Preview: Battle For The Belt, South Alabama vs Troy
Kickoff: Thursday, October 20, 6:30pm
Venue: Hancock Whitney Stadium, Mobile, Alabama
TV/Streaming: ESPNU
Radio: 96.1 fm The Rocket, Sports Talk 99.5 fm, iHeartRadio App
Thunderjags Twitter: @USAThunderjags
#5 Jersey: Carter Bradley
It’s the “Battle for the Belt” week.
When South Alabama announced the formation of a football team, it was destined to become a rivalry. Two institutions separated by 170 miles that are already in the same conference and rivals in other sport. Football just made it that much more.
Troy has won the last four meetings between the two schools to gain a 7-3 advantage in the series. Last year was the closest game over that four-game span was a 31-24 decision in Troy.
The remainder of the Jags season was thrown off script by that game too.
On the first series of the game the Jags lost starting quarterback Jake Bentley on a hit below the knee that tore two tendons in his knee. That put the Jags season in Desmond Trotter’s hands until Bentley returned for the season finale against Coastal Carolina. Unfortunately, the Jags couldn’t earn a win in the final three games and were unable to attain bowl eligibility in head coach Kane Wommack’s first season at the helm.
Fast forward to this season and both teams have an opportunity to reach bowl eligibility in this game. But most of all the winner of this game will control their destiny in the Sun Belt Conference Western Division and a berth in the conference championship game. South Alabama received votes in the Associated Press poll for the first time since 2016.
Troy (5-2, 3-1 SBC)
The Trojans are under the direction of first-year head coach Jon Sumrall. But he is familiar with Troy as he served on Neal Brown’s staff from 2015-2017 as associate head coach and was defensive coordinator and special teams coach.
Sumrall began his coaching career at Kentucky after suffering a career-ending injury. He served as a graduate assistant from 2005-2006. He then got his first coaching position with San Diego as defensive line coach and recruiting coordinator 2007-2009 before being promoted to associate head coach, linebackers coach and co-defensive coordinator from 2010-2011. He then went to Tulane as co-defensive coordinator from 2012-2014 where he also coached the defensive line for the first two seasons then linebackers the final season there.
In 2018 he left Troy for Ole Miss where he coached linebackers for a season. He then went back to his alma mater, Kentucky, to coach inside linebackers from 2019-2020 before being promoted to co-defensive coordinator in 2021.
The two losses that Troy has on their 2022 record is a 28-10 loss at then #21 ranked Ole Miss and a 32-28 loss at Appalachian State on a hail mary touchdown pass as time expired.
Offense
Joe Craddock is in his first season as offensive coordinator at Troy. His coaching career began as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for Briarwood Christian school from 2010-2011 where they went 25-4 with him on staff and finished at the 2010 state runner-up in their division. He then went to Clemson for the 2012 season as an offensive player development coach then he moved to an on-field graduate assistant position working with quarterbacks from 2013-2014. Chad Morris, whom he met at Clemson, hired him at SMU as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach from 2015-2017 which made him the youngest offensive coordinator in college football at the time. When Chad Morris was hired as head coach at Arkansas, he brought Craddock with him as his OC, a position he held from 2018-2019. The last two seasons he served as tight ends coach at UAB.
Craddock’s offense ranked #8 in FBS in scoring offense (40.2 points), #13 in total offense (493.8 yards) and #16 in passing yards (308 yards) in 2017 at SMU. That season they had a 3,000-yard passer, a 1,000-yard rusher, and two 1,000-yard receivers.
So far in 2022, the Trojans are averaging 24.3 points, 399.4 total yards, 312.7 passing yards, 86.7 rushing yards, and 30:38 time of possession per game.
They are converting 32-of-91 (35.2%) of their 3rd down attempts and 7-of-14 (50%) of their 4th down conversion attempts. Troy quarterbacks have thrown a total of nine interceptions and they have lost four fumbles for a total of 13 offensive turnovers. They’ve been in the red zone 27 times on the season and have scored points on 20 of those trips, 12 of them being touchdowns.
Gunnar Watson is the team’s leading quarterback going 122-of-193 for 1,691 yards, six touchdowns and 7 interceptions on the season. Jarret Doege is 34-of-50 for 491 yards with five touchdowns to two interceptions on the season.
Deshon Stoudemire leads the Trojans in receptions with 30 catches for 337 yards and a touchdown. Tez Johnson leads the team in receiving yards with 479 on 22 receptions with three touchdowns. Jabre Barber has 25 catches for 351 yards and two touchdowns. RaJae’ Johnson has 15 catches for 263 yards and three touchdowns. Two other receivers have 128 or more receiving yards on the season.
DK Billingsley leads the Trojans running game with 386 yards on 77 attempts with three touchdowns. Kimani Vidal has 308 yards on 76 carries with two touchdowns. No other back has more than 35 rushing yards on the season.
Gunnar Watson and Tez Johnson left games early with injury. Sumrall said publicly that they should be available to play on Thursday, but until pre-game warmups and kickoff we won’t know if this is a ruse to keep the Jags spending time preparing for players who won’t see the field.
Defense
Shiel Wood was hired by Sumrall as defensive coordinator when he took the helm. Wood began his coaching career at Woodruff High School in South Carolina in 2006. He then joined his alma mater, Wofford, in 2007 and spent a total of eight seasons there. From 2007-2010 he coached wide receivers, from 2011-2012 he coached safeties. From 2016-2017 he served as recruiting coordinator and coached the secondary, in 2017 he added defensive coordinator to his list of duties. In 2018 he coached the safeties at Georgia Tech and helped them to a bowl berth. In 2019 he served as inside linebackers coach and special teams coordinator for Georgia State. In 2020 he joined the Army program as co-defensive coordinator, his first season he coached the inside linebackers before transitioning to coach safeties in his last season.
His 2021 squad finished 9-4 with a win over Missouri in the Armed Forces Bowl. The defense ranked 17th nationally, they held opponents to 328.4 yards per game, ranked 36th by allowing 22.3 points per game, and 17th nationally allowing 117.2 yards per game rushing.
Opponents are averaging 19.3 points, 341.0 total offensive yards, 229.7 passing yards, 111.3 rushing yards, and 29:22 time of possession per game.
Opponents are converting 48-of-111 (43.2%) of their 3rd down attempts and 8-of-14 (57.1%) of their 4th down attempts on the season. The defense has forced seven interceptions and recovered five fumbles for a total of 12 forced turnovers. Opponents have been in their red one 21 times on the season and scoring on 17 of those trips, 14 of them touchdowns.
Linebacker Carlton Martial leads the team with 63 total stops, 25 of them solo, he has 2.5 tackles for loss with .5 sack with two pass breakups and an interception. Martial is a Mobile native who went to McGill-Toolen.
Craig Slocum Jr is the next closest tackler with 53 on the season, 20 solo. T.J. Jackson leads the Trojans with 10.5 tackles for loss, and also leads the team with 5.5 sacks. Markeis Colvin is the team leader with two interceptions.
Special Teams
Placekicker Brooks Bruce is 10-of-11 on the season with a long of 48 yards. Mike Rivers has punted 30 times with an average of 43.5 yards per kick, a long of 56 yards, three touchbacks, 15 fair catches, 13 downed inside the 20 and 5 that went 50+ yards.
South Alabama (5-1, 2-0 SBC)
The Jags got some revenge against Louisiana-Monroe last Saturday night with a 41-34 win. Though a pair of touchdowns in the final quarter made it a one-possession game, Marco Lee effectively took the team on his shoulders as he ground out first downs on the final possession of the game, draining time off the clock and denying ULM a chance to possess the ball once more.
The Jags secondary was torched by Tyrone Howell for the tune of 244 yards on nine catches with three touchdowns.
Coach Wommack, defensive coordinator Corey Batoon, and the staff and players will look to correct the mistakes and prepare for the Trojans with two fewer days than normal game-week preparation.
Offense
Looking at the team statistics, particularly rushing, you wouldn’t have known the Jags lost their starting running back La’Damian Webb on the first possession to an injury. Omni Wells and Marco Lee combined to rush for 178 yards between the two of them. The Jags as a team rushed for 195 yards
After a productive third quarter, the Jags were held to 96 offensive yards and just 18 snaps in the fourth quarter, 10 of those snaps and 79 of those yards came on the final possession as the Jags milked the clock for the win.
On the season the Jags are averaging 36.0 points, 462.3 total yards, 300.3 passing yards, 162 rushing yards, and 31:56 time of possession per game.
They are converting 43-of-88 (48.9%) of their 3rd down attempts and 2-of-7 (28.6%) of their 4th down attempts. Jag quarterbacks have thrown four interceptions and lost only two fumbles for a total of only 6 giveaways on the season. In 29 trips to the red zone, they have come away with points on 24 of those occasions with 18 of them being touchdowns.
Carter Bradley is 126-of-198 for 1,694 yards, 13 touchdowns and four interceptions on the season. He set a single-game record against ULM with 420 passing yards in the game.
The “Big Three” receivers for the Jags each had over 100 yard receiving last time out against ULM. Caullin Lacy leads the team with 35 catches for 503 yards and three touchdowns for the season. Jalen Wayne is right behind him with 31 catches for 491 yards and five touchdowns. Devin Voisin has 26 catches for 334 yards and a touchdown.
La’Damian Webb leads the team with 470 rushing yards on 91 carries with six touchdowns. Marco Lee has 138 yards on 33 carries with four touchdowns. Omni Wells has 141 on 30 carries. Lee and Wells each were close to 100 yards rushing each last week against the Warhawks. Braylon McReynolds, who’s been the teams #2 back has had a quad issue since the Louisiana-Lafayette game. The staff are publicly hopeful that he may return this week. Both Webb and McReynolds availability look to be game-time decisions.
Defense
The Jags defense is allowing an average of 21.3 points, 322.0 total yards, 227.2 passing yards, 94.8 rushing yards, and 27:14 time of possession per game.
Opponents are converting just 26-of-81 (32.1%) of their 3rd down attempts and 7-of-13 (53.9%) of their 4th down attempts. They have forced teams into eight interceptions and six fumbles for a total of 14 takeaways. Of the opponents 19 trips into the red zone, they have scored 14 times with nine of them being touchdowns.
Linebacker James Miller leads the Jags defense with 33 total stops, 19 of them solo, with 2.5 tackles for loss and one sack. Brock Higdon leads the team with 3.5 tackles for loss with one sack. Jaden Voisin, Trey Kiser, and CJ Rias each have three tackles for loss each. Kiser, Rias, and Wy’Kevious Thomas all have two sacks each to lead the team. Yam Banks leads the team with three interceptions as well as four pass breakups.
Special Teams
Diego Guajardo remains perfect on the season making all nine of his field goal attempts, adding two more over ULM, with a season long of 48. He is also 25-of-26 in extra point attempts and leads the team in scoring with 52 points on the season.
Jack Brooks has punted 26 times for an average of 41.7 yards per punt, a long of 58, five punts of 50+ yards, 10 downed inside the 20, four fair caught and only two touchbacks.
Caullin Lacy is averaging 14.7 yards per punt return with one touchdown return on the season. He also has a 49 yard kickoff return on his resume for the season.
Keys to the Game
Turnovers
In a rivalry game, turnovers play a huge part of the game. A poorly times mistake can swing the momentum to your opponent on a dime. The Jags are +8 in turnover margin and are very protective of the ball with only six giveaways on the season.
Meanwhile Troy is +1 on the season in turnover margin. They’ve given the ball away 13 times but have generated 12 takeaways defensively.
Pass Defense
The Jags secondary were exposed on a few pass plays and allowed a number of explosive plays, including an 83 yard touchdown pass. The Trojans, who are a primarily passing offense, will try to exploit the same weaknesses if given the opportunity.
Coach Wommack and coach Batoon have certainly worked with the players on those issues and will come into the game with a good gameplan to get pressure on the Trojan quarterback and limit the explosive plays. But how will the players execute is the question.
Health
The Jags were able to return a few players to the lineup after their bye week. Braylon McReynolds and Quintin Wilfawn were two notable exceptions. McReynolds has not played since prior to the Louisiana-Lafayette game due to a quad issue. La’Damian Webb left the ULM game with an injury on the teams first possession. Without Webb and McReynolds, the Jags were left with Omni Wells and Marco Lee at running back.
Wells and Lee performed great against ULM, neither one has had anywhere near that level of success in the previous five games. They were the next men up and they played their heart out.
Who can forget losing Bentley to a hit below the knee on the first drive last year at Troy.
There is some uncertainty out of Troy as well as they lost their starting quarterback Gunnar Watson early in their game against Texas State last Saturday. It’s unknown if Watson and Tez Johnson, who also left the game early, will both be available to play in the game. Coach Wommack said they will continue to prepare for both quarterbacks since they do utilize a rotation at that position.
If Webb, McReynolds, and Wilfawn can all play Thursday night, that would be a huge boost to the Jags roster for the rivalry game. I’m sure they are eager to see action against the Trojans too.
Prediction
Rivalry games can be difficult to prognosticate. There are times when you can “throw the records out the door.” Troy is a good team, particularly on defense. They are riding a four-game winning streak in the series.
The Jags are a 3-point favorite at home. Which traditionally the home team is typically given a three-point advantage, which translates to the bookies considering the game basically a toss-up.
I feel that this game could honestly go either way, it would be a big win by the Jags or it could be a nail-biter.
This game is always circled on the calendar, but I think this one had some extra circles drawn around it. Coach Wommack doesn’t focus too much on any one particular opponents too much, but if there ever was one, this would probably be it. My gut is nervous but my head tells me the Jags should win this barring any unforeseen developments prior to or during the game. I’m going with a Jags win and cover.
Go Jags! Go home Troy!
Jags Hold Off ULM For 41-34 Win
South Alabama dominated the third quarter with 17 points and added another touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter allowed the Jags to withstand a late charge by Louisiana-Monroe for a 41-34 win.
The Jags (5-1, 2-0 Sun Belt Conference) scored on their first four possessions of the second half to take a 41-20 advantage with 14:55 left in the fourth quarter after trailing 17-20 at halftime.
South Alabama took the opening possession of the second half and only needed five plays to drive 75 yards. The drive was capped off by quarterback Carter Bradley connecting with Jalen Wayne for a 20 yard touchdown for a 24-20 advantage.
On the ensuing possession, a tipped pass was intercepted by Yam Banks, who wore the honorary #5 jersey in the game. It only took two plays for the Jags to cash in on the turnover. A 17 yard pass to Devin Voisin set up a 24 yard touchdown pass to Caullin Lacy to put the Jags up 31-20 at the 10:29 mark.
The Jags defense forced the Warhawks to punt after four plays. Bradley connected with Lacy for a 44 yard gain to the Warhawks 18 yard line. A few plays later head coach Kane Wommack settled for a 29 yard field goal by Diego Guajardo for a 34-20 lead at the 3:51 mark.
The Swarm D forced a three-and-out, Lacy returned the punt 26 yards to their own 45 yard line. Marco Lee carried the ball the final four plays of the drive and scored on the first play of the fourth quarter from 5 yards out to put the Jags up 41-20 and seemingly cruising to victory.
Two possessions later, the Warhawks took advantage of a coverage mixup by the Jags for touchdown pass. Tyrone Howell caught it one yard past the line of scrimmage and outraced the Jags defenders for an 83 yard touchdown to cut the lead to two scores with 9:47 left in the game.
USA’s offense was only able to get one first down before being forced to punt on the ensuing possession. The Warhawks took advantage of another mistake in coverage for a 41 yard gain on their first offensive play from scrimmage. Five plays later the Warhawks converted a 4th and 1 at the Jags 7 yard line with a 7 yard touchdown pass to Zach Rasmussen to cut the Jags lead to 41-34 with just 5:00 left in the game.
Offensive coordinator Major Applewhite leaned on Marco Lee and he came through each time with clutch runs on key 3rd down situations. He carried the ball six times for 57 yards on the 10 play drive, but his final carry for 7 yards sealed the game when he got a first down after ULM had used their final time out. Bradley was able to kneel twice to preserve the win.
Stats
A number of records were broken in the game. Carter Bradley threw for 420 yards, breaking the record previously held by Jake Bentley. Caullin Lacy had 12 receptions, a new single-game record. Devin Voisin, Jalen Wayne and Lacy each had over 100 yards receiving, a first in South Alabama program history.
Carter Bradley was 25-of-33 passing with three touchdowns with the 420 passing yards.
Lacy finished with 133 yards on his 12 receptions with a touchdown. Voisin caught seven passes for 141 yards. Jalen Wayne added 127 yards and two touchdowns on five receptions. Lincoln Sefcik was the only other Jaguar to catch a pass in the game.
La’Damian Webb only had one carry for 7 yards before leaving the game with a rib injury in the first quarter. Marco Lee had 15 carries for 93 yards and two touchdowns. Omni Wells added 17 carries 85 yards.
Chandler Rogers was 20-of-27 for 371 yards, four touchdowns and an interception with three sacks.
Tyrone Howell torched the Jags defense for 244 receiving yards on 9 receptions with three touchdowns. Jevin Frett had three receptions for 83 yards and Bug Mortimer also had three receptions for 28 yards.
Malik Jackson rushed for 39 yards on 13 carries as the Warhawks leading rusher.
The Jags put up 615 yards of total offense, 420 yards passing and 195 rushing. They were 6-of-13 on 3rd down attempts and did not convert their only 4th down attempt. According to the final stats, ULM possessed the ball for 28:18 while the Jags possessed the ball 26:42, which is exactly five minutes short of a full 60 minutes so we guess the missing five minutes belong to the Jags on the final drive to boost their TOP to 31:42.
ULM put up 438 yards of total offense, with 371 passing yards and 67 rushing yards. The Warhawks only converted 3-of-12 of their 3rd down attempts but converted both of their 4th down attempts against the Jags.
Quentin Wilfawn and Dontae Lucas both sat out the game while Jamar Richardson and Brandon Crum both returned to play for the first time since getting injured against UCLA on September 24th.
Next
The Jags will host Troy (5-2, 3-1 SBC) for the annual Battle for the Belt on Thursday, October 20th at Hancock Whitney Stadium with kickoff scheduled for 6:30pm on ESPNU.
Preview: South Alabama Host ULM On Homecoming
Kickoff: Saturday October 15, 6:00pm
Venue: Hancock Whitney Stadium, Mobile, Alabama
TV/Streaming: NFL Network
Radio: 96.1 fm The Rocket, Sports Talk 99.5 fm, iHeartRadio App
Thunderjags Twitter: @USAThunderjags
#5 Jersey: Yam Banks
A bye-week makes for a good milestone on your season. It’s an opportunity to reflect on what you have done on the season so far. What have you done right? What could use some attention?
But it’s also a great time to heal.
The South Alabama football team prides themselves in being a very physical team. But with that physicality also comes those typical bangs and bruises that can linger and sometimes just needs a little extra time to heal fully.
Head coach Kane Wommack hopes that his team has taken advantage of the extra rest and can get some players back from injury for their stretch run of the season. Defensively they hope to return some if not all of the following players: Quintin Wilfawn, Jamar Richardson, Wy’kevious Thomas, Dallas Gamble, and Ed Smith. Offensively they hope to return some if not all of the following: PJ Mixon, Dontae Lucas, Adrein Strickland, and Brandon Crum.
They could also return DJ Thomas-Jones who collapsed on the sidelines in Lafayette and had to be taken to the hospital to get checked out. He has been through a litany of medical tests and has, reportedly, passed everything so far. His availability and clearance to return to play is still uncertain as they continue testing to ensure he is healthy and safe to return.
ULM (2-4, 1-2 SBC)
The Warhawks are led by second-year head coach Terry Bowden. His team went 4-8 (2-6 SBC) in his first year with the program, one of those wins was a 41-31 win over the Jaguars at home in Monroe.
However, Bowden had some staff turnover after his first season as offensive coordinator Rich Rodriquez left for a head coaching opportunity at Jacksonville State and took staff with him. His replacement, Matt Kubik, has prior experience as offensive coordinator for the Warhawks. He filled that role from 2016-2019.
During his previous stint at ULM as OC, his teams produced 500+ yards of total offense 13 times. Over that three-year stint they averaged 181.7 rushing yards, 263.2 passing yards, 444.9 total yards and 30.7 points per game. In 2019 ULM was one of five FBS schools to average at least 200 rushing yards and 250 passing yards per game.
Kubik spend the 2020 season as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Southern Miss, his first and only season with the Golden Eagles. Head coach Jay Hopson resigned after the season opening loss to the Jags as they went 3-7 on the year. He transitioned to Columbia High School where he became the offensive coordinator and helped them to a 14-1 record and a Mississippi Class 4A state championship in 2021. Prior to ULM he served as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Stephen F. Austin from 2014-2015 as they averaged 427.9 yards of total offense and 28.7 points per game in 2015.
Bowden also had to find a new defensive coordinator when Zac Alley joined Rodriquez in Jacksonville as DC. Bowden turned to veteran coach Vic Koenning to fill the open position. Koenning started his coach career at Memphis in 1991. He then served as DC at Wyoming (1997-1999) then head coach (2000-2002). He then had stops as DC at Troy (2003-2004), Clemson (2005-2008), Kansas State (co-DC 2009), Illinois (2010-2011, interim head coach 2011), North Carolina (2012-2014), Troy again (2015-2018), West Virginia (2019) and now at ULM in 2022. Koenning was hired by Neal Brown at Troy in 2015 and he followed him to West Virginia but resigned in 2019 due to backlash from allegations of player mistreatment.
Koenning helped lead Troy to a top-10 ranked defense in 2004. At Clemson he helped them rank in the top-25 for scoring defense and total defense as well as 9th in total defense in 2007. He helped the Kansas State defense to improve from 118th to 38th in the nation. He also helped Illinois to improve the defense from 91st in 2009, to 38th in 2010, and 7th in 2011 allowing only 291.8 yards per game and ranking 4th in the nation in pass defense. At UNC his defense finished 3rd in the nation in tackles for loss and allowed just over 25 points per game in his first season in 2012.
Offense
On the season the Warhawks are averaging 143.5 rushing yards, 187.3 passing yards, 330.8 total yards, and 20.3 points per game. However, those stats are a little bit skewed as the Warhawks opened the season with a 52-10 loss at Texas and then a 63-7 loss two weeks later against Alabama in Tuscaloosa. If you remove those two games their scoring average goes up to 26.2 points per game, boosted by a 35-7 win over Nicholls in week 2.
Quarterback Chandler Rogers is 98-of-141 for 1,066 yards, six touchdowns and three interceptions on the season.
Rogers has a trio of receivers with very similar numbers. Tyrone Howell leads the team with 261 yards on 15 catches with a touchdown, Alred Luke has 217 yards on 15 catches with a touchdown, and Jevin Frett has 199 yards on 16 catches with a touchdown. Tight end Zach Rasmussen only has eight catches for 58 yards, but three touchdowns so far on the season.
As a team they are 34-of-87 (39%) on third down attempts and are 1-of-6 on 4th down conversion attempts. To go along with the three interceptions, the Warhawks have fumbled the ball eight times and lost four of them to opponents. Warhawk quarterbacks have been sacked 14 times on the season. Of their 16 red-zone trips they have scored 13 times with only one of them being a field goal, so they are quite efficient when they reach the red zone.
The Warhawks leading rusher is Malik Jackson with 292 yards on 76 rushing attempts five touchdowns. Andrew Henry has 222 yards on 43 carries with a pair of touchdowns. Rogers has run for 177 yards on 69 carries with three touchdowns to his credit as well.
Against Coastal Carolina last Saturday, the Warhawks rushed for 145 yards, threw for 279 for 424 total yards of offense against the undefeated Chanticleers. Rogers was a very efficient 27-of-31 in that game as they had a couple of opportunities to tie the game coming down the stretch.
Two weeks prior, the Warhawks got their first and only conference win of the season so far with a 21-17 upset of Louisiana-Lafayette. In that game they rushed for 227 yards and passed for 192 yards as they rolled up 419 total yards of offense. They won the game with a pair of fourth quarter touchdowns over the Cajuns who are still winless in conference play.
Defense
On the season the Warhawks defense is allowing an average of 142.7 rushing yards, 247.3 passing yards, 390 total yards and 35.3 points per game in 2022. Those numbers also include the games against Texas and Alabama. If you leave those two out, they are allowing 24.3 points per game, then if you also leave out Nicholls, they allow an average of 30 points per game which seems a bit more honest of ULM’s status thus far this season.
Opponents are 35-of-84 (41.7%) when facing 3rd down and they are 7-of-13 (53.9%) when attempting 4th down conversions. Opponents have been in the red zone 24 times and scored on 21 of those trips, only two of them were held to field goals.
Linebacker Tristan Diggers leads the team with 31 total stops, 21 solo, one tackle for loss, three interceptions, one pass breakup, and a quarterback hurry. Fellow linebacker Zach Woodard is right behind him with 30 total tackles, 20 solo, five tackles for loss, two sacks and a fumble recovery. Linebacker Quae Drake leads the team with six tackles for loss.
Based on the numbers, the linebacking corps are quite active. Their defensive front has good size and they do a lot of stunts to confuse the opponents offensive line.
Special Teams
Calum Sutherland, in his sixth season, is 1-of-2 on the season in field goal attempts, his only conversion was from 25 yards.
Devyn McCormick has punted 35 times with an average of 43.3 yards per kick. His longest was 60 yards and he has two touchbacks, seven fair catches, 10 downed inside the 20, and eight kicks of 50+ yards. Braxton Guilbeau has three punts on the season with an average of 42 yards per kick with one downed inside the 20.
Boogie Knight and Tyrone Howell have two and three punt returns in their stats respectively with a grand total of -1 return yards between them in total.
South Alabama (4-1, 1-0 SBC)
The Jags stand atop the Sun Belt Conference Western Division with a 1-0 conference record. All other western division teams all have at least one loss, so as it stands the Jags control their destiny as to a berth in the conference championship game. But they can’t count their eggs before they hatch. There’s no bigger game than the one at hand.
Last time out they knocked off the Ragin’ Cajuns on the road to break a six-game skid and to win their first game at Cajun Field.
While there’s still lots of football to be played this season, the win definitely changed the landscape of the SBC Western Division. It remains to be seen who eventually ends up on top of the division when the regular season concludes.
Offense
On the season the Jags are averaging 155.4 rushing yards, 276.4 passing yards, 431.8 total yards, 32:59 time of possession, and 35 points per game through five games this season. They are 37-of-75 (49.3%) on 3rd down attempts and 2-of-6 (33%) on 4th down conversion attempts. Jag quarterbacks have been sacked eight times on the season. Of the 23 trips into the red zone, the Jags have scored touchdowns on 15 of those trips.
Carter Bradley is 101-of-165 (61.2%) for 1,274 yards, 10 touchdowns and four interceptions through the first five games.
Caullin Lacy and Jalen Wayne have very similar numbers on the season. Lacy has 23 receptions for 370 yards and two touchdowns while Wayne has 26 catches for 364 yards and three touchdowns. Devin Voisin has 19 catches for 193 yards and a touchdown.
La’Damian Webb leads the Jaguar rushing attack with 463 yards on 90 carries with six touchdowns. He also has one touchdown receiving. Braylon McReynolds has 104 rushing yards on 18 carries as a true freshman. Omni Wells has 82 yards on 21 carries.
Defense
On average the Jags defense is allowing 100.4 rushing yards, 198.4 passing yards, 298.8 total offensive yards, 27:01 time of possession, and 18.8 points per game.
Opponents are only converting 23-of-69 (33.3%) of their 3rd down attempts and 5-of-11 (45.5%) of their 4th down attempts. Of their 17 trips into the Jaguars red zone, opponents have scored 12 times with eight of them being by way of a touchdown.
Trey Kiser and Jaden Voisin both lead the defense with 25 total tackles, 18 and 14 solo respectively, both have three tackles for loss as well with Kiser having two sacks on the season but Voisin with an interception.
James Miller is right behind them with 24 tackles, 14 solo, 2.5 tackles for loss. CJ Rias is tied with Kiser for team lead in sacks with two.
Yam Banks leads the team with two interceptions and four pass breakups.
Special Teams
Diego Guajardo nailed the game winner against the Cajuns to complete his redemption from the 2021 game. He is a perfect 7-for-7 on the season with a long of 48 yards.
Jack Brooks has punted 22 times this season with an average of 42.6 yards per punt with a long of 58 yards, five kicks of over 50 yards, one touchback, one fair catch, and nine downed inside the 20.
Lacy has returned 8 punts with an average return of 14.25 yards with a 57 touchdown return against Louisiana Tech.
Keys to the Game
Running the ball
The Jaguar offense has drastically improved in year two under coach Wommack and offensive coordinator Major Applewhite. The big difference has been the ability to run the ball effectively each week.
You can heap quite a bit of praise on the shoulders of La’Damian Webb, but plenty of praise needs to be shown to the offensive line as well. Webb definitely gives them praise when he has the opportunity.
In last years game the Warhawks held the Jags to only 89 yards rushing. They also got Jake Bentley to throw a pair of interceptions in the Jaguar loss.
Pass Defense
Chandler Rogers lit up the Jaguar secondary by throwing for 369 yards on 25-of-35 passing with four touchdowns, including an 81-yard touchdown pass in the 3rd quarter to break the 31-all tie. That was the most passing yards allowed by the Jaguar defense in a single-game last season.
The Jags pass defense is much improved over last year and should be aided by the return of several players who have missed time over the last couple of games.
Turnovers
Through the first few games the Jags weren’t able to get many turnovers on defense. However, against Louisiana Tech, the Jags generated five turnovers, three interceptions and two fumbles. It was also Yam Banks’ big night with a pair of interceptions and a fumble recovery all by himself.
As a team the Jags are +7 in turnover margin. Continuing to generate turnovers on defense will be something defensive coordinator Corey Batoon and his squad will have as a goal to keep the Swarm D rolling in the 2022 season.
Prediction
Starting with ULM, the Jags next two games may be among the most meaningful two-game stretch the South Alabama football program has ever faced in its short history.
Even if coach Wommack and the Jags with both games, they will not secure the western division crown. They won’t be assured to host the conference championship game. They won’t be locked into a bowl game.
But what they will accomplish is earning bowl eligibility for the first time in six seasons and for only the fourth time in program history (2013, 2014, 2016), they will be the undeniable frontrunner for the SBC west title, and they will continue on their “revenge tour” with wins over ULM and Troy (who have won the last four contests in the series).
But they will continue to control their destiny this season.
Thankfully both games will be decided at Hancock Whitney Stadium with the Battle for the Belt game happening on a short turnaround on the following Thursday night.
Many thought the Jags looked uncharacteristically out of sorts in the game against the Warhawks last year. The defense allowed the most pasting yards all season, and the second most points allowed all season (41, Tennessee scored 60 a few weeks later).
But this team is much different than the team last year.
Vegas Insider has USA as a 17-point favorite in the game. ULM’s early season schedule has been quite difficult to date but they notched a win over their in-state rival Louisiana-Lafayette and had opportunities to get a game-tying touchdown against undefeated Coastal Carolina last weekend, so they’re signs of life in Monroe.
I think the Jags take care of business at home against ULM thanks to the return of some players after the bye-week. But we’ve also seen lots of growth from both the team and the staff in year two under the leadership of coach Wommack.
While I think the Jags win, I think they don’t cover the spread. Giving them 17 points is quite a bit in a conference game with a team who just played Coastal Carolina and didn’t allow them to score in the second half. I think it’s a case where a win is a win, you have a short week to prepare for your in-state rival, you want to stay healthy and keep your cards close to your chest.
Go Jags!
South Alabama Downs The Cajuns On 44-Yard Walk-Off Field Goal To Win 20-17
Diego Guajardo waited a year for an opportunity for redemption and he made good at Cajun Field. After missing what is normally an easy kick for him, but complicated by a wet field last year, he drilled the 44 yard attempt like a dagger through the Cajuns heart to win 20-17.
South Alabama’s Carter Bradley ran the ball in from 3 yards out to put the Jags up 17-7 and looked like they may have the game in hand. But the Cajuns made adjustments and put the Jags on their heels. A 4th down conversion at their own 36 yard line kept the drive alive but they had to settle for a 51 yard field goal with 7:43 left in the game.
After forcing a three-and-out, the Cajuns were back in business at their own 18. They proceeded to march 82 yards and used 6:17 off the clock, they converted on 3rd down four times on the drive to tie the game at 17 with :42 left. They only converted 6 3rd downs in the entire game.
But the Cajuns left too much time on the clock.
After a pair of incompletions, La’Damian Webb kept the drive alive with a 21 yard run on 3rd and 10 from the Jags 25 yard line. Another pair of incompletions set up Caullin Lacy for an 11 yard catch to again move the chains and keep the drive alive with :09 left. Bradley saw Jalen Wayne in single coverage and got the ball to him for a 17 yard completion with :04 left to set up Guajardo for the walk-off redemption kick from 44 yards out.
Louisiana-Lafayette were the first to put points on the board. The offense went three-and-out and the Cajuns avoided a potential block in the back penalty on the 69-yard punt return touchdown by Eric Garror at the 7:53 mark of the first quarter.
South Alabama tied it up shortly before halftime when La’Damian Webb plunged over the offensive line from two yards out with 2:54 left before halftime.
Diego gave the Jags the lead at the 8:29 mark of the 3rd quarter on a 38 yard field goal.
Stats
South Alabama out-gained the Cajuns 361 to 276 in total offensive yards and 245 to 115 in passing yards. The Cajuns out gained the Jags on the ground 161 to 116.
At one point early in the fourth quarter the Jags held a time of possession advantage of about 10 minutes. By the end of the game the Jags only held a time of possession advantage of 30:18 to 29:42.
The Jags were flagged eight times for 60 penalty yards, the Cajuns were flagged seven times for 65 yards.
The Jags were 12-of-21 on 3rd down and was 1-of-3 on fourth down attempts. The Cajuns did not convert a 3rd down attempt until the fourth quarter and ended the game 6-of-16 on 3rd down and converted their only 4th down attempt.
Carter Bradley finished 18-of-41 for 245 yards and an interception.
Caullin Lacy led the receivers with 5 catches for 112 yards. Wayne caught 4 passes for 55 yards, including 17 yard catch to set up the game winning kick. Devin Voisin added 41 yards on three catches.
La’Damian Webb rushed for 75 yards on 22 carries with a touchdown. Braylon McReynolds ran for 25 yards on three carries. Marco Lee had 6 yards on three carries.
James Miller led the defense with eight tackles, so solo and half a tackle for loss. Trey Kiser added seven tackle, four solo, and a key sack.
Jaden Voisin and Darrell Luter Jr both recorded interceptions in the game.
Ben Woolridge led the Cajun quarterback rotation going 18-of-29 for 90 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Chandler Fields was 4-of-7 for 25 yards with an interception.
Running back Chris Smith was the leading pass catcher for the Cajuns with 5 catches for 16 yards. Peter LeBlanc led the way with 23 yards on three catches.
Smith led all rushers with 107 yards on 12 carries. Woolridge added 36 rushing yards on 9 attempts.
Next
The win put the Jags at 4-1 on the season, 1-0 in Sun Belt Conference play. The Cajuns fall to 2-3 on the season and 0-2 in conference play.
South Alabama has next Saturday off and will return to play on Saturday, October 15 when they host Louisiana-Monroe for a 4pm kickoff at Hancock Whitney Stadium.
Preview: South Alabama Opens Conference Play At Louisiana
Kickoff: Saturday October 1, 4:00pm
Venue: Cajun Field, Lafayette, LA
TV/Streaming: ESPN+
Radio: 96.1 fm The Rocket, Sports Talk 99.5 fm, iHeartRadio App
#5 Jersey: Desmond Trotter
Thunderjags Twitter: @USAThunderjags
South Alabama (3-1) took another big step forward last Saturday against Louisiana Tech (1-3). Though they opened the game with a big play, it was called back due to a penalty. But they didn’t let the adversity affect them.
If anything, they used it as motivation.
They took the opening possession and marched 80 yards over six plays in just over two minutes to put the points back on the board. Then after the defense held La. Tech to a 3-and-out, Caullin Lacy returned the punt 57 yards for a touchdown. He was also named the Sun Belt Conference Specials Teams Player of the week for that. From there, they mostly cruised to a 38-14 win.
Yet the game was still full of adversity.
The Jags were flagged for 14 penalties, totaling 131 penalty yards. It also saw a targeting penalty called down from the press box when Brock Higdon was seemingly pushed into the quarterback. Head coach Kane Wommack appealed the subsequent disqualification in the first half of the next game, however his appeal was denied.
That game is now behind them, as is their non-conference slate of game. Now they face the next test of their season: conference play.
What better way to start your conference schedule than to begin with the perennial powerhouse in your division. The Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns have won the Sun Belt Conference Western Division championship the last four years (2018-2021), they shared the 2020 conference championship with Coastal Carolina due to Covid cancellation of the championship game, and they won the 2021 conference championship game versus Appalachian State in Billy Napier’s final game as head coach before leaving for the University of Florida.
Louisiana-Lafayette (2-2, 0-1 SBC)
The Ragin’ Cajuns are led by first year head coach Michael Desormeaux. He played college football for the Cajuns before a short-lived career with the Jacksonville Jaguars and Calgary Stampeders. He spent six seasons in the high school coaching ranks, three of them as a head coach, before making the jump to collegiate coaching.
He joins the Cajuns in 2016 as running backs coach, then served as tight ends coach for four seasons. Last year he was co-offensive coordinator and tight ends coach before being selected as head coach.
The Cajuns opened the season with a pair of wins over Southeastern Louisiana (24-7) and Eastern Michigan (49-21), both at home. However, they’ve come up short the last two contests against Rice (21-33) and Louisiana-Monroe (17-21), both on the road.
Offense
The Cajuns aren’t the Cajuns of the last few years. Quarterback Levi Lewis is gone and they return only one major contributing running back from a year ago. Chris Smith led the team rushing last season with 855 yards on 153 attempts. He had a career outing against Arkansas State when he ran for 238 yards on 24 carries with two touchdowns.
After Smith, they only return one other running back who saw action last season. He only had eight carries for 14 yards though.
As a team the Cajuns are averaging 27.75 points, 340.5 total yards, 233.25 passing yards, and only 107.3 rushing yards and 27:48 time of possession per game.
They are converting 40% of their 3rd down attempts (22-of-55) and 25% of their 4th down attempts (2-of-8). They are winning big in the turnover margin so far with a +9 turnover margin (3 turnovers to 12 takeaways). They have already logged nine interceptions through four games this season.
Of their 13 trips into opponents red zone, they have scored on 10 of those trips, with eight of them being touchdowns.
Chandler Fields leads the quarterback duo going 50-of-88 for seven touchdowns, and two interceptions. Ben Wooldridge is 30-of-45 for 350 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions.
Michael Jefferson leads the receiving corps with 17 catches for 259 yards and two touchdowns. Johnny Lumpkin and Chris Smith are the only other players to log double digit receptions (10). Lumpkin has 99 yards and three touchdowns while Smith has 91 yards. John Stephens Jr is the only other receiver with over 100 yards receiving (103 to be exact) with one touchdown.
Chris Smith leads the rushing attack with 157 yards on 35 carries with two touchdowns. Terrence Williams is the only other rusher over the century mark with 104 yards on 29 carries. Three other players have double-digit carries, Jocob Kibodi (19 for 96 yards), Dre’lyn Washington (17 for 65 yards and a touchdown), and Chandler Fields with 16.
Defense
Opponents are averaging 20.5 points, 372.3 total yards of offense, 241 passing yards, 131.3 rushing yards and 31:58 time of possession per game against the Cajuns.
They are converting just over 44% of their 3rd down attempts (26-of-59) and just under 43% of their 4th down attempts (3-of-7). The defense has taken the ball away from their opponents 12 times, nine of them interceptions and three fumbles.
Opponents have been in the red zone 13 times and came away with scores 12 of those trips, ten of them coming as touchdowns.
Jourdan Quibodeaux is the leading tackler with 31 total stops, 12 of them solo from his linebacker position. Kam Pedescleaux is right behind him with 30 total stops, 18 solo with a forced fumble and an interception. No player on defense has more than one interception on the season.
Special Teams
Preston Safford is 2-of-4 on the season on field goals, his longest make is 36 yards. His two missing came from a 50+ yard attempt and a 40+ yard attempt.
Rhys Byrns has punted 19 times with an average of 45.3 yards per punt with two touchbacks, five fair catches, 6 downed inside the 20 and four kicks of 50+ yards.
Eric Garror has returned 9 punts, one of them for a touchdown.
South Alabama (3-1, 0-0 SBC)
For the second-consecutive season the Jags have started the year 3-1. However the one loss last season was to the very opponent they face this weekend, Louisiana-Lafayette.
In that game the Cajuns jumped out to a 20-0 lead before the Jags began their rally. They shut out the Cajuns in the second half. Diego Guajardo has his worst outing at a Jag that night with a blocked extra point, missing a second extra point, and missing a 37-yard field goal with 1:06 left in the game to take the lead and possibly win.
The Jags may have lost 18-20, but they made a statement to the Cajuns and to the Sun Belt Conference that they were ready to play.
Offense
In only his second season at the helm, coach Wommack and offensive coordinator Major Applewhite have transformed the Jaguar offense into something powerful.
The Jags rank 44th nationally in total offense, 61st nationally in rushing offense, and 35th in passing offense. But most of all they are tied for 29th nationally in scoring offense, something that Jag fans would not have believe two years ago.
On the season the Jags are averaging 38.75 points, 449.5 total yards, 284.25 passing yards, and 165.3 rushing yards, and 33:39 time of possession per game.
They are converting just over 46% of their 3rd down attempts (25-of-54) and 33% of their 4th down attempts (1-of-3). They have turned the ball over 4 times, three of them interceptions and only one fumble, which places them at +6 turnover margin on the season.
Of their 19 trips into the red zone, the offense has scored 16 times, only three of them being field goals.
Carter Bradley is 83-of-124 for 1,029 yards, 10 touchdowns and three interceptions on the season. Desmond Trotter, in only two games of action, is 12-of-14 for 108 yards.
Jalen Wayne leads the receiving corps with 22 catches for 309 yards and three touchdowns after being held mostly in check by Louisiana Tech last week. Caullin Lacy has 18 catches for 258 yards and two touchdowns. Devin Voisin, who has come on of late, has 16 catches for 152 yards and a touchdown. La’Damian Webb has 11 catches for 118 yards and a touchdown, some of those come by a jet sweep like play that counts as a forward pass.
Webb leads the rushing attack with 388 yards on 68 carries with five touchdowns. Terrion Avery currently resides as second on the team in rushing with 82 yards on 21 carries. Braylon McReynolds has 79 yards on 15 carries. Omni Wells has 46 yards on 12 carries. Marco Lee adds 39 yards on 15 carries with two touchdowns.
However it was released this week that Avery is no longer on the team. Additionally offensive linemen Antawn Lewis and Anterrious Gray are both no longer with the team. How much that affect the team down the stretch will remain to be seen. Both Lewis and Gray both have experience as starters in 2021 but were beat out at their positions to begin the season. Both came to USA as Division I transfers and are fifth-year seniors.
But the offensive line group started the season with 21 players, so they should have enough bodies but will the loss of experience come back to haunt them some? We’ll have to wait and see.
Defense
The Jags defense is picking up from where they left off last season. They rank 27th nationally in total defense, 67th nationally in passing yards allowed, and 17th nationally in rushing defense, and are tied for 37th nationally in scoring defense.
Jaden Voisin leads the defense with 20 total stops, 11 solo, with three tackles for loss, two pass breakups and a quarterback hurry. Jalen Jordan is right behind him with 19 stops, 10 solo. Trey Kiser is next with 18 stops, 14 solo, a sack and a fumble recovery. Quentin Wilfawn, who missed last weeks game due to injury, comes in 4th with 17 stops, 13 solo, with 1.5 tackles for loss. CJ Rias leads the team with two sacks.
Despite only recording one tackle last week, Yam Banks was a huge force for the defense against La. Tech. He accounted for three of the five takeaways. He picked off two passes, returning one for a touchdown, and recovered a fumble.
Special Teams
Diego Guajardo is a perfect 5-for-5 on field goal attempts on the season with a season long 48 yarder, has only missed one of his 19 extra point attempts.
Jack Brooks has punted 17 times this season with an average of 43.4 yards per kick. He has a long of 58 yards, four punts of 50+ yards, one touchback, one fair catch, seven downed inside the 20 yard line.
Braylon McReynolds has returned 6 kickoffs for an average of 21.5 yards per return.
Lacy has fielded six punts with one returned 57 yards for a touchdown last week against La. Tech.
Keys to the Game
Establishing the run
The Cajuns have had a lot of success making teams lean towards the pass over the run. They have been able to pick off nine passes through four games, which is worth noting for sure.
The Jags have had a lot of success this season running the ball. This has really helped the offense be more balanced and more efficient in across the board.
It all starts with the offensive line though. But it also helps a lot to have a dynamic running back like La’Damian Webb who manages to seemingly never go down on the first hit.
Cleaning up the mistakes
Last week the Jags were hit with 14 penalties. They were flagged for 10 against Nicholls to start the season and they had nine against Central Michigan the week after that. But then two weeks ago in their last second loss to UCLA the Jags only committed four penalties.
In a close game, penalties can mean a win or a loss. A poorly timed flag can move you out of field goal range or make a 3rd or 4th and short into a 3rd or 4th and long for the offense. A 3rd and long can turn into a 3rd and short, or a 3rd down stop can turn into a 1st down for your opponent, all by the drop of a yellow hanky.
I tend to think of penalties in four categories: strategy, mental mistakes, aggressive play, and frustration. Strategic penalties are like taking a delay of game before a punt or a defender committing pass interference when they would have been beat for a touchdown.
Sometimes you’re going to get a penalty from aggressive play, they just happen sometimes. You don’t want them to, but sometimes they come with the game. Mental mistakes, or lack of good execution, should only happen occasionally but they can and should be worked on and corrected. Penalties out of frustration are the worst in my book. They are overly aggressive play, they are taking pot shots when its just not needed. These can escalate quickly and can rob you of your players and lead to a string of penalties.
In the end, you strive to commit zero penalties but you particularly want to avoid penalties in key situations. When you are averaging almost 10 flags per game, at some point it’s going to bite you in the rear if you don’t get it cleaned up.
Winning On the Road
Last year the Jags were 1-5 on the road. From 2018 through 2020 the Jags road records were 0-6, 0-6, and 2-3. South Alabama has not won three games on the road in a single season since 2014.
It’s time to get that monkey off the back.
This team has the feel of something special. They’ve already gone on the road once and won against a fellow Group of 5 school in Central Michigan. They also went across the country and went toe-to-toe with a Power 5 school in UCLA and outplayed them for the majority of the game only to lose on a field goal as time expired.
The culture is different. The play is different.
It takes a different mentality to win on the road. You’re out of your normal routine and out of your comfort zone. You’re in a stadium with mostly fans cheering against you. It takes extra focus to tune out all of the distractions and to focus on the fundamentals of your assignments each play.
It seems that this team has that about them. They have the talent, they have the focus, and they have the preparation and gameplan each and every week.
But they also have a swagger about them too. Not a pompous air, but they exude that they know they have a winning gameplan, that they feel that they have out worked their opponent all week and are ready to execute at a high level each and every play. They have an air about them that they are ready for that next step.
Now is the time to take that next step forward for the program.
Prediction
This Jags team has a different feel about them. They don’t let their emotions get too high and they don’t let them get too low. They know they have business to take care of and winning one game is not the goal.
They wanted to win against UCLA but they didn’t let the loss affect them. They came back the next week and was quick to jump on La Tech from the opening kick.
But there’s more to Louisiana-Lafayette. It’s a big personal. They have been the western division champ for the last four seasons. They are the bar in the West, even if coach Napier is no longer there.
The Cajuns lead the series 8-2 with wins in the last six consecutive meetings. The Jags are also 0-5 at Cajun Field in Lafayette.
What better way to signal to the west and the entire Sun Belt Conference that the Jaguars of South Alabama are here and ready to play. This could be the win that, when we write the season retrospective to close the book on the 2022 season, we point to this game and say “that was the changing of the guard.”
Last season was very nearly a Jags win. Some unfortunate plays on special teams in wet conditions was the difference between a loss and a win.
Cajun fans have their hands hovering over the panic button after dropping games to Rice and Louisiana-Monroe. As we have seen many times the scripted quarterback rotation just doesn’t seem to work as well as some coaches tend to think it will.
I think the Cajuns will compete hard to keep from dropping three consecutive games. The loss to Rice ended the national longest active winning streak. The loss to ULM snapped a 16-game winning streak against Sun Belt Conference West Division opponents and the back-to-back losses are the first since the final two games of the 2018 season. Plus it’s their homecoming game.
The Jags are an 8.5 point favorite on the road against the Cajuns. I think South Alabama will win and cover, 31-21.
Go Jags!
Jags Use Fast Start And Five Turnovers To Down Louisiana Tech 38-14
The Louisiana Tech’s quarterback, Parker McNeil, will have nightmares this week and the antagonist will be Yam Banks after he accounted for three take-aways and a touchdown as South Alabama wins 38-14.
The Jags improve to 3-1 on the season, half way to bowl eligibility and their non-conference slate complete. Louisiana Tech falls to 1-3 on the season.
South Alabama came out quick. It looked like Braylon McReynolds had taken the opening kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown, but a personal foul for an illegal backside block negated the score
But the Jags had already seized the momentum.
It only took the Jags six plays to cover 80 yards and put up the opening score of the game. Jalen Wayne caught back-to-back passes for 19 and 18 yards. Then La’Damian Webb reeled off a 25 yard run to put South Alabama in the red zone. A couple plays later Carter Bradley found Lincoln Sefcik for a 3 yard touchdown pass to go up 7-0.
The defense held the Bulldogs to a three-and-out and no offensive yards.
Then the special teams came up with a big play, and this one counted. Caullin Lacy caught the put on the right side of the field, weaved his way through the Bulldog coverage, and took it to the house to put the Jags up 14-0 after only 3:50 off the clock.
Louisiana Tech finally got on the scoreboard early in the second quarter on a 52 yard touchdown pass to Smoke Harris after he got behind a Jaguar defender to make it 14-7.
The South Alabama defense took the Bulldog score personally. On the next four possession the Jags would force turnovers.
The Jags answered with a 24 yard Diego Guajardo field goal for a 17-7 lead which would hold up till halftime. Ke’Shun Brown helped to preserve it with one of the Bulldogs four interceptions in the game.
The Jags were back on the scoreboard less than a minute into the second half.
On 2nd and 6, McNeil threw a pass toward the right sideline but Yam Banks was in position for the interception and was able to return it 24 yards for a touchdown to go up 24-7.
On the third play of the ensuing possession, Jamie Sheriff got a 14 yard sack on quarterback Matthew Downing and jarred the ball loose. Yam Banks covered it up for the recovery.
On 3rd & 8, Bradley tossed the ball to Caullin Lacy who took it in from 19 yards out to extend the Jags lead to 31-7 at the 11:06 mark in the third quarter.
The Jags would get on the board one last time to start the fourth quarter. After driving down to the Bulldogs 28 yard line as the third quarter expired, Bradley tossed the ball to Webb on the first play of the final stanza and he found pay dirt for a 38-7 with 14:42 left in the game.
La Tech put together an 8 play, 80 yard drive to put their final points of the game on the scoreboard with 10:59 left in the game.
The Jaguar reserves nearly added a score with seconds left in the game but a flag for holding kept them off the scoreboard one last time.
“That was a statement game in my mind,” head coach Kane Wommack said after the game. “I’m really pleased with where we are to the point. We’ve got to continue to work the momentum and build the consistency in our program that we’re looking for.”
“Are their plenty of things to get better off from this game,” Wommack asked. “Absolutely,” he answered.
On the drive that yielded the final points for Louisiana Tech, a very questionable call was made by the officials. Defensive end Brock Higdon beat his man and as he was running around the blocker, was seemingly shoved towards the quarterback. McNeil just got the ball away before Higdon’s shoulderpads hit his derriere from behind. After the play was over the officials stopped the game to review the play and eventually ejected Higdon for targeting on the third down play.
When the official announced the penalty, coach Wommack let loose with a barrage of words towards the officials. He had only said a couple words when they tossed a flag for unsportsmanlike conduct on the coach.
“There are times where you’ve got to send a message to your football team, that their head coach is going to stand up for them when they’re playing their tails off at the end of the game,” Wommack explained. “The call was the call. They had their reasons for the call and I’m not going to argue it, but my job is to stand up for my football team when our guys are playing hard, and that’s exactly what I did. Not going to apologize for that. However, certainly I recognize that that’s unprofessional, but a message had to be sent.”
Due to the targeting ejection occurring in the second half, Higdon will have to sit out the first half of the Jags next game at Louisiana-Lafayette. However Wommack indicated that he will use the NCAA’s new appeal process for targeting suspensions if, after they review the game film, they believe it is warranted.
After the game Yam Banks said that, after the UCLA loss, they were locked in all week during practice. “Coaches told us we’re too good not to be taking the ball away from people,” Banks explained. “That was our main focus this week.”
South Alabama
The Jags put up 389 total yards of offense, 214 through the air and 175 on the ground. They had 23 first downs and went 5-of-10 on 3rd down situations. They were 3-of-4 on scoring in the red zone, the only time they didn’t score was the final possession of the game.
South Alabama came out on the short side in time of possession with only 28:51 of possession time.
Bradley Carter went 14-of-21 for 178 yards, three touchdowns and an interception. Desmond Trotter was 3-of-4 for 36 yards in relief late in the game.
La’Damian Webb rushed for 75 yards on 14 carries. Braylon McReynolds added 51 on seven carries.
Caullin Lacy led the Jags receiving corps with 3 catches for 40 yards and a touchdown. Wayne had two receptions for 37 yards, he caught two passes in the first possession of the game and would not catch another pass for the rest of the game.
Webb and Sefcik both caught one pass in the game but both went for touchdowns.
Jamie Sheriff led the defense with 5 total tackles, two solo, with 1.5 tackles for loss, one sack and a forced fumble. Trey Kiser had five tackles, all solo, with 1 tackle for loss which was a sack.
Yam Banks finished the game with only one tackle but collected a pair of interceptions, one ran back for a touchdown, and a fumble recovery and three pass break-ups.
South Alabama finished the game with 14 penalties, eight of them in the first half, for 131 penalty yards.
La Tech
The Jags defense allowed 308 total yards of offense, 251 yards passing and 57 yards rushing. The Bulldogs had 17 first downs, went 3-of-12 on 3rd down and 2-of-3 on 4th down attempts. The Bulldogs only scored on one of their three trips into the red zone.
Parker McNeil went 19-of-34 for 251 yards, two touchdown, two sacks and four interceptions.
Tre Harris led all receivers with six catches for 85 yards. Smoke Harris had four catches for 84 yards and a touchdown. Griffin Hebert caught five passes for 49 yards and a touchdown.
Greg Garner rushed seven times for 51 yards. Marquis Crosby had 10 carries for 21 yards.
Next Game
South Alabama will travel to Lafayette to take on the Ragin’ Cajuns to open Sun Belt Conference play. Kickoff is scheduled for 4pm on Saturday, October 1 at Cajun Field.
Preview: South Alabama Hosts Louisiana Tech In Finals Non-Conference Game Of 2022
Kickoff: Saturday September 24, 6:00pm
Venue: Hancock Whitney Stadium – Mobile, AL
TV/Streaming: ESPN+
Radio: 96.1 fm The Rocket, Sports Talk 99.5 fm, iHeartRadio App
#5 Jersey: Jalen Wayne
Thunderjags Twitter: @USAThunderjags
South Alabama went to Pasadena to the Rose Bowl and narrowly missed out on coming home with a win.
They held a 17-6 advantage late in the first half when UCLA closed the gap to four points at halftime. They also held a 31-23 lead at the end of the third quarter after a pair of touchdowns only :17 seconds apart. But the Bruins pulled out the game on a walk-off field goal with :02 left.
Now the Jags return home after two long distance away games to host their final non-conference opponent of the 2022 campaign: Louisiana Tech.
Louisiana Tech is under the direction of first year head coach Sonny Cumbie. Cumbie has spent the past 12 years as an assistant coach in the Big 12. He started out his college coaching career with Texas Tech as a graduate assistant then as wide receivers coach, then co-offensive coordinator and outside receivers coach. He then went to TCU where he was the co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for three seasons then the next three seasons as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. He then went back to Texas Tech in 2021 as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach but ended up being named the interim head coach.
Cumbie is known for his air-raid style of offense. He started his college coaching career under Mike Leach at Texas Tech, who known for the same style of offense. Gary Patterson hired Cumbie to implement his offense over the pro-style offense that had been in use by Patterson for a long time. His first two seasons at TCU he helped the Horned Frogs to finish in the top 3 offensively. His final two seasons saw the offense struggle to replicate the success of the first two.
The Bulldogs (1-2) will make their second visit to Mobile but their first to Hancock Whitney Stadium. The two teams have squared off against each other twice before with the Bulldogs coming out on top both times. The Jags went to Ruston in 2017 and fell 34-16 then they came to Mobile and came away with a 30-26 win at Ladd-Peebles Stadium.
Both teams are quite different than when they last met each other on the gridiron.
This season, under new coach Cumbie, the Bulldogs opened the season with a 52-24 loss at Missouri. They won at home against FCS Steven F Austin 52-17. Then traveled to #5 Clemson for a 48-20 loss.
Louisiana Tech
Offense
Cumbie’s offense is known for its air raid style, so they like to spread the field and throw the ball.
They will run 10 personnel and 11 personnel but will line up like 5 wide receivers.
So, for those of you reading who don’t know what 10 and 11 personnel means, here you go. When they say 10 personnel it means they have 1 running back and 0 tight ends (and 4 receivers), hence the 1 and 0. Similarly 11 personnel means 1 running back and 1 tight end (with 3 receivers). What is 12 personnel then? Right, 1 running back and 2 tight ends (with 2 receivers). What is 21 personnel? Right again, 2 running backs and 1 tight end (and 2 receivers), this is also the common grouping for pro-style offenses. There are more variations (22, 13, and 00) but we won’t go over them here today but you know what the personnel groupings are by what we have covered today.
The Bulldogs have a tight end, #5 Griffin Herbert, who leads the team in receiving yard. He’s a good-sized guy who can play like a receiver or block like a tight end is known to do. So it doesn’t really matter if he is attached to the line or out in the formation wide, he is a threat at all times.
I guess this is as good a time as any to present their stats on the season so far.
As a team they are averaging 32 points per game with 392.3 total yards of offense, 287.7 passing yards and 104.7 rushing yards per game.
Their leading quarterback is Parker McNeil who is 41-of-76 on the season for 650 yards with 6 touchdowns and three interceptions. Matthew Downing has played in two games and gone 21-of-38 for 197 yards with one touchdown to three interceptions.
As mentioned, Hebert leads the team with 278 receiving yards on 9 catches with 2 touchdowns. He is averaging almost 93 yards per game receiving. Tre Harris’ 14 catches leads the team in that category, with 165 yards and two touchdowns. Two other receivers have 10 or more catches on the season.
Marquis Crosby is by far the leading rusher with 227 yards on 35 carries with three touchdowns. Only three other players have double-digit rushing yards. Charvis Thornton leads that group with 74 yards on 15 carries with a touchdown.
In the Bulldogs’ two losses they have rushed for a combined 14 yards (8 against Missouri and 6 against Clemson). They ran for 300 yards against Steven F Austin in their only win.
Defense
Defensive coordinator Scott Power comes to the Bulldogs from Steven F Austin, where he was the defensive coordinator since 2018. They signed back-to-back top 5 FCS recruiting classes including the #1 overall recruit in FCS both years. Prior to DC at SFA, he was also DC at Texas A&M-Commerce, Central Washington, and Marian University.
A big focus of Powers’ defense is strong defensive line play to allow linebackers and defensive backs to focus on their assignments. Through the first three games his defense has generated five turnovers (3 fumble recoveries and 2 interceptions), 15 tackles for loss, and four sacks. Linebacker Hugh Davis and defensive back Jaiden Cole leads the team with 1.5 sacks each, Cole also has an interception.
La Tech allows an average of 39 points, 461.3 total offensive yards, 212.3 passing yards, and 249 rushing yards per game. Missouri put up 558 total yards of offense, 323 of them on the ground to start the season. Clemson put up 521 total yards of offense, 280 of them on the ground.
Steven F Austin, the only win and an FCS school, put up 305 yards of total offense, 144 of them on the ground.
Special Teams
Austin McCready has handled the majority of punts, his 12 kicks average 42.3 yards with a long of 51 yards. He’s had 5 fair catches, 4 kicks of 50+ yards, 2 downed inside the 20 and one touchback.
Patrick Rea has punted four times for an average of 34.8 yards per punt, his longest is 39 yards.
Jacob Barnes has kicked all but one of the teams six field goal attempt. He is 4-of-5 but his longest kick is from 35 yards. Buck Buchanan had his only attempted blocked from 50+ yards out.
South Alabama
The Jags could be entering this game 3-0. For the majority of the game the Jags outplayed the Bruins. It wasn’t until the end of the game that they overtook the Jags statistically, as well as on the scoreboard. While the UCLA, PAC 12, and national Power 5 fans all expected UCLA to win, they were quick to troll the Bruins for their post-game celebration.
South Alabama will have to regroup and respond to their first loss of the season this week. In the meantime, they need to get some players back healthy. Quentin Wilfawn, Jamar Richardson, Brandon Crum, and Lincoln Sefcik were some we mentioned on twitter as missing time in the game due to injury. Trey Kiser and Ed Smith both left the game but returned.
Offense
The Jags offensive line played the game as a unit in recent memory, and possibly the best since joining the FBS ranks. They helped La’Damian Webb to his first 100 yard rushing game and protected Carter Bradley so well he avoided any sacks in the game and completed 72% of his passes for 237 yards.
Overall, the Jags offense is ranked 40th in the nation in total offense, 33rd in scoring offense, 64th in rushing offense, tied for 23rd in passing offense, 49th in 3rd down conversions, 36th in the nation in turnover margin.
One of our keys to the game last week was offensive line play and they delivered.
As mentioned, Webb rushed for 124 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries with an average of 7.8 yards per carry. Bradley was 26-of-36 for 237 yards a touchdown and an interception, his second of the season. Jalen Wayne once again led the receivers with 76 yards on seven catches, and for his hard work this season Wayne will be wearing the honorary #5 jersey against the Bulldogs.
USA is averaging 39 points, 469.7 total yards of offense, 307.7 passing yards and 162.0 rushing yards per game this season.
Caullin Lacy has continued to improve as a receiver, he is second on the team in receptions (15) and yards (218). But Devin Voisin is a player on the rise in the receiving corps as well. He’s third on the team in receptions (13) and yards (125) and recorded his first career touchdown against Central Michigan.
So far this season the tight ends haven’t made much noise. Sefcik and DJ Thomas-Jones each two catches each for 28 yards each.
Defense
The Jags defense is allowing an average of 21 points, 303.3 total offensive yards, 208.7 passing yards and 94.7 rushing yards per game.
The defense is ranked 34th in the nation in total defense, 32nd in rushing defense, tied for 52nd in scoring defense, 61st in 3rd down conversion percentage defense, tied for 59th in 1st down defense, tied for 63rd in pass defense, and tied for 7th in fumbles recovered.
Jaden Voisin, Devin’s twin brother, along with Quentin Wilfawn leads the defense with 17 stops on the season. Jaden has nine solo and two tackles for loss while Quentin has 12 solo and 1.5 TFL.
They’ve only generated three sacks so far this season with James Miller, Wy’Kevious Thomas, and CJ Rias each with one sack each. AJ DeShazor is the only Jag with an interception while four Jags each have one fumble recovery each.
Special Teams
Jack Brooks did not see much action against UCLA, he’s punted 13 times on the season with an average of 43.6 yards per kick with a long of 58 yards, 3 traveling 50+ yards, and five downed inside the 20.
Diego Guajardo is a perfect 4-of-4 on the season with his longest being 48 yards.
Keys to the Game
Health
The physicality of the Jaguars lends itself to some injuries throughout the season. Last week against UCLA a few notable Jaguars missed playing time due to injuries. Quentin Wilfawn and Jamal Richardson were two notable defenders who missed game time.
And it showed.
As the game wore on in the second half, the Bruins were more able to move the ball on the Jags defense. While some of it can be attributed to halftime adjustments by coach Kelly and his staff, some could be attributed to the additional depth a Power 5 team may have over a Group of 5 team. But I think the Jags were missing some key components of their defense that at least aided UCLA’s ability to move the ball more in the second half.
This week the Jags have the luxury of playing at home instead of being on the road. But they need to stay healthy, not only to win this game, but for the conference schedule that is coming fast.
Defense
Which Bulldogs offense is going to show up? They are not a particularly good rushing team in their losses. As noted in the offensive scouting report, they have rushed for a total of 14 yards in their two losses. However, they were playing Missouri from the SEC and #5 Clemson from the ACC. When they faced off against Steven F Austin, an FCS school, they rushed for 300 yards.
Are Missouri and Clemson that much better on rush defense? Is Steven F Austin that bad on rush defense? Were the gameplans just that tilted one way or the other in the gameplans?
Either way, the Jags must be ready for whichever Bulldogs team shows up at Hancock Whitney Stadium on Saturday. UCLA was the first team to rush for over 100 yards on the Jags defense. I feel confident in the Jags ability to contain the Bulldog rushing attack, but how will they do against the air-raid scheme?
It goes back to health, if Richardson and Wilfawn are healthy and ready to go it’s a big help for the defense.
Get the run game going
Back in the scouting report, we noted that the La Tech defense was allowing an average of nearly 250 yards per game rushing. If the Webb and company can get that ground game going, that will set the tone for the Jags offense.
Coach Powers’ defense likes to free the linebackers and the defensive backs to do their thing while the defensive line does the attacking. Making those linebackers and defensive backs have to move up and provide run support will obviously lead some man coverage and opportunities down the field.
It would also be nice to get some other running backs going too. So far Webb is by far the top running back on the roster, but the drop off in production to some of the other backs is very pronounced at times. If coach Wommack and offensive coordinator Major Applewhite can get another back going to form a formidable one-two punch out of the backfield that will lay the groundwork for what could be a very successful season in conference play.
But most importantly, help them get a win against La Tech first.
Prediction
The oddsmaking websites all favor South Alabama in the matchup this Saturday. Most of them like the Jags by 13 points.
So far this season by predictions have been right about outright win or loss. I may not get the scores correct, but hey what can you say.
At the beginning of the week I didn’t think the Jags would cover the spread. My thoughts were about the injuries and how I thought Coach Wommack and his staff would probably take the opportunity to play reserves later in the game which would keep the Jags score down some and I thought possibly a late score would allow the Bulldogs to cover.
However the Jags have covered the spread in all of their last five home games, which is among if not leading the nation right now. Also looking at Louisiana Tech, they are a good team but Coach Wommack and staff have shown that few teams will out gameplan or out prepare them.
All that explanation to say, I think the Jags cover 38-23 and the reserves still get some playing time late.
Go Jags!
Jaguars Fall To UCLA 32-31 On Walk-Off Field Goal
South Alabama (2-1) botches a trick field goal play that led to UCLA (3-0) kicking a walk-off 24 yard field goal as time expired to fall 32-31 in Pasadena.
With about three minutes left in the game, the Jags faced 4th & 2 at the Bruins 22 yard line. USA sent the field goal unit onto the field with 3rd string quarterback Tanner McGee as the holder. They then shifted into an offensive formation with McGee at quarterback, unfortunately he couldn’t find anyone open before he was sacked for an 11 yard loss.
UCLA took over at the 33 yard line and proceeded to drive down the field bleeding the Jags of their final two time outs. With the ball sitting at the Jags 6 yard line with two seconds left, Nicholas Barr-Mira put the ball through the uprights as time expired for the win.
Quarterback Carter Bradley got off to a shaky start after throwing an interception on his second pass attempt of the game. The pass was returned 10 yards to the Jags 21 yard line. The defense would not yield and the Bruins had to settle for a 28 yard field goal to go up 3-0 at the 12:18 mark of the first quarter.
The Jags offense responded with a 10 play, 75 yard drive to take the lead. La’Damian Webb’s 47 yard run on 3rd & 8 set up Marco Lee for a 1 yard touchdown run to go up 7-3.
The Bruins and Jaguars traded field goals from 49 and 38 yards respectively on the next two possessions for a 10-6 advantage for South Alabama.
UCLA moved the ball down the field and appeared to score on a pass to Zach Carbonnet, but after review he was marked down at the one foot line. The Jags defense took advantage. The handoff from Dorian Thompson-Robinson wasn’t clean, CJ Rias was able to knock the ball loose and Zeke Chapman covered it up in the end zone to thwart the Bruins.
The offense took full advantage too. A false start at the 4 didn’t matter to Webb either, he took it in from 9 yards out to put the Jags up 17-6 at the 5:54 mark of the 2nd quarter.
It didn’t take long for UCLA to answer either, just six plays. A pass completion for 34 yards followed by a 25 yard run by Keegan Jones put them at the Jags 9 yard line. Then two plays later Thompson-Robinson found Jake Bobo for a 9 yard touchdown pass making it 17-13 at halftime.
UCLA made adjustments and came out strong in the second half.
The Bruins quickly marched down the field aided by a roughing the passer call on Jamie Sheriff. Thompson-Robinson capped it off with an 11 yard touchdown pass to Kam Brown to retake the lead 17-20 at the 13:22 mark of the 3rd quarter.
La’Damian Webb suffered his first fumble of the season when he was stretching for extra yards. While the replay looked like the Jags may keep possession, the officials saw it differently. They upheld the fumble but saw that the defender was on his knee when he recovered the ball which negated the touchdown return.
UCLA converted the turnover into a 28 yard field goal. The Jags had them stopped near mid field however Ricky Fletcher was flagged for defensive holding on a 3rd & 8 incomplete pass to give the Bruins new life.
Again South Alabama responded.
Marco Lee got his second touchdown of the game on a 1 yard run. But it was Caullin Lacy who set it up with a 37 yard reception to put USA in the red zone. The score gave USA a 24-23 lead at the 1:37 mark of the 3rd quarter.
UCLA’s ensuing possession started at their own 30. A fumble that a few players tried to scoop-and-score kept advancing the ball until Ed Smith finally covered it at the Bruins 6 yard line.
Caullin Lacy stretched out and had a fantastic aerobatic 4-yard touchdown catch to put the Jags up 31-23 at the :57 mark of the 3rd quarter.
The Bruins gashed the Jags as the defense struggled to pressure or contain Thompson-Robinson or stop the run. Thompson-Robinson set up a 4th & 4 at the Jags 8 yard line with a 5 yard run. Chip Kelly opted to go for it and it paid off with Thompson-Robinson connecting with Logan Loya for a touchdown. A failed 2-point conversion left the Lags in the lead 31-29 with 12:25 left in the game.
After a punt by both teams, the Jags had an opportunity to milk time off the clock.
A methodical 11 play drive stalled at the UCLA 22. Facing 4th and 2, coach Wommack sent on the field goal unit. However, instead of Jack Brooks as the holder, they sent in Tanner McGee. After lining up in field goal formation, they shifted into a normal offensive formation. It did not catch the Bruins off guard, McGee was pressured and sacked for an 11 yard loss as tried to move and find someone open to throw to.
UCLA took over possession with 2:52 left in the game with the Jags defense missing some key players.
Again the Jags just couldn’t muster any pass rush on Thompson-Robinson as they positioned themselves for the game winning field goal as time expired.
“We made some plays in big moments, but we were also an inconsistent football team today,” head coach Kane Wommack said after the game. When you go into big stadiums and have opportunities, you have to take care of the ball offensively and not shoot yourself in the foot from an execution standpoint… We have to step up on third downs. You have a fourth down in the red zone, you have to get off the field, [if you do] it changes the outcome of the game.”
“They adjusted well to it,” Wommack said about the failed fake field goal late in the game. “We thought we had them right there with the fake field goal. Would have been nice to get that one and iced the game. But we didn’t put ourselves in position in the plays prior to that moment to pull away…”
Wommack wasn’t wrong, they had a tight end in favorable coverage against a linebacker and coming open free on the left side. However the rush on McGee got to him before the tight end could get the separation he needed to throw it.
When asked about execution and responding when they needed to, he said “I thought so…our guys competed the entire game. It was just the execution. Physically we did some things on some plays, ran the football, it was just a couple of plays.”
“I told the guys they were going to have an opportunity to respond to this game and that is what we have to do against Louisiana Tech at home,” coach Wommack said.
Stats
South Alabama
The Jags had 399 yards of total offense, 237 passing and 162 rushing.
USA had 22 first downs while running 70 offensive plays. They held the time of possession advantage 32:57 to 27:03.
The Jags converted 9-of-14 3rd down attempts but was 0-for-1 on 4th down attempts. They scored on all 5 trips into the red zone, only one of them was a field goal.
La’Damian Webb finally got his 100 yard rushing game. He carried the ball 16 times for 124 yards and a touchdown. Terrion Avery added 29 yards on five carries. Marco Lee had two touchdowns on 4 carries for 6 yards.
Carter Bradley was 26-of-36 for 237 yards, a touchdown and an interception.
Jalen Wayne finished with 7 catches for 76 yards. Devin Voisin caught seven passes for 64 yards. Webb caught all six of his targets for 42 yards. Lacy also caught all four of his targets for 49 yards and the only receiving touchdown.
Jalen Jordan led the defense with 7 stops, five solo. James Miller recorded the only tackle for loss in the game.
UCLA
The Bruins put up 407 total yards of offense, 263 through the air and 144 on the ground.
They had 23 first down while running 67 offensive plays.
The Jags defense held the Bruins to 7-of-13 on 3rd down attempts and allowed them to convert their only 4th down attempt in the game. They scored six of their 7 trips into the red zone, but only three of them were touchdowns.
Zach Charbonnet was held to 78 rushing yards on 13 carries. Keegan Jones added 65 yards on 14 carries. Thompson-Robinson had 27 yards on 7 carries.
Thompson-Robinson went 20-of-30 for 263 yards and three touchdowns.
Jake Bobo caught five passes for 89 yards and a touchdown. Charbonnet caught three passes for 51 yards. Logan Loya and Kam Brown both caught touchdown passes.
Darius Muassau led all defenders with 10 tackles, five solo. Carl Jones Jr had the only sack in the game for either team and the only tackle for loss for the Bruins. JonJon Vaughns had a pass breakup and the only interception of the game.
Who’s Up Next
The Jags return back home for their final non-conference game of the season against Louisiana Tech.
South Alabama has a week of events scheduled culminating with Jo Bonner’s inauguration as University President on Friday ahead of the Jags game against Bulldogs.
Kickoff is scheduled for 6pm on Saturday, September 24 at Hancock-Whitney Stadium. The game will be streamed online on ESPN+ and radio coverage on the Jaguar Radio Network including iHeartMedia app, and 99.5 fm in Mobile.
Preview: South Alabama Travels To Pasadena To Face UCLA
Kickoff: Saturday, September 17, 1PM Central
Venue: Rose Bowl Stadium, Pasadena, CA
TV/Streaming: PAC12 Network
Radio: 96.1 fm The Rocket, Sports Talk 99.5 fm, iHeartRadio App
#5 Jersey: James Jackson (wearing #50 due to position jersey number rules)
Thunderjags Twitter: @USAThunderjags
South Alabama is 2-0 to start the season for the second consecutive year. It also makes the second time since 2011 they’ve started the season undefeated to start the season.
The Jaguars completely dominated the first half against Central Michigan. Just looking at the 38-24 final score, it may not show how dominant the Jags actually were in the game.
They won the game on physicality and they beat them at their own game.
The offensive line probably made the most improvement from game one to game two. Coach Kane Wommack and his staff have played a number of offensive linemen over the first two games. They’re not only gaining game-time reps, they are building depth and experience with those players.
Pair that more talented and experienced offensive line with the running backs that Coach Wommack and his staff have assembled and you have a recipe for winning. Look at where the South Alabama program ranks nationally in time of possession and you can see the direct effects of that. They are second in the nation with an average time of possession of 37:00 per game. You don’t get that kind of time of possession without good offensive line play, efficient running back play, and staying on schedule offensively.
Next up is a trip to the west coast, Los Angeles to be exact, to square off against the UCLA Bruins in the famed Rose Bowl.
UCLA
Chip Kelly is in his fifth season at the helm of the UCLA football program. In that time he has a 20-25 record. His first season started off with five consecutive losses before finishing with a 3-9 record. Then a 4-8 record in 2019, a 3-4 record in the covid shortened 2020 season, then finally an 8-4 record last year however their appearance in the Holiday Bowl would not come to pass as the game was canceled just hours before the game due to Covid protocols within the UCLA program.
Kelly is most notably remembered for this four year stint as Oregon’s head coach from 2009-2012, he went 46-7 during that stretch with an appearance in a BCS bowl game each season, but a loss in the BCS National Championship Game to Auburn in 2011. He was hired as head coach for the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFL for three seasons (26-21 overall record) and then one season as the offensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers (2-14).
He is known for his prolific offenses utilizing the hurry up, no huddle with the zone-read option. He was one of the pioneers of this style of offense in FBS football. At it’s core this type of offense uses “zone” blocking up front with the quarterback giving or keeping the ball based on his “read” of the defensive end.
The trouble this offense presented way having to spend most of your defensive game plan on staying ready to stop two plays in one, because they can be used at any point during the game and you have to be prepared at all times. Spending all that time on that scheming would limit the capabilities of putting in pressure plays, which led to very vanilla defenses. When the defenses were too vanilla, they knew where the defenders were going to be and it made the rest of their playbook very dangerous.
What the Chip Kelly offense basically boiled down to was an innovative scheme utilizing speed, both player speed and pace of play, to take advantage of opponents’ mistakes and wear them out.
Now with that long exposition about Kelly over with, we can actually get to UCLA talk.
The Bruins have opened the season with two non-conference games so far. Both have not provided much opposition to them. They have a 45-17 win over Bowling Green and 45-7 win over Alabama State to their credit.
Offense
Through two games the Bruins have rolled up quite a bit of stats on the stats sheet. They have 1,111 total yards of offense, 622 passing yards and 489 rushing yards. They are averaging 555.5 total yards of offense, 311 passing yards and 244.5 rushing yards per game. They have only turned the ball over three times, two interceptions and a lost fumble.
They are converting 50% of their 3rd down attempts (14-of-28) and 66% of their 4th down attempts (2-of-3). They are scoring 83% of the time in the red zone (10-of-12) and are scoring a touchdown 67% of the time (8-of-12).
The Bruins leading passer is Dorian Thompson-Robinson, he is 41-of-54 for 399 yards, three touchdowns and an interception on the season. Ethan Garbers came in against Alabama State when Dorian exited with an injury. On the season Garbers is 17-of-22 for 223 yards, a touchdown and an interception.
Allen Kazmeir is the leading receiver with 14 catches, 115 yards and a touchdown. Keegan Jones and Jake Bobo have very similar numbers, both have six catches for 87 and 79 yards respectively but Jones has a touchdown on his resume. There are five other receivers with at least four catches on the season.
Zach Charbonnet leads the ground game with 111 yards on 21 carries with a touchdown, however there’s some mystery around him as he did not play against Alabama State for undisclosed reasons.
Dorian is next with 87 rushing yards on 7 carries with two touchdowns. Garbers only has 7 rushing yards on two carries but both went for touchdowns. Three other backs have touchdowns on the season as well, including Keegan Jones.
After the game, Kelly was very coy about giving any updates on the status of Dorian and Charbonnet. When asked he simply said, “unavailable” in response. He was almost as secretive when asked if Charbonnet would be available to play this Saturday.
In Charbonnet’s absence, true freshman T.J. Harden led them with 56 yards and a touchdown on seven carries against Alabama State.
Defense
The Bruins defense is only allowing 236 total offensive yards, 174 passing yards and 62 rushing yards on average through their first two games under their new defensive coordinator. They have generated four turnovers on the season, two interceptions and recovered two fumbles while forcing five total fumbles.
Opponents are 1-of-2 when in the red zone, and none have been touchdowns.
Kenny Churchwell III leads the team with 10 total tackles, eight of them solo, with a tackle for loss and a pass breakup. However Churchwell will have to sit out the first half against the Jags due to a targeting penalty last week. Coach Kelly appealed it but he was denied.
Grayson Murphy and Laiatu Latu both lead the team with two sacks each.
The Hornets found success against the Bruins secondary in the first half. They had open receivers to throw to as they put up 177 yards of offense by the midway mark of the second quarter. That was more offense than Bowling Green managed the entire game the week before.
The Bruins tightened up in the second half with two interceptions and only allowing 46 passing yards after halftime.
Special Teams
UCLA opened the season on very shaky ground in the special teams department. A blocked punt returned for a touchdown to open the scoring. A muffed punt at their 11 yard line led to a chip shot field goal. Kickers missed two of their three field goal attempts.
Nicholas Barr-Mira has punted three times with an average of 33.7 yards per punt, two fair catches and one downed inside the 20. Chase Barry has one punt to his record for 39 yards.
Barr-Mira is 2-of-4 on the season on field goals. His longest is 24 yards.
South Alabama
The Jags came home with another road win against a MAC team to begin the season. Last year they needed a last minute field goal, this time they dominated their opponent from early on.
Road wins have been rare over the last several years. Particularly so when air travel was involved. Since joining as a FBS team the Jags are a mere 10-40 in road games.
The Jags will get another chance at a road win after flying across the country this weekend. This time against a Power 5 opponent.
What stood out about the Jags against Central Michigan was their physicality. They were the more physical team on the field, which says a lot because CMU is known as a very physical team.
Offense
The offensive line got after the Chippewas from the start. They opened running lanes for La’Damian Webb and pass protected well for Carter Bradley the whole game.
The Jags offense is now averaging 505 total yards of offense, 343 passing yards and 162 rushing yards per game through the first two games of the 2022 season.
La’Damian Webb has yet to crack 100 yards in a game, but he has been oh so very close. He’s averaging 94.5 yards per game. He has 38 carries for 189 yards and four touchdowns. One of those was a 30 yarder against the Chippewas last weekend where he was barely touched at the line of scrimmage.
Webb is that typical running back where he seems to never lets the defenders hit his square, they always seem to have to try to bring him down from an angle.
Terrion Avery has added 53 yards on 16 carries as his backup.
Bradley is 43-of-67 for 614 yards and six touchdowns. However he threw his first interception of the season on an under thrown pass in the third quarter.
Jalen Wayne continues his march up the Jaguar history books in career receptions (6th) and receiving yards (6th). He has 13 catches on the season for 196 yards and three touchdowns. Ten of those receptions came against Central Michigan.
Caullin Lacy has 169 receiving yards on 11 catches. Devin Voisin has six catches for 61 yards and a touchdown. True freshman Braylon McReynolds has five catches for 55 yards and a touchdown.
The Jags offense will have to keep up their pace against the Bruins. The Jags enter with the 32nd ranked scoring offense in FBS (43 points per game) but the Bruins are 17th (45 ppg).
Defense
Speaking of rankings, the Jaguar defense ranks 17th in total defense, 38th in scoring defense, 14th in rushing defense, 20th in 3rd down conversion percentage defense, 43rd in 1st down defense in the nation.
The defense is allowing an average of 251.5 total yards of offense, 181.5 passing yards and 70 rushing yards per game. Opposing running backs are rushing for only 2.6 yards per carry on average.
Opponents have only converted 7-of-28 of their 3rd down attempts (25%) and only 1-of-6 of their 4th down attempts.
Quentin Wilfawn’s name has been call quite often this season. He leads the team with 15 total tackles, 11 of them solo, with 1.5 tackles for loss and a qb hurry. Jaden Voisin is the only other Jag with double digit tackles at 11 with five of them solo with two tackles for loss and a fumble recovery.
AJ DeShazor is the only Jag with an interception so far on the season. James Miller, Wy’Kevious Thomas, and CJ Rias are the only Jags with sacks on the season, they each have one.
Special Teams
Jack Brooks continues to show why he’s on the Ray Guy watch list, he is averaging 42.8 yards per punt with one fair catch, two kicks of over 50 yards and five of his 11 punts have been downed inside the opponents 20.
Diego Guajardo is a perfect 3-for-3 on the season with a long of 48 yards in the field goal department. He has missed on one of his extra point attempts, this past Saturday he had one bang against the right upright, then hit the left upright before bouncing back into the field of play.
Caullin Lacy has 5 punt returns for 56 yards, an average of 11.2 yards per punt return, his longest was 38 yards against Nicholls to open the season.
The only notable change in the depth chart for this week is that Omni Wells has moved to the kick returner over McReynolds. However McReynolds continues to be the backup for both kick and punt return specialists.
Keys to the Game
Offensive Line Play
The Jags offensive line has played well. The first two weeks of the season they have been physical and controlled the line of scrimmage. They’ve been the driving force to allow the offense to roll up over 500 yards of offense the first two games of the season.
This week is another step up in competition.
UCLA is a Power 5 school in the PAC 12. Across their four man defensive front, they average 281.75 lbs per player. While the Jaguar offensive line is bigger on average across the line, their advantage is less than it was last week against Central Michigan.
If they play like they have been the last two week, the Jags offense will have a chance to match the prolific scoring that UCLA has put up the first two weeks of the season.
Sound Defense
When we discussed UCLA and Chip Kelly’s offense, we laid out how his offensive scheme takes advantage of the defense. While from 2009-2012 when he was at Oregon, it was new and caught lots of teams off guard. Now that the same scheme he helped pioneer at Oregon is in more widespread by lots of teams nationwide, defenses are more prepared for it in general.
But even then, Kelly isn’t using the same scheme he ran at Oregon either. He’s not running the all-gas, no brake style. He will utilize the hurry up, no huddle at opportune times but it’s not their over arching style.
What UCLA has going for them is their clout to recruit bigger and better talent. But as we saw last week across the college football landscape, the big teams don’t always win against those Group of 5 guys. Notre Dame, Texas A&M, and Nebraska all fell to Sun Belt teams last weekend.
Either way, the Jags defense needs to stick to their fundamentals and not fall for “eye candy”. If the defense plays fundamentally sound and gives the offense a ball with good field position and generates some turnovers, the Jags have a chance.
Penalties & Turnovers
With an average of 90 yards per game of penalty yards, the Jags really need to clean that up to play with a Power 5 school. Especially when those penalties set you back on offense or extend opponents drives on defense.
Both sides of the ball want to stay ahead of the down and distance.
I don’t want to jinx the team. Through two games the offense has only turned the ball over once. But what I’d like to see is the defense generating some more turnovers. Last season we generated 15 interceptions and recovered 10 fumbles. This week would be a very opportune time to start that trend again.
Prediction
It’s going to be a bit more difficult for South Alabama to sneak up on UCLA after the shockwaves sent out last weekend by fellow Sun Belt Conference members. Big shout outs to Appalachian State, Marshall, and Georgia Southern.
The Jags will still treat it as a business trip and UCLA may be more focused in than what they could have been. But maybe they’ll think its just round two against Alabama State and that will catch them off guard.
The spread has been steady all week favoring the Bruins by 15.5 points with an over/under of 60.5 points. I actually like what Odds Shark has, they believe the game will be under and the Jags will cover. They predict a 29-26 Bruins win.
I’ll also take the Jags to cover the spread but I feel the Bruins are going to pull this one out much to my disdain, 28-24.
USA is holding a free game watch party at the Mitchell Center with concessions available from 12pm – 6pm. Also the Alumni are having a watch party at Nexus Cinema Dining, tickets are required for that one.
Go Jags!
South Alabama Dominates First Half, Cruises To 38-24 Win Over Central Michigan
What a difference having a running game can make.
La’Damian Webb carried the ball 20 times for 91 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Jags rushing attack. The Jags put rushed for 148 yards in their 38-24 win over Central Michigan in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan.
South Alabama struck paydirt first in the matchup when Carter Bradley connected with DJ Thomas-Jones for a 16 yard touchdown, his first as a Jaguar. However Diego Guajardo’s extra point kick hit off the top of the right upright, bounces over and off of the left upright and careened back into play. But it was Bradley finding Caullin Lacy for a 40 yard pass that really got the Jags going. USA led 6-0 at the 8:51 mark.
Central Michigan would take their only lead of the game when Lew Nichols ran the ball in for a 5 yard touchdown at the 5:08 mark of the first quarter.
The Jags regained the lead when La’Damian Webb punched the ball in from 3 yards out. Guajardo converted to make it 13-7 with 1:29 left in the first quarter.
On the ensuing kickoff, Irone Jackson brought the ball out of the end zone and Ke’Shun Brown knocked the ball loose and Trey Kiser recovered it at the Chippewas 22 yard line. On 3rd & 10 Bradley hooked up with Devin Voisin for a 22 yard touchdown, the first of his career. That put the Jags up 20-7 at the 1:05 mark of the first quarter.
The first quarter ended with a failed 4th down conversion by Central Michigan giving South Alabama the ball at the 50. Webb took a touch pass 26 yards to get the offense in gear. Bradley hooked up with Jalen Wayne for a 10 yard touchdown. Head coach Kane Wommack opted to go for the two-point conversion. Bradley found Voisin open for the conversion to go up 28-7 at the 12:14 mark of the 2nd quarter.
Both teams would add field goals before halftime. South Alabama’s Guajardo connected on a 38 yard kick with 5:47 left. Central Michigan added a 48 yard kick with 1:21 left to snap the Jags 25 point unanswered run.
No one scored in the third quarter. It felt like Central Michigan played better but it was because the Jags had handled them so thoroughly in the first half. The stats were almost dead even in the quarter, but Bradley under-threw a pass for his first interception of the season.
The Jags added to their lead with their first possession of the fourth quarter when La’Damian Webb broke free for a 30 yard touchdown off right tackle. Only one Chippewa even laid a hand on him. That put the Jags up 38-10 with 10:53 left in the game.
Some thought the game was over at that point, but you cannot sleep on Central Michigan.
The Chippewas answered back with a touchdown drive capped off by a 12 yard touchdown run by Marion Lukes. The Chippewas lined up for a 2-point conversion and was flagged for delay of game. They kept the offense on the field from the 8 yard line but failed to convert leaving the score 38-16 with 8:43 left in the game. The Jags successfully recovered the onside kick.
The Jags went three-and-out to give the ball back to Central Michigan with 6:39 left. The Jags had them 4th & 1 at the Jaguar 47 but Myles Bailey found a hole on the left side of the defense for 10 yards to keep the drive alive. A couple of plays later Daniel Richardson connected with Joel Wilson for a 21 yard touchdown. The Chippewas converted the 2-point attempt to cut the Jags lead to 38-24 with 4:30 left in the game.
CMU attempted another onside kick but this time the ball went out of bounds at the Jags 49 yard line.
Caullin Lacy took a pair of touch passes for 18 and 19 yards respectively to convert first downs and allow the Jags to simply run out the clock.
Team Stats
In addition to winning on the scoreboard, the Jags had a good win on the stat sheet too.
They out-gained the Chippewas 502 to 338 in total yardage, through the air 354 to 257, and on the ground 148 to 81. Both teams had a turnover in the game, CMU fumbled on a kickoff return and Bradley threw an interception.
South Alabama dominated the time of possession 38:00 to 22:00.
USA’s 3rd down efficiency improved with an 8-for-17 outing for a 47% conversion rate. CMU only converted 5-of-15 against the Jaguar defense.
The Jags were plagued with penalties again. They were flagged nine times for 100 yards. Central Michigan had eight for 85 yards themselves.
Individual Stats
Carter Bradley finished 26-of-42 for 354 yards, 3 touchdowns and an interception. He also gained 35 yards running the ball but after subtracting sack yardage he finished with only 8 net yards.
Jalen Wayne caught 10 passes for 98 yards and a touchdown. Lacy added 5 catches for 97 yards. Devin Voisin caught 4 for 56 yards and a touchdown. DJ Thomas-Jones added three for 38 yards and a touchdown. In all seven Jaguars caught passes in the game.
Webb led the running back contingent with 91 yards on 20 carries with two touchdowns. Avery added 30 yards on 11 carries. Marcos Lee had 16 yards on five carries.
Daniel Richardson finished 23-of-47 for 257 yards and a touchdown.
Joel Wilson led the Chippewas receiving with seven catches for 73 yards and a touchdown. Seven players in total caught at least one pass.
Marion Lukes led the Chippewa backfield with 36 yards on three carries with a touchdown. Bailey added 24 yards on four carries. Lew Nichols, the 2021 rushing leader, carried the ball 15 times for 20 yards and a touchdown.
Jalen Wayne passed Shavarez Smith for 6th on the all-time receptions list with 107 for his career. Also his 97 receiving yards moves him into 6th place in the career receiving yards list as well, which moves his past Gerald Everett, Bryant Lavender, and Josh Magee.
Next
The Jags will travel to the west coast to play UCLA in the historic Rose Bowl Stadium on Saturday, September 17. Kickoff is scheduled for 1pm Central time. The game can be seen on the PAC12 Network.