yard line with just 2 seconds left in the half and added a 35 yard field goal to go into halftime with a 17-14 lead over the Jaguars.
Arkansas State opened the second half with a 9 play, 75 yard touchdown drive to go up 24-14 with 9:55 left in the third quarter.
The Jags would respond with their own score. Trotter connected with Tolbert for a 42 yard touchdown with 6:39 left in the game to cut the Red Wolves lead to 24-21.
After Trotter had to leave with an injury, redshirt freshman Tanner McGee would have to come in and the Jaguar offense didn’t miss a beat. McGee would put the Jags ahead on a 37 yard touchdown pass to Tolbert 28-24.
Arkansas State scored early in the fourth quarter when Bonner connected with Jonathan Adams on a 3 yard touchdown pass with 12:03 left in the game to go up 31-28.
McGee plays throw and catch again with Tolbert covering 51 yards for another touchdown and taking a 35-31 lead with 4:56 left in the game.
Arkansas State turns the ball over on downs at their own 31 but the Jags can only manage to get a 30 yard field goal to extend their lead to 38-31 with 1:28 left in the game.
The Red Wolves behind Layne Hatcher drive down to the Jaguar 6 yard line after what looked like a game sealing interception by Keith Gallmon was overturned. With :16 seconds left in the game, Hatcher had three attempts to get into the end zone. Two incomplete passes followed by the game ending sack by Littles as the clock expired.
The Jags gained 486 total yards, 387 of them through the air and 99 on the ground. The Jags offense was only 5 of 15 on 3rd down.
Trotter went 16-of-22 for 242 yards and two touchdowns before leaving the game with an injury. McGee came in and went 6-of-8 for 145 yards and two touchdowns.
Tolbert caught 10 passes for 252 yards and three touchdowns. Kawaan Baker added five catches for 51 yards and a touchdown before also leaving the game with an injury.
Carlos Davis rushed 12 times for 31 yards. Caullin Lacy and Jared Wilson both ran for 26 yards on four and 13 carries respectively.
Arkansas State rolled up 494 yards of total offense, 324 of them through the air and 170 on the ground. The Red Wolves were 5 of 14 on 3rd down as well.
Logan Bonner went 11 of 16 for 183 yards and four touchdowns. Layne Hatcher went 8 of 14 for 141 yards.
Jonathan Adams caught 9 passes for 138 yards and two touchdowns. Jeff Foreman caught 5 passes for 111 yards. Brandon Bowling caught 4 passes for 64 yards and two touchdowns.
Jamal Jones carried the ball 19 times for 93 yards to lead all rushers. Marcel Murray carried it 13 times for 38 yards.
South Alabama will return home for the season finale and Senior Day game hosting Troy for the annual ‘Battle for the Belt’. Kickoff is scheduled for 1pm at Hancock Whitney Stadium and will be viewable on ESPN3.
South Alabama End Touchdown Drought, But Not Enough Against Louisiana 38-10
South Alabama (3-5, 2-3 Sun Belt Conference) was never really in the game against the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns (7-1, 5-1 SBC) and fall 38-10 in Lafayette, Louisiana.
The Jags entered the game missing a few players due to Covid testing and contact tracing. Jacob Shoemaker and Connor Estes, both starting offensive linemen had to miss the game and may also have to miss the Jags next game against Georgia State as well.
The Cajun’s scored on their first possession. They did the heavy lifting with seven straight runs to start the drive, followed by an incomplete pass before quarterback Levi Lewis connected with Errol Rogers for a 5 yard touchdown.
After a 3-and-out, the Cajuns return the Jaguar punt 38 yards to the Jags 26 yard line. Three plays later Chris Smith scampers into the end zone from 22 yards out to go up 14-0 with 8:19 left in the opening quarter.
Jags finally get some offense going. They start out with five consecutive runs before Trotter started throwing, including a 12 pass to Kawaan Baker on a 3rd and 9 to keep the drive alive.
USA got all the way down to the 7 yard line before they ground to a halt. Head coach Steve Campbell opted to take the 26 yard field goal to make it 14-3.
The Cajuns would put together an 11 play, 75 yard drive early in second quarter ending with a side arm pass from Levi Lewis as he was rolling to the left to Errol Rogers for a 3 yard touchdown to go up 21-3.
Finally the Jags would end their touchdown drought with a 10 play, 75 yard drive of their own spanning 3:50. The drive started with a pass interference penalty on the first play and ended with a 7 yard touchdown pass from Desmond Trotter to Kawaan Baker.
The Cajuns would answer right back with a drive of their own.
Facing 3rd and 10 at their own 22, Lewis would find Kyren Lacy for 17 yards to extend their drive. Then Chris Smith would break loose up the gut of the Jaguar defense with a 47 yard run to the Jaguar 14. Two plays later Elijah Mitchell would take it in from 5 yards out for a 28-10 advantage.
Louisiana threatened to score again before halftime but a bobbled pass was intercepted by Nick Mobley to end the threat.
The second half was all Cajuns.
South Alabama needed touchdowns and came away empty. The only real scoring threat was on their first possession of the second half. They drove down to the 16 yard line but the 4th down pass to Baker went for six yards when they needed seven.
South Alabama was outgained 506 to 268 in the game. The Cajuns threw for 252 yards and rushed for 254 yards while going 6 of 13 on 3rd down. The Jags threw for 145 yards and rushed for 123 yards and went 6 of 18 on 3rd down.
Desmond Trotter went 15-of-28 for 133 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Chance Lovertich went 3-of-8 for 12 yards.
Kawaan Baker led the Jags with six catches for 43 yards and the only touchdown. Jalen Tolbert and Cade Sutherland both caught 5 passes for 64 and 37 yards respectively.
Terrion Avery led the Jags rushing attack with 14 carries for 62 yards. Carlos Davis only carried the ball 6 times for 18 yards.
Cajun quarterback Levi Lewis went 21-of-31 for 253 yards, 3 touchdowns and an interception.
Peter LeBlanc led the Cajuns with 5 catches for 34 yards. Neal Johnson caught 3 for 40 yards. Three others caught three passes each and seven players caught one pass each.
Chris Smith led all rushers with 99 yards on 7 carries and a touchdown. Trey Ragas added 78 yards on 10 carries. Elijah Mitchell had 61 yards on 15 carries and a touchdown.
“I thought we would play better,” head coach Steve Campbell said in his post-game radio interview. “They played a lot better than we did. We had some opportunities to make plays and didn’t do it. Offensively, we didn’t stay on the field as much as we needed to, and defensively we had a hard time getting off the field.”
“We just didn’t play well,” he said.
“We just have to take each game one at a time,” Campbell said in his post-game remarks. “We have to practice well, but we practiced great this past week. For what all these guys have been through, then came out and practiced their butts off Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. We had some issues Wednesday and they overcame them and bounced back. I don’t feel that we blinked or backed down today. We need to find a way to have a good week of practice and take that and apply it on Saturday, so that we can find a way to beat a very good Georgia State team.”
When talking about the offense’s struggle he said, “Obviously we have not come up with the answer yet. We need to keep searching and find that answer and put the ball in the end zone.”
The Jags will return home to Hancock-Whitney Stadium after playing the last three contests on the road. South Alabama and Georgia State will kick off at 3pm on ESPNU on Saturday, November 21.
South Alabama Falls 23-6 At Coastal Carolina
South Alabama (3-4, 2-2 Sun Belt Conference) put up a valiant fight against Sun Belt Conference leader Coastal Carolina (7-0, 4-0 SBC) but fell 23-6.
The Jags never led in the game and failed to convert in key situations, particularly in the second half.
USA opened with a three-and-out on their first possession and the Chanticleers seized the opportunity with a 7 play, 72 yard touchdown drive spanning 2:48 to strike first.
The Jags answered with a field goal on an 11 play, 62 yard driving consuming 5:18 off the clock.
Coastal Carolina responded back with another long touchdown drive. Covering 75 yards in 6 plays in just 2:50 was good for the second and final touchdown of the game, going up 14-3 on the Jags.
South Alabama would get on the scoreboard once more with 5:01 left in the first half on a 43-yard Diego Guajardo field goal.
Coach Campbell saw his team trading field goals for touchdowns and decided to roll the dice. Instead of opting for another field goal, they attempted to convert a 4th & 3 at the Chanticleer 32. Desmond Trotter would throw to Trent Tyre on the sideline, but he could not turn and stretch for to move the chains.
That turnover on downs would lead to the Chanticleers adding a field goal with 2:11 left in the opening half.
The Jags would get shut out in the second half but not without one prime scoring opportunity.
Facing 4th and goal at the 1, Kawaan Baker lined up in the wildcat, pretty much telegraphing that he was going to run it, the Chanticleer defense would stop him about a half yard short of paydirt. The drive spanned 17 plays, 68 yards and drained 7:23 off the clock.
Desmond Trotter played the entire game for the second-consecutive game. He went 23-of-31 for 243 yards, but was sacked five times by the Chanticleer defense.
Jalen Tolbert led all receivers with seven catches with 78 yards. Jalen Wayne led the Jags with 91 receiving yards on five catches.
Carlos Davis carried the ball 17 times for 73 yards. Terrion Avery carried four times for 27 yards. Trotter had a net -27 yards with sack yardage figured in.
The offense was a paltry 2-of-14 on 3rd down attempts, but managed to eek out a slight time of possession advantage (30:15 to 29:45).
Grayson McCall was 17 of 24 for 209 yards passing and added 72 yards rushing on eight carries.
Reese White led CCU with 81 yards on nine carries. Shermari Jones added 60 yards on 10 carries with at touchdown.
Jaivon Heiligh caught five passes for 95 yards. CJ Marable caught three passes for 21 yards and the only other touchdown.
Defensively, Riley Cole led the South Alabama defense with 15 total tackles, nine of the were solo and had a fumble recovery.
The defense held the Chanticleers to a mere 3-of-11 on 3rd down. While the Chanticleers were held below their average of 40 points per game coming into this game, they were table to exceed their total yardage average with 445 total yards of offense.
“I thought the defense played extremely hard,” said head coach Steve Campbell after the game. “Offensively I thought we played hard. We just didn’t execute once we got down in the red zone. We have opportunities to score points.”
“You’re not going to beat a good teams kicking field goals and not scoring touchdowns, especially a team that’s averaging 40 points per game.
“After the first two [touchdown] drives, I think we settles down and were able to keep them out of the end zone,” Campbell said. “They’re a very explosive offense. Our defense was able to create some turnovers for us, but offensively we had too many turnovers of our own. We’ve got to do a better job of giving ourselves a chance to win.”
With this game behind them, the Jags can now look ahead to next week’s showdown in Lafayette, LA.
“I told the guys in the locker room that, of the five teams in our division, only one has one conference loss and we play them next week,” Campbell stated. “This next game is for the sole lead of our division. If we can go on the road and beat Louisiana, we’ll own the tiebreaker over them.”
“If we want to see Coastal or App State later in the season in the championship game, we need to take care of business,” he continued. “We still control our own destiny. We need to go on the road and pick up a big win against a very good Louisiana football team.”
The Jags and the Ragin’ Cajuns are set for a 1pm kickoff on Saturday, November 14 in Louisiana.
South Alabama Defeats Louisiana-Monroe 38-14 To Stay Unbeaten In Conference Play
The South Alabama Jaguars won its second consecutive Sun Belt Conference game in impressive fashion by a score of 38-14.
Desmond Trotter threw three touchdowns and ran for another. Kawaan Baker caught all three touchdown passes by Trotter as the Jags improve to 3-2 overall and 2-0 in SBC play.
This is the first time the Jags have ever started Sun Belt play 2-0 in program history and the first time to have a winning record since 2016.
Louisiana-Monroe fall to 0-6 on the season, 0-3 in conference play.
The Jags first offensive possession was a three-and-out and punted after only 1:09 off the clock.
Louisiana-Monroe then drove down to the Jaguar 14 yard line when quarterback Colby Suits threw a ball that went off his receivers fingertips but was caught by Devin Rockette who then returned it 95 yards for the games opening touchdown, putting the Jags up 7-0 with 10:07 left in the opening quarter.
After a Warhawk punt, the Jags drove the ball down to the ULM 31 yard line before the drive stalled. Diego Guajardo split the uprights from 50-yards out to extend the Jaguar lead to 10-0 with 3:01 left in the opening quarter.
But the Jags weren’t done in the first quarter.
After forcing another three-and-out the Jags took possession at their own 15 after the punt. On the second play, Trotter connected with Kawaan Baker down the left sideline for an 80-yard touchdown to go ahead 17-0 with :51 seconds left in the first quarter.
The Warhawks were driving again near the middle of the second quarter, but when the drive stalled at the Jaguar 31 yard line, they went for the 4th and short but came up short, turning the ball over on downs.
Chance Lovertich entered the game at quarterback and quickly drove the Jaguars down to the Warhawk 18 yard line, but was intercepted with 7:29 left in the half.
ULM then drove down the field and running back Josh Johnson scored on a 2-yard run. However the extra point attempt would sail wide right of the goal post to keep the score at 17-6.
Facing 4th and 5 with :02 left in the half, head coach Steve Campbell kept his offense on the field. Lovertich pulled the ball down and ran to the 24 before being brought down to end the half.
The Warhawks opened the second half by moving the ball down the field quickly. However the Jaguar defense finally stood their ground at their 7 yard line. Coach Viator opted for a 28 yard field goal attempt, but it too went wide right.
South Alabama, led by Desmond Trotter, marched the team down the field and was capped off by Trotter’s 5 yard touchdown run to make the score 24-6 with 4:35 left in the third quarter.
ULM attempted another 4th down conversion, but a bad snap gave the Jags the ball near midfield. Again the Jags drove the ball down the field and connected with Kawaan Baker for a 16 yard touchdown to go up 31-6.
The Warhawks got on the scoreboard one more time when Suits connected with Jordan Carroll for a 4 yard touchdown. They opted for the 2-point conversion after the two missed kicks and converted to make the score 31-14 with 12:26 left in the game.
The South Alabama offense then put together a 16 play, 71 yard drive that took 10:46 off the clock and ended with a one-handed circus catch by Kawaan Baker when he caught the ball one-handed and managing to get a foot down inbounds.
Carlos Davis led the Jaguar rushers with 17 carries for 58 yards.
Trotter went 8-of-12 for 184 yards, three touchdowns and was sacked three times. Lovertich went 3-of-5 for 62 yards, an interception and was sacked once.
Baker caught 6 passes for 154 yards and three touchdowns. Tolbert caught 2 passes for 68 yards.
Josh Johnson carried the ball 15 times for 49 yards to lead the Warhawks.
Suits went 22-of-33 for 282 yards, a touchdown and was sacked three times.
Josh Pederson caught 4 passes for 65 yards. Jahquan Bloomfield caught three for 69 yards. Tyler Lamm also caught three for 22 yards. Seven other players caught passes.
Keith Gallmon led the Jags with seven tackles, all solo, with one tackle for loss. Riley Cole, Jamie Sheriff and Shawn Jennings all recorded sacks.
“I’m very pleased with the way the guys plays tonight,” coach Campbell said after the game. “It wasn’t about (coaches) making a call, the guys went out and made plays. That’s what it takes.”
“That was fun to watch,” Campbell said. “We were down a couple of offensive linemen, but some young guys like Trey Simpson, Braden Moody, and Tyler Jernigan stepped up and got the job done. To see those guys put together a 10-minute, 16-play drive; I’m really proud of them.”
Devin Rockette spoke after the game, talking about his interception return early in the game. “For that type of momentum to come out to start the game, I think that was a big part in the game. But I’m real proud of the team. We practiced hard this week at practice… We were in zone coverage and I saw a receiver sit down in front of me and saw the quarterback throw it so I just sat down and waiting for a tipped ball, and it was tipped, and then I didn’t see nothing but green.”
South Alabama gained 415 yards of total offense, 169 yards rushing and 246 yards passing. They converted 8-of-14 3rd down attempts in the game and was a perfect 3-for-3 on 4th down attempts.
ULM gained 380 yards of total offense, 98 yards rushing and 282 yards passing. They only converted 3-of-10 of their 3rd down attempts and only converted 1-of-3 4th down attempts.
South Alabama has a short preparation this week as they travel to Statesboro, Georgia to take on Georgia Southern on Thursday night. The game will air on ESPN with a 6:30pm kickoff.
South Alabama Downs Texas State For First Conference Win, 30-20
The third time really IS the charm.
After 23 days between games, the Jags (2-2, 1-0 Sun Belt Conference) finally returned to the gridiron and pulled out a 30-20 win over Texas State (1-5, 1-2 SBC) for their first-ever win at Hancock Whitney Stadium.
Carlos Davis had a career day with 32 rushes for 113 yards and a touchdown. Desmond Trotter returned from his illness and shoulder injury by going 18-of-22 for 187 yards, a touchdown and two sacks to help lead the Jaguars over the Bobcats on homecoming.
Trotter broke the tie midway through the fourth quarter when he found Kawaan Baker on an eight yard touchdown pass. Then led the offense on a time consuming drive late in the game to ice it with a 44-yard Diego Guajardo field goal.
Riley Cole led all players with 15 tackles, 10 of them solo, and 1.5 tackles for loss. Jeremiah Littles got the only sack by a Jaguar.
The Jaguars converted 10-of-18 3rd down attempts while holding the Bobcats to 4-of-13 on 3rd down.
After winning the toss and electing to receive, the Bobcats marched down the field to the USA 35 yard line. However the Jaguar defense forced an incomplete pass on their 4th down attempt to take over the ball on downs.
The Jags then proceeded to march down the field with Carlos Davis running down to the 1 yard line. However Hadon Merchant was flagged for a personal foul which set the Jags back 15 yards to the 16 yard line. USA had to settle for a 33 yard field goal for a 3-0 lead.
Texas State then responded with touchdown drive of their own. The Bobcat kicker Seth Keller then hooked the PAT left however Davyn Flenord was flagged for being offsides. The retry was good to put the Bobcats ahead 7-3 with 4:07 left in the first quarter.
It would turn out to be their only lead in the game.
With the scored tied at 10-10, South Alabama started their final drive of the opening half with 4:48 left. Behind Chance Lovertich at quarterback, the Jags drove down the field aided by some Texas State penalties. The Jags had two scores taken off the scoreboard before the third attempt finally stuck on a 1 yard touchdown pass to Jalen Tolbert with :12 left on the clock to take a 17-10 lead into the halftime locker room.
The Jaguar offense came out in the second half completely flat with three consecutive three-and-outs.
The Jags would finally get the offense back in gear when the return of Trotter to the field and add a field goal to break the 17-17 tie early in fourth quarter.
USA would take the lead for good with 7:10 left behind the pounding of Carlos Davis and capped off by an 8 yard touchdown pass from Trotter to Kawaan Baker. Then Diego Guajardo would ice the game with 1:09 left in the game with a 44 yard field goal.
Chance Lovertich went 7-of-12 for 66 yards and a touchdown in his short stint at quarterback.
Jalen Tolbert led all receivers with 9 catches for 91 yards and a touchdown. Baker caught 5 passes for 43 yards and the one touchdown.
Riley Cole had a career day with 15 total tackles, 10 of the solo with 1.5 tackles for loss. The next closest was Nick Mobley with 7 total tackles. Jeremiah Littles was the only Jag to record a sack.
Brady McBride went 28-of-40 for 260 yards and a touchdown for the Bobcats.
Jackson Lanam caught 5 passes for 48 yards and a touchdown. Marcell Barbee also caught 5 passes for another 45 yards. Eight other Bobcats caught passes in the game.
Jahmyl Jeter led the bobcat rushing attack with 5 carries and 31 yards. Brock Struges carried it 8 times for 30 yards and the only rushing touchdown.
The Jaguar offensive line allowed two sacks nine tackles for loss in the game.
USA put up 385 total yards of offense, 132 on the ground and 253 through the air. Texas State gained 348 total yards, only 88 on the ground and 260 through the air.
“It’s huge for a lot of different reasons,” Campbell said about the win after the game. “It’s the first win in Hancock Whitney, but also we needed to get a win and get back going again. I thought we started the season off hot, but we definitely cooled off for a little while. … The biggest deal for us, in our half of the conference, we’re not looking up at anybody. We can only do what we can do. We’ve played one (conference game) and we won it. Now we just have to take care of business.”
“Getting this win was huge,” Trotter said. “Coming off of that layoff, everyone was fresh. This was a huge win going into conference (play), now we’re just looking toward next week.”
South Alabama will host Louisiana-Monroe (0-5) on Saturday, October 24 for a 6pm kickoff.
Your 2020 South Alabama Jaguar Preview
After last season, the Jags can’t get much lower can they? A 2-10 season with their only win over a FBS and conference foe coming in the season finale That one win kept the Jags from having their first winless conference record in program history.
But the final four games of the season looked different from the first eight. Was the team finally starting to click, was it Desmond Trotter leading an offensive attack that could move the ball and score a few more points? Or was it something else?
Well, the 2020 season will tell and, despite Covid, it could be a make or break season for head coach Steve Campbell and his staff.
Offensively, South Alabama returns quite a bit of talent from 2019. Seven of the top 8 receivers are back as well as an experienced offensive line with 42 combined starts. Desmond Trotter is back at quarterback, who started the final four games of the season and saw a boost in offensive production. Trotter has some competition with Chance Lovertich transferring in from the junior college ranks after a juco national championship. Running back has some big question marks as they need to fill Tre Minter’s production.
Defensively the Jags have many question marks. In 2019 the defense made some huge gains statistically, but they didn’t reflect on the win-loss record. Defensive line lost a ton of experience as well as cornerback. The linebacker corps was razor thin at times but managed to make it through the season. The talent loss on the line will put pressure on the linebacker corps to control the run until the defensive line gels and gets their feet under them.
Not much has changed in special teams. Jack Brooks, the Aussie, will handle the punting and it’ll probably be kick-by-committee for field goals unless someone steps up as consistent in short, intermediate and long range field goals. Diego Guarjardo will most likely handle kickoffs as he tends to have the stronger leg. The video of the botched PAT attempt against Memphis has been watched by millions and really was the tone for the 2019 season. After that debacle the Jags will most likely utilize a backup quarterback as holder on field goal and pat attempts, which should help avoid a repeat of the 2019 incident.
Here’s the position group breakdowns.
Offensive line
The Jags only lost three letterwinners from last year and return 10 letterwinners of which three started all 12 games. They return four either redshirts or returning student-athletes.
In the offseason, the Jags brought in nine new faces and only one of them from the junior college ranks with the rest coming in as true freshmen.
Brian Ankerson is the anchor of the unit playing at center. He has the longest active starting streak on the team with 24 consecutive games. Hadon Merchant has started 22 of this 23 appearances in the last two seasons.
These two will be looked at as leaders of the unit.
Jacob Shoemaker, who was an honorable mention to the all-Sun Belt Conference team his first season with the Jags will move from his tackle position to guard.
Last years team allowed too many sacks and had a hard time blocking for the run game. For the 2020 team to have more success, those are two areas they must improve over last year.
Quarterbacks
The Jags return Desmond Trotter, who took over the starting position mid-season and never looked back. Cephus Johnson, who started the first eight games of the season, transfered out after the season.
Tylan Morton and Tanner McGee also return from last season.
Chance Lovertich was brought in from Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College as well as true freshmen Elijah Gainey and Brian Garcia.
Trotter appeared in eight games, starting the final four of the season. He led the team with eight touchdowns, tied a school record with four touchdown passes in the season-finale win over Arkansas State. He also had a career-high 337 yards of total offense in the game.
Lovertich brings some juco success to the table. He was named the second-team NJCAA All-American, first-team all-MACJC and the South Division’s Most Valuable Offensive Back after helping MGCCC to the national championship with a 12-0 record his sophomore year.
Morton played in the first four games before sitting out the rest of the season to preserve a redshirt. McGee sat out the entire season to redshirt.
Gainey is a three-star prospect per 247sports but sat our his senior season after suffering a knee injury. He started the previous two seasons.
Trotter has been challenged by Lovertich for the starting spot, but coach Campbell expects Trotter to be the starter in the season opener against Southern Miss. Expect Lovertich to get some playing time, but didn’t get any spring practice to get experience in the program.
To start, the quarterback position must protect the ball and make good decisions. Between Johnson, Trotter and Morton they threw 11 interceptions but only 14 touchdowns while completing only 52.8% of their combined passing attempts.
Running backs
USA returns four letterwinners from last season while losing two.
The biggest loss is by far Tra Minter who rushed for over 1,000 yards last season, the first in program history. Minter also became only the second All-American in program history and the only first-team all-Sun Belt Conference selection.
In addition to the four letterwinners, they also return two redshirt freshmen and a juco.
Carlos Davis led the four sophomores on the team wiht a career best 122 yards on 10 carries against SBC West Division winner Louisiana-Lafayette.
The coaching staff will look to fill Minter’s role with a running back by committee until they have someone step up as ‘the guy.’ The coaches also look at the sophomores to have three years of experience in the offensive scheme and make contributions.
The coaching staff think they have a good mix in the backfield with power, speed, and pass catchers.
The Jags not only need to find their bonafied starter, but they also need backs that can come in, produce, and keep the defense respecting the position.
Wide receivers
The Jags return the two top receivers from the 2019 season. Kawaan Baker led the team with 35 catches, 574 yards, and yards per game (47.8) while Jalen Tolbert led the team with 6 touchdown catches, four of them in the season finale win over Arkansas State.
Davyn Flenord is changing positions this season, last year he caught 14 passes for 127 yards. Tre’Veon Hamilton caught 3 passes for 43 yards also left the program.
Two freshmen redshirted last season and two juniors return from last years squad. The coaching staff also brought in seven true freshmen.
Baker, who is on the Reese’s Senior Bowl Top 250 list, is the leader of the receiver corps but was also used in the running game with jet sweeps and special teams situations. He logged 82 yards rushing and 35 yards in kick returns for 692 all-purpose yards, finishing second on the team in that category.
Tolbert established himself as a receiver to watch against Arkansas State when he caught 5 passes for 144 yards and four touchdowns. His effort was rewarded with an honorable mention National Performer-of-the-Week accolade from the College Football Performance Awards and was College Sports Madness’ Sun Belt Conference Offensive Player of the Week against the Redwolves.
The coaching staff feels that they have good depth and with Baker, Tolbert and Jalen Wayne they have a trio of veterans with three years of experience in the program.
Tight ends
Only one letterwinner returns for the 2020 season. Brandon Crum played in all 12 games with six receptions for 65 yards. One reshirted freshmen and two sophomores return this season and the coaching staff brought in a juco and three freshmen. Only two returning players were active last season.
Leaving the program were Zac Crosby, Khameron Taylor and Nick Thompson. They combined for five receptions, 61 yards and the only touchdown from the tight end position (Taylor).
The tight end position is utilized much differently under coach Campbell and it couldn’t have been more obviously last season with only 11 receptions and one touchdown from the group. If the Jags throw to a tight end, it’s more to catch the defense off-guard rather than as a regular threat.
Crum is the de-facto veteran of the group as a sophomore. Meyers, the only other player of the group that was active last year was put on scholarship during fall camp this year.
Trent Tyre brings some much needed experience from the juco ranks.
Cameron Hatcher-Owens is moving from the defensive line to offense this season.
Defensive line
The defensive line lost a lot from last season. Only four letterwinners return from the 2019 squad in Gi’Narious Johnson, Jeremiah Littles, Maurice Strong and Charles Coleman III. Strong had the most tackles among the returning players with 15.
Gone are Jordon Beaton, Sean Brown, Rocel McWilliams, Tyree Turner, and Jeffery Whatley. Four of the five were all-Sun Belt Conference performers during their careers.
Of the additional returning players, two of them are redshirt freshmen. The coaching staff added three juco players and two true freshmen.
The defensive line has a core trio of Johnson (jr), Littles (Sr) and Strong (So) to build around with Jamie Sheriff and Markes Johnson to add some more experience from the Juco level. THen add in a pair of all-state and all-region prep stars and the coaches have something to work with.
Inside Linebackers
Defensive coordinator Greg Stewart returns four letterwinners from last year and only lost one Kade Koler.
Only two other players return at the position, a sophomore and a freshman.
The staff brought in a juco and two true freshmen.
Cole is receiving all the pre-season hype with a second-team all-Sun Belt Conference selection by Phil Steele, a third-team all-League by Athlon over the summer, and the other Jaguar in the Reese’s Senior Bowl Top 250.
Cole has played outside linebacker the last two seasons, but will be moving back to inside for the fall.
Nick Mobley led the team in total tackles with 91, which ranked him in the top 10 for the conference and top 90 in the nation per game.
Roy Yancey returned last year after redshirting in the 2018 season due to an injury. Yancey started six games and appeared in all 12 games.
Stewart feels he has the depth he needs for the first time in his time at USA.
Outside Linebackers
Four letterwinners return in AJ DeShazor, Chris Henderson, Shawn Jennings, and Kelvin Johnson. The two letterwinners lost from last season: Khalil McDonald and Taji Stewart.
Two freshmen reshirted last season also returns for the fall. The coaching staff added Zach Jones as a freshman, Zivaiishe Smith a sopohomore from Juco, and Christian Bell a senior transfer from Wisconsin.
DeShazor had his named called often last season, he was third on the team in total tackles while starting all 12 games.
Johnson finished in the top five it total tackles last season, but he primarily played inside he is making the move to outside for 2020.
Bell appeared in 24 games over three years for Wisconsin, he was a four-star recruit by ESPN coming out of Hoover.
Chris Henderson and Christian Bell are expected to be two of the main leaders of the outside linebacker corps. DeShazor and Doug Sullivan are expected to make some big contributions as well though.
Cornerbacks
The cornerback position had some big losses from last year too. Gone are Travis Reed, Jalen Thompson, and Gus Nave, some names you heard quite a lot last season. Also gone are Jay Woods and Tyrone Leggette.
Returning letterwinners are Devin Rockette, Ryan Melton, Jaden Voisin and Davyn Flenord (moving over from receiver). Also returning is Dallas Gamble who redshirted.
The coaching staff brought in two juco transfers and one true freshman.
Thompson graduated with the career leader in interceptions (9) and INT’s return for touchdowns (2). Reed’s 41 total stops and three tackles for loss led the cornerback group last season as he earned second-team all-Sun Belt honors.
Rockette returns with the second-most pass break ups last season, including a pair of fumble recoveries and an interception.
Darrell Luter Jr was a three-star juco recruit and rated among the top 40 cornerbacks in the nation, selected to the second-team all-Mississippi ACJC.
The coaching staff is hoping that youth, eagerness and willingness to learn will be enough to replace the experience lost from last season. Rockette returns the most reps and will be one to help set an example to the new faces.
Safeties
Gone are DJ Daniels and Sterrling Fisher but returning are Keith Gallmon, Tre Young and Keon Voisin. Also returning are Kwameh Lewis (sr) and Nic Brunkosky (r-fr).
The coaching staff brought in three players, two juco and one senior transfer.
Gallmon earned preseason third-team all-Sun Belt Conference from Athlon and a fourth-team preseason all-league by Phil Steele. He started all 12 games with 59 total tackles, 43 of them solo and two tackles for loss.
DJ Exilhomme was a second-team all-Northeast Conference selection after recording 72 total tackles, three tackles for loss, five passes broken up, three fumble recoveries, an interception and a blocked kick.
CJ Thompson was the top juco recruit in Oklahoma and the 15th rated safety in the country by 247 sports. He was named second-team NJCAA All-American and second-team all-Southwest Junior College Football Conference.
Gallmon returns the most starting experience on the team at the position and has emerged as a leader among the safeties. Add in the other safeties who have played snaps for the Jags and some juco experience and the staff feel pretty good about this squad.
Special teams
All the letterwinners and the lone redshirt return to the team with the addition of Cooper Charlton as an incoming freshman.
Brooks is a fourth-team all-Sun Belt Conference selection by Athlon sports. As a freshmen his punting average was sixth in the conference and in the top 60 in the country.
Frankie Onate led the team in scoring and Guajardo was the first kicker to record double-digit touchbacks in a season since 2014 and Aleem Sunanon.
Kawaan Baker will be continue to be on kickoff return coverage and Jalen Tolbert will replace Tre Minter as the other kickoff returner. Tolbert and Jalen Wayne will be the competing for the primary punt return position this fall.
Coaches have had the student-athletes kicking more balls than previously. Guajardo has working on his kickoffs for consistency and Brooks has been working on more consistent punting. Both were freshmen last season and Brooks was only on campus a few weeks before the season started, so with a season under their belts they should be ready come game time.
South Alabama Hosts 21st Ranked Appalachian State For Homecoming
The South Alabama Jaguar football team finally returns to play on a Saturday after playing a pair of midweek, nationally televised games against Georgia Southern and rival Troy and losing both.
After another long layover, the Jags look to tame the hotest team in the Sun Belt Conference, Appalachian State who’s ranked 21st in the nation, in South Alabama’s annual homecoming game. The schedule does not bode well for the homecoming court.
USA enters as a 25.5 point underdog at home. Oh and have we mentioned they are ranked 21st in the nation? Well they are and that ranking has set a Conference record too.
The Mountaineers are averaging 42.8 points per game, however their defense is allowing an average of 21.7 points per game themselves. But that does not help when the Jags offense averages a mere 16.3 points per game, their largest output was 37 points against an FCS school.
South Alabama, glaringly, left points on the field against Troy. In the first quarter trailing the Trojans 3-0 and facing 4th and goal at the 1 (after being stopped on back-to-back plays) head coach Steve Campbell settled for a field goal to tie the game.
Then in the second quarter facing fourth and goal on the 3 (after having it 1st and goal at the 3, Tra Minter gained 2, then Cephus Johnson running from the shotgun lost 2) Campbell opted to go for the touchdown and the pass flew with no chance of a catch.
Coach Campbell pointed that the issue is execution. “It’s not a scheme deal or a play-calling deal, we have to grow up and then make the play,” Campbell said. Which is quite funny to hear when you hear fans groan when the Jags have the ball at their own 25 yard line with 1:08 left in the game and they actually call the three plays before the offense even gets set for the 1st down snap.
Two passes, both incomplete, then a draw play up the middle that maybe gets one yard.
Can you guess what happened after those three plays? A punt and then Troy driving down for a field goal going into the half.
On the season the Jags have only converted 4 of 13 fourth down attempts and 31 of 96 attempts on 3rd down. All very pitiful numbers which leads to this fact, the Jaguar opponents have held the ball more than the Jags.
I know, shocker there.
But go back and look at time of possession in the Georgia Southern game. GSU: 40:38 to South Alabama’s 19:22. That’s not even an episode of Friends or Modern Family.
All this talk about how bad the team is performing glosses over the fact that these guys are actually talented, but all you see is Tra Minter, Kawaan Baker and Cephus Johnson as the three big spotlight players. Yes, we’ve seen a flash from others like Jalen Wayne, Jalen Tolbert, and Davyn Flenord on offense.
But where once USA was becoming Tight End U, now there has only been two catches from the tight end position and one touchdown. Actually only one touchdown last season as well. Overall the offense ranks 9th in the 10 team league.
So for Appalachian State, they enter the game bowl eligible at 6-0, ranked 21st in the nation and looking to continue making more noise nationally. The high-scoring offense has kept them going and now the defense seems to be catching up as they have only allowed one touchdown in both of their last two games and forced three turnovers against Louisiana-Monroe last weekend.
On one had the Mountaineers are licking their chops when sizing up the Jaguars. Then on the other hand they want to get through the game without any injuries as they gear up for a run against Georgia Southern (short turnaround for Thursday night game), at South Carolina and at Georgia State after their trip to Mobile.
Running back Darrynton Evans rushed for 136 yards, 130 of them in the first half, against ULM. That gives him 676 yards on the season with 10 touchdowns. Meanwhile Zach Thomas is completing 68.5% of his passes for 1,163 yards, 10 touchdowns and three interceptions.
Mountaineer head coach Eliah Drinkwitz is making sure to remind his team that they need to come ready when they play at Ladd-Peebles Stadium. “They’re backed into a corner so they’re going to have a ton of fight,” he said. “They’ve got a great defensive front, and they’ve got a solid running game, and that’s a recipe for an upset if we don’t take care of business and focus on what we need to do.
“We’re not trying to climb higher in the rankings. We’re just trying to beat South Alabama.”
With an 11am kickoff time, these games can be a bit unpredictable. USA could come out on fire and “pissed off” as Campbell put earlier this week. But do they have what it takes to beat the 21st ranked team in the nation?
Unfortunately I don’t see a win happening for the home team. I think we’ll be officially eliminated from bowl eligibility with our sixth consecutive loss by convincing margin. Now with the spread at 25.5, that’s a lot of points. I think the Jags will have to try to keep up scoring wise, which puts a lot of pressure on an offense that’s been struggling all season. I’m going to take the Mountaineers to cover, but maybe because I’ve been wrong just about all season it won’t work out.
The Jags and the Mountaineers kickoff at 11am on Saturday, October 26th. The game will be televised on ESPNU and radio coverage locally in the Mobile area on 99.5 The Jag and online through the iHeartMedia app worldwide.
Go Jags!
South Alabama Falls In Battle For The Belt 37-13
Questionable play calling, mistakes, and a porous defense were the key in the Jags 37-13 loss at Troy.
South Alabama falls to 1-6 overall and 0-3 in conference play while Troy improves to 3-3 overall and 2-1 in conference play.
After Troy opening the game with a field goal, the Jags answered by driving down to the 1 yard line. On back-to-back plays Jared Wilson and Cephus Johnson would both be stopped dead in their tracks and head coach Steve Campbell would settle for a 17 yard field goal to tie the game.
On the ensuing possession, Troy would methodically drive down and put a touchdown on the board with a 1 yard rub pass towards the front pylon.
The Jags next possession would stall at the Troy 35 and Frankie Onate would drill a 51 yard field goal, but the Trojans would be flagged for a personal foul for hitting the kicker giving the Jags 15 yards and a first down at the Troy 20 yard line. Minter would carry the ball on back-to-back plays to give the Jags a 1st and goal at the 3 yard line. Minter would add two more yards and then the offense could not put it in the end zone. Minter would be snuffed on two consecutive plays. Then on 3rd and goal, Cephus took the snap from the shotgun, Troy would bring pressure up the middle and drop him for a two yard loss.
After a time out, Cephus would throw the ball too high for Jalen Tolbert, who was in double coverage anyway and Troy would get the ball.
Three plays later, Troy quarterback Kaleb Barker would just lose his grip on the ball and the Jags would recover at the Troy 3 yard line.
A jet sweep to Kawaan Baker would net the Jags a touchdown, their only one of the game.
Travis Reed would pick off Barker at the USA 22, but then two plays later Johnson would be picked off at the Troy 43 yard line.
The Trojans would get three points off the turnover.
USA would get the ball with 1:08 left in the opening half trailing 13-10. They would draw up passes on first and second down before giving it to Minter up the middle for no gain. Troy would get the ball back after only :21 when Jack Brooks punt was shanked and only netted 24 yards.
Behind Barker’s passing, the Trojans quickly moved the ball but the Jags defense held for only a field goal to go into the locker room at halftime trailing 16-10.
USA opened the second half with two first downs before having to punt. Brooks would pin the Trojans at their own 13 yard line but Barker and the offense would pick apart the Jaguars slashing runs and precision passing. Barker would cap the drive off with a 15 yard touchdown pass to Kaylon Geiger to make it 23-10.
Tra Minter breathes some life into the team with a 45 yard kickoff return to the Jags 47. After a jet sweep to open the drive, which gained one yard. The Jags then threw the ball on 8 consecutive plays. On the final one, Johnson had Jalen Wayne in the end zone but he dropped it. Onate’s 45 yard attempt would miss wide right.
The Jags would get the ball back two plays later when Barker was intercepted by Travis Reed again. But the drive would stall at the Troy 14 yard line and Onate connected on a 31 yard field goal to make it 23-13.
Troy would miss a 36 yard field goal giving the Jags the ball at their own 20 yard line.
Cephus then threw what looked like was supposed to be an out route but the receiver was at least 10 yards farther down the field, and it was intercepted and returned 29 yards for a Troy touchdown.
After the Jags could not convert 4th & 1, Troy took over at their own 31 and just ground out 69 yards on 13 consecutive run plays, with four of them going for 10+ yards, to make the final score 37-13.
The confusing and frustrating part were so many attempts from the 1 yard line and not a single one of them came from a snap under center. Instead the ball was snapped to the quarterback in the shotgun and either handed off or the quarterback was stopped once stopped for a 2 yard loss.
Another frustrating set of play calls came on the Jags final possession of the half. With 1:08 left, 1st and 10 from your own 25 yard line and still in the game trailing 13-10. Kenny Edenfield calls two passes that fell incomplete and stopped the clock then came back with a draw up the middle for just one yard gain. Something we’ve seen countless times this season. That coupled with a poor punt and a defense playing deep and not putting pressure on receivers allowed the Trojans to quickly move the ball and get a field goal as the first half expired.
Troy did their best to help keep the Jaguars in the game. Two interceptions by Travis Reed and a fumble recovery by A.J. DeShazor led to 10 of the Jaguars 13 points in the game. But they left points on the field offensively.
Unfortunately the defense wore down as the game played out and by the fourth quarter Troy was gashing the defense both on the ground and through the air.
The game was effectively put away when Troy scored the pick-six at the 14:02 mark of the fourth quarter and yet they would put another score on the board as the Jaguar defense just was unable to slow down the Trojan ground game.
“I’m very disappointed in the loss,” coach Campbell opened his post game press conference. “I thought the kids gave a good effort, but we obviously came up short in a game like this. We need to go back to work, keep improving and find a way to win a game like this; we had opportunities.”
“We need to make a few more plays, we talked about what we could’ve done better,” Campbell said when asked what he told the players in the locker room after the game. “There are some calls I wish I could have made differently, and there are some things that we can definitely do better to put ourselves in a position to win. This game hurts and those players in the locker room are hurting. Let’s get back to work. No defeat is ever final and no victory is ever final; you have to get back and get to work, and we have some things we need to work on.”
“We probably could have run the ball outside a little bit more, but the coaches made good play calls,” senior running back Tra Minter responded when asked about being unable to capitalize on short-yardage plays near the goal line. “We just need to execute them as players.”
The Trojans held advantages in all of the stat columns, except turnovers. Total yards the Trojans led 432 to 271. Passing yards they led 212 to 183. Rushing yards they led 220 to 91. First downs they had 28 to USA’s 20, which was a huge improvement over their 4 (though two were touchdowns) against Georgia Southern. Third down conversions the Trojans were 10 of 17 while the Jags were only 3 of 12. Troy converted the only 4th down attempt they tried while the Jags converted 1 of 3 attempts. Troy held an 81 to 72 play advantage and a time of possession advantage of 34:57 to 25:03.
Offensively it was the Tra Minter show for the Jags as he put up 200 all-purpose yards in the game. He had 78 yard on kick off returns, 86 rushing yards on 17 carries, and 36 yards receiving on 6 receptions leading the team in rushing yardage and passes caught.
Kawaan Baker added 15 yard rushing on four carries and the lone Jaguar touchdown. He also caught five passes for 42 yards. Davyn Flenord caught four passes for 33 yards and Jalen Tolbert caught two passes for 48 along with the teams longest offensive play of 34 yards.
Cephus Johnson went 20-for-38 for 183 yards and was sacked twice. Though at times he was inaccurate throwing the ball, he did have several passes hit players in the hands with opportunities make the catch.
Jack Brooks punted twice for an average of 27 yards per punt, hurt by the 24 yarder off the side of his foot in his first kick. But the second was nicely placed inside the opponents 15 yard line.
South Alabama will have a couple extra days to recover and game plan before hosting conference-leading Appalachian State on October 26 for the Jaguars homecoming game. The Mountaineers are an undefeated 5-0 on the season and 2-0 in the conference with noteworthy wins over North Carolina and Louisiana-Lafayette.
ASU will be in action this Saturday as they host Louisiana-Monroe for a 3:30pm kickoff at Kidd Brewer Stadium in Boone, NC for their annual homecoming game.
The Jags and the Mountaineer will kick off at 11am on ESPNU on Oct 26 at Ladd-Peebles Stadium. Radio coverage can be heard on 99.5 FM The Jag and 96.1 FM locally in the Mobile area or on iHeartRadio app world wide.
In the meantime, the Jags have to go back to the drawing board once again to figure out a way to get their first FBS win of the season.
Go Jags
South Alabama Opens Conference Play Against Louisiana-Monroe
In the past two games South Alabama has been outscored 77-9 and have fallen to 1-3 on the season. But the coaching staff is quick to tell you that the real season starts now. They have eight games remaining in the season and they are all conference games.
The coaches are correct.
If the Jags can make a huge turnaround in time, they can still get bowl eligible with five wins. Plus they still hold their own destiny in making the inaugural Sun Belt Conference Championship too.
But as much optimism the first game of the season against Nebraska gave the fans. The last two game have soured them as much or maybe more.
The offense has protected the ball better after turning the ball over several times in the first couple of games. However, the offense has been ineffective moving the ball the last two weeks. They seemed to have been starting to find their way late in the first quarter of the UAB game as Cephus Johnson was running the option pretty well. Cephus racked up 41 yards on six carries, unfortunately he had to leave the game with a concussion late in that first quarter.
After losing some offensive firepower last season both to graduation and to the transfer portal, the number of offensive play makers has dwindled. Tra Minter still leads the team rushing and in all-purpose yards while Kawaan Baker is a great possession receiver who is able to make big plays and has been effective at times running the jet sweep and snagging a touchdown here and there. It has made it hard to get the ball into those play makers hands.
USA’s defense could not get stops against Memphis or UAB. The Blazers controlled the ball for 39:58, wasn’t forced to punt until the 3rd quarter, and allowed them to convert all four 3rd down conversion on the opening drive of the second half, a drive that lasted almost nine full minutes.
As the Jags head into their first conference game of the season against Louisiana-Monroe, they enter ranked 117th of 130 FBS teams in total offense (322.5 yards per game), 119th in passing (146.5 yards per game, and 124th in scoring (16.75 points per game).
In head coach Steve Campbell’s press conference to begin the week, he said that the problem wasn’t the offensive strategy, but rather execution.
“We can draw up new plays, but it is still going to be about a little thing here and a little thing there,” Campbell said Monday. “It’s not what we’re doing, but how we are doing it. Obviously, we need to get the ball to Tra Minter and make sure that KB [Kawaan Baker] gets opportunities.”
The offensive line was manhandled by the Blazers on Saturday. They allowed four sacks and eight tackles for loss.
The Warhawks forced Florida State into overtime in a 45-44 loss to the ‘Noles. They scored 20 points against a good Iowa State team. But on the other side, they allowed 72 points to Iowa State.
South Alabama needs to get off to a fast start on both sides of the ball. They can’t afford to fall behind early and struggle moving the ball and scoring points. After the first drive of the second half against UAB, the Jags defense was able to get stops on the Blazers. Similarly, the Jags defense got stops in the second half of the Memphis game as well.
The defense needs to clamp down early. They could really use Tyree Turner, who is doubtful with an ankle injury suffered against Nebraska.
Offensively, the Jags have got to extend drives by converting 3rd downs and ultimately put points on the board. If it’s by running more option and play action passing then do it, because the RPO has not been working.
It’s running the same play over and over again and the opponents have gotten wise to it. I’m looking at you Kenny Edenfield, as the offensive coordinator you need some better scheming.
The coaching staff has reiterated their support of Cephus as the starting quarterback. But heading into the game he (concussion) and wide receiver Jalen Wayne (foot) are both listed as probable.
The current spread is ULM by 16 points. I’ve picked the Jags the last two weeks to cover and it hasn’t worked out for me. But also based on what I’ve seen the last two weeks, I don’t know if they can turn around everything that is wrong in just one week.
I think the Warhawks cover the 16 point spread, but a late surge by the Jags makes it close. The Warhawks allow 244 yards per game and nearly 6 yards per carry rushing.
South Alabama and Louisiana-Monroe kick off at 6pm in Monroe, LA. The game will be available to streamed on ESPN+ with a subscription. Play-by-play coverage will be aired on 99.5FM The Jag locally in Mobile and worldwide via iHeartMedia app on the web and smartphones.
Jags Take Another Thumping, Fall to UAB 35-3
South Alabama travelled to Birmingham for their final non-conference game of the 2019 season against the UAB Blazers and came home with a 35-3 loss.
Tyler Johnston III threw for 313 yards and three touchdowns on 22-of-27 passing while also running for 26 yards against the Jaguar defense. In all, the Jags defense gave up 514 yards of total offense.
In a game with few highlights for the Red, White, and Blue, Tra Minter led the Jags with 43 yards rushing and added three catches for 34 yards.
Nick Mobley, sophomore linebacker, led the defense with 10 stops. Keith Gallmon and DJ Daniels each had nine and eight stops respectively in the secondary.
The few highlights for the Jags this week is that they won’t make Sportscenter, C’mon Man, or You Had One Job segments this week with a botched point-after attempt that turns into two-points for the opposite team. They avoided a shut out by notching a field goal in the first quarter. Though they were shut out of the end zone. They did not turn the ball over and were only called for just four penalties.
Cephus Johnson had to leave the game early due to being diagnosed with a concussion, though he was visibly not happy about it on the sideline. He finished the game 3-of-5 passing for 7 yards and 41 yards rushing on six carries.
Tylan Morton came in and went 5-of-10 for 76 yards. Desmond Trotter saw some action late and his only pass attempt was incomplete.
Jalen Tolbert and Kawaan Baker both caught two passes for 23 and 22 yards respectively.
Blazer Spencer Brown carried the ball 18 times for 80 yards and two touchdowns.
With the non-conference slate finished, the Jags will need to regroup for the meat of your schedule.
“We start conference play next week and that gives everybody a chance to start over,” South Alabama coach Steve Campbell said. “Everybody is 0-0 and it starts a new season. We’ll learn from this one.”
“I thought we played better [defensively] in the second half” Campbell said. “Offensively, we didn’t put enough together to generate any touchdowns. This is now two weeks in a row that we haven’t played well offensively, so we have to go back and look at what we’re doing, and whether or not we have the right people at the right spots. We need to find a way to move the ball and score some points.”
Campbell spoke about how to turn things around going into conference play with eight games remaining. “We’ll go back to the drawing board and figure out a way to score some points offensively. Defensively, we did a good job of getting off the field in the second half. They [UAB] went on one [scoring] drive in the second half and that was a nine minute drive where they converted five or six third downs and we just couldn’t get off the field. We made them earn it in the second half and didn’t give them anything cheap. There’s some stuff for us to build off from this game. Our special teams played better.”
South Alabama will travel to Louisiana-Monroe. The Warhawks took Florida State to overtime before falling to the Seminoles. The Jags will have a week figure things out and do some soul searching as they still control their season.
The Jags and the Warhawks are schedule to kick off at 6pm in Monroe, LA. The game can be seen on ESPN+ with a subscription.