South Alabama Earns Bowl Eligibility With 31-3 Win Over Arkansas State
South Alabama is bowl eligible!
On a rainy afternoon in Jonesboro, the Jags (6-2, 3-1 SBC) put up a dominating 31-3 win over Arkansas State (2-7, 1-5) behind La’Damian Webb’s 162 yards, three touchdown performance. The win extends the Jags winning streak to four games against the Red Wolves.
The game opened with a 69-yard run by Webb on the first offensive snap, then four plays later Webb punched it in to give the Jags a 7-0 lead less than three minutes into the game.
The Jags got excellent field possession after a blocked punt careens out of bounds at the Jags 46-yard line. On the second snap, Bradley connected with a wide-open Jalen Wayne for a 49-yard touchdown to go up 14-0.
After allowing a 42-yard pass completion, the Jags defense drew a line in the sand and would not budge. Arkansas State got their only points of the game with a 32-yard field goal.
The Jags defense kept getting to James Blackman and with 2:45 left in the first half, James Miller and Jamie Sheriff sack him for a safety and a 16-3 lead at halftime.
Webb earned his second touchdown of the game with a leap over the line from the 1-yard line with 5:18 left in the third quarter. Head coach Kane Wommack opted for a two-point try and Bradley connected with DJ Thomas-Jones to go up 24-3.
Close to the middle of the fourth quarter, the Jags forced a turnover when Lamondre Brooks knocked the ball loose from Johnnie Lang’s grip then Gi’Narious Johnson covered it up at the Jags 48-yard line with 8:50 left.
The final drive was all La’Damian Webb. Offensive coordinator Major Applewhite kept calling his number and Web kept delivering. He carried the ball on all 11 plays of the drive and finished with a 1-yard plunge for his third and final touchdown of the game as they melted 7:16 off the clock.
Stats
Webb ran for 162 yards on 28 carries with the three touchdowns while averaging 5.8 yards per carry. Bradley added 17 yards on four carries as the next closest rusher.
Carter Bradley was 17-of-24 for 179 yards and a touchdown.
DJ Thomas-Jones, his second game back after his scary incident on the sideline several weeks ago now, led the Jags with four catches with 48 yards. Jalen Wayne led the team with 83 yards on three catches with the only receiving touchdown. Lacy caught three passes for 29 yards. Lincoln Sefcik also caught three passes for only 8 yards.
James Miller led the defense with eight stops, three solo, 1.5 tackles for loss and a half sack. Jamie Sheriff led the Jags with 1.5 sacks for the game. Wy’Kevious Thomas also logged a sack in the game.
Diego Guajardo was a perfect 4-for-4 on extra point attempts. Jack Brooks averaged 42.8 yards per punt wearing the honorary number 5 jersey.
James Blackman was 22-of-39 for 177 yards. Seydou Traore was the leading receiver with eight receptions for 47 yards. Jeff Foreman led the way with 98 receiving yards on six catches.
Only two Red Wolves rusher ended the game in positive numbers. Marcel Murray led the Red Wolves rushing attack with 15 yards on four carries. Johnnie Lang added 14 yards on nine carries.
Blackman was sacked four times for -43 yards then Mike Sharpe had -5 yards on his two carries. Four other runners combined for -19 yards.
Arkansas State punters kept the Jags pinned back with six punts downed inside the 20, and it seemed like every one was down inside the 5 yard line too.
The Jags dominated the team stats with 362 total yards of offense, 183 yards rushing and 179 passing yards. The Red Wolves only managed 158 total yards, 177 yards passing and -19 yards rushing. If you factor out the sack yardage, the Red Wolves had 24 yards rushing.
That final drive helped the Jags take a dominant edge in time of possession too, 35:59 to 24:01.
There were some not so good stats for the Jags though. Eight penalties for 35 yards were called on the Jags, seven of them in the first half. They at least cleaned it up after the break. Also, the Jags were a mere 3-of-15 on 3rd down attempts.
Arkansas State wasn’t any better on 3rd down, going 2-of-14 in the game but they were only flagged for twice for 25 yards.
Next
The Jags will travel to Statesboro, Georgia to face off against Georgia Southern. South Alabama earned their first win against the Eagles last year, 41-14. The Eagles have the weekend off. The game kicks off at 3pm on Saturday, November 5.
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.
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!
South Alabama Dominates Nicholls State 48-7 In Season Opener
The South Alabama Jaguars put in a dominant effort in their season opener against the Nicholls State Colonels to start their 2022 campaign with a 48-7 win.
Carter Bradley threw three touchdown passes and ran for another in his debut as the Jaguars signal caller. Jalen Wayne caught two of them for touchdowns. La’Damian Webb, also making his debut with the Jaguars, ran for two scores while finishing just shy of 100 yards. Mobile native and true freshman Braylon McReynolds added a receiving touchdown in his collegiate debut.
The Jaguar defense did not allow the Colonels to score until the fourth quarter when they had started letting reserves sub in for game experience.
South Alabama opened the scoring on their second possession of the game. On 2nd and 1 Bradley connected with Caullin Lacy for 35 yards to the Nicholls 36 to get the Jags offense in gear. Webb capped it off when he rushed off right tackle, barely untouched, for a 15 yard touchdown.
On the second snap of the Colonels ensuing possession, Brock Higdon recovered a fumbled snap to put the Jaguars back in business at the Nicholls State 24. The offense couldn’t get anything going and settled for a 39 yard field goal from Diego Guajardo for a 10-0 lead with 1:54 left in the opening quarter.
Defensive coordinator Corey Batoon’s squad forced a three-and-out. Starting at their own 17 yard line, it would only take Bradley and the offense three plays to put more points on the board. A pass to Terrion Avery on the left side for 14 yards, followed by a pass to DJ Thomas-Jones for 15 yards on the right side. Brandley would cap off the drive with a beautiful touchdown pass to Jalen Wayne just inside the left hash on a go route to put the Jags up 17-0 early in the second quarter.
The Jags defense forced a pair of three-and-outs but on the second punt from deep in their own territory, a poorly handled snap led to a 13 yard loss by the punter setting up the Jags offense at the 4 yard line. Bradley rolled right, tucked the ball and scampered in for the touchdown to put the Jags up 24-0 about midway through the second quarter.
Guajardo would add a 48 yard field goal with 1:30 left in the half for the halftime score of 27-0.
Both teams started out slow in the second half before a failed 4th down conversion by the Colonels gave the Jags the ball at their own 34 yard line. Three plays later Bradley connected with Wayne for this second touchdown of the game, this time from 37 yards out to put the Jags ahead 34-0 at the 6:58 mark in the 3rd quarter.
Another three-and-out by the Jags defense and a poor punt put the Jags in great field position at their 40 yard line. McReynolds converted back-to-back first downs on runs of 9 and 15 yards before Bradley connected with him on a pass out of the backfield, McReynolds cut back inside and took the ball in for an 18 yard touchdown to put the Jags ahead 41-0 at the 3:52 mark in the 3rd quarter.
Nicholls would break the shutout on their ensuing possession, a 9 play 75 yard drive consuming 4:28 off the clock. The drive was capped off by Gums’ 10 yard touchdown run up the middle.
South Alabama would answer right back though.
Desmond Trotter led the drive in relief of Bradley and on the second snap he connected with Lincoln Sefcik for a 24 yard gain on the right side. Webb capped off the drive with back-to-back carries for 7 and 2 yards to put the final score on the board.
The defense wasn’t quite done yet though. AJ DeShazor picked off a pass at the Colonels 29 yard line with 6:24 left in the game.
Stats
The Jags offense rolled up 508 total yards of offense, 332 came through the air and 176 came on the ground. The Jags rushing yardage was more than the Colonels total offensive yardage (165). USA had 24 first downs and averaged 6.9 yards per play on offense.
The Jaguar defense only allowed 165 total yards, 106 came through the air and only 59 rushing yards to the Colonels. They had 10 first downs and averaged only 3 yards per offensive play.
South Alabama played a pretty clean first half, but the second half saw the Jags commit a number of penalties. They were flagged 10 times for 80 yards. Nicholls State was only flagged twice for 9 yards in the game.
Bradley finished the game 17-of25 for 260 yards, three touchdowns and only suffered one sack. Trotter was 9-of-10 for 72 yards and also took one sack.
Webb led the Jaguar backfield with 98 yards on 18 carries with the two touchdowns. McReynolds added 25 yards rushing on three carries. Avery and Omni Wells both had 23 yards on five carries.
Caullin Lacy led the Jags receivers with 6 catches for 72 yards. Wayne had 3 receptions for a game high 98 yards with two touchdowns. McReynolds caught all four of his targets for 39 yards and a touchdown.
Jack Brooks punted six times with four of them downed inside the opponents’ 20 yard line with a long of 58 yards.
The Colonels duo of Julien Gums and Collin Guggenheim combined for a total of 45 yards, Gums earned the only score of the game for Nicholls.
Kohen Granier finished the game 15-of-27 for 106 yards with an interception. KJ Franklin was also kept in check with only three catches for 14 yards. Neno Lemay led the Colonels with 40 receiving yards on three catches.
This breakout win was the most points scored by the Jags since posting 52 against Idaho in 2015. The margin of victory was the largest since the 45-0 win over Alabama A&M in 2017, and the most points scored in a season opener since the Jags put up 56 points against Pikeville in 2010.
“It was the momentum you want to build the first game of the season with,” said Jaguar head coach Kane Wommack. “We saw some of the things that we had talked about all offseason long: physicality, being able to establish things in the running game.”
“You saw some of the dynamic talent we have in your backfield,” coach Wommack continued.
“La’Damian did a tremendous job of getting his body back and getting ready to go,” Wommack said of the former Mr. Football who suffered a broken foot in spring practice and a broken hand over the offseason. “We had a short time frame to get him to the point where he could be rolling. I’ve said this before, but a tremendous job by our training staff and our strength staff. There was talk at one point about him being limited all the way up until the fifth or sixth game of the season, and he was full-go going into our first game.”
“He’s a back, that as he gets going and starts feeling it, and as our offensive line improves, I think his best football is ahead of him.”
“I thought Carter did a pretty good job of taking care of the football,” Wommack said. “He made some pretty good choices with the ball. He did a good job seeing what the defense was giving us and taking advantage of that. Obviously, you can see his arm talent, some of the things he was able to do down the field.”
“It took me and Carter a minute to jell and get our chemistry right, but we’ve been working as hard as we could this past summer to make sure we could come out clicking,” Jalen Wayne said. “Nowadays, it’s almost like catching a handoff from him. He puts it right in my stomach. It’s easy. He can throw it, though.”
“Defensively, I thought we did a tremendous job of keeping the main thing the main thing: stopping the run. We established the line of scrimmage,” Wommack observed of the defense.
“We talk about playing the ‘Swarm D’ mentality,” Wommack observed. “Our linebackers did a great job of being physical and tracking the ball all night. And when the ball was in the air, there was never a time we didn’t have somebody right there after them.”
Next Game
South Alabama travels to Mount Pleasant, Michigan to take on Central Michigan. Kickoff is set for 12pm central with TV coverage on ESPN+ and radio coverage on the Jaguar Radio Network.
Preview: South Alabama Host Nicholls State In Season Opener
Kickoff: Friday September 3, 4:00pm
Venue: Hancock Whitney Stadium – Mobile, AL
TV/Streaming: ESPN+
Radio: 96.1 fm The Rocket, Sports Talk 99.5 fm, iHeartRadio App
#5 Jersey: Keith Gallmon
Thunderjags Twitter: @USAThunderjags
Game one of the 2022 season is finally here. The time has come for me to dust off my notepad and get back to writing again. It’s not that I haven’t wanted to write, or that I didn’t have ideas, but it’s just been a busy off-season for this member of the Thunderjags crew. So kick back and read through this rather lengthy preview. Because not only do I preview Nicholls State (I know they prefer to drop the “State” from their preferred reference, but that’s the name of your school), but basically introduce you to the fresh new faces that help to comprise the 2022 Jaguar football team. In an age where it’s encouraged to include a few photos, maybe a couple videos, an instagram reel or two, and the obligatory tiktok video, you the faithful Thunderjags reader will be treated to almost three thousand words of South Alabama football.
The Season Is Here
After a spirited 2021 season under first year head coach Kane Wommack, the Jaguar fans are looking forward to what the 2022 season has to offer. Last year was a marked improvement over the last few seasons.
It’s hard to point to last season and say there were disappointments.
The team improved their record to 5-7, the most by a South Alabama team since 2016. They had several opportunities throughout the season to win games but just came up on the short end of the scoreboard. A missed field goal in the waning minutes of the Ragin’ Cajun game. A four-overtime loss at Texas State. Then an overtime loss to Coastal Carolina in the season finale. The Louisiana-Lafayette and Texas State games were decided by two points each. A seven point loss to Troy, which also an illegal hit on Jake Bentley that injured him and the team for the rest of the season, then a six point loss to Coastal Carolina (where Bentley returned but clearly wasn’t fully healthy) demonstrates how the Jags have closed the gap against some of the Sun Belt Conference foes.
I guess the feeling of having bowl eligibility within your control and not being able to grasp it can be a little disappointing, even if nagging injuries contributed to it. But the returning Jaguars have instead channeled that into motivation.
“Our best days are ahead of us,” is one mantra you will hear Coach Wommack say from time to time.
Season two of Coach Wommack’s tenure will start to display results on Saturday. The 2022 season really got into full gear after the final whistle of the Coastal Carolina game in 2021. He and his staff have put lots of hard work into what the program will be in 2022 and the next few years through recruiting, spring practice and preseason camp.
The staff had some great talent leave the program through graduation. A few of the most notable departures from the 2021 team are Jalen Tolbert, Jake Bentley, Tre Young, Devin Rockette, Chris Henderson, Kareem Walker, Jamal Brooks, Shawn Jennings, Christian Bell, and Ja’Chai Baker. The Jaguar staff brought in new faces to help fill those positions and to further bolster the roster in positions of need.
A mixture of true freshmen, junior college transfers, and players from the transfer portal joined the program this year. Carter Bradley, who was named the starting quarterback, transferred from Toledo.
DaMarcus Thomas (tight end), Jalen Jordan (cornerback), and Jamar Richardson (wide receiver) all transferred in from Ole Miss. Dontae Lucas, an offensive lineman, transferred from Florida State and will also start. James Miller, an inside linebacker, rejoins coach Wommack from Indiana to play for him again as a starter. Marvin Martin, a safety, transferred in from Kansas State and will start in place of the injured Keith Gallmon who was lost for the season due to a torn pectoral muscle requiring surgery. PJ Dixon, offensive lineman, from Jacksonville State will start. They also added Jacob Meeks, a placekicker, from Texas Tech.
The running back position has had an almost complete makeover. Terrion Avery and Bryan Hill are the only returners in the Jaguar backfield. They added La’Damian Webb from Jones (Miss.) College, Omni Wells from Mississippi State, and Marco Lee from Virginia Tech.
There were some surprises when the two-deep roster was released for the first game of the season. Webb will start at running back, Jalen Jordan will start over CJ Thompson, though Thompson took the majority of reps throughout the spring and preseason camp with the first-string. Former walk-on Reggie Smith will start at right guard with Anterrious Gray, who started at the same position last season, being listed as second-string at left guard. Diego Guajardo remains the starting placekicker, however Jacob Meeks will handle kickoff duties.
Nicholls
Nicholls State is an FCS team that the Jags have hosted three times previously, all Jaguar victories. However, the last time they visited Mobile they took USA to overtime before the home team could prevail 41-40.
The Colonels finished the 2021 season with a 6-5 record overall and a 5-3 record in conference play. They earned a 45-42 win over #15 ranked Southeastern Louisiana to cap off the season. Also, earlier in the season, they put some pressure on Louisiana-Lafayette however the Ragin’ Cajuns were able to eek out a 27-24 win.
Head coach Tim Rebowe has lead the Colonels to five consecutive winning seasons, which is a first in program history. They also made three consecutive appearances in the FCS playoffs from 2017-2019. In 2018, the led the Colonels to their fourth FBS win, and their first over a power 5 team, when they defeated Kansas.
Offense
Nicholls State returns one of their more explosive players this year. Julien Gums was named to the Stats Perform FCS Walter Payton Watch List for his senior season. Over his career he has rushed for over 2,500 yards and 32 touchdowns. His 2021 season was cut short due to an injury in their second game. But he opened the season with a 139 yard, 19 carry performance against North Alabama, then had 105 yards on just six carries in the first quarter against Houston Baptist before his season ended unexpectedly. He is 1023 yards short of breaking the all-time rushing record and 3 touchdowns to break the all-time record for rushing touchdowns for the Colonels.
Colin Guggenheim also returns to the Colonels backfield. He rushed for 930 yards on 145 carries, to average 6.4 yards per carry, with 10 touchdowns. He finished the season with five consecutive 100-yard rushing performances while setting the schools single-season rushing record with 103.3 yards per game average. That includes three games where he had no carries, one single carry, and one game with only seven carries.
Offensively the Colonels had five players selected to the first-team All-Southland Conference preseason team, Guggenheim, tight end Lee Negrotto, receiver K.J. Franklin, center Evan Roussel, and placekicker Gavin Lesseigne. They also had two players named to the second team, quarterback Kohen Granier and offensive tackle Mark Barthelemy.
Franklin, a 5’9” junior receiver, enters the 2022 season 10th on the all-time receiving yardage list with 1,277 on 96 catches. He was the starting slot receiver and the primary punt returner.
Negrotto, a 6’3” 225lb sophomore tight end, finished his freshman season as a second-team member of the All-Southland Conference team. He was the primary receiving tight end and finished fourth on the team with 235 yards on 20 catches and had at least one catch in nine games in the fall.
Lasseigne, a junior placekicker, enters the season 12th on the all-time scoring list and is five extra points away from setting the all-time record. He also finished the 2021 season on the All-Southland Conference Second-Team after ranking 4th in the conference in scoring and leading the league with 11 field goals on 13 attempts. He make all three attempts in the season finale, including a career long 45-yarder in the win. He was also 46-of-47 for PATs on the season.
Granier, a senior, served as backup quarterback before starting the final two games of the 2021 season, but played in a total of eight games. He was 46-of-84 for 616 yards, four touchdowns and three interceptions. With Franklin, he has two other pass catchers returning who have caught 15 or more passes last season.
The Colonels averaged 33.4 points, 493.2 yards of total offense, 246.5 passing yards, and 246.7 rushing yards last season.
Defense
The Colonel defense only had one preseason All-Southland Conference first-team selection in defensive lineman Perry Ganci. Linebacker Hayden Shaheen and defensive back Jordan Jackson were second-team selections.
Ganci, a 6’2” 260lb junior, finished his sophomore season fifth in the conference with 9.5 tackles for loss and tying for fourth in sacks with 6. For the season he had 34 total tackles, 24 solo, with a season high of seven against North Alabama with 3 TFL’s and 2 sacks. He was named to the All-Southland First Team, All-Louisiana Second Team, and Southland All-Academic teams.
Shaheen, a 6’ 215lb sophomore, started all 11 games last season and finished second on the team with 56 total tackles, 36 solo, and 6.5 for loss (13th in the conference), with a fumble recovery and an interception. He finished the season with selections to the All-Southland Second Team, and Phil Steele FCS Freshman All-America Third Team.
Jackson, a 5’10” 170lb junior, played in all 11 games last season with 25 tackles (23 solo) with a career high five against Southeastern. He had two pass breakups and one interception, that he returned for a 44 yard touchdown.
The defensive unit allowed an average of 28.6 points, 385.9 total offensive yards, 246.4 passing yards and 139.5 rushing yards per game last season.
Special Teams
As mentioned previously, Lasseigne was 11-of-13 on field goals and 46-of-47 on PATs last season. Though his career longest kick is 45 yards, he was 3-for-3 from 40-49 yards out and 2-for-2 from 30-39 yards out.
Punter Craig Walker, a junior, averaged 38.1 yards per punt. In his 33 kicks last season he had 14 fair catches, 10 downed inside the 20 and one kick of 50+ yards.
Walker handled 67 of the 70 kickoffs with 15 touchbacks but he also had 5 kicks go out of bounds. Lasseigne appears to only handle onsides kicks.
USA
Offense
Beginning with the offensive line, the Jags have lots of new faces slated to start for the Jags, with three of the five listed at over 300lbs. James Jackson, who started 7 of the eight games he appeared is back at center. Trey Simpson, who started all 12 games last season in multiple positions on the offensive line, is listed as the 2nd string center.
Antawn Lewis, who started in all 11 games he appeared in, is slated to start at right tackle with Josh McCulloch, who started in one game and appeared in four, as his backup.
PJ Mixon (left tackle, Jacksonville State), Dontae Lucas (left guard and Florida State) are all newcomers to the program. Reggie Smith (right guard, walk-on) only previously saw action on field goal and PATs in 2020 and played in three games on the offensive line in 2021.
Anterrious Gray played in 11 contests, starting 10 of them last year, is listed as the second-string left guard. True freshman Adrien Strickland is listed as the second-string left tackle to start the season.
Moving out from the offensive line, the Jags have two sets of tight ends listed. Lincoln Sefcik is listed as one starter with DJ Thomas-Jones as his backup. They tend to be more of the big, pass catching type of tight ends the Jags have had success with over the years. Brandon Crum is listed as the starter with Jacob Hopper as his backup on the other list. They tend to be more of the blocking type of tight ends that came to be part of the offense over the Campbell era.
Sefcik earned third-team all-Sun Belt Conference, second-team all-league by Pro Football Network, and third-team all-conference by Phil Steele, and honorable mention all-SBC from Pro Football Focus last season. He caught 32 passes for 218 yards and five touchdowns to lead his position group in all three categories. He ranked in the top 10 in the conference in total touchdown catches by a tight end and had the most since Gerald Everett’s eight in 2015.
Crum caught nine passes for 95 yards and a touchdown. He saw action in 10 games, with four consecutive starts in October. He posted a career high three catches and 31 yards against Arkansas State with his lone touchdown.
The starting receiver are Jalen Wayne at the X and Devin Voisin at the Z receiver positions and Caullin Lacy at the H, or as some will call the slot receiver. Wayne was honored with a number of accolades in 2021, honorable mention all-Sun Belt Conference selection, second-team all-SBC from Pro Football Network, fourth-team all-conference by Phil Steele Publications. Last season he had 53 catches for 630 yards and two touchdowns. The sixth-year “super senior” will look to make his name as the Jags #1 receiver this season. Voisin played in four games last season but did not record a catch. Lacy played in 11 games last season, he started six of them including the first two games of the season, he caught 41 passes for 291 yards and added 26 yards rushing on 10 carries.
La’Damian Webb beat out Terrion Avery as the starting running back on the depth chart. Webb had been healing some injuries in the spring and preseason camp but looks to be ready to go now. Webb rushed 221 times for 1,399 yards and 14 touchdowns. He averaged over six yards per carry and just under 140 yards per game and just over six yards per carry.
Carter Bradley was named the starting quarterback over Desmond Trotter. Bradley spent the previous four seasons with the Toledo Rockets. In 2021 he played in eight games as they posted a 7-5 record. He went 77-of-130 for 972 yards and four touchdowns. He went 18-of-28 for 221 yards and a touchdown against #7 Notre Dame in a three point loss.
The Jaguar offense only averaged 24.9 points per game last season, something the staff look to improve upon this season. In doing so they averaged 367.4 total yards, 256 passing yards, and 111.4 rushing yards per game.
Defense
Similarly, the Jaguar defense returns several from last year.
Starting up front, Jamie Sheriff is back from injury and starting at Bandit end with Brock Higdon as his backup. Nose guard Wy’kevious Thomas , who started all 12 games last year, is also back as a starter with Brock Higdon as his backup. Charles Coleman, who started nine of the 12 games last season, is set to start at defensive tackle this season with Ed Smith listed as his backup.
At Wolf linebacker CJ Rias is starting with DK Bonhomme or Lamondre Brooks listed as backups. Rias played in 11 games last season. Transfer James Miller is starting at Mike linebacker with Ke’Shun Brown listed as backup. Quentin Wilfawn is starting at Stinger linebacker with Trey Kiser listed as backup.
Husky (nickel) safety is Yam Banks with Tremel States-Jones listed as backup. Jamar Richardson is starting field corner with Ricky Fletcher as backup. Darrell Luter is the starting Boundary corner with Marquise Robinson as his backup. Transfer Jalen Jordan is starting at Rover with CJ Thompson as his backup. Transfer Marvin Martin is starting at Free safety in place of the injured Keith Gallmon, with Jaden Voisin listed as backup.
The defense allowed an average of 26.4 points per game, which included the 60 points that Tennessee put up on the Jags in Knoxville. That breaks down to 354.7 total yards, 208.4 passing yards, and 146.3 rushing yards per game on average.
Special Teams
Diego Guajardo and Jack Brooks return at the starting placekicker and punter. Transfer Jacob Meeks will handle kickoff duties over Diego this year.
Caullin Lacy and true freshman Braylon McReynolds are listed as the kick returners for the Jags.
Keys to the game
Control the game
The Jags need to come out and take control of the game from the opening kickoff until the final whistle. They need to prove that they are an FBS team playing against an FCS team.
The Colonels under coach Rebowe have played FBS teams very tough. They defeated Kansas a few years ago, they put a scare into Louisiana-Lafayette and defeated #15 Southeastern Louisiana in the season finale.
Stop the Run
Nicholls State have two talented running backs on their roster and they will look to use them. It’ll be up to the defensive front to keep them contained. Their offense is very balanced, but if they can take away two of their big playmakers at running back then the Jags can upset their offensive balance and get them off their rhythm.
Establish the Run
Last season the Jags did not particularly run the ball well. With an average of 111.4 yards per game over the season, it’s pretty obvious. With a new running back room, the Jags intend to change that. Nicholls will be a good test to see how well they do behind a rebuilt offensive line.
Prediction
Nicholls State is a good FCS team that South Alabama should defeat. Should. But the last two meetings between the two schools have been much closer than anticipated and for comfort. Going to overtime in 2016 and needing to stop a game-winning two-point conversion attempt twice was anything but comfortable.
They have risen to the occasion when facing FBS and strong FCS opponents. They would like nothing else but to start the 2022 season with an upset win over an FBS team. Let them get that next Saturday against Louisiana-Monroe if they want it so bad.
I think the Jags will play this game close to their vest and try not to show a lot on film for Central Michigan and UCLA to see in preparation.
Vegas Insider has South Alabama favored by 10 points. I think the final score will be a little closer. I’m thinking 34-27.
If you made it all the way through, I hope you enjoyed this read. I’ll make sure to be more concise going forward. You can blame my editor.
Go Jags!
South Alabama’s Season Ends With 27-21 Overtime Loss To Coastal Carolina
Despite big plays by Jalen Tolbert, Jalen Wayne and a gutsy return by Jake Bentley, the final story of the 2021 South Alabama Jaguar football team will be nineteen yards.
Nineteen yards.
Starting overtime tied at 21 points each, Coastal Carolina’s Grayson McCall kept the ball and ran 25 yards for a touchdown in the first possession of the period. However Massimo Biscardi extra point attempt hit off the left upright leaving the door open for the Jags.
On first down quarterback Jake Bentley found Wayne open for a six yard gain to the 19 yard line. Both the 2nd and 3rd down passes were tipped leaving the Jags a 4th and 4 to go.
Bentley was hurried and ran to his left trying to buy some time but the Chanticleer defense caught up to him and as he was going down he tried to fling the ball to someone, anyone. But there weren’t any Jaguars in the vicinity.
As the ball came to rest the Chanticleer sideline rushed on the field as Bentley and other Jaguars hung their head as the final score stood 27-21.
“We had our opportunities, ton of opportunities,” head coach Kane Wommack said. “We had opportunities in the red zone to score touchdowns instead of field goals, and our defense had opportunities to get off the field, get stops in the red zone.”
“We’ve got to develop some of these guys on our roster and we’ve got to bring more guys into our program that expect to be the guy to make a play to win the game at the end.
“But we’ll get there,” Wommack concluded.
Coastal Carolina got the ball to start the game and the Jags defense allowed one first down before forcing a punt.
The Jaguar offense, led by Bentley for the first time since the Troy game, immediately went to work. He connected with Tolbert for 16 yards and Wayne for 19 yards on his first two attempts. He capped off the 12 play, 88 yard drive with an 8 yard touchdown pass to Lincoln Sefcik on 4th and 5. That was the second 4th down attempt the Jags converted on the drive.
Coastal Carolina attempted to convert a 4th and 1 at the Jags 29 yard line howver Gi’Narous Johnson and Jamal Brooks were having none of it.
On the ensuing possession, the Jags drove down to the Chanticleer 11 yard line but settled for a 30 yard field goal by Diego Guajardo to go up 10-0 early in the second quarter.
Most of the third quarter was the two teams trading punts. Jack Brooks boomed two for 60 and 66 yards respectively. But both went into the end zone for touchbacks.
South Alabama opened the second half with the ball and quickly moved from the 25 to the 42. However a deep pass intended for Tolbert was intercepted by the Chanticleers at the Coastal Carolina 5 yard line.
The Chanticleers proceeded to march down the field on a 19 play, 95 yard touchdown drive burning 9:27 off the clock to cut the Jaguar lead to 10-7.
Bentley opened the next possession at the 35 after, Biscardi’s kickoff went out of bounds, with a 17 yard completion to Tolbert. But on the next play Bentley was picked off for the second time in the game at the Chanticleer 17 yard line.
The Jags managed to get the ball right back when the handoff from McCall to Braydon Bennett was fumbled and recovered by Wy’Kevious “Bubba” Thomas at the Coastal Carolina 19 yard line.
Bentley completed passes of 2 yards and 7 yards to start the possession. Kareem Walker was dropped for no gain then the 4th down pass was intercepted at the 3 yard line. A personal foul on the Jags aided the Chanticleers field position by moving the ball from the 3 to the 18.
The first play of the fourth quarter, and the second play of the drive, went 75 yards for a touchdown when Shermari Jones found running room at the Jaguar secondary couldn’t run him down, giving Coastal Carolina a 14-10 lead with 14:49 left in the game.
A 31 yard pass from Bentley to Tolbert moved the Jags into the red zone on the ensuing possession, but again the Jags offense sputtered. On 3rd and 5 Coastal Carolina blitzed and sacked Bentley for a nine yard loss. Guajardo banged through a 33 yard attempt to get the Jags within one point, 14-13 with 11:14 left.
Isaiah Likely fumlbed on the first play of the Coastal Carolina drive but the Jags were unable to recover it. However a few plays later Devyn Flenord would pick off McCall’s pass at the Jaguar 23.
Facing 3rd and 1 Kareem Walker was dropped for a two yard loss then Bentley was sacked for a 7 yard loss back to the Jaguar 39 on 4th and 3 with 6:20 left in the game.
On the third offensive play for the Chanticleers, “super” senior Chris Henderson forced a fumble which Yam Banks covered to give the Jags another chance. Bentley opened the possession with an 18 yard pass to Wayne. Then he connected with Tolbert streaking behind the defense for a 57 yard touchdown to retake the lead.
Head coach Kane Wommack went for the two-point conversion to go up by seven points. Bentley was hurried and his pass was slightly tipped but Caullin Lacy kept his concentration and came down with the catch to put the Jags up 21-14 with 4:24 left in the game.
The Chanticleer’s, aided by some penalties on the drive, were able to tie the game to send it to overtime on a 10 play, 82 yard drive.
They gloved us up pretty good,” Bentley said. “We had a little choice route working and they kind of had the perfect call on defense for it. But we had first, second, and third down to execute it better. And the whol game for that matter. There were plays we could have executed better and wouldn’t have been in that position. That’s just the way the chips fell. We’ve got to be better in that position.”
“Definitely not the best feeling in the world right now,” Chris Henderson said. But one thing I am proud of is our guys fought to the end. We didn’t gvie up, we didn’t blink.”
They did what 9-2 teams do, they adjusted at the half,” linebacker Jamal Brooks said. “They made one more play than we did. We knocked the run game out in the second half, but they made adjustments in the second half… They just made one more play than us tonight.”
Stats
The Jags put up 349 yards of total offense, 354 yards passing and -5 yards rushing for the game.
USA converted 3-of-12 (25%) on 3rd down and 2-of-5 (40%) on 4th down. They scored on 4 of their 5 red zone trips with two of them being touchdowns.
Bentley finished his career by going 28-of-41 for 354 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions.
Jalen Tolbert, as was customary in season finale games, led the way with 10 catches for 191 yards and a touchdown. Jalen Wayne finished with 9 catches for 111 yards.
Terrion Avery finished the game with 11 yards on 11 carries. Walker finished with 9 yards on 16 carries. Bryan Hill carried the ball three times for -3 yards. Bentley was credited with 5 carries for -22 yards.
The Chanticleers finished with 491 yards of total offense, 315 rushing yards and 176 passing. They were 2-of-9 (22%) on 3rd down conversions and converted 2-of-3 (67%) on 4th down. They were a perfect 2-of-2 in red zone scoring with both being touchdowns.
Keith Gallmon and Jamal Brooks led the defense with eight stops each. Gallmon had four solo whiel Brooks had two solo with 1/2 tackle for loss.
Charles Coleman finished with seven total stops, three solo, with 1.5 sacks. Henderson finsihed with 5 stops, three solo, a sack and a forced fumble.
Yam Banks, AJ DeShazor, Jamall Hickbottom, Christian Bell, and CJ Rias all finished with 1/2 sack each. Banks and Bell both had fumble recoveries.
Reflection
That was the final game for this list of seniors: Tre Young, Devin Rockette, “Super” senior Chris Henderson, Jake Bentley, Kareem Walker, Shawn Jennings, Jamal Brooks, Kwameh Lewis, Christian Bell, and Ja’Chai Baker.
South Alabama finishes the season with a record of 5-7, 2-6 in conference play. They’ll miss out on a potential bowl berth by 19 yards unfortunately.
The season may have ended on a bad note with four consecutive losses, there’s a lot of positives to take away from the season.
The 5 wins was the most since the 2016 season, when the Jags finished 6-7 after a loss in the NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl to Air Force.
Those 5 wins were well above the average of 3.25 wins per season that the program averaged from 2017-2020.
Tolbert finished the season with 82 receptions for 1,474 yards and eight touchdowns. His yardage total is second in Sun Belt history for a single season. Trailing only Omar Beyless who posted 1,653 yards in 2019 for Arkansas State.
His career total of 178 catches, 3,140 yards and 22 touchdowns are all career records for South Alabama. His career yardage record ranks 3rd in Sun Belt history behind FIU’s T.Y. Hilton who had 3,531 yards from 2008-2011 and Georgia State’s Robert Davis who had 3,391 yards from 2013-2016.
Bentley concluded his one and only season as a Jaguar wtih 2,476 yards and 17 touchdowns in only nine games and one drive. His touchdown total is a school record and he was on pace to also break the record for passing yards in a season before his injury sidelined him.
Bentley went down with a partial MCL tear and damage to his ACL when he was hit low on the Jags first drive against Troy.
“I’ve got pretty substantial damange up in the knee,” he said. “But I just knew, with this team and the frieds that I’ve made this year, I wanted to go out with them one more time. They’ve made this year so incredible for me, and I won’t ever forget it.”
South Alabama fans were hoping for an opportunity for Jalen Tolbert to get to a bowl game for the Jags. But the only bowl game he will get will be on the same field but in the Reese’s Senior Bowl.
“There were losses we took that could have come out with a different ending,” Tolbert stated. “I’m excited fro the program’s future. Like coach Wommack always says ‘our best days are ahead.’ I’m excited to see how things go next year.”
Looking back the Jags had great opportunities against Louisiana-Lafayette, Texas State and even Louisiana-Monroe where with a few different bounces of the ball, a few different plays, or a few different adjustment and the Jags could have won.
A missed field goal against the Ragin’ Cajuns.
A late rally by the Bobcats leads to an overtime loss.
17 unanswered points by the Warhawks to rally past the Jags.
A rally by the Jags falls short against Troy.
The staff now turns their full attention to recruiting. They have some big shoes to fill with players like Tolbert and Jamal Brooks. They also have some positions to shore up. The offensive line suffered a number of injuries this season and it really showed at times coming down the stretch.
The linebackers and secondary had their share of injuries too. Despite those injuries, the defense played quite well during a very difficult four game stretch that closed out the season.
All in all as coach Wommack has said numerous times ‘our best days are ahead of us’ and I couldn’t think of a better coach to be leading us there that Coach Wommack.
Offensive coordinator Major Applewhite talks with Jake Bentley in pregame warmups. 
Jalen Tolbert pregame warmup. 
Devin Rockette 
Kwameh Lewis 
Cade Sutherland 
Tre Young 
Shawn Jennings 
Chris Henderson 
Destin Myers 
Jamal Brooks 
Kareem Walker 
Frankie Onate 
Christian Bell 
Ja’Chai Baker 
Jake Bentley 
Jalen Tolbert 
Aleem Sunanon 
Preview: South Alabama Hosts Coastal Carolina For Regular Season Finale With Bowl-Eligibility On The Line
Kickoff: Friday November 26, 2:30pm
Venue: Hancock Whitney Stadium – Mobile, AL
TV/Streaming: ESPN+
Radio: 96.1 fm The Rocket, Sports Talk 99.5 fm, iHeartRadio App
#5 Jersey: Chris Henderson
Thunderjags Twitter: @USAThunderjags
It’s down to a one game season for the South Alabama Jaguar football team.
After dropping the last three games, all on the road, the Jags (5-6, 2-5 SBC) have one final shot to get bowl-eligible this season. The last time the program was bowl eligible and went to a bowl game was 2016.
Last weeks trip to Knoxville did not go as hoped. Tennessee used their athletic advantage and had their way with South Alabama from the opening kick. The Vols cruised to a 60-14 win to earn bowl eligibility themselves.
To even be talking about bowl eligibility in year 1 under head coach Kane Wommack is something fans should be celebrating. The last three seasons the Jags compiled only 9 wins and were no where near bowl eligibility.
Much less above .500 at any point either.
A meteoric 3-0 start to the season slowly came back to earth as the schedule progressively got more difficult. Combine the schedule difficulty with the number of injuries the Jags have suffered and you can see why some celebration is warranted.
Coastal Carolina
The Chanticleers (9-2, 5-2 SBC) were one of the 2020 darling teams. They finished undefeated in the regular season and ranked 9th in the nation however their scheduled game against then #17 Louisiana-Lafayette in the Sun Belt Conference Championship had to be cancelled due to positive Covid-19 tests and contact tracing within the program.
They fell in over time to #23 Liberty 37-34 in the FBC Mortgage Cure Bowl.
The Chants lost to Appalachian State in Boone, NC 30-27. Then after losing their starting quarterback, they lost to Georgia State 42-40 and will miss earning consecutive Sun Belt Conference East Division Championships.
Last week their quarterback and 2020 SBC Player of the Year Grayson McCall returned to field and picked up where he left off. McCall threw for 319 yards and five touchdowns in their 35-21 win over Texas State.
Offense
The Chanticleer offense is best described as a spread option or a speed option but they also use triple option plays too.
As you’ll see by the stats, they run their offense very well.
For the season they are averaging 41.6 points, 493.3 total offensive yards, 223.6 rushing yards, and 269.6 passing yards per game.
They are converting 70-of-124 (56%) of their 3rd down attempts and 7-of-9 (78%) of their 4th down attempts on the season.
They’ve scored on 39 of their 44 red zone trips, of those 39 scores, and incredible 36 of them have been touchdowns.
Their quarterbacks have been sacked only 16 times this season.
McCall is 138-of-186 (74.2%) on the season with 2.382 passing yards, 22 touchdowns, and only two interceptions in 9 games played. Bryce Carpenter, who started in place of McCall in two games, is 41-of-69 for 483 yards, four touchdowns and one interception.
Jaivon Heiligh is the teams leading receiver with 53 catches for 947 yards and six touchdowns. Isaiah Likely has 49 catches for 795 yards and 10 touchdowns. Kameron Brown has caught 30 passes for 533 yards and five touchdowns. Braydon Bennett is the last receiver with either double-digit catches or in triple digits in receiving yards, he has 19 catches for 246 yards and one touchdown.
Shermari Jones leads the Chanticleer rushing attack with 128 carries for 777 yards and 12 touchdowns. Reese White has 71 carries for 516 yards and seven touchdowns. Bennett adds 62 carries for 485 rushing yards and five touchdowns. Carpenter adds 215 rushing yards on 53 carries with two touchdowns. McCall rounds out the triple-digit yardage club with 191 yards on 67 carries with three touchdowns.
Defense
The Chanticleer defense is fairly stingy.
They allow an average of 19.9 points, 322.6 total offensive yards, 176.3 passing yards and 146.4 rushing yards per game.
Opponents are only converting 53-of-145 (37%) of their 3rd down attempts and 8-of-20 (40%) of their 4th down attempts.
They have 26 sacks and 69 tackles for loss on the season.
Opponents have reached the red zone 29 times and came away with points 23 of them with 19 of those scores being touchdowns.
Silas Kelly leads the team with 88 total stops, 35 solo with 7 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks. The next closest is Teddy Gallagher with 67 stops, 30 solo with 7 TFLs and 2 sacks.
Josaiah Stewart leads the team in both tackles for loss with 12 and sacks with 10. They have three players with one interception each. They’ve recovered six fumbles on the season too.
Special Teams
Biscardi Massimo is 5-of-6 in field goal attempts with his longest being 50 yards and is a perfect 40-of-40 in extra points. Liam Gray is 12-of-13 on extra points and has made one of this two field goal attempts on the season with it being a 46 yard kick. Kieran Colahan is 7-of-7 on extra points and made a 39 yard field goal, the only attempt of the season.
Charles Ouverson has punted 34 times on the season with an average of 37.85 yards per kick with 13 fair catches, 11 downed inside the 20 and one kick traveling over 50 yards.
South Alabama
Since the injury to quarterback Jake Bentley the offense has struggled.
Desmond Trotter took a couple series to settle in after taking over against Troy. His comeback attempt fell one score short unfortunately.
But in the two game he has started for the Jags they have scored a grand total of 21 points.
But injuries to the offensive line and a number of defensive players have really piled up and taken their toll.
Offense
For the season now the Jags are averaging 25.3 points, 369.1 total offensive yards, 247.1 rushing yards, and 122 rushing yards per game.
The 3rd down conversion rate has fallen to 51-of-163 (31%) while their 4th down conversion rate is now 26-of-41 (63%).
The Jags red zone efficiency had dropped some. They’ve had the ball in the red zone 45 times and come away with points on 34 of those trips (76%) and 29 times they have been touchdowns (64%).
Jaguar quarterbacks have been sacked 25 times. They’ve had eight passes intercepted and 9 fumbles lost.
Trotter is 61-of-104 (58.7%) for 596 yards, five touchdowns and three interceptions. Prior to his injury, Bentley was 184-of-262 for 2,122 yards, 15 touchdowns and five interceptions.
Jalen Tolbert got to showcase his skills on national television with an impressive one-handed catch against the Volunteers and fresh off of accepting an invitation to play in the Reese’s Senior Bowl. He leads the team with 72 catches for 1,283 yards with seven touchdowns (including the 68 yard touchdown against Tennessee).
Jalen Wayne has 44 catches for 519 yards and two touchdowns. Caullin Lacy has 38 catches for 273 yards. Lincoln Sefcik has 29 catches for 205 yards and four touchdowns.
Terrion Avery continues to lead the running back corps with 497 yards on 132 carries with one touchdown. Bryan Hill has 85 carries for 335 yards and three touchdowns. Kareem Walker has 286 yards on 77 carries with four touchdowns.
Defense
The defense was picked apart last Saturday in Knoxville. The big Tennessee offensive line and the breakneck speed at which the offense operates just keep the Jags on their heels.
As of now the Jags defense is allowing an average of 26.4 points, 342.3 total offensive yards, 211.4 passing yards, and 130.9 rushing yards per game.
Opponents are converting 52-of-150 (35%) of their 3rd down attempts and 12-of-20 (60%) of their 4th down attempts.
Opponents red zone efficiency now stands at 29-of-39 (74%) for red zone scoring and 22-of-39 (56%) for red zone touchdowns.
The Jags have sacked opposing quarterbacks 27 times and they have 62 total tackles for loss. They have collected 14 interceptions and recovered 8 fumbles.
Keith Gallmon now leads the team in total stops with 51, 31 of them solo, with an interceptions and a fumble recovery. He’s also ran the ball twice on two fake punts and have converted both of them into first downs.
AJ DeShazor is right behind him with 50 total stops, 24 solo, with two tackles for loss and 1/2 sack.
Wy’Kevious Thomas and Jamal Brooks continue to lead the team with 5.5 tackles for loss each. Charles Coleman and CJ Rias share the team lead with 3 sacks each. Darrell Luter leads the team with four interceptions.
Special Teams
Diego Guajardo made both of this extra point attempts to run his season record to 32-of-34. He’s also still 10-of-15 on his field goal attempts, but he didn’t attempt any against Tennessee.
Jack Brooks is averaging 42.5 yards per kick over this 51 punts. He’s had 16 fair caught, 13 downed inside the 20 and 12 have gone 50+ yards with his longest traveling 54 yards.
Keys to the Game
Offensive Line Play
The last two weeks the offensive line has gone up against some strong defenses and had problems. Against App State losing Anterrious Gray from an already thin position group didn’t help. The incident that led to Gray being disqualified from the game was inexcusable, but when a player swings at another player it is now in the hands of the officials.
Tennessee also had their way with the Jags offense for most of the night.
In order to win they’ll need to play at the level they’re capable of and the level they’ve shown earlier in the season.
Defensive Discipline
Coastal Carolina executes their offense very efficiently. Their offensive scheme gives defenses problems every week.
Defensive coordinator Corey Batoon faced the Chanticleers just last season with Liberty. That recent experience will definitely aid in preparing for them.
The Jags defense bottled up the usually potent Georgia Southern option offense. However Georgia Southern was not nearly as prolific through the air as the Chanticleers.
The defenders will have to stick to their assignments and fill their gaps. When the Chants get opponents out of position they are quick to take advantage.
Seizing an Opportunity
Only two people on the roster has ever been a part of a bowl game at South Alabama. One is head coach Kane Wommack, who was defensive coordinator in 2016.
The other is Chris Henderson, who was a freshman at the time. He’s a “super” senior, what they call a 6th year senior with the additional eligibility to play afforded to them due to Covid-19.
Chris’ father Terry is a huge supporter of his son and South Alabama. He’s a prolific tweeter and a master of choosing the perfect gif response. Read this article about Chris and Terry. (Jag Nation needs more Terry’s!)
There are other players who may be suiting up for the final time in a South Alabama Jaguar uniform.
But they have a chance to earn a shot at one more game.
With a win they would put the Jaguars in the category of bowl-eligible teams. While not a guarantee they will receive an invite, but without a 6th win it’s a certainty they won’t.
The Jags defeated the Chanticleers in Mobile in 2018 then lost last season in Conway, SC. A win and a bowl invite would give the team a chance at the first bowl win in program history. And a chance at the first winning record since joining the ranks of FBS.
Prediction
The Jags are a 14.5 point underdog at home against Coastal Carolina.
Head coach Kane Wommack did not rule out any chance of Jake Bentley being able to play. He did warm up with the quarterbacks in Tennessee. Was all that some coaching game to make your opponent have to prepare for two quarterbacks?
I believe the coaches and players will be ready. They’ve played road games the last three weeks, it’s senior day, and if you didn’t know they could get bowl eligible.
I believe the Jags not only cover but they win outright and get bowl eligible. They get the upset and they get a chance at a bowl invite.
Encourage your friends and family to come out to Hancock Whitney Stadium. The Jags need the fans in the stands. They need to be loud when the Chanticleers are on offense. Hancock Whitney needs to be rocking Friday afternoon!
Go Jags!
South Alabama Falls To Tennessee 60-14 in Knoxville
The South Alabama Jaguars (5-6) were simply outmanned by the Tennessee Volunteers (6-5) on a cold Saturday night at Neyland Stadium.
The Vols scored on their first four possessions before the Jags put points on the board. Jabari Small scored on one yard touchdown run, then Jaylen Wright scored on a 17 yard run in the first quarter.
In the second quarter Hendon Hooker connected with Cedric Tillman for a 27 yard touchdown followed by a 24 yard touchdown pass from Hooker to Princeton Fant to go up 28-0.
The Jags lined up to punt on 4th and 6 at the Jags own 41 yard line when they snapped the ball to Wayne Gallmon who scampered for 26 yards, giving the offense new life. On 3rd and goal at the Tennessee 3 yard line, Trotter connected with Lincoln Sefcik for their only score in the first half.
However the Jags celebration was short lived, or maybe was too long. Diego Guajardo’s kickoff was fielded at the 4 yard line by Mobile’s Velus Jones who returned it for a 96 yard touchdown with 1:18 left until halftime.
Head coach Kane Wommack came out with a surprise on-sides kick to open the second half which the Jags recovered. Unfortunately offense went three-and-out.
The Vols scored on their next three possessions of the second half and seven of their first eight possessions to take a 56-7 lead in the fourth quarter.
On the Jags next possession, facing 4th and 3 at the Jags own 32 yard line, Desmond Trotter connected with Jalen Tolbert for a short gain past the first down marker. However Tolbert made a defender miss and he turned the play into a 68 yard touchdown to make it 56-14.
Unfortunately that was the Jags final points of the game.
The Vols sacked Trotter for a safety then a snap sailed over Jack Brooks’ head and rolled out of the end zone for another for the 60-14 final score.
Stats
Tennessee rolled up 561 yards of total offense, 311 through the air and 250 on the ground. The Jags only managed 285 yards of total offense, 216 passing and only 69 yards rushing.
The Jags were a measly 1-of-16 on 3rd down attempts and were 5-of-8 on 4th down attempts in the game.
Tennessee was 8-of-11 on 3rd down and did not convert their only 4th down attempt of the game.
Desmond Trotter finished 19-of-32 for 216 yards and two touchdowns with four sacks.
Jalen Tolbert had seven catches for 143 yards and a touchdown to lead all receivers.
Jalen Wayne added two catches for 55 yards.
Kareem Walker rushed seven times for 29 yards to finish as the Jags leading rusher. Bryan Hill carried 10 times for 27 yards. Trotter carried 12 times for 10 yards.
Gallmon led the defense with seven total stops, six solo.
Hooker finished 17-of-20 for 273 yards with two touchdowns and two sacks.
Velus Jones led the Vols receivers with 6 catches for 103 yards. Cedric Tillman had 5 catches for 100 yards and a touchdown.
Jaylen Wright rushed 13 times for 83 yards and a touchdown. Jabari Small had 11 carries for 73 yards and two touchdowns.
The Jags held a 37:00 to 23:00 lead in time of possession for the game.
“It was a terrible performance by our guys,” coach Wommack stated after the game. “We didn’t stop them defensively at all. Offensively we had opportunities in the red zone and didn’t take care of business.”
Wommack continued, “Look, when you have a team like this that goes as fast as they do and has great talent all that stuff, you have to dig deep. You have to find ways to make plays on both sides of the ball and we weren’t able to do that.”
Next Game
The Jags have a chance to get bowl eligible and to snap their three game losing streak on Friday when they host the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers for a 2:30pm kickoff at Hancock Whitney Stadium. The game can be watched on ESPN+.
Lee Greenwood singing at halftime. 
Preview: South Alabama Travels To Rocky Top To Face The Tennessee Volunteers
Kickoff: Saturday November 20, 6:30pm
Venue: Neyland Stadium – Knoxville, TN
TV/Streaming: ESPNU
Radio: 96.1 fm The Rocket, Sports Talk 99.5 fm, iHeartRadio App
#5 Jersey: Wy’Kevious “Bubba” Thomas
Thunderjags Twitter: @USAThunderjags
The South Alabama Jaguars may have lost to Appalachian State 31-7 but the final score did not show how close the game actually was. But there’s no consolation for that.
The Jags (5-5, 2-5 SBC) have found a more difficult time after starting the season 3-0. But they’ve also had a laundry list of injuries this season. One position that’s been hit particularly hard has been the offensive line.
Center James Jackson returned after missing four games with a knee injury but left a few plays after returning. Hadon Merchant and Josh McColloch have both been sideline with injuries lately. Then Anterrious Gray was ejected for a flagrant foul after an App State player reportedly spit in his face and used “racially charged” language.
Walk-on Reggie Smith filled in for Gray at right guard. The offense only managed 58 rushing yards on 33 carries against the Mountaineer defense.
The ‘Swarm D’ defense forced three turnovers and picked up another one on special teams. However the offense could not convert any of those opportunities into points on the scoreboard.
App State forced the Jags into two turnovers and converted both into points. The final one was a 100 yard interception return of a tipped pass for a touchdown.
Head coach Kane Wommack chose to keep the offense on the field on a 4th and 3 at the App State 5 yard line. They failed to convert and the Mountaineer actually drove down the field and a field goal to go up 17-7.
They attempted to convert five 4th down attempts in the game and converted two of them. On Monday’s radio show Coach Wommack said that their thoughts going into the game was that they were on the road against a good team and needed big plays. He also said they needed to score touchdowns to win, not field goals.
Diego Guajardo missed his fifth field goal of the season. However the snap was high and to the opposite side of the holder. The ball was placed on the left hashmark and the kick ended up hitting the left upright.
The Jaguars are now onto their next game. They now travel Tennessee to face them for the first time since the 2013 near upset.
Tennessee
Tennessee (5-5, 3-4 SEC) is under the direction of first year head coach Josh Heupel. He took over a team that finished 3-7 last season and a program which has struggled with more downs than ups for the last several years.
Last Saturday they hosted #1 Georgia and played them tough for part of the game. However the Bulldogs eventually separated themselves from the Volunteers, 41-17.
Offense
When Heupel came in he immediately implemented his style of offense. The simple way to describe his offense is that it’s similar to the Baylor offense from the early 2010’s or Arkansas State in the mid to late 2010’s.
It begins with a quick diagnosis of pre-snap positioning then is executed with a power run game inside or one-on-one vertical shots outside.
When a defense shows them a single-high safety, it tends to mean they are going to have access to a vertical shot on the outside down the sideline.
When a defense shows them a two-high safety look then the slot receiver is the one playing in space.
At UCF, when they faced off against one-high safety they threw the ball 63% of the time.
It’s the quarterbacks job to keep the safety in the middle of the field using his eyes or via play action then throws down the sideline with receivers running vertical option routes.
The vertical option route for the receiver is if they are at least even with the defender so many yards down the field, then they will stay on the vertical route, but if they can’t beat their defender off the snap or by so many yards downfield they will choke it down and hook.
They are simple reads for the quarterback with a reliance on downfield shots, high screen pass usage, and a high RPO rate which means there’s not much for the quarterback to mess up.
Basically they take young quarterbacks and make them into repetitive, robot-like players. Why would they do that? Because they produce explosive offenses and explosive offenses win games.
The Volunteer offense averages 36.1 points, 450.6 total yards of offense, 200.9 rushing yards, and 249.7 passing yards per game.
They are converting 63-of-139 (45.3%) 3rd down attempts and 10-of-21 (47.6%) of their 4th down attempts.
Out of 41 total trips into opponents red zone they have scored 35 times. Of those 35 scores, 27 of them have been touchdowns.
They have 11 turnovers on the season, eight of them have been fumbles and they have only three interceptions on the season.
Tiyon Evans is the teams leading rusher with 525 yards on 81 carries with six touchdowns in seven games played. Quarterback Hendon Hooker is next with 465 yards on 130 attempts with four touchdowns. Jabari Small has 436 yards on 88 carries for four touchdowns in eight games played.
Hooker is 153-of-223 for 2,138 yards with 22 touchdowns and three interceptions on the season.
Cedric Tillman is the teams leading receiver with 46 catches for 725 yards and six touchdowns. Velus Jones Jr is next with 597 yards on 44 catches with six touchdowns. JaVonta Payton has 373 yards on 15 catches for six touchdowns.
The offense prides itself on quick strikes so their time of possession isn’t very good with 24:23 to the opponents 35:37 average time of possession.
Defense
Tennessee runs a 4-2-5 defensive scheme, which is gaining prevalence in college football these days.
Tim Banks is the defensive coordinator. He spent the previous five seasons as co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach at Penn State.
On average the Volunteer defense allows 29.5 points, 424.9 total yards of offense, 165.4 rushing yards, and 259.5 passing yards per game.
Opponents are converting 80-of-167 (47.9%) of their 3rd down attempts and 9-of-20 (45%) of their 4th down attempts on the season.
The defense has allowed opponents in the red zone 39 times this season and they have come away with points on 37 of those trips. Out of those 37 scores, 31 of them have been touchdowns.
The defense has forced 12 turnovers on the season, nine of them have been interceptions while the other three were fumbles.
Jeremy Banks leads the Vols with 89 total stops, 44 of them solo, with 9 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, and an interception.
Byron Young leads the team with 8 tackles for loss and is co-leader with Jeremy Banks with 4.5 sacks.
Jaylen McCullough has the team lead with 3 interceptions.
Special Teams
Chase McGrath has made all 46 of his extra point attempts. He is 10-of-13 in field goal attempts with a long of 48 yards.
Paxton Brooks had punted 36 times and is averaging 44.8 yards per punt with three touchbacks, 23 have been fair caught, 13 downed inside the 20, 11 have gone 50+ yard with a long punt of 64 yards.
South Alabama
Offense
The Jags offense is averaging 26.4 points, 377.5 total yards of offense, 127.3 rushing yards, and 250.2 passing yards per game.
They are converting 50-of-147 (34%) of their 3rd down attempts and 21-of-33 (64%) of their 4th down attempts on the season.
Out of 42 red zone trips they have scored on 33 of them with 28 of those being touchdowns.
Jaguar quarterbacks have been sacked 21 times on the season. Defenses have forced 17 turnovers, eight of them being interceptions and nine of them fumbles.
Terrion Avery leads the running attack with 498 yards on 129 carries with a touchdown. Bryan Hill has 308 yards on 75 carries with three touchdowns in eight games. Kareem Walker has 257 yards on 70 carries with four touchdowns in only six games.
Desmond Trotter is 42-of-72 for 380 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions. He’s playing in place of Jake Bentley who suffered a partially torn MCL against Troy a couple weeks ago.
However Bentley was seen dressed and going through some workouts earlier in the week. While it’s still a long shot that he could play at Tennessee (he is 3-0 in his career against the Vols) it’s more likely he would see the field against Coastal Carolina for the regular season finale.
Jalen Tolbert leads the receiving corps with 65 catches for 1,140 yards and six touchdowns. Jalen Wayne has 42 catches for 464 yards and two touchdowns. Caullin Lacy has 36 catches for 274 yards. Lincoln Sefcik has 27 catches for 200 yards and three touchdowns.
They are winning the time of possession 32:22 to 27:38.
Defense
The Jaguar defense is allowing an average of 23 points, 320.4 total yards of offense, 119 rushing yards and 201.4 passing yards per game.
Opponents are converting 44-of-139 (32%) of their 3rd down attempts and 12-of-19 (63%) of their 4th down attempts.
Opponents have been in the red zone 34 times on the season and came away with points only 24 times. Of those 24 scores, 17 have been touchdowns.
The Jags defense has 24 sacks on the season. They’ve forced 22 turnovers on the season with 14 of them being interceptions and eight being fumbles.
Special Teams
Diego Guajardo made his only extra point attempt against App State to make his season 30-of-32. However he missed a 40 yard field goal attempt to drop his season to 10-of-15.
Jack Brooks has punted 45 times on the season with an average 42.8 yards per punt with a long of 54 yards. He’s had 15 kicks fair caught, 11 downed inside the 20 and 11 have gone 50+ yards.
Keys to the Game
Play Keep Away
Control the time of possession and shorten the game by limiting Tennessee’s possession of the ball. When the offense has the ball they need to put together long, time consuming drives like the 19 play, 9+ minute drive they had against Troy. The offense cannot score if they don’t possess the ball.
Put points on the Board
After putting together long, time consuming drive you have to put points on the board. Preferably touchdowns but you have to come away with points.
No matter how good the defense is playing, there’s a high likelihood that the Vol offense is going to strike at some point so you’ve got to put points on the board.
If you can get and maintain a lead then you can quiet down Neyland Stadium, which can be quite loud.
Don’t let receivers get behind the secondary
The defense has to keep the receivers in front of them. If they get behind the secondary they’re going to put the ball up toward the sidelines.
If they do hit on a long pass, they are going to go full-speed, up-tempo. Tennessee is definitely one of the most up-tempo offenses I’ve seen. That’s not to say they won’t go up-tempo any other time, but they really like to do that after a big play. They try to either hit it again or just take advantage of the defense as they try to recover from allowing a big play.
Fans going to the game: Watch out for Mustard Bottles
See the final few minutes of the Ole Miss game. Thankfully we don’t have Lane Kiffin on staff.
Prediction
This is going to be a tough game. The offensive line is banged up and very thin. The defense may be without a couple of players too.
SEC schools usually have some of the first choices in college recruiting. But any team can win on any given day. Just like the Jags did in 2016 at Mississippi State and had an opportunity against UT in 2013.
The Jags could use this game for bowl eligibility. But a win would do much more than that for the program. It would help in recruiting foremost.
The Jags are a 28.5 point underdog when they take the field in Knoxville. It’s hard to know how the game could turn out.
Do the Jags fall behind early and Tennessee just piles on the points after the loss to Georgia, Alabama, and Ole Miss losses in the last four weeks? Does the Swarm D come out and cause havoc from the beginning and help keep the game close? Do we see Jake Bentley play?
As much as I hate it, I think the Jags fall to below .500 this week. But I hope they cover the spread on Tennessee. But I’ll gladly have them prove me wrong and get that big W I N in Knoxville (the one they so nearly had in 2013).
Go Jags!