Preview: South Alabama Hosts Central Michigan For Homecoming, Final Non-Conference Game
Kickoff: Saturday, September 23, 4pm
Venue: Hancock Whitney Stadium, Mobile, Alabama
TV/Streaming: ESPN+
Radio: 96.1 fm The Rocket, Sports Talk 99.5 fm, iHeartRadio App
Thunderjags on X (formerly known as Twitter): @USAThunderjags
#5 Jersey: Desmond Trotter
This is an important game for the South Alabama Jaguars.
No, it’s not a flashy game against another Power-5 program. It’s not a conference game. It may be homecoming, but that’s not the reason either.
It’s an important game for two reasons: one, it’s next game on the schedule, and two, we get to see how the team responds after the last game.
You may be reading this thinking “man, you make it sound like they lost last week. But they won arguably the biggest game in program history last week against Oklahoma State.” But that’s exactly it. They won the biggest game in program history, now how do they respond?
The Greek philosopher Epictetus wrote, “It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.”
Head Coach Kane Wommack took over the program in 2021 and he has consistently spoken about getting his players to have a neutral mindset. You cannot get too high on emotion, but you cannot get to low either. This week will be a big test for his team to see if they have that neutral mindset nailed down, at least from the emotional high that was last week.
The Jags (2-1) earned a program-defining win last Saturday in dominating fashion. They took a 23-0 lead into halftime and by the time the final whistle blew, they posted a stunning 33-7 beat-down of a Power-5 program in their own stadium. One of the intriguing stats we noted was that the Jags rushed for more yards (248) than Oklahoma State gained in total offense (208) for the entire game.
South Alabama has been showered with praise since the game ended. They were named the Cheez-It’s team of the week (which brought them a big delivery of assorted boxes of Cheez-It’s on Monday). They were honorably mentioned in Matt Mitchell’s “SEC Roll Call”, a weekly comedy sketch he does recapping the previous weeks performances. But they also have Homecoming festivities this coming week.
How they turn around and respond in this game could really define the remainder of the season.
This paragraph may induce PTSD, so be warned. In 2016, South Alabama traveled to Starkville, MS and earned their first win over a Power-5 and SEC program with a 21-20 win. Coincidentally, it happened to be coach Wommack’s first game with the Jaguars as defensive coordinator too. However the Jags lost the following week to Georgia Southern 24-9 as well as the next week at Louisiana-Lafayette 28-23. Then they needed overtime to survive an upset bid by Nicholls 41-40. Similarly in the 2016 season, they were able to defeat the then #19 ranked San Diego State Aztecs 42-24, but lost back-to-back games to Arkansas State (17-7) and Troy (28-21) afterwards.
Coach Wommack keeps stressing “consistency.” This game will be a big measuring stick for how much consistency the coaching staff has been able to instill into this program.
South Alabama (2-1)
In a way the Oklahoma State game was a carry-over from the second half of the Southeastern Louisiana game. The Jaguar offense scored on their first three possessions and four of their six first-half possessions, not counting the last possession with a mere 18 seconds left before halftime.
The defense kept the Cowboys off the scoreboard until early in the fourth quarter, and the longest plays from scrimmage was a 21 yard quarterback run and a 15 yard pass completion.
The Jags are +1 in turnover margin for the season. They have thrown three interceptions and lost three of the four fumbles they’ve committed. Defensively the Jags have forced five fumbles and recovered all of them while also collecting a pair of interceptions.
Offense
South Alabama’s mantra ‘Run The Damn Ball’ was on full display in Stillwater. La’Damian Webb, even on a play-count, rolled up an impressive 151 yards rushing on 18 carries with a pair of touchdowns. It was highlighted by a 65 yard touchdown in the fourth quarter that put the final dagger in the Cowboy’s heart.
Kentrel Bullock also had 18 carries for 71 yards and Marco Lee Jr had 6 carries for 30 yards.
Carter Bradley was 10-of-16 for 152 yards and two touchdowns, including a beautify placed 57-yard strike to Caullin Lacy.
Lacy led the Jags receivers with 5 catches for 104 yards and both of Bradley’s touchdown passes. Lincoln Sefcik had three catches for 21 yards. Javon Ivory and Bullock had one catch each for 17 and 10 yards respectively.
Lacy has really elevated his play after Devin Voisin was lost for the season to a knee injury last week. He was already a big-time playmaker before!
Josh McColloch suffered a knee injury mid-week and did not play, however the offensive line had their best outing so far this season with Jordan Davis stepping up and starting in McCulloch’s place.
The Jags are averaging 389.7 total yards of offense, 201 yards passing and 188.7 yards rushing per game. The running back corps are averaging 5 yards per attempt through three games.
The offense is converting 20-of-39 (51%) of their 3rd down attempts and 3-of-4 (75%) of their 4th down attempts. In the red zone they have scored on all 9 of their trips, with seven of them being touchdowns.
However, Bradley has been sacked 7 times on the season for 50 yards, but only twice last week by the Cowboys.
Defense
Coach Wommack, defensive coordinator Corey Batoon, and assistant coach Jay Hopson seemed to have really turned around the secondary after Tulane exploited them for several explosive plays. They only allowed 208 total yards of offense, 114 passing yards and 94 rushing yards to the Cowboys.
Through three games the defense is allowing an average of 352 yards of total offense, 252.7 passing yards and 99.3 rushing yards per game.
Opponents are converting just 13-of-34 (38%) of their 3rd down attempts. Of the 11 trips into the red zone for opponents, they have scored on 8 of them with only 4 coming as touchdowns.
James Miller leads the defense with 19 total stops, 10 solo, with a fumble recovery. Jaden Voisin is next behind him with 16 total stops, nine solo, with a forced fumble. Trey Kiser is third with 15 total stops, eight solo, with a tackle for loss, a pass breakup, and a quarterback hurry.
Brock Higdon leads the defense with 2 sacks on the season. Jamie Sheriff, Quentin Wilfawn, Khalil Jacobs, and Maurice Strong Jr have one sack each.
Yam Banks and Marquise Robinson both have one interception each.
Special Teams
Diego Guajardo made good on both of his attempts against OSU last weekend and is 3-of-4 on the season with a long of 42. His only miss was from 52 in the season-opener against Tulane.
Jack Martin is averaging 43.4 yards per attempt, with a long of 53 yards. He has four fair catches, four downed inside the 20.
Central Michigan (1-2)
Despite the Chippewa’s record, they have been playing some pretty good football on the season. Both of their two losses come at the hands of Power-5 programs. The season opener was a 31-7 loss at Michigan State and last week they kept it close in the first half at Notre Dame before the Fighting Irish pulled away in the second half for a 41-17 win.
Between the two losses, the Chippewas earned a win against #11 ranked FCS New Hampshire 45-42 on a field goal as time expired. They led 42-28 with under six minutes left in the game. New Hampshire tied the game with a 71-yard catch-and-run with just over three-minutes left in the game.
Last week against Notre Dame, the Chippewas cut the lead to 7 before halftime before the Irish pulled away in the second half. The Irish, who put up 578 yards of total offense, took back any momentum with a 74 yard touchdown drive in only 7 plays to start the third quarter and never looked back.
Overall they are -1 on turnover margin. Offensively they have fumbled three times but recovered them all, however they have thrown three interceptions. Defensively they have one interception and a forced fumble that they’ve recovered.
Offense
The Chippewa offense is averaging 23 points, 309 yards of total offense, 145.7 passing yards, and 163.3 rushing yards per game. They are only converting 11-of-44 (25%) of their 3rd down attempts but they have converted 4-of-5 (80%) of their 4th down attempts.
Quarterback Bert Emanuel Jr missed the Notre Dame game with an illness but is expected to return and presumably start on Saturday. He is 18-of-36 (50%) for 280 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions in those two games. Jase Bauer is 13-of-29 (44.9%) for 157 yards.
The top two receivers both have five catches. Chris Parker has 142 yards on his 5 catches with a touchdown. Tyson Davis has 92 yards with his five catches.
They have five players with three catches each. Jesse Prewitt III has 91 yards and a touchdown, Mitchel Collier has 30 yards, Marion Lukes has 28 yards, Myles Bailey has 11 yards, and Sam Hicks has 7 yards.
Myles Bailey leads the Central Michigan rushing attack with 186 yards on 38 carries with two touchdowns. Emanuel Jr is the next leading rusher, even with sack-adjusted yardage figured in, with 142 yards on 38 carries with two touchdowns in two games played. Marion Lukes has 75 yards on 19 carries. Quarterback Jase Bauer has 43 yards on 15 carries with a touchdown. BJ Harris has 11 carries for 32 yards, the last back with double-digit carries on the team.
Defense
Central Michigan runs multiple fronts. They will switch between 3 and 4 down linemen which give an even and odd look to the offensive line. So the Jaguar offensive line will need to stay on the same for their protection schemes. They have played pretty well against the run, but have been quite susceptible to explosive passing plays.
They are allowing an average of 38 points, 507.3 total yards of offense, 371.3 passing yards, and 136 rushing yards per game.
Opponents are converting 16-of-39 (41%) of their 3rd down attempts and 3-of-6 (50%) of their 4th down attempts.
Donte Kent leads the defense with 26 total stops, 18 of them solo, with a tackle for loss (TFL) from the secondary. Kyle Moretti is right behind him with 25 total stops, 14 solo, with two TFLs from his linebacker position. It drops off to 16 total, 7 solo, stops for Trey Jones from the secondary. Then Justin Whiteside has 13 total stops, 11 solo, for the highest ranking defensive lineman.
Jacques Bristol leads the team with three TFL’s with a sack, as part of his 11 total tackles. He is tied with Michael Heldman and Maurice White for sack leader. Heldman leads the team with 4 quarterback hurries.
Elijah Rikard is the only player on the defense with an interception.
Special Teams
Tristan Mattson, a redshirt-junior transfer from Arkansas State, is 2-of-3 on the season. His long is 47 yards, which was his first attempt of the season and came against New Hampshire as time expired. He also handles kickoff duty and has nine touchbacks on his 13 kickoff attempts.
Jake Walrath is averaging 45.1 yards across his 21 punt attempts. His longest kick was 63 yards. He has two touchbacks, five fair catches, five downed inside the 20 and seven kicks of 50+ yards. He can really flip field position in a hurry.
Keys to the Game
Neutral Mindset
The Jags will be coming off a big win over a Power-5 opponent. It’s also Homecoming week. This is a textbook upset script for the Chippawa’s. It also doesn’t help that they want revenge for last season and to get back to .500 on the season.
Coach Wommack speaks about having a neutral mindset. There are several keys to the neutral mindset. He doesn’t want players to get too emotionally high nor too emotionally low after a game, or even after a play. The players need to approach each play as its own entity, when the play is over it’s time for the next play. It doesn’t matter if the previous play was a big loss or a huge gain; you have to line up for the next play just the same. Each time you line up for a play, just do your job and trust your teammate to do his.
Taking what the defense gives
The Chippewa defense has been quite good against the run. While their passing numbers aren’t that good to observe, they haven’t been that bad against the pass either. Their biggest problem is explosive plays through the air, similar to what the Jags had trouble with against Tulane. They will be working to make similar adjustments this week and hope they show on the field when they arrive in Mobile on Saturday.
Carter Bradley may have to put the ball in the air more than he did against Oklahoma State for the Jags to win. If the Chippewa’s continue to be susceptible to the pass, that’s what the Jags need to exploit.
But a productive running game will also help loosen up the secondary too.
Offensive Line
Last Saturday, the Jags offensive line played arguably the best game of football in program history. They opened running lanes for the Jaguar running backs and they were pretty good in pass protection. Bradley was sacked twice in the game, but did not have a single quarterback hurry on the stat sheet.
Consistency is stacking one good game after another. They could really use another outing like that this week.
Not to keep repeating it, but Central Michigan has been good against the run. If they are able to get success stopping the Jags rushing game, they will turn up the pressure on Bradley and try to get him to force the ball downfield. Two of his three interceptions this season can be contributed to him trying to force the ball under pressure.
Injuries
Reggie Smith was injured late in fall camp and will miss the season. Braylon McReynolds suffered a broken collarbone against Tulane and will likely miss the entire regular season.
Before the game last Saturday, we found out that both Devin Voisin and Keith Gallmon Jr will also miss the rest of the season as well.
Gallmon Jr suffered a torn pectoral muscle early in the game against Southeastern Louisiana. This is the second time in as many seasons he has suffered the same injury and missed an entire season. However this time it’s the opposite pectoral as the one injured in 2022.
Voisin suffered a knee injury in the second half against SLU.
Thankfully, the Jags stayed pretty healthy against Oklahoma State last week.
Prediction
The Jags are pretty much a 14.5 point favorite across the board on most odd-maker sites. I was glad my prediction last week was completely wrong. When I pick against the Jags, I’m more than happy to be wrong.
It may be early for the Chippewa’s to circle the wagons, but I’m sure they feel an urgency for a win before they start conference play. They had 12 players out with Covid last Saturday and was within one score of Notre Dame at halftime (21-14). Thankfully the game will be at Hancock Whitney Stadium.
The Jags offensive strengths play into some of the strengths of Central Michigan’s defense. It will be interesting to watch how it plays out.
I’m going with the Jags to win, but maybe they don’t cover the 14.5 spread but barely. I think a strong second half leads to a Jags win 31-17, just under the spread.
Go Jags!
Preview: South Alabama Faces Off Against Oklahoma State In Stillwater
Kickoff: Saturday, September 16, 6pm
Venue: Boone Pickens Stadium, Stillwater, Oklahoma
TV/Streaming: ESPN+
Radio: 96.1 fm The Rocket, Sports Talk 99.5 fm, iHeartRadio App
Thunderjags on X (formerly known as Twitter): @USAThunderjags
#5 Jersey: Trey Kiser
It took six quarters of football, but we finally saw the Jaguar team we expected this season make their real debut.
The Jags (1-1) first half of play against Southeastern Louisiana (0-2) was just the test we expected the Jaguars to face. SLU was able to move the ball on the Jags, but the defense wouldn’t break. The Jaguar offense also struggled to move the ball consistently early. But by the end of the opening quarter, it looked like the Jags had found their groove and were driving.
Penalties and negative plays completely derailed the drive and took them out of scoring position. They started the quarter at the Lions 25-yard line, but by the time 4th down arrived, they had given up 27 yards mostly due to penalties.
SLU scored first, but the Jaguars responded with a matching touchdown. The third quarter began with more adversity when Carter Bradley was intercepted on the fourth offensive play of the half. After the defense forced a three-and-out the Jags offense came alive with a spark by La’Damian Webb. South Alabama scored 21-straight points before the Lions stopped the bleeding with a field goal.
The next test for South Alabama is a familiar Power-5 foe, Oklahoma State (2-0).
Oklahoma State (2-0)
The Cowboys experienced a rather disappointing season in 2022 going 7-6. In 18 seasons as the head coach at OSU, Mike Gundy has had seven 10+ win seasons and two 12-win season. The 2021 season was one of those 12-win seasons. They were 12-2 with a win over Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl. They were ranked #5 in the nation and on the precipice of their first appearance in the College Football Playoff. However, 9th ranked Baylor upset the Cowboys 21-16 in the conference championship game and knocked them out of the playoff picture.
The 2022 season started off 5-0 before dropping 6 of their final eight games.
So far, the 2023 season has started off on the right foot with non-conference wins over Central Arkansas 27-13 and Arizona State 27-15. But this may be the most vulnerable Cowboy team the Jags have faced in their match-ups over the last few years.
In 2018 they defeated the Jags 44-7 at Ladd-Peebles Stadium and then they defeated the Jags 55-13 at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater 2018.
Offense
Head coach Mike Gundy and offensive coordinator Kasey Dunn have yet to settle on a single starting quarterback. They are currently rotating between three players: redshirt freshman Garret Rangel, senior Alan Bowman and sophomore Gunnar Gundy.
In the first two games each have seen action. Against Central Arkansas they played Rangel-Bowman-Gundy in that order. Then against Arizona State they went Bowman-Gundy-Rangel. All three are pretty equal athletically, neither one is more dynamic in the run game that the others. All three understand the offense and are efficient throwing the ball.
Rangel may be considered the most efficient of the three since he is 16-of-24 for 164 yards and two touchdowns with one interception and an additional 20 yards on four carries rushing. Bowman is 24-of-40 for 193 yards with -7 rushing yards on four carries. Gundy 12-of-16 for 138 yards, one touchdown, and has rushed for 12 yards on four carries.
Every year the Cowboys seem to have a deep stable of pass catchers and this season is no different. De’zhaun Stribling leads the team with 11 catches, 138 yards and a touchdown. Jaden Bray has nine catches for 118 yards. Brennan Presley has 10 catches for 78 yards and two touchdowns. They have eight other receivers who have caught passes so far this season.
Ollie Gordon II leads the rushing attack with 97 yards on 16 carries with a pair of touchdowns. Elijah Collins also has 16 carries for 71 yards and a touchdown. Jaden Nixon has 13 carries for 70 yards.
As expected the Cowboy offensive line are quite big. They average 306.6-pounds across their offensive line with the smallest listed starter at 296-pounds and the shortest is 6’4”. That size is probably a good reason why the Cowboys tend to rush the ball better later in the game.
The offense has only turned the ball over once and it was by interception.
Defense
The Cowboy defense is good at converging on the ball. The base defense is a 3-3-5 with three down linemen, three linebackers, two corners and three safeties.
They have allowed an average of 334 total yards of offense to opponents through two games. They give up an average of 116.5 yards rushing and 217.5 yards passing per game.
The defense has taken the ball away from opponents twice, once by interception and once by fumble recovery.
Safety Kendal Daniels leads the team with 15 total stops, 10 of them solo, with a fumble recovery. Linebacker Nickolas Martin is next with 13 total stops, eight solo, with three tackles for loss and two sacks. As a team, the defense has eight sacks and 17 tackles for loss.
Special Teams
The Cowboys have used two punters so far this season. Wes Pahl has 6 punts for an average of 47 yards per attempt, a long of 60 yards, three kicks of 50+ yards, three fair catches, two downed inside the 10, and one touchback. Hudson Kaak has four attempts for an average of 36.5 yards per attempt, a long of 42 yards, four downed inside the 20, and two fair catches.
Alex Hale is 4-of-5 on kicking duties with a season long of 52 yards.
South Alabama (1-1)
The Jaguar offense has taken a little time to find its identity this season. It wasn’t until the second half last week did we really see the offense play up to expectations. La’Damian Webb hasn’t fully gotten up to speed yet this season. He was limited in fall camp due to off-season surgery. He only had seven carries against SLU but he made them count by gaining 81 yards and scoring two touchdowns.
Kentrel Bullock and Marco Lee carried most of the load in the game with a brief appearance by true freshman PJ Martin. In all the Jags rushed for 248 yards and four touchdowns against the Lions.
Offense
The Jaguar offense is averaging 26 points, 387 total yards, 225.5 passing yards, and 161.5 rushing yards per game through the first two contests.
Carter Bradley is 42-of-56 (75%) for 448 yards, two touchdowns, and three interceptions.
Caullin Lacy leads the team in both catches (15) and yards (199) with a touchdown. His yardage stats are aided by the 84 yard touchdown catch and run against the Lions. Jamaal Pritchett has 8 catches for 99 yards. Devin Voisin has 5 catches for 77 yards with a touchdown. Bullock adds 5 catches for 22 yards out of the backfield. Tight end Lincoln Sefcik has 25 yards on four catches.
Webb leads running back corps with 121 yards on 16 carries (7.6 yards per attempt) with two touchdowns. Bullock leads the team with 26 carries for 119 yards and a touchdown. Marco Lee has 11 carries for 66 yards and a touchdown.
Across the offensive line the Jags are big. They average 322 yards per starter with left tackle Josh McCulloch being the lightest listed at 312-pounds. Which may also lend to why the Jags also tend to run the ball better later in the game.
Defense
The Jaguar defense is allowing an average of 27 points, 424 total yards of offense, 322 passing yards, and 102 rushing yards per game.
James Miller leads the defense with 12 total stops, six solo, with a fumble recovery. Yam Banks, Trey Kiser and Jaden Voisin are all right behind him with 10 total stops each. Banks has 7 solo tackles, a forced fumble and an interception on the season.
Quentin Wilfawn leads the defense with two tackles for loss. Khalil Jacobs and Maurice Strong Jr are tied with one sack each.
Special Teams
Jack Martin only has three punts on the season, two of them against SLU last week. He is averaging 42.7 yards per punt with a long of 45, two fair catches and one downed inside the 20.
Diego Guajardo is 1-of-2 on field goal attempts, both in the season opener against Tulane. His long on the season is 36 yards with his only miss from a 52-yard attempt.
Keys to the Game
Secondary Play
The Jaguar secondary made some big strides from game one where Tulane took advantage with three explosive touchdown plays (two of 47 and one of 48).
Against SLU the secondary played better and more consistent. They gave up only one long pass in the game, but they allowed some easy, short passes to be completed and third downs to be converted.
The Cowboys are a better passing team than SLU though.
They will attack the perimeter and look to create one-on-one matchups to their advantage. They’ll mix tempos during the game at what feels like random. Likely the Cowboys will favor how their personnel matches up with the defensive personnel or they see something that is immediately exploitable, so they go up tempo to dissuade subbing players in-and-out. Or they simply want to catch the defense off-guard.
Offensive Line
The offensive line has struggled protecting Bradley early in the season. They found some success against SLU but Oklahoma State will be another big test for this unit. The starting defensive front they’ll be facing will consist of a trio of redshirt seniors. Actually on their two-deep chart they have nine players listed on the defensive line and seven of them are all redshirt-seniors.
Bradley was unable to stretch the field against Tulane. He doesn’t have a big, tall receiver to really go up and contest passes like Jalen Wayne last season. While the Jags receiver corps is really good, they are a little undersized in some matchups.
If the offensive line can win their battles and give Bradley time to throw and the running backs openings to run, the Jags can play some keep-away and shorten the game, especially with the new clock rules this season.
Stay Healthy
With Braylon McReynolds out for an extended time with a broken collarbone and Devin Voisin looking doubtful with a knee injury, the Jags really need to stay healthy.
McReynolds was listed as the #2 running back behind Webb coming into the season. He also was a primary kickoff returner averaging 23.1 yards per return last season.
Voisin was the leading receiver last season with 64 catches, 871 yards and five touchdowns last season.
Jalen Jordan and Keith Gallmon Jr are likely to return to the defensive secondary this week. Jordan sat out last Saturday after suffering a foot injury against Tulane. Gallmon suffered an unspecified injury against SLU and didn’t return to the game.
With Sun Belt Conference play quickly approaching, staying healthy for a run at the conference championship will be paramount.
Prediction
According to odds sites, the Jags are mostly a 7.5 point underdog to the Cowboys. One site has the Cowboys as much as a 9 point favorite.
I don’t really know about this matchup. One moment I feel like the Jags really have a good opportunity. But then I think how they played the first six quarters this season and how we’ve historically played against OSU and doubts creep in.
I think I’ll go with the pessimistic side and say the Cowboys cover narrowly, but I’ll be hoping that they prove me wrong on the field.
Look for a passionate performance by Trey Kiser, he’s returning to his home state and will be wearing the honorary #5 Anthony Mostella jersey this week.
Go Jags!
Jaguars Use Strong Second Half To Win Home Opener 35-17 Over Southeastern Louisiana
The Jags pulled away eventually to earn a 35-17 win, but it was a tale of two halves.
In the first half, the Jags offense really couldn’t get anything going while the defense bent but wouldn’t break. Head coach Kane Wommack acknowledged that after the game. “I thought our team seemed like we were playing with a bit of a hangover, in terms of some of the things execution-wise, particularly in the passing game on defense, and not executing enough offensively to sustain drives,” he said.
South Alabama (1-1) and Southeastern Louisiana (0-2) played to a scoreless draw in the first quarter. Just when the Jags looked like they were moving the ball well at the end of the first quarter, they started the second quarter and nothing seemingly went right.
Offensive pass interference bookended by holding calls and the Jags went from the SLU 25 back to their own 48.
The Lions were the first to get on the board on the next possession. Aided by a roughing the passer call on Quentin Wilfawn, the Lions mixed run and pass down the field and capped it off with a 4-yard touchdown pass.
The Jags answered quickly with a 4 play, 75 yard touchdown drive. Bradley opened the drive with a pair of pass completions to Caullin Lacy and Devin Voisin for 6 and 29 yards respectively. Then La’Damian Webb got his first two carries of the game and he made good with them. He ran for 33 yards on his first touch then finished it off with a 3-yard touchdown to even the score.
Carter Bradley was intercepted on the third play from scrimmage in the second half and it looked like the first half woes were going to hang around.
After forcing a three-and-out, the Jaguar offense came out swinging with La’Damian Webb. Webb got the drive started and he ended the drive. In all he carried the ball four times for 38 yards while the scoring drive was only 7-plays, 74 yards as the Jags took their first lead of the game and the season, 14-7.
After another three-and-out by the defense, it was Marco Lee and Kentrel Bullock’s turn to drive the running game. Lee started the drive carrying the ball four of the first five plays. Then Bullock finished the drive with three consecutive runs ending with an 8-yard touchdown and a 21-7 advantage.
On the third play of their next possession, and the first play of the fourth quarter, Bradley connected with Caullin Lacy on a drag route just short of the first down. But Lacy weaved his way down the far sideline, got a key block from a fellow wide receiver downfield, and took it 84 yards to the end zone for a 28-7 advantage.
SLU opened their ensuing drive with a 76 yard pass against the Jaguar secondary. The defense held strong and forced a 29 yard field goal.
The Jags pretty much iced the game on their next possession. The Jags put together a 14-play 75 yard drive that burned almost nine minutes off the clock. Marco Lee capped it off with a 13 yard touchdown on 4th and 1 to put the Jags up 35-10 with 3:18 left in the game.
The Lions took advantage of the Jags playing reserves on defense and scored a trash-time touchdown for the final score of 35-17.
Stats
The Jags put up 509 yards of total offense, 261 through the air and 248 on the ground. The defense allowed SLU to put up 412 yards of total offense, 350 through the air and only 62 on the ground.
Carter Bradley finished 19-of-26 for 258 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Gio Lopez took one snap and completed his only pass attempt for 3 yards as a true freshman.
Caullin Lacy led the Jags receiving corps with 8 catches for 139 yards and a touchdown. Devin Voisin had four catches for 70 yards before leaving as a precaution after an injury. Jamaal Pritchett caught three passes for 36 yards.
Kentrel Bullock led the Jaguar rushing attack with 14 carries for 82 yards and a touchdown. Webb only had 7 carries but rolled up 81 yards and two touchdowns. Marco Lee had 11 carries for 66 yards and a touchdown. True freshman PJ Martin had three carries for 19 yards in his brief appearance.
Yam Banks led the defense with 7 total stops, four solo, and an interception. Trey Kiser, Ricky Fletcher, Quentin Wilfawn, LaMondre Brooks all had a tackle for loss each. Jamall Hickbottom and Wy’Kevious Thomas combine for a sack.
Zachary Clement finished 18-of-24 for 267 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Eli Sawyer finished 7-of-12 for 83 yards.
Darius Lewis led the Lions with 7 catches for 81 yards. Da’Shun Hughley only had one catch but it went for 76 yards. Harlan Dixon had five catches out of the backfield for 62 yards.
Rodeo Graham led the Lions rushing with 33 yards on eight carries. Dixon has 19 yards on 11 carries.
“There are certainly some things that we’ve got to get cleaned up, if we want to reach our potential as a football team,” coach Wommack said after the game.
The Jags had a couple injuries in the game. Keith Gallmon Jr left the game early and didn’t return. Devin Voisin had a knee injury but was seen on the sideline with his pads off and ice on it. They join Jalen Jordan, who didn’t dress out for the game but was seen on the sideline in street clothes. Braylon McReynolds injured his shoulder last week and wasn’t seen on the sideline for the game.
Khalil Jacobs was ejected for targeting on a late hit in the third quarter. He will miss the first half of the Jags game against Oklahoma State next Saturday.
Next
South Alabama will travel to Stillwater to face Oklahoma State for a 6pm kickoff. The Jags are 0-2 all-time against the Cowboys. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.
Preview: South Alabama Opens Season At #24 Tulane
Kickoff: Saturday, September 2 7:00 PM
Venue: Yulman Stadium – New Orleans, LA
TV/Streaming: ESPNU
Radio: 96.1 fm The Rocket, Sports Talk 99.5 fm, iHeartRadio App
#5 Jersey: Devin Voisin
Thunderjags on X (Formerly Twitter): @USAThunderjags
Preface
The Thunderjags family have been going through a lot over the last few months and our coverage leading up to the season has been basically non-existent unfortunately. It’s been a struggle to get back into gear. We have and continue to be a partnership, but while my family life has calmed down a little bit lately and I am eager to get back to some normalcy, my partner is still going through his own family issues. However you send support, I would humbly ask you to keep my partner, his family (and also my family) in your thoughts, prayers, or however you support people in your personal belief system. Speaking for both Thunderjags, we appreciate it!
Now, on with the preview!
The Season Is Here
South Alabama will open their 2023 campaign with a top 25 matchup versus the Tulane Green Wave in New Orleans at Yulman Stadium.
Tulane was the darling of bowl season finishing with a 12-2 record, which included a win over UCF in the AAC championship game. That win vaulted Tulane into a New Years Day 6 bowl game as the top ranked team with the best record in the Group of Five conference. The Green Wave then defeated the top 10 ranked USC Trojans 46-45 in the Cotton Bowl.
South Alabama finished their 2022 campaign with a 10-3 record. Marking their best FBS season in program history with five straight wins to close out the regular season. However, their streak would come to an end in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl with a 23-44 loss and remain winless in three bowl game appearances over the program’s short history.
Between these two programs, there are lofty expectations for 2023.
But past performance does not guarantee future results, especially not in college football.
Tulane
Tulane finished 2022 ranked 9th in the nation in the AP poll. But you only have to look back to 2021 and the Green Wave’s 2-10 record to understand how preseason rankings don’t necessarily indicate how a new team and a new season will perform. But eighth-year head coach Willie Fritz hopes to maintain the standard set forth by the 2022 team.
Offense
The Green Wave returns three-year starter Michael Pratt who threw for 3,009 yards and 27 touchdowns last season. However, they have to replace running back Tyjae Spears, who was the Cotton Bowl MVP, that rushed for 1,581 yards and 19 touchdowns last season.
Coach Fritz has not said who will be replacing Spears, but that he had five good running backs and they will be testing them out over the first few games.
The likely starters on the offensive line are all senior or redshirt-seniors that have quite a bit of experience under their respective belts. They also weigh an average of 308lb.
At receiver they have a somewhat untested group of potential starters. A senior transfer from Notre Dame who only saw five snaps in the season opening game in 2021. His usage has trended down from 2019 when he played in 12 games with three starts until sitting out the remainder of the 2021 season.
Defense
The Tulane defense lines up in a base 4-2-5 package, similar to the Jags. The defensive line is experienced and deep but their likely starting linebackers seem to be less experienced.
The secondary is comprised of all upper classmen but the likely starters are mostly transfers into the program at one time or another.
Special Teams
Punter Casey Glover (R-Sr) returns from a season where he averaged over 41 yards per attempt with 20 fair catches, 20 downed inside the 20, 9 punts of 50+ yards and 0 blocks. His longest recorded punt was 65 yards. Glover is also the kickoff specialist and played in all 14 games last season with 45 touchbacks and only one kick out of bounds.
Also returning is placekicker Valentino Ambrosio (R-Sr). He transferred in from Rutgers last season. For the Green Wave he played in eight games going 10-of-11 with a long of 47 yards.
Ethan Hadak (R-Jr) played in 34 games over three seasons for the Green Wave, including all 13 last Fall.
South Alabama
The Jaguars enter the third season under the direction of head coach Kane Wommack with an unprecedented set of expectations. Despite the expectations from what some may consider a season where the Jags overachieved, the players and coaches, when they allow themselves to look back, they see both an amazing season with some undertones of slight underachievement.
They lost to UCLA on a last second field goal and lost to their rival Troy 6-10 in a defensive slug match. But many took the loss to Western Kentucky personal, include coach Wommack.
The Jags felt like they could have easily been in the Conference Championship game and could have been the Group of Five representative in the New Years Day 6 bowl games.
Offense
Coach Wommack and offensive coordinator Major Applewhite return nine starters on an offense that put up an average of over 31 points per game last season. Receiver Jalen Wayne was drafted by the Cleveland Browns but leaves a very talented and experienced pair of receivers for quarterback Carter Bradley to target.
Speaking of Carter Bradley (Sr) he set school records in passing yards (3,326), completions (276), and touchdowns (28) in his first season at USA. He ranked in the top 50 nationally in 11 different categories. He has been named to at least five different watch lists this season including: Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, the Manning Award, the Davey O’Brien Award, The Wuerffel Trophy, and the Maxwell Award Watch Lists.
Veteran Desmond Trotter will back up Carter and freshman Gio Lopez is listed as 3rd string, seemingly beating out redshirt-freshman Bishop Davenport, a Utah State transfer.
La’Damian Webb (R-Sr) returns after setting the regular season rushing yard mark with 1,015 yards in his first regular season with the program. He saw action in 12 games, missing only one with an injury but was held to minimal carries in two others due to injury. He ran for 152 yards and three touchdowns against Arkansas State and then for 247 yards and four touchdowns (both school records) against Georgia Southern in a game where he willed his team to victory. He ranked in the top 50 in seven categories nationally including 13th in rushing touchdowns and 10th in total touchdowns.
Webb is backed up by Braylon McReynolds (So) who played in 11 games as a true freshman with 326 yards on 59 carries. He was able to show his speed and explosiveness only a few times last season, but look for him to get more opportunities this season.
The staff added Kentrell Bullock (Jr), an Ole Miss transfer, and he will also factor into the rotation with McReynolds.
Marco Lee (Sr) returns after his first season with the Jags where he had 67 carries for 247 yards and four touchdowns, including a pair of touchdowns against UCLA. He will be the bruiser back they can send in for those tough goal line and short yardage situations.
Replacing Wayne as the starter in week one is Jamaal Pritchett (So). He saw action in eight games last fall but only has two catches to his resume. On the other side is Devin Voisin (R-Jr) who played in all 13 games. He was named an honorable mention All-SBC team and All-Conference by Phil Steele. He had 64 catches for 867 yards and five touchdowns on the season, including a season-high 11 catches and 153 yards in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl against Western Kentucky.
Caullin Lacy (Jr) started all 13 games last season in the slot with a team-high 65 catches for 816 yards and six touchdowns with a career high 12 catches for 133 yards against Louisiana-Monroe. He also serves as the primary punt returner with 21 returns for 189 yards and a touchdown return against Louisiana Tech.
What may be one of the more underrated positions of strength on the offense is at tight end. The Jags return five seasoned and talented players in Lincoln Sefcik (Sr), DJ Thomas-Jones (Sr), Brandon Crum (Sr), Jacob Hopper (Jr), and Todd Justice (R-Jr). While they haven’t been featured pass receivers over the last few seasons, they are excellent possession receivers and tend to come through when the ball is thrown their way and a catch is needed.
Sefcik and Thomas-Jones will likely split starting duties again this season.
But what allows the offense to do what it does, the offensive line returns all but one starter from last year. James Jackson is gone since his eligibility was exhausted. But Josh McCulloch (Sr), Dontae Lucas (Sr), Reggie Smith (Sr), and Adrein Strickland (So) all return. Reggie Smith will move over to center and James Robinson (R-Jr) will start at left guard. Robinson transferred in from Tennessee and saw action in eight games last year as a backup guard and also on special teams.
Defense
The defense returns their own fair share of starters from last year while returning some talented players from injury too.
Jamie Sheriff (R-Sr), Wy’Kevious Thomas (R-Jr), and Charles Coleman (Sr) all return as starters on the defensive line. Brock Higdon (R-Jr), Jamall Hickbottom (Sr), and Carlos Johnson (Jr), Nathan Rawlins-Kibonge (R-So), and Maurice Strong Jr. (Sr) all return with game experience from last season. Unfortunately it seems that Ed Smith (So) will miss this game and possibly the season with an injury in the last practice of fall camp.
James Miller (Sr), Trey Kiser (Sr), and Quentin Wilfawn (R-Jr) all return as starters at linebacker. Ke’Shun Brown (R-Jr) also has starting experience and returns to bolster the group as a reserve along with Khalil Jacobs (So) and LaMondre Brooks (So) are both listed on the two-deep with game experience from last season.
The coaching staff added Gavin Forsha (Jr) from Kansas State, Taylor Milton (Jr) from Texas A&M, Emauri Sibley (So) from JuCo ranks, and Eli Webb (So) from Belhaven to add some additional depth at linebacker.
Ricky Fletcher (So) and Marquise Robinson (Jr) return as starting corners with Reggie Neely (Jr) and Dallas Gamble (R-Jr) both return with game experience as reserves.
Keith Gallmon (R-Sr) returns at free safety after missing all of 2022 with an injury. He is backed up by Rickey Hyatt (R-Jr). Jaden Voisin (R-Jr) or Jalen Jordan (Jr) are listed as the starter at Rover. Yam Banks (Jr) is back to start at Husky after leading the team with six interceptions last season.
The coaching staff added a long list of players in the offseason to add quality depth in the secondary. Reggie Neely (Jr Juco), Eli Ntsasa (Jr community college), Cameron Rutledge (Jr Division II transfer), Wesley Miller (R-Fr Mississippi State), Jordon Buchanan (R-Fr Purdue), Jamarrien Burt (R-Fr Oklahoma), Brian Dillart (R-So West Georgia), and Mike Harris (R-Jr Baylor) all transferred.
Coach Wommack also hired former Southern Miss head coach Jay Hopson, who previously served two years as Director of High School Relations at Mississippi State to coach the cornerbacks along with defensive coordinator Corey Batoon, who coaches the safeties, but calls plays from the press box during games.
Special Teams
Diego Guajardo (Sr) will handle placekicking duties, his fourth season as the starter. Desmond Trotter or Jack Martin are listed as serving as the holder. Jacob Meeks (Sr) will return to serve as kickoff specialist. With Jack Brooks deciding to depart the team, Jack Martin (Sr) who transferred from Alabama but didn’t see any action in 2022, is listed along with true freshman Aleksi Pulkkinen from Helsinki Finland as the punter.
Travis Drosos (Jr) will handle the long snapping duties with Anthony Zaccaro (Jr) backing him up.
Caullin Lacy will handle punt returns and Braylon McReynolds and Caullin Lacy will line up for kickoff returns.
Keys to the Game
Consistency
More often than not, the team that executes more consistently in the first game of the season tends to win the game.
Over the last two seasons with Coach Wommack and his staff, they have been pretty consistent in the early games of the season. In 2021 they defeated Southern Miss, now a fellow conference member, in the season opener. Then in 2022 they handled FCS Nicholls as expected, but they also went to Central Michigan and defeated the Jim McElwain coached Chippewas with consistent execution.
Quarterback Pressure
South Alabama was picked apart by a very talented and experienced quarterback at Western Kentucky. It really exposed and exploited the secondary as the weak point of the Jaguars defense.
Tulane is returning a three-year starter at quarterback who completed 62% of his passes last season for 2,684 yards while also rushing for 494 yards. They may not set off alarm bells, but Pratt has shown that he a player.
He is regarded enough to be named to the Maxwell Award Watch List in 2022 and again for this season.
Tulane will definitely test all aspects of the Jaguar defense. If the Jags defensive front can’t get pressure on Pratt and the Jag secondary struggles against the pass, it could be another long game in New Orleans.
Running Backs
The edited mantra for the Jags last season was “Run the Dang ball.” It was such a thing that strength and conditioning coach Matt Shadeed was, I believe, the first one to have a shirt made to wear at practice with….a version….of the saying prominently displayed on it.
And La’Damian Webb sure did his part!
This may be the deepest and most talented group of running backs, from top to bottom, that have all suited up for the Jags in one season. They may only be three listed on the two-deep chart, but there are five running backs who could easily be put in to start.
Last season the Jags averaged just over 155 yards per game rushing. They have a good opportunity with the talent they have to improve on that this season.
Meanwhile Tulane averaged just under 205 yards rushing per game. Their leading rusher, Tyjae Spears, is gone this season which leaves their top returning rusher as quarterback Michael Pratt.
Coach Fitz and his staff will undoubtedly find someone who fill Spears’ cleats.
The Jags defense held opponents to just over 92 yards rushing per game last season. So this could be a very interesting matchup on the field Saturday night.
Prediction
South Alabama is a 6.5 point underdog to Tulane in New Orleans.
The first game of a new season is often a tricky one. It can set the tone for the entire season to come. You find out quickly where you need to improve and likely where your strengths lie.
This couldn’t be truer than this season opener.
Two teams who exceeded expectations last season who now have higher expectations for this season. But we also have two teams that couldn’t be more opposite once the final whistle sounded last season.
Tulane held off a top 10 ranked USC, while the Jaguars suffered their worst loss of the season in their bowl game. Coach Wommack, his staff and the players all looked back at what the season could have been. A one-point loss on the road at UCLA on a field goal as time expired, a four-point loss at home against Troy in their lowest offensive output of the season, but then the 21-point loss to Western Kentucky in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl
South Alabama still has the bitter taste of defeat fresh in their mouth. But they are also going back to the same city where that bitterness originated.
I can’t help but think that’s some extra motivation.
While I may be looking at this through my red, white and blue glasses, I think the Jags not only cover the spread, but they win outright 38-34.
Preview: R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl – South Alabama vs Western Kentucky
Kickoff: Wednesday, December 21, 8:00pm
Venue: Caesars Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana
TV/Streaming: ESPN
Radio: 96.1 fm The Rocket, Sports Talk 99.5 fm, iHeartRadio App
Thunderjags Twitter: @USAThunderjags
South Alabama’s march towards the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl is quickly reaching its end. The Jags will tee it off against the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers at 8pm on Wednesday, December 21st in the Big Easy.
Jaguar fans have been eager to earn a bowl invite since their last trip in 2016.
Six years is a long time to wait for another shot to win the schools first bowl game. While the Jags were favored to be bowl eligible in preseason prognostications, few outside of Jag Nation thought they would be rolling into the post season with a 10-2 record. Much less only losing their two games by a combined 5 points.
While playing in a bowl game is a huge accomplishment for the team, the extra practices leading up to the bowl game is huge in and of itself. It’s additional reps for the young players and keeps momentum going to bridge the football season into spring football.
Head coach Kane Wommack said in his press conference leading up to game week that the team has gone back to a fall camp practice schedule. They were doing fundamental drills that haven’t been run since August due to time. But they are still doing preparation for Western Kentucky at certain times throughout those practices. Once they got to game week, then they started their usual game-week preparation.
Western Kentucky
The Hilltoppers are no stranger to South Alabama. They were fellow members in the Sun Belt Conference from 1982 until their departure in 2014. The Jags and Hilltoppers had a particularly strong rivalry in men’s basketball over the years.
The one and only time the Jags and Hilltoppers met on the gridiron, the Jags won 31-24 back in the 2013 season.
Now the Hilltoppers come in representing Conference USA with an 8-5 record on the season. They were allowed to schedule a 13th regular season game by the NCAA as compensation for traveling to play at Hawaii. Some of their noteworthy games on the season: 33-30 loss at Indiana, 73-0 win over Florida International, 31-28 loss to CUSA Champ UTSA, and a 32-31 win over Florida Atlantic in overtime in the regular season finale.
Offense
Western Kentucky is the #2 ranked passing offense team in the nation, behind only Washington and ahead of #3 Tennessee and #4 Georgia Southern. Their rushing offense ranks 72nd in the nation. They rank 10th in total offense in the nation.
On the season Western Kentucky averaged 35.8 points (18th nationally), 483.5 total yards (9th nationally), 339.2 passing yards (2nd nationally), 144.3 rushing yards (72nd nationally), and 28:52 time of possession per game (92nd nationally).
They converted 72-of-175 (41%) of their 3rd down attempts (T46th nationally) and 15-of-37 (41%) of their 4th down attempts (105th nationally).
They possessed the ball in their opponents red zone 53 times, scoring on 44 of those possessions (83%) with 34 of them being touchdowns (64%) (71st nationally).
Austin Reed went 353-of-548 (64.4%) for 4,249 yards, 36 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions at quarterback. Two other players saw some playing time but neither one had any significant numbers for the season. Reed actually put his name in the transfer portal, but has since removed it to stay at WKU.
In total, WKU had seven receivers who had over 100 yards receiving on the season, four of them with over 500 yards on the season, and also seven receivers who caught touchdowns. Malachi Corley led the team with 1,181 yards on 90 catches with 9 touchdowns. Daewood Davis added 872 yards on 63 catches with 7 touchdowns in 12 games played. Jaylen Hall had 731 yards on 59 catches with 5 touchdowns. Michael Mathison added 580 yards on 49 catches with 3 touchdowns.
Kye Robichaux and Davion Ervin-Poindexter were the top two running backs on the season. Robichaux, a sophomore, rushed for 496 yards on 73 carries with three touchdowns in only eight games played, he suffered an injury against North Texas and saw action in only one other game the rest of the season. Robichaux is listed 3rd on the depth chart at running back. Ervin-Poindexter rushed for 492 yards on 107 carries with 3 touchdowns as well. Quarterback Reed has logged 199 yards on 87 attempts with eight touchdowns.
Defense
The Hilltopper defense is allowing an average of 23.5 points (44th nationally), 380.8 total yards (69th nationally), 225.2 passing yards (70th nationally), 155.6 rushing yards (75th nationally), and 31:08 time of possession per game this season.
Opponents are converting 68-of-194 (35%) of their 3rd down attempts (39th nationally) and 14-of-28 (50%) of their 4th down attempts on the season (T62nd nationally).
Opponents have scored on 36-of-41 (88%) of their trips into the red zone. With 24 (59%) of them result in touchdowns (98th nationally).
JaQues Evans leads the team with 100 total stops, 60 of them solo. Evens also leads the team with 11 tackles for loss, and sacks with 7.5, two fumble recoveries, and a blocked kick. Derrick Smith is next with 90 total stops, 56 solo with six tackles for loss and three sacks and an interception. Kahlef Hailassie has 65 total stops, 44 of them solo, 8 tackles for loss (2nd on team), three sacks, 2 interceptions and a fumble recovery.
Kaleb Oliver and Upton Stout are the team co-leaders with three interceptions each. .
Special Teams
Brayden Narveson converted all 59 of his extra point attempts on the season. He also went 15-of-21 on field goal attempts with a long of 51 yards.
Cory Munson has handled all but one punt on the season. Munson is averaging 61.1 yards per punt with 34 touchbacks and 3 kicked out of bounds. Narveson punted once on the season for 65 yards and a touchback.
Transfer Portal
Most of WKU’s student athletes entering the transfer portal are on the defensive side of the ball. Edge rusher and leading tackler JaQues Evans entered the transfer portal on 12/14. He joined fellow edge rusher Dante Walker who joined on 12/12. Safety Arthur Brathwaite entered on 12/7.
Offensive tackle Luke Slusher and wide receiver Joshua Simon both entered the portal on 12/6.
On 12/5 Wide receiver Barry Wagner, safety Talique Allen, quarterbck Darius Ocean, and offensive tackle Rusty Staats all entered the portal.
12/1 starting kicker Brayden Narveson entered his name into the transfer portal.
South Alabama
As has been already mentioned, this is the Jags first bowl appearance since 2016 and only the 3rd bowl appearance in program history.
Head coach Kane Wommack only needed two seasons to get the Jags into a bowl game and to record their best record as a FBS program. The New Orleans Bowl gives them the opportunity to add one more to their win column and to notch the programs first bowl win.
Offense
The Jags are averaging 31.9 points (T41st nationally), 423.8 total yards (40th nationally), 259.2 passing yards (42nd nationally), 164.6 (57th nationally) rushing yards, and 32:24 time of possession (18th nationally) per game this season.
They are converting 77-of-179 (43%, 35th nationally) of their 3rd down attempts, and 17-of-26 (65.4%, T21st nationally) of their 4th down attempts.
Of the Jags 49 trips into the red zone, they’ve scored on 41 of them (83.7%) and scored touchdowns on 30 (61.2%) of those trips. Those numbers rank them at T68 nationally in red zone offense.
Quarterback Carter Bradley, who came to South Alabama from Toledo, has gone 240-of-374 (64.2%) for 2,983 yards, 25 touchdowns and 10 interceptions during the regular season. Desmond Trotter appeared in four games going 14-of-18 for 127 yards.
South Alabama had a trio of receivers with over 50 receptions and 700-yards receiving on the season. Jalen Wayne led the trio with 793 yards and 9 touchdowns on 56 catches. Caullin Lacy led the trio with 58 catches for 759 yards and six touchdowns. Devin Voisin, who came on later in the season, caught 53 passes for 718 yards and four touchdowns.
Behind the three-headed beast of receivers, the next closest is Braylon McReynolds with 188 yards on 17 catches with a touchdown.
La’Damian Webb led the Jags backfield with 1,015 yards on 197 carries with 13 touchdowns. He missed one game due to an injury.
McReynolds finished his true freshman regular season with 311 yards on 55 carries as the second leading rusher. Marco Lee rushed for 247 yards and four touchdowns on 67 carries. Omni Wells rushed for 234 yards on 55 carries.
Defense
The Jags are allowing an average of 19.4 points (T14th nationally), 302.6 total yards (11th nationally), 215.0 passing yards (51st nationally), 87.6 rushing yards (4th nationally), and 27:11 time of possession per game.
Opponents converted 49-of-164 (29.9%, 11th nationally) of their 3rd down attempts, and 15-of-26 (57.7%, T105th nationally) of their 4th down attempts.
Opponents have possessed the ball in the red zone 35 times during the regular season and scored on 28 of those trips (80%), with only 17 being touchdowns (48.6%) those numbers lands them at T36th nationally.
Jaden Voisin finished the regular season with 76 total stops, 42 of them solo, to lead the team. He added 6 tackles for loss, two interceptions, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. Trey Kiser had 71 total stops, 53 solo, with four sacks and a forced fumble on the season. Kiser and CJ Rias are team co-leaders with 10 tackles for loss each. Jamie Sheriff leads the team with six sacks.
Yam Banks leads the team with 5 interceptions on the season while also leading with 10 pass breakups and five quarterback hurries.
Special Teams
Jack Brooks has 53 punts on the season with an average of 42.8 yards per kick with 16 kicks downed inside the 20, 11 fair catches, 10 punts of 50+ yards and only 3 touchbacks.
Diego Guajardo finished the season 17-of-18 on field goals with a long of 49 yards, and 44-of-45 on extra point attempts.
Transfer Portal
Only two Jaguars who have entered the portal have been Anterrious Gray, who left the team to enter his name into the portal during the season, and reserve quarterback Eli Gainey.
Keys to the Game
Pass Defense
Western Kentucky is a very prolific passing offense led by the most prolific quarterback the Jags will have faced all season. In addition, the Jags have had their share of injuries in the back end of the defense. Keith Gallmon Jr was lost in preseason camp, Marvin Martin was lost during the season with very serious hit in practice, Quentin Wilfawn was lost during the season due to a shoulder injury.
It seems the Jags have been particularly susceptible to inside slants. But when they are able to shut down their opponents rushing attack and are able to get pressure on the quarterback with their defensive front, they have been able to drop a linebacker and take away that play.
The Hilltoppers rank above Georgia Southern (4th ranks passing offense nationally), which the Jags were able to defeat in Statesboro. The Jags held them to almost 50 yards below their season average and only allowed seven points in the second half.
Turnovers
Turnovers as a “key to the game” is pretty obvious. It’s always a key to the game.
An interesting college football stat is that, if your team averages a turnover margin of +1 per game, you should expect them to win 8 or 9 games if all other things are equal (but they never are).
However teams often have more turnovers in bowl games, possibly due to the time between their final regular season game and the bowl game. Call it rust, or just a long layoff, but teams often suffer from the “turnover bug” in postseason play.
It’s a no-brainer that if you get more turnovers than you give away, your chance of winning is higher.
The Jags offense has been very good all season protecting the ball. They’ve had 10 fumbles all season but lost only 4 of them to their opponents. Bradley has thrown 10 interceptions but he threw half of them in the final four games of the season, three in the last two while he was nursing an injured non-throwing shoulder.
Run The D*mn Ball
RTDB has become a mantra for the Jags. It was mentioned that Director of Football Athletic Performance, Matt Shadeed, printed “RTDB” on a sheet of paper and taped it to his shirt for a practice and that was when they adopted it as their mantra. Now they have actually printed shirts that have been worn by coaches in practices.
La’Damian Webb has shouldered the workload in a few games and basically willed the team to a win. The offensive line opened a crease and Webb would explode through them to grind out first down and melt the clock. That has helped him to be only the second 1,000 yard rusher in Jaguar history.
He scored the final three touchdowns against Georgia Southern in the Jags come-from-behind win and ate clock while doing it. He even did that after having the flu during the week leading up to the game.
A strong run game will minimize opponent’s possessions and shorten the game. Braylon McReynolds showed he can fill in for Webb in the final two games of the season when Webb was hampered by a foot injury. Marco Lee and Omni Wells also had a huge game filling in for Webb and McReynolds when they both missed a game early in the season.
Prediction
South Alabama opened at a 7.5-point favorite but the spread has shrunk to only a 4.5 point favorite for the Jags.
Coach Wommack and his staff are great and preparing for games as well as master motivators. I expect the Jags to come out fast. The team, especially the seniors, will be highly motivated to earn the first bowl win in program history. Excluding players who have transferred from other programs, there’s no one on the team who have been to a bowl game before.
I think the Jags win but I think it will be a close, hard-fought game where they don’t cover the spread. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see the Jags having to mount a game winning drive late in the game.
Go Jags!
Preview: South Alabama Hosts Old Dominion On Senior Day, Regular Season Finale
Kickoff: Saturday, November 26, 11:00am
Venue: Hancock Whitney Stadium, Mobile, Alabama
TV/Streaming: ESPN+
Radio: 96.1 fm The Rocket, Sports Talk 99.5 fm, iHeartRadio App
Thunderjags Twitter: @USAThunderjags
#5 Jersey: A.J. DeShazor
South Alabama’s (9-2, 6-1 SBC) win over Southern Miss (5-6, 3-4 SBC) wasn’t the stellar performance by the Jags. Fans will be quick to say that any win is a good win. But coaches will be quick to point out lots of things that need attention before the next game.
But both can be true, and this is one of those instances.
The Jags win was a good win. They showed great resilience in the face of adversity. Overcoming turnovers and a poorly executed fake punt in route to a 27-20 win on the road was exactly what a good team does. Head coach Kane Wommack’s process-oriented approach and neutral mindset philosophy has proven to be effective in changing the culture in the program.
The win sets a new record for wins in a season as a FBS program. The previous record was set just the week before. Now they have an opportunity to move that bar one notch higher with a 10th regular season win on the line this Saturday against Old Dominion.
Being Senior Day, it’s a great time to reflect on this group of seniors. Many of them have seen this program at it’s lowest (2-10 in 2019) and, even if the season ended prior to the game versus Old Dominion, they have seen the best FBS season for this same program. But they have one final chance to play in Hancock Whitney Stadium and earn a 10 win season. They’ll also have an opportunity to record the first-ever bowl win, they just have to wait to find out the details on when and where.
They also still have an outside shot to play in the Sun Belt Conference Championship game. They just have to win against Old Dominion and they need Arkansas State to upset Troy in Jonesboro, Arkansas.
Two of the seniors on the team are the last players to play under South Alabama’s first football coach and architect for the program, Joey Jones. Jalen Wayne and this weeks #5 jersey honoree, A.J. DeShazor.
Old Dominion (3-8, 2-5 SBC)
The Monarchs have had quite an interesting season first season in the Sun Belt. They opened the year with a 20-17 win over Virginia Tech. Then dropped games to East Carolina (39-21) and Virginia (16-14). They earned their second win against Arkansas State (29-26). They dropped their next game 38-24 against Liberty before knocking off the top team in the Sun Belt Conference, and gave them their only loss of the season so far, with a 49-21 win at Coastal Carolina.
They come to Mobile on a five-game losing skid after defeating the Chanticleers and looking to go into the offseason on a high note.
Offense
The offense is averaging 19.5 points, 335.9 total yards, 243.7 passing yards, 92.2 rushing yards, and 24:17 time of possession per game.
They are converting only 40-of-144 (27.8%) of their 3rd down attempts, and 7-of-20 (35%) of their 4th down attempts. Of their 24 trips into opponents red zone, they have scored points 19 times with 13 of them being touchdowns.
In total, they have thrown seven interceptions and lost 11 fumbles.
Hayden Wolff is 213-of-376 (56.7%) for 2,623 yards, 16 touchdowns and 6 interceptions.
Ali Jennings III is the leading receiver with 54 catches for 959 yards and nine touchdowns in only nine games played before being lost for the season to injury. Javon Harvey has 28 catches for 523 yards and three touchdowns in 11 games played. Blake Watson has 31 catches for 226 yards and a touchdown in 10 games played. Bly Jordan adds 22 catches for 225 yards in 10 games. Four other receivers have recorded over 100 yards on the season. One of those, Zach Kuntz, had 144 yards receiving on just 12 catches with two touchdowns in only five games before his season ended due to injury.
Blake Watson has 806 yards rushing on 140 attempts with five touchdowns in 10 games played. Keshawn Wicks has 125 yards on 32 attempts and a touchdown as the only other player with over 100 yards rushing on the season.
Complicating things is that the offensive line has been beat up this season too.
Defense
The Monarchs defense found itself bruised and beaten after last weeks game against Appalachian State. Linebackers Jason Henderson entered last weeks game just 28 tackles short of breaking the FBS record for tackles in a season. If he is able to go this week, he would need to record 26 tackles in order to get the record.
The defense is allowing an average of 26.6 points, 446.6 total yards, 249.2 passing yards, 197.5 rushing yards, and 35:43 time of possession per game.
Opponents are converting 68-of-170 (40%) of their 3rd down attempts and 13-of-22 (59.1%) of their 4th down attempts.
Of the 44 times opponents have been in the Monarch red zone, they have scored 32 times but only 19 have been touchdowns.
The defense has collected 11 interceptions and recovered 7 fumbles.
Unsurprisingly, Henderson is the leading tackler with 168 total stops, 52 of them solo. The next closest is R’Tarrium Johnson with 80 total tops, 48 solo. Henderson also leads the team with 10 tackles for loss. Ryan Henry and Denzel Lowry are tied leading the team with four sacks each.
Tre Hawkins III leads the team with just two interceptions. Nine other players have one interception each.
Special Teams
Ethan Sanchez is 8-of-11 on the season as placekicker. His long for the season is a 44-yarder. He’s missed one of this three attempts from 40-49 yards and two of his five attempted from 20-29 yards.
Ethan Duane is averaging 43.1 yards per punt. His longest punt of the season is a 59 yarder. He has 26 punts downed inside the 20, 20 have been fair caught, 13 kicks have gone over 50 yards and only three have been touchbacks.
South Alabama (9-2, 6-1 SBC)
Offense
The Jags are averaging 32.4 points, 426.1 total yards, 265.5 passing yards, 160.6 rushing yards, and 32:09 time of possession per game. They are converting 68-of-162 (42%) of their 3rd down attempts and 14-of-23 (60.9%) of their 4th down attempts.
They scoring on 38 of their 46 trips into the red zone with 28 of them being touchdowns.
They have only lost 4 fumbles on the season with only 9 interceptions as well.
Carter Bradley is 223-of-345 for 2,793 yards, 22 touchdowns and nine interceptions on the season. Desmond Trotter in only his third game appearance on the season is 14-of-18 for 127 yards with no interceptions or touchdowns.
Jalen Wayne continues to lead the receiving corps with 730 yards on 53 catches with eight touchdowns. Caullin Lacy has 706 yards on 52 catches with five touchdowns. Devin Voisin has 682 yards on 50 catches with four touchdowns. A pair of running backs and a pair of tight ends round out the receiving corps with over 100 yards on the season, all of them have one touchdown each.
La’Damian Webb, after missing his second game of the season, still leads the team with 941 yards on 179 carries with 13 touchdowns. He just needs 59 yards to hit the 1,000-yard mark for the season.
Braylon McReynolds, on his first start, had his first 100-yard rushing game against Southern Miss. He has 255 yards on 45 carries in nine games played. Marco Lee has 239 yards on 64 carries with four touchdowns, but the bruiser has converted a number of 3rd downs for the season. Omni Wells has 194 yards on 46 carries.
Defense
The defense is allowing an average of 19.4 points, 295.5 total yards, 208.6 passing yards, 86.8 rushing yards, and 27:24 time of possession for the season. Opponents are converting just 42-of-149 (28.2%) 3rd down attempts and 14-of-24 (58.3%) of 4th down attempts.
The stingy defense has only allowed 25 scores out of 32 trips into the red zone with only 16 being a touchdown.
Sun Belt Conference defensive player of the week Jaden Voisin had 17 total stops, 11 solo, with 1.5 tackles for loss and an interception last week against Southern Miss. Those tackles jumped him into the top stop for the team with 68 for the season, 37 solo, with 5.5 tackles for loss. Trey Kiser stayed in second place with 65 total stops, 48 solo, with 10 tackles for loss and a pair of sacks. James Miller dropped from the top spot to 3rd with 61 total stops, 35 solo, with 6.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks.
Yam Banks leads the team with five interceptions, but almost added one more against the Golden Eagles. Jaden Voisin moves into a tie with Ke’Shun Brown with two interceptions each.
Kiser and CJ Rias continue to pace the team with 10 tackles for loss each. Jamie Sheriff leads the team with 5 sacks.
Special Teams
Diego Gajardo had another perfect week for the Jags. He is now 15-of-16 for the season. He added a season-long 49-yarder just before halftime to give the Jags the lead going into the locker room.
Jack Brooks is averaging 42.4 yards per punt for the season with a long of 58. He has 8 kicks of 50+ yards, 16 downed inside the 20, 11 fair catches and only two touchbacks.
As coach Wommack highlighted in his weekly radio show, kickoff specialist Jacob Meeks has 25 touchbacks on the season. This is not an insignificant team stat. When you can consistently force touchbacks on kickoffs, the opponents are consistently having to drive the length of the field for touchdowns while preventing momentum-stealing kickoff returns.
Keys to the Game
Continue Limiting Penalties
The Jags entered the game last week ranked #1 in the nation in total penalties, total penalty yards, and penalty yards per game. Those are not categories you want to be a national leader in.
However, after two games with 13 and 11 penalties, the Jags were only flagged five times against Southern Miss. They avoided any post-play unsportsmanlike penalties. They only had one offensive penalty, a false start. But defensively they were flagged three times: one for defensive holding, one for pass interference, and once for targeting.
The targeting wasn’t egregious, the runner dipped his head while Rickey Hyatt Jr was leading with his head. He immediately knew he messed up as he immediately grabbed his head after the flag was thrown. The Jags were already without Jalen Jordan due to a targeting flag in the second half against Texas State.
It would be great for the team to limit penalties for a second-consecutive game.
Balanced Offensive Attack
In the three wins by Old Dominion they have successfully made their opponent primarily one-dimensional by limiting their opponents rushing attack.
Virginia Tech saw the most success on the ground with 136 rushing yards, but the Monarchs were at their peak health-wise. Arkansas State rushed for 112 yards. Coastal Carolina rushed for only 90 yards while the Monarchs had their way with 323 yards on the ground against the Chanticleers.
According to coach Wommack’s radio show, they believe that he will be able to play on Saturday. However, if last week is any indication, Braylon McReynolds would be ready to step into the starting role if needed. But Marco Lee and Omni Wells both rushed for nearly 100 yards each when both Webb and McReynolds were unavailable earlier in the season.
Don’t Look Ahead
With the Jags bowl eligible and eager to win their first bowl game, they can’t look ahead to an unknown opponent just because they are playing a 3-8 team. The Sun Belt has proven that from top to bottom, any team can win on any given week.
Just ask Coastal Carolina.
Though they are the lone top-25 ranked team from the Sun Belt, they would have most certainly been ranked higher than their current 23rd place. They are in the running for a new years 6 bowl game. If they are the highest ranked group of 5 champion, they get an automatic berth in a new years 6 bowl game.
Prediction
Depending on the site you look at the Jags are either a 16.5-point favorite or a 15.5-point favorite on others.
The Monarchs have had lots of attrition due to injury. They’ve lost two key pass catchers on the season. Their top tackler’s status is currently unknown for the season finale this week.
They have played well against their biggest opponents, power five opponent Virginia Tech and top Sun Belt team Coastal Carolina. They would like to add another win against one of the upper-level teams in the conference.
I think the Jags will thwart their attempt in the friendly confines of Hancock Whitney Stadium on Senior Day though. I also think they cover the 15.5 point spread due to the injury status of the Monarchs as well.
Go Jags!
Preview: South Alabama Goes For Ninth Win Of The Season At Southern Miss
Kickoff: Saturday, November 19, 2:30pm
Venue: M. M. Roberts Stadium, Hattiesburg, Mississippi
TV/Streaming: ESPNU
Radio: 96.1 fm The Rocket, Sports Talk 99.5 fm, iHeartRadio App
Thunderjags Twitter: @USAThunderjags
#5 Jersey: Jamie Sheriff
South Alabama is in new, uncharted territory for the football program.
After the win over Georgia Southern two weeks ago, every new win they notch they break the previous record for wins they themselves set just the week prior. In 2014 and 2016 the program achieved six wins and earned bowl berths. But both times they came up on the losing end in the bowl game and finished with six wins and seven loses. In 2013 the program earned finished 6-6 and were not invited to go bowling.
This season, the second under head coach Kane Wommack, the program has smashed that glass ceiling.
They guaranteed themselves a winning regular season record when they defeated Georgia Southern for the program record seventh win of the season. Just one week later, this past Saturday, they guaranteed themselves an overall winning season by setting the bar one rung higher with eight regular season wins.
This Saturday they travel to Hattiesburg, Mississippi with an opportunity to set that bar one rung higher with a ninth regular-season victory with a win over Southern Miss.
In order to earn win number eight, the script from the previous two wins had to be flipped. It wasn’t the La’Damian Webb show this time. It wasn’t even a dominant rushing attack that gave the Jags the win.
The Jags offense took to the air to topple Texas State.
Carter Bradley tied a single-game record with a career-high four touchdown passes as he threw for 274 yards in the 38-21 win. It wasn’t Jalen Wayne who stepped up big for the Jags, he was kept as mostly a non-factor with only three catches for 27 yards in the game. Neither was it Caullin Lacy, though he did catch three passes for 58 yards and a touchdown.
Devin Voisin was the one who . He caught six passes for 118 yards and two touchdowns, both career highs.
The diversity that the Jags have shown throughout the season as they have navigated their schedule and sit here with eight wins is a testament to all the hard work that has been put into this program. When a good Texas State defense limited the rushing attack and then neutralized Wayne and kept Lacy mostly at bay, it was Devin Voisin who stepped up and made the plays that mattered.
South Alabama remains tied atop the Sun Belt Conference West Division standings. Troy holds the tiebreaker for winning the head-to-head meeting between the two. In order for the Jags to overtake them they need to win both of their remaining games against Southern Miss and Old Dominion. They also need either Louisiana-Monroe or Arkansas State to pull an upset on Troy in the final two weeks of play.
But the Jags can only control what’s in their path.
In their path this week is Southern Miss.
Southern Miss (5-5, 3-3 SBC)
The Golden Eagles have been an up and down team this season. They began the year two-consecutive losses. A 29-27 4OT loss at home to Liberty and a 30-7 loss at Miami (FL).
The Golden Eagles got back to .500 with a 64-10 win over Northwestern State and upset a strong Tulane team (who are currently 8-2 and ranked #21 in the latest AP Poll).
They then lost a 27-10 decision in Troy before three consecutive wins over Sun Belt foes Arkansas State (20-19), Texas State (20-14), and Louisiana-Lafayette (39-24).
The Golden Eagles are riding a two-game losing streak coming into this matchup with a 42-14 home loss to another up-and-down team in Georgia State and a 26-23 loss to Eastern Division Champs Coastal Carolina in Conway, South Carolina.
Offense
Southern Miss is averaging 25.1 points, 324.6 total yards, 213.2 passing yards, 111.4 rushing yards, and 28:40 time of possession per game. They are converting 51-of-144 (35.4%) on 3rd down and 10-of-16 (62.5%) on 4th down.
They have scored 22 times out of their 29 trips into their opponents red zone, with only 12 of them being touchdowns.
Head coach Will Hall has been playing musical quarterbacks with at least four different quarterbacks seeing playing time with at least two running backs throwing passes as well.
Freshman Zach Wilcke is the team’s leading quarterback statistically. He’s played in eight games and is 100-for-175 (57.1%) for 1,151 yards, eight touchdowns and nine interceptions on the season. Trey Lowe, a redshirt junior, is 27-of-54 for 458 yards, two touchdowns and an interception in four games played. Sophomore Jake Lange is 11-of-21 for 110 yards, with an interception and no touchdowns.
Jason Brownlee, a senior, leads the receiving corps with 44 catches for 687 yards with six touchdowns. Freshman Tiaquelin Mims has 23 catches for 361 yards and two touchdowns in six games played. Junior Jakarius Caston adds 22 catches for 272 yards with three touchdowns in seven games played. Sophomore running back Frank Gore Jr. has 16 catches for 177 yards. Cole Cavallo, a redshirt junior tight end, is next with 15 catches for 145 yards and a touchdown. Then 15 other players have caught passes, none with double-digit receptions nor over 87 yards receiving.
Frank Gore Jr. leads the team rushing with 788 yards on 163 carries with five touchdowns. Janari Dean has 134 yards on 48 carries and three touchdowns in eight games played. Out of 13 runners with carries, none have netted over 69 yards rushing with only four of them logging game time in all 10 games.
Defense
The Golden Eagle defense is allowing an averaging of 24.5 points, 377.0 total yards, 236.2 passing yards, 140.8 rushing yards, and 31:20 time of possession per game.
Opponents are converting 55-of-152 (36.2%) on 3rd down and 3-of-18 (16.7%) on 4th down attempts for the season.
When teams get into the red zone, they have scored 27 times out of the 31 trips with 19 of them being touchdowns.
Malik Shorts leads the team with 74 total stops, 43 of them solo, with a team co-leading three interceptions. Averie Habas and Dominic Quewon co-lead the team with 9.5 sacks each, Quewon leads the team with 8.5 sacks a full five sacks more than the next defender. Jay Stanley is the other co-leader with three interceptions while adding five pass breakups, three forced fumbles and a fumble recovery.
Special Teams
Briggs Bourgeois is 13-of-14 placekicking this season with a long of 53 yards. He’s also 27-of-28 on extra points.
Mason Hunt is averaging 42.8 yards per punt with a long of 59 yards, 15 kicks of 50+ yards, 23 downed inside the 20, 22 fair catches, and only eight touchbacks.
South Alabama (8-2, 5-1 SBC)
Offense
The Jags offense is averaging 32.9 points, 427.6 total yards, 266.3 passing yards, 161.3 rushing yards, and 32:29 time of possession per game. They are converting 63-of-148 (42.6%) on 3rd down and 12-of-19 (63.2%) on 4th down for the season. They converted all six 4th down attempts against Texas State.
Out of 43 trips into the red zone, the Jags have scored 36 times with 27 of them being touchdowns.
Carter Bradley’s numbers are now 208-of-323 (64.4%) for 2,555 yards, 19 touchdowns, and seven interceptions for the season.
The top three receivers stay bunched up with very similar numbers. Jalen Wayne has 49 catches for 697 yards and 7 touchdowns. Caullin Lacy has 51 catches for 673 yards and 4 touchdowns. Devin Voisin has 44 catches for 585 yards and three touchdowns.
La’Damian Webb has 941 yards on 179 carries with 13 touchdowns for the season. Marco Lee adds 214 yards on 58 carries with four touchdowns. Omni Wells has 180 yards on 41 carries and Braylon McReynolds has 155 yards on 30 carries.
Defense
The Jags allow an average of 19.3 points, 295.2 total yards, 209.9 passing yards, 85.3 rushing yards, and 27:01 time of possession per game through ten games this season. They are allowing opponents to convert a mere 36-of-134 (26.9%) on 3rd down and 12-of-21 (57.1%) on 4th down attempts.
Opponents have had the ball in the red zone 29 times this season and came away with points on 22 of those trips with only 15 of them being touchdowns.
James Miller (58 total stops, 35 solo) continues to hold onto a narrow lead over Trey Kiser (57 total stops, 43 solo) in tackles. Kiser is the team co-lead with CJ Rias in tackles for loss with nine each. Jamie Sheriff holds onto the team lead in sacks with 5, but Rias is right behind him with four on the season. Yam Banks leads the team with five interceptions. Ke’Shun Brown has two, including a game-sealing pick-six against Texas State.
Special Teams
Diego Guajardo saw his first missed field goal of the season. He is now 13-of-14 on the season with a long of 48. He’s only missed one of his 39 extra point attempts on the season as well.
Jack Brooks is averaging 42.2 yards per punt on 49 punts this season. He has a long of 58 yards with 16 kicks downed inside the 20, 10 fair caught, 7 kicks of 50+ yards, and only two touchbacks.
Keys to the Game
Quick Start
When the Jags jump out with a quick start to the game, they have performed exceptionally well this season. Last week was no exception with a 41-yard touchdown pass on the fourth play of the game. The defense also got onto the early jump bandwagon when James Miller sacked quarterback Layne Hatcher on the first defensive play.
They worked up a 17-0 lead at halftime, which they needed as the Jags went score for score against the Bobcats in the second half to win by that margin, 38-21.
If the Bobcats had discovered Josh Berry’s running ability earlier in the game we may have been talking about a much closer game on the scoreboard.
That fast start was the difference and has been a big help in most games this season.
Adjusting To Whichever USM Team Shows Up
There’s no way around it, Southern Miss has been a bit of Jekyll and Hyde this year. Just look at their win over Tulane and contrast it will their whipping they suffered at the hands of Georgia State.
Head coach Will Hall has played four or five different quarterbacks on the year. Frank Gore Jr. has more passing attempts than all of South Alabama’s quarterbacks not named Carter Bradley.
Only 5 receivers out of the 20 receivers on the squad with a reception on the season have played all 10 games.
Additionally, only 5 players out of the 15 players on the team with a rushing attempt on the season have played in all 10 games this season as well.
Despite all of this coach Hall has his team one win away from bowl eligibility with an even mark overall on the season and in conference play.
While the Jaguar defense has made some great adjustments this season (hello second half against Georgia Southern), they have also shown they aren’t flawless (hello second half against Texas State).
But throughout it all the defense has remained elite.
This team has lived the mantra of LEO, Love Each Other, every step of the way. When the defense had it’s struggles, the offense kept scoring. When the offense couldn’t close out the game, the defense stepped in.
Stay Healthy (and leaning on more than one running back)
This keeps cropping up in my list as it stays in my mind as one of the top three keys to Jaguar victories. If they stay healthy, there’s not many teams on the schedule that can beat them.
I was concerned about the spike in La’Damian Webb’s usage over the previous two weeks just from a wear and tear angle. The coaches don’t seem too concerned about the injury that had them keep him out of the remainder of the game last week. But I feel it underscores the urgency of developing a clear #2 back that can pick up where Webb leaves off with little dropoff.
We saw a flash of potential against Louisiana-Monroe when Marco Lee and Omni Wells rushed for 93 and 85 yards respectively after Webb left the game on the first drive with an injury. But we have not seen that kind of rushing productivity out of the pair since. We haven’t seen it from Braylon McReynolds either, though he missed a few games with injuries himself.
The closest we have seen has been 57 yards from Marco Lee last week against Texas State, then McReynolds with 42 against Georgia Southern before that.
I have no doubt that coach Wommack, offensive coordinator Major Applewhite, and the rest of the staff have detailed plans to work into the overall gameplan if Webb is limited or additional injuries occur. But, on the outside looking in, boy would I like to have see more in the stat logs and in game play in case that was to happen.
Prediction
Which Southern Miss team do you get on Saturday will be key. The Jags hold a 2-0 advantage over Southern Miss. They completed a home-and-home series last season before the Golden Eagles flew the coup from Conference USA to the Sun Belt.
Coach Will Hall is leaving no stone unturned in his quest to turn the USM program around. He’s making progress too.
But Hall’s progress is nowhere near the progress that coach Wommack has made.
South Alabama is favored by 7.5 points according to handicapping websites. I think the Jags win and also cover the spread.
Preview: South Alabama Returns Home To Host Texas State
Kickoff: Saturday, November 12, 4:00pm
Venue: Hancock Whitney Stadium, Mobile, Alabama
TV/Streaming: ESPN+
Radio: 96.1 fm The Rocket, Sports Talk 99.5 fm, iHeartRadio App
Thunderjags Twitter: @USAThunderjags
#5 Jersey: Brandon Crum
South Alabama (7-2, 4-1 SBC) returns home after back-to-back road contests. It’ll be the first home game since the loss to rival Troy in the ‘Battle for the Belt.’ The road trip began with a 31-3 thumping of an ailing Arkansas State team. It wrapped up last week with a major gut-check of a game against Georgia Southern where the Jags came from behind to win 38-31.
It gave the Jags their first win in Statesboro, Georgia.
Against Georgia Southern, the Jags fell behind by two scores before the halfway mark of the first quarter. Carter Bradley’s first pass attempt was tipped, intercepted, and returned for a touchdown less than a minute into the game. Then a 50+ yard touchdown run on Georgia State’s first offensive possession.
In all they allowed 21 points in the first quarter but only allowed 10 points the rest of the way and only seven points in the second half.
The Jags trailed 31-17 around midway through the third quarter but from there it became the La’Damian Webb show. Webb would score all three of the Jaguars touchdowns down the stretch. He finished with 247 yards rushing with four touchdowns on 35 carries. He set single game records for yards and attempts and tied a record for touchdowns in a game.
It also marked his second-consecutive Sun Belt Conference Offensive Player of the Week honor.
Louisiana-Lafayette had Troy 17-0 at halftime, however the Trojans managed to fight their way back and score the game winning touchdown with five seconds left. The Trojans continue to hold onto the Sun Belt Conference West lead over the Jags due to the head-to-head tiebreaker.
While the Jags may not control their destiny in the Sun Belt Conference West division race, they control what happens in the next game.
That next game is Texas State.
Texas State (3-6, 1-4 SBC)
Bobcat head coach Jake Spavital is in his fourth season at the helm. He is 12-33 overall and 8-21 in conference play. The Bobcats upset the Jags in overtime last season 33-31. The Bobcats scored a game-tying touchdown with :17 left in regulation to force overtime.
In overtime both teams scored touchdowns in the first overtime. Texas State missed a field goal and forced a fumble in the second overtime. Both teams failed to convert their two-point conversions in the third overtime. Then in the fourth overtime the Bobcats convert first, but Jake Bentley’s pass attempted fell incomplete for the loss. The Bobcats would finish the season 4-8 overall and 3-5 in conference play.
Offense
This is the third season that Spavital is calling the plays on offense.
On the season the Bobcats are averaging 22.6 points, 330.7 total yards, 242.3 passing yards, 88.3 rushing yards, and 30:37 time of possession per game.
They are converting 52-of-138 (37.7%) of their 3rd down attempts and have converted 4-of-16 (25%) of their 4th down attempts on the season. While they are scoring well when they get into the red zone, they are only coming away with touchdowns 2/3rds of the time. Of their 27 trips, they’ve scored 24 times with 16 being touchdowns.
Quarterback Layne Hatcher’s name should be familiar. He transferred to Texas State after spending the previous three seasons at Arkansas State. In 32 career games and 16 starts the threw for 7,427 yards and 65 touchdowns. He is currently 4th all time in Arkansas State history in career passing yards, 3rd in career passing touchdowns, and 4th in completion percentage (61.6%).
So far this season Hatcher is 215-of-337 (63.8%) for 2,181 yards and 18 touchdowns with 8 interceptions.
The Bobcats top receiver is Ashtyn Hawkins with 56 catches for 587 yards and 7 touchdowns. The next closest receiver in receptions is Julian Ortega-Jones with 28 catches for 266 yards and a touchdown in eight games played. The next closest receiver is yardage is Marcell Barbee with 21 catches for 299 yards and a touchdown in eight games played. Only four other receivers have caught double-digit passes on the season. But a total of 18 players have caught passes on the season.
Lincoln Pare, another name that may be familiar, also transferred to San Marcos from Arkansas State. He leads the rushing attack with 458 yards on 120 carries with three touchdowns. Calvin Hill adds 333 yards on 76 carries with a touchdown in seven games played. Jahmyl Jeter has 108 yards on 35 carries and a touchdown in eight games.
Defense
Jake Spavital’s brother Zac, is the defensive coordinator for the Bobcats. He has helped the Bobcats to ranking among the nations top 50 teams in forcing turnovers in 2020. They were a top 25 pass defense in 2019 when they allowed an average of 199.3 passing yards per game that season.
This season the Bobcats are allowing an average of 24.9 points, 358.9 total yards, 239.7 passing yards, and 119.2 rushing yards per game.
Opponents are converting 48-of-132 (36.4%) of their 3rd down attempts and 9-of-19 (47.4%) of their 4th down attempts on the season. While opponents have been in the red zone 30 times on the season, they have scored points in 24 of those trips and 18 of those scores were touchdowns.
London Harris leads the team with 64 total stops, 30 of them solo, with two tackles for loss, a sack, and a forced fumble. Levi Bell leads the team with 10.5 tackles for loss, five sacks, and six quarterback hurries from the defensive line. Jordan Revels had 55 total tackles, 21 solo, 9 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, 7 quarterback hurries and a fumble recovery from his outside linebacker position. Defensive lineman Nelson Mbanasor has 8 tackles for loss, 5 sacks, and two forced fumbles. Bell and Mbanasor are co-leaders in sacks.
Kordell Rodgers leads the team with 4 interceptions of the teams 10 total interceptions.
Special Teams
Seth Keller is the team’s primary placekicker. He is 9-of-11 with a long of 41 yards and has converted all 23 extra point attempts. Mason Shipley made his only kick attempt on the season from 54 yards.
Seamus O’Kelly is averaging 41.9 yards per punt with a long of 68 yards, 8 kicks of 50+ yards, 28 fair catches, nine downed inside the 20.
South Alabama (7-2, 4-1 SBC)
The Jags locked in the programs first-ever winning season since transitioning to the FBS ranks. But head coach Kane Wommack does not want to just get back to a bowl game. Anytime the subject is mentioned he tells people that he wants it to be an expectation that South Alabama is going to a bowl game year after year.
As players continue to build upon coach Wommack’s process-oriented approach, the results are showing up on the field.
And in the win-loss column too.
Offense
After the big offensive day against Georgia Southern, the Jags are now averaging 32.3 points, 432.9 total yards, 265.4 passing yards, 167.4 rushing yards, and 32:22 time of possession per game.
They are converting 58-of-131 (44.3%) of their 3rd down attempts and 6-of-13 (46.2%) of their 4th down attempts.
Across their 30 trips into the opponents red zone, the Jags have scored points 34 times, with 26 of them being touchdowns.
La’Damian Webb is closing in on a 1,000-yard season. He has 896 yards on 163 carries with 13 touchdowns on the season. He is averaging 5.5 yards per carry.
Omni Wells is next in the Jaguars stable of running backs with 175 yards on 39 carries. Marco Lee has 157 yards on 44 carries with four touchdowns. Braylon McReynolds has 150 yards on 28 carries.
Carter Bradley is 188-of-289 (65.1%) for 2,281 yards, 15 touchdowns and 7 interceptions on the season.
Jalen Wayne leads the receiver trio with 670 yards on 46 catches with 7 touchdowns. Caullin Lacy leads the trio with 48 catches for 615 yards and three touchdowns. Devin Voisin, who has emerged as a clutch receiver, has 467 yards on 38 catches with a touchdown.
Defense
The Jags SwarmD defense has picked up where they left off last season with impressive national defensive rankings.
The rushing defense ranks 5th, 6th national in 3rd down conversion percentage defense, tied 18th in scoring defense, 12th nationally in red zone defense, T-19th in turnover margin, and 19th in time of possession.
On the season the Jags defense is allowing on average 19.1 points, 302.4 total yards, 217.3 passing yards, and 85.1 rushing yards per game.
Opponents are converting 33-of-119 (27.7%) of their 3rd down attempts and 10-of-18 (56.6%) of their 4th down attempts. Also, of opponents 26 trips into the red zone, they came away with points on 19 of those trips and only 12 of them were touchdowns.
James Miller continues to lead the defense with 51 total stops, 28 solo, 4.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, and two quarterback hurries. Trey Kiser is second with 47 total stops, 33 solo, with six tackles for loss and two sacks with a fumble recovery.
CJ Rias and Jamie Sheriff co-lead the team with four sacks each. Though Rias leads the team with eight tackles for loss.
Yam Banks leads the team and is tied for the national lead with five interceptions on the season.
Special Teams
Diego Guajardo remains perfect on the season by making his 12th field goal attempt of the season against Georgia Southern. Guajardo has only missed one of his 34 extra point attempts on the season.
Jack Brooks is averaging 42.1 yards per kick with a season long of 58 yards and 14 kicks downed inside the 20.
Keys to the Game
Establish the Run
I can hear you now, “but they’ve been running the ball great the last two weeks, why is it key for this game?”
Well, despite their record, the Texas State defense is a very strong unit. Are they a Troy caliber defense? I don’t think so. But they have enough talent on that side of the ball to give me some concern because it stacks up a little bit like Troy.
Troy was able to just smother us defensively. None of our running backs could find room to run, their defensive speed closed any hole, and La’Damian Webb wasn’t at full health either.
However, over the last two weeks, we’ve established that either Webb is back at full strength or very close to it. We’ll need him, the rest of the running back corps, and the offensive line to play up to the task at hand.
Play Disciplined
Last week was another game with 13 penalties for 118 yards assessed on the Jags. As a team that prides itself on being very physical, it also comes with penalties. However, the number of unsportsmanlike penalties needs to be reduced. Plus you just cannot commit some of those penalties in certain situations.
Dontae Lucas being ejected for an unsportsmanlike penalty is completely avoidable. He is suspended for this game against Texas State. Actions have consequences. Thankfully the penalty didn’t seem to hurt the team against Georgia Southern. The offense was able to continue their domination against the Eagles with Kent Foster in as his replacement. That also goes a long way to show how much this staff has been able to turn around this offensive line in only their second season.
The worst penalties for the Jags have been offensive penalties that get them off schedule. When you dig yourself into a 1st & 15 or 1st & 20 situation, those have often been drive killers.
Staying Healthy
Like all teams, the Jags have had their share of injuries and have managed to continue to play at a high level. Coach Wommack and his staff have done a good job with player rotations and preparations. When a player has been forced out of a game, the “next man up” has been well prepared and has not had a significant drop-off in terms of play.
With three weeks left in the regular season, and still the hope for a spot in the conference championship game, health down the stretch will be key.
Seeing many key starters still playing at the end of the Arkansas State game was a little disconcerting. But at the end of the game, you could see Carter Bradley limping as he was jogging towards the locker room. The 2021 season was hampered down the stretch by an injury to starting quarterback Jake Bentley.
With La’Damian Webb’s workload the last two weeks, and dealing with flu-like symptoms last week, I hope they manage his workload in practice accordingly. He has had 68 carries and 409 yards rushing over that stretch. That is 41.7% of his carries and 45.6% of his rushing yardage for the season over the last two games alone.
Thankfully Braylon McReynolds is on track to clear the concussion protocol for the game on Saturday to hopefully give some additional help in the backfield.
Prediction
The Bobcats rallied and got us in overtime last year in San Marcos, TX. Actually, San Marcos is another place we’ve never won at on the road. But that will have to wait until next year to be settled. Conversely, the Jags have never lost to Texas State in Mobile either (two wins at Ladd-Peebles Stadium and one at Hancock Whitney Stadium).
The Jags are a solid 16.5-point favorite to win according to the different handicapping websites. Combine that with South Alabama’s strong play at home and Texas State’s poor play on the road and I understand why the line is set where it is.
I say the Jags win but I don’t think they cover the 16.5. I think the Bobcat defense will do just enough to keep the Jags under that line.
Go Jags!
Preview: South Alabama Travels To Georgia Southern
Kickoff: Saturday, November 5, 3:00pm
Venue: Allen E. Paulson Stadium, Statesboro, Georgia
TV/Streaming: ESPN+
Radio: 96.1 fm The Rocket, Sports Talk 99.5 fm, iHeartRadio App
Thunderjags Twitter: @USAThunderjags
#5 Jersey: Trey Kiser
South Alabama earned a decisive 31-3 win over Arkansas State last Saturday. But it was a bit more than just another win for the Jaguar football program. It was the sixth win of the season, which marks FBS Bowl Eligibility. A feat that has not been accomplished since 2016.
While six years doesn’t sound like a long time, in football terms it feels like an eternity.
La’Damian Webb started the game with a bang, reeling off a 69-yard run on the opening offensive play of the game. He finished the game with 162 yards on 28 carries with three touchdowns. He ran all 11 plays on the Jags final offensive possession, which ended with a score, late in the fourth quarter. That was good enough to earn him Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Week honors.
The Jags defense turned in a stellar performance too.
They held the Red Wolves to only 158 yards of total offense and -19 yards rushing. Only 3 of their 15 offensive possessions gained over 12 yards of offense. Five of their possessions finished with negative yardage.
But there’s a few things to work on from this game too. The Jags committed seven first-half penalties, but only one after halftime. Two of them were false starts when they were pinned deep at their own 2-yard line. No other Jaguar running back rushed for more than 12 yards. Webb shouldered the workload, but after Webb went out with an injury earlier in the season Omni Wells and Marco Lee came in rushed for season highs. Where did they go?
Now the Jaguars must turn their attention to Georgia Southern. Last season they broke through and won their first game ever against the Eagles 41-14, in Mobile. Now they get to follow up last seasons win with a trip to Statesboro to see if they can notch their second against the Eagles and their first in Statesboro.
Georgia Southern (5-3, 2-2 SBC)
Georgia Southern had been a long-time powerhouse in the FCS ranks. In 2014 they moved up to FBS and joined the Sun Belt Conference and proceeded to go undefeated 8-0 in conference play their first season. Their success put them as only the third team in the modern era to win a conference title in it’s first FBS season, and the first to ever go undefeated in conference play in their first FBS season. However, they were unable to go to a bowl game due to transition rules and the NCAA denied a waiver request by the school as well. (Also the Sun Belt Conference did not have a Conference Championship Game at that time either.)
In 2017 the Eagles hit their low point with a 2-10 season. But a 52-0 win over the Jags in Statesboro in the next to last game of the season led to South Alabama head coach Joey Jones to not be retained. Georgia Southern took the interim tag off of Chad Lunsford, who took over the head coaching duties for the Eagles mid-season. In 2018 they went 10-3 with a win over then #25 ranked rival Appalachian State and a bowl victory over Eastern Michigan.
In 2019 and 2020 they posted 7-5 records. The beginning of 2021, after a 1-2 start, the Eagles fired Lunsford and finished 3-9.
Former USC head coach Clay Helton was hired and immediately went to work overhauling the Eagles offense. Georgia Southern had been known as a triple-option powerhouse for many years in FCS and again in FBS.
Helton’s transition has been pretty successful too.
Offense
Helton and offensive coordinator Bryan Ellis’ offensive scheme see them throw the ball over an average of 45 times per game. Nealy 60% of their offensive plays have been pass plays so far this season.
Ellis came to GSU after helping Western Kentucky to a Conference USA championship in 2021 where their offense ranked 2nd in FBS with 44.2 points per game, 2nd in total offense (535.3 yards per game), and led the nation with 433.7 passing yards per game (41.1 yards above the 2nd ranked team). They had 92 offensive plays of 20+ yards with 24 going for touchdowns.
The Eagles offense is averaging 36.9 points, 494.5 total yards, 338.0 passing yards, 156.5 rushing yards, and 29:29 time of possession per game. They are converting 71-of-130 (54.6%) of their 3rd down attempts and 8-of-15 (53.3%) of their 4th down attempts on the season. They have committed 13 turnovers on the season, only one of them have been a fumble.
Of the Eagles 34 trips into the red zone, they have scored on 32 of those trips with 23 of them being touchdowns.
Kyle Vantrease, a transfer from Buffalo, is 232-of-374 (62%) passing on the season for 2,704 yards, 18 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions.
While they have lots of numbers for their receivers, Khaleb Hood is their leading receiver with 53 catches for 609 yards and two touchdowns. Derwin Burgess Jr has 45 catches for 546 yards and five touchdowns. Jeremy Singleton has 46 catches for 497 yards and two touchdowns. Amare Jones has 35 catches for 483 yards and six touchdowns. The last receiver with double-digit receptions is Jalen White with 18 for 183 yards and a touchdown.
Jalen White leads the rushing attack with 678 yards on 132 carries with nine touchdowns. Gerald Green has 404 yards on 71 carries with six touchdowns.
Head coach Kane Wommack and defensive coordinator Corey Batoon have their hands full with this passing offense. But they use the rushing attack to open up their passing game.
Defense
As much as the offense takes, the defense allows almost as much.
On average the Eagles defense allows 30.4 points, 480.9 total yards, 270.1 passing yards, 210.8 rushing yards, and 30:31 time of possession per game. Opponents are converting 42-of-106 (39.6%) of their 3rd down attempts and 7-of-12 (58.3%) of their 4th down attempts.
The defense has taken the ball away 11 times on the season, only three of them have been fumble recoveries.
Of their opponents 35 trips into the red zone, they have only scored on 25 of them with 18 of them being touchdowns.
Special Teams
Alex Raynor has attempted all but one of the team’s field goal attempts. He is 12-of-14 on the season with a long of 45 yards and has only missed one of his 36 extra point attempts. Michael Lantz attempted one from 50+ yards but was unsuccessful.
Anthony Beck II has punted 26 times with an average of 44 yards per kick with 11 downed inside the 20, six kicks of 50+ yards with a long of 59.
South Alabama (6-2, 3-1 SBC)
Offense
The Jags are now averaging 31.6 points, 422.8 total yards, 274.5 passing yards, 148.3 rushing yards, and 31.46 time of possession per game this season. They didn’t have a particularly good game on 3rd down so their conversion rate on the season is now 50-of-116 (43.1%) and their 4th down conversion rate is 5-of-12 (41.7%) on the season.
They didn’t give the ball away last weekend so they hold fast with only 7 offensive turnovers, two of them being fumbles. Of 33 trips to the red zone, they have scored 28 times with 21 of them being touchdowns.
Carter Bradley saw all the action against the Red Wolves and is now 172-of-262 (65.7%) for 2,088 yards, 14 touchdowns and five interceptions. Most of the passing plays against the Red Wolves were short and towards the perimeter due to the rainy conditions. They wanted to limit the possibility of a wet ball being tipped or slipping through a receivers hands and being intercepted.
Jalen Wayne leads the way receiving with 642 yards and six touchdowns on 43 catches. Caullin Lacy is right behind him with 582 yards and three touchdowns on 45 catches. Devin Voisin has 425 yards on 36 catches with a touchdown.
Webb has 649 rushing yards on the season on 128 attempts with nine touchdowns. Then there’s a big dropoff to the next rushers: 157 yards by Omni Wells, 152 yards for Marco Lee but he has four touchdowns. True freshman Braylon McReynolds, who made his return to the lineup after missing a couple games, has 108 yards on 22 carries this season as a true freshman.
Defense
After the big effort last week, the Jags statistics are looking great this year. They are now ranked 4th in FBS in rushing defense, 16th in scoring defense, 8th in 3rd down conversion defense, and 18th in first down defense.
The defense is allowing an average of 17.6 points, 294.5 total yards, 209.8 passing yards, 84.8 rushing yards, and 27:36 time of possession per game.
Opposing offenses are converting 29-of-107 (27.1%) of their 3rd down attempts and 10-of-17 (58.8%) of their 4th down attempts.
Defensively they have taken the ball away 16 times, 7 fumbles and 9 interceptions.
James Miller leads the team with 44 total stops, 24 solo, with 4 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks. Jaden Voisin has 43 total stops, 25 solo, with 4 tackles for loss and an interception.
CJ Rias leads the team with 5.5 tackles for loss with Trey Kiser right behind him with 5 TFL’s. Jamie Sheriff, with his effort against ASU, leads the team with for sacks. Rias is right on his heels with three sacks. Yam Banks continues to lead the team with four interceptions.
Special Teams
Diego Guajardo only saw action in extra point attempts, where he made all four. He is still a perfect 11-of-11 on the season with a long of 48.
Jack Brooks, who wore the honorary #5 jersey, is averaging 41.88 yards per kick this season. He has 14 downed inside the 20. Although he had one mishap against Arkansas State, when a snap got away from him and he was taken down without being able to punt the ball away.
Keys to the Game
Fast Start
When the Jags get off to a fast start against a team, they seemingly cannot be stopped. Through eight games, when the Jags lead after the first quarter, they are 6-1. They jumped out to a 14-3 lead over Arkansas State and never looked back. They were up 14-0 over Louisiana Tech and also sailed to a 38-14 win. Also, against Central Michigan, they jumped out to a 20-7 lead and a 31-10 halftime lead as they cruised to a 38-24 win, though CMU scored two late touchdowns to make it seem much closer than it was. The lone loss was to UCLA where they held 10-6 lead after the first quarter.
The Jags recipe for success is to jump on their opponent early and seize the momentum. This has really helped this team go from a bad road record team to sitting at 3-1 in road games this season, the first time a Jags team has won three road games in a season since 2014. Until this season the Jags had only won three road games in total in the previous four seasons. They were winless on the road for two seasons in 2018 and 2019.
It would be nice to jump out to a fast start on Saturday in Statesboro.
Defensive Front Play
The Jags have allowed several explosive plays through the air on defense. Explosive plays are not an official stat, so their definition varies by team. Some consider an explosive pass play to be 15 yards or more, others define it as 20 yards or more.
The Jags secondary hasn’t been the strongest unit, but they aren’t slouches either. Offenses are throwing the ball more over the last several years than they have in years before so defensive secondaries are under more pressure than ever before. But the Jags defense has turned teams one-dimensional with their 4th ranked rushing defense.
The Jags lost preseason honoree Keith Gallmon to injury in preseason camp. Darrell Luter has been hampered by a wrap on one of his hands. Transfer Jamar Richardson missed time with an injury. The latest injury to affect the secondary was to transfer Marvin Martin, who was rushed to the hospital by ambulance after a hit during practice. News has been positive for Martin, it remains unknown if his playing career is over but the current focus is on his health and wellbeing.
Last week against Arkansas State, a fairly prolific passing team, the Jags defensive front generated a ton of pressure on a quarterback that wasn’t 100% and playing in the rain. They generated four sacks in the game with numerous quarterback hurries.
But they shut down the run and made Arkansas State one dimensional.
Coach Wommack and coach Batoon have a goal to shut down the Georgia Southern rushing attack. The Eagles establish the run early to then open up the passing game.
Strong play by the defensive front, particularly the defensive line, to shut down the run and also in generating pressure on the quarterback will be key to limiting the Eagles scoring opportunities.
The Jags will definitely be without linebacker Quentin Wilfawn as coach Wommack announced that he will miss the remainder of the season with a neck issue that will require surgery. However, they say he will have eligibility for the 2023 season and will be able to return along with Keith Gallmon.
Turnovers
Any time you play on the road, turnovers are a key part of the game. You’re playing in a hostile environment and a turnover can give momentum to your opponent and energize their fans.
South Alabama has been quite greedy with turnovers. With a +9 turnover margin (16 takeaways to 7 giveaways) the Jags often win the turnover battle. However, defensive coaches have been encouraging the defense that they should be generating more turnovers. Look for the Jags to be eager to give the ball back to their offense more down the stretch. This weekend would be a great time to get that ball rolling with more momentum in the closing month of the regular season.
Prediction
The spread has been a consistent with the Jags as a 3.5 to 4 point favorite over the Eagles.
The Eagles are 3-0 at home this season with a 45-38 win over then #25 ranked James Madison just a couple of weeks ago. They also notched a 45-42 win over Power 5 Nebraska in week 2. Add in that they were on a bye last Saturday; the Jags will be facing a rested Georgia Southern team in a very tough environment.
Coach Wommack and his staff always has his team ready to play. They have turned the overall culture around very quickly and the road game culture is paying off so far this season.
This is a very winnable game, but it also has me nervous. I feel that it’s going to be an interesting and exciting game, but I feel that the Jags win a very close game. Possibly too close for comfort.
Go Jags!
Preview: Battle For The Belt, South Alabama vs Troy
Kickoff: Thursday, October 20, 6:30pm
Venue: Hancock Whitney Stadium, Mobile, Alabama
TV/Streaming: ESPNU
Radio: 96.1 fm The Rocket, Sports Talk 99.5 fm, iHeartRadio App
Thunderjags Twitter: @USAThunderjags
#5 Jersey: Carter Bradley
It’s the “Battle for the Belt” week.
When South Alabama announced the formation of a football team, it was destined to become a rivalry. Two institutions separated by 170 miles that are already in the same conference and rivals in other sport. Football just made it that much more.
Troy has won the last four meetings between the two schools to gain a 7-3 advantage in the series. Last year was the closest game over that four-game span was a 31-24 decision in Troy.
The remainder of the Jags season was thrown off script by that game too.
On the first series of the game the Jags lost starting quarterback Jake Bentley on a hit below the knee that tore two tendons in his knee. That put the Jags season in Desmond Trotter’s hands until Bentley returned for the season finale against Coastal Carolina. Unfortunately, the Jags couldn’t earn a win in the final three games and were unable to attain bowl eligibility in head coach Kane Wommack’s first season at the helm.
Fast forward to this season and both teams have an opportunity to reach bowl eligibility in this game. But most of all the winner of this game will control their destiny in the Sun Belt Conference Western Division and a berth in the conference championship game. South Alabama received votes in the Associated Press poll for the first time since 2016.
Troy (5-2, 3-1 SBC)
The Trojans are under the direction of first-year head coach Jon Sumrall. But he is familiar with Troy as he served on Neal Brown’s staff from 2015-2017 as associate head coach and was defensive coordinator and special teams coach.
Sumrall began his coaching career at Kentucky after suffering a career-ending injury. He served as a graduate assistant from 2005-2006. He then got his first coaching position with San Diego as defensive line coach and recruiting coordinator 2007-2009 before being promoted to associate head coach, linebackers coach and co-defensive coordinator from 2010-2011. He then went to Tulane as co-defensive coordinator from 2012-2014 where he also coached the defensive line for the first two seasons then linebackers the final season there.
In 2018 he left Troy for Ole Miss where he coached linebackers for a season. He then went back to his alma mater, Kentucky, to coach inside linebackers from 2019-2020 before being promoted to co-defensive coordinator in 2021.
The two losses that Troy has on their 2022 record is a 28-10 loss at then #21 ranked Ole Miss and a 32-28 loss at Appalachian State on a hail mary touchdown pass as time expired.
Offense
Joe Craddock is in his first season as offensive coordinator at Troy. His coaching career began as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for Briarwood Christian school from 2010-2011 where they went 25-4 with him on staff and finished at the 2010 state runner-up in their division. He then went to Clemson for the 2012 season as an offensive player development coach then he moved to an on-field graduate assistant position working with quarterbacks from 2013-2014. Chad Morris, whom he met at Clemson, hired him at SMU as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach from 2015-2017 which made him the youngest offensive coordinator in college football at the time. When Chad Morris was hired as head coach at Arkansas, he brought Craddock with him as his OC, a position he held from 2018-2019. The last two seasons he served as tight ends coach at UAB.
Craddock’s offense ranked #8 in FBS in scoring offense (40.2 points), #13 in total offense (493.8 yards) and #16 in passing yards (308 yards) in 2017 at SMU. That season they had a 3,000-yard passer, a 1,000-yard rusher, and two 1,000-yard receivers.
So far in 2022, the Trojans are averaging 24.3 points, 399.4 total yards, 312.7 passing yards, 86.7 rushing yards, and 30:38 time of possession per game.
They are converting 32-of-91 (35.2%) of their 3rd down attempts and 7-of-14 (50%) of their 4th down conversion attempts. Troy quarterbacks have thrown a total of nine interceptions and they have lost four fumbles for a total of 13 offensive turnovers. They’ve been in the red zone 27 times on the season and have scored points on 20 of those trips, 12 of them being touchdowns.
Gunnar Watson is the team’s leading quarterback going 122-of-193 for 1,691 yards, six touchdowns and 7 interceptions on the season. Jarret Doege is 34-of-50 for 491 yards with five touchdowns to two interceptions on the season.
Deshon Stoudemire leads the Trojans in receptions with 30 catches for 337 yards and a touchdown. Tez Johnson leads the team in receiving yards with 479 on 22 receptions with three touchdowns. Jabre Barber has 25 catches for 351 yards and two touchdowns. RaJae’ Johnson has 15 catches for 263 yards and three touchdowns. Two other receivers have 128 or more receiving yards on the season.
DK Billingsley leads the Trojans running game with 386 yards on 77 attempts with three touchdowns. Kimani Vidal has 308 yards on 76 carries with two touchdowns. No other back has more than 35 rushing yards on the season.
Gunnar Watson and Tez Johnson left games early with injury. Sumrall said publicly that they should be available to play on Thursday, but until pre-game warmups and kickoff we won’t know if this is a ruse to keep the Jags spending time preparing for players who won’t see the field.
Defense
Shiel Wood was hired by Sumrall as defensive coordinator when he took the helm. Wood began his coaching career at Woodruff High School in South Carolina in 2006. He then joined his alma mater, Wofford, in 2007 and spent a total of eight seasons there. From 2007-2010 he coached wide receivers, from 2011-2012 he coached safeties. From 2016-2017 he served as recruiting coordinator and coached the secondary, in 2017 he added defensive coordinator to his list of duties. In 2018 he coached the safeties at Georgia Tech and helped them to a bowl berth. In 2019 he served as inside linebackers coach and special teams coordinator for Georgia State. In 2020 he joined the Army program as co-defensive coordinator, his first season he coached the inside linebackers before transitioning to coach safeties in his last season.
His 2021 squad finished 9-4 with a win over Missouri in the Armed Forces Bowl. The defense ranked 17th nationally, they held opponents to 328.4 yards per game, ranked 36th by allowing 22.3 points per game, and 17th nationally allowing 117.2 yards per game rushing.
Opponents are averaging 19.3 points, 341.0 total offensive yards, 229.7 passing yards, 111.3 rushing yards, and 29:22 time of possession per game.
Opponents are converting 48-of-111 (43.2%) of their 3rd down attempts and 8-of-14 (57.1%) of their 4th down attempts on the season. The defense has forced seven interceptions and recovered five fumbles for a total of 12 forced turnovers. Opponents have been in their red one 21 times on the season and scoring on 17 of those trips, 14 of them touchdowns.
Linebacker Carlton Martial leads the team with 63 total stops, 25 of them solo, he has 2.5 tackles for loss with .5 sack with two pass breakups and an interception. Martial is a Mobile native who went to McGill-Toolen.
Craig Slocum Jr is the next closest tackler with 53 on the season, 20 solo. T.J. Jackson leads the Trojans with 10.5 tackles for loss, and also leads the team with 5.5 sacks. Markeis Colvin is the team leader with two interceptions.
Special Teams
Placekicker Brooks Bruce is 10-of-11 on the season with a long of 48 yards. Mike Rivers has punted 30 times with an average of 43.5 yards per kick, a long of 56 yards, three touchbacks, 15 fair catches, 13 downed inside the 20 and 5 that went 50+ yards.
South Alabama (5-1, 2-0 SBC)
The Jags got some revenge against Louisiana-Monroe last Saturday night with a 41-34 win. Though a pair of touchdowns in the final quarter made it a one-possession game, Marco Lee effectively took the team on his shoulders as he ground out first downs on the final possession of the game, draining time off the clock and denying ULM a chance to possess the ball once more.
The Jags secondary was torched by Tyrone Howell for the tune of 244 yards on nine catches with three touchdowns.
Coach Wommack, defensive coordinator Corey Batoon, and the staff and players will look to correct the mistakes and prepare for the Trojans with two fewer days than normal game-week preparation.
Offense
Looking at the team statistics, particularly rushing, you wouldn’t have known the Jags lost their starting running back La’Damian Webb on the first possession to an injury. Omni Wells and Marco Lee combined to rush for 178 yards between the two of them. The Jags as a team rushed for 195 yards
After a productive third quarter, the Jags were held to 96 offensive yards and just 18 snaps in the fourth quarter, 10 of those snaps and 79 of those yards came on the final possession as the Jags milked the clock for the win.
On the season the Jags are averaging 36.0 points, 462.3 total yards, 300.3 passing yards, 162 rushing yards, and 31:56 time of possession per game.
They are converting 43-of-88 (48.9%) of their 3rd down attempts and 2-of-7 (28.6%) of their 4th down attempts. Jag quarterbacks have thrown four interceptions and lost only two fumbles for a total of only 6 giveaways on the season. In 29 trips to the red zone, they have come away with points on 24 of those occasions with 18 of them being touchdowns.
Carter Bradley is 126-of-198 for 1,694 yards, 13 touchdowns and four interceptions on the season. He set a single-game record against ULM with 420 passing yards in the game.
The “Big Three” receivers for the Jags each had over 100 yard receiving last time out against ULM. Caullin Lacy leads the team with 35 catches for 503 yards and three touchdowns for the season. Jalen Wayne is right behind him with 31 catches for 491 yards and five touchdowns. Devin Voisin has 26 catches for 334 yards and a touchdown.
La’Damian Webb leads the team with 470 rushing yards on 91 carries with six touchdowns. Marco Lee has 138 yards on 33 carries with four touchdowns. Omni Wells has 141 on 30 carries. Lee and Wells each were close to 100 yards rushing each last week against the Warhawks. Braylon McReynolds, who’s been the teams #2 back has had a quad issue since the Louisiana-Lafayette game. The staff are publicly hopeful that he may return this week. Both Webb and McReynolds availability look to be game-time decisions.
Defense
The Jags defense is allowing an average of 21.3 points, 322.0 total yards, 227.2 passing yards, 94.8 rushing yards, and 27:14 time of possession per game.
Opponents are converting just 26-of-81 (32.1%) of their 3rd down attempts and 7-of-13 (53.9%) of their 4th down attempts. They have forced teams into eight interceptions and six fumbles for a total of 14 takeaways. Of the opponents 19 trips into the red zone, they have scored 14 times with nine of them being touchdowns.
Linebacker James Miller leads the Jags defense with 33 total stops, 19 of them solo, with 2.5 tackles for loss and one sack. Brock Higdon leads the team with 3.5 tackles for loss with one sack. Jaden Voisin, Trey Kiser, and CJ Rias each have three tackles for loss each. Kiser, Rias, and Wy’Kevious Thomas all have two sacks each to lead the team. Yam Banks leads the team with three interceptions as well as four pass breakups.
Special Teams
Diego Guajardo remains perfect on the season making all nine of his field goal attempts, adding two more over ULM, with a season long of 48. He is also 25-of-26 in extra point attempts and leads the team in scoring with 52 points on the season.
Jack Brooks has punted 26 times for an average of 41.7 yards per punt, a long of 58, five punts of 50+ yards, 10 downed inside the 20, four fair caught and only two touchbacks.
Caullin Lacy is averaging 14.7 yards per punt return with one touchdown return on the season. He also has a 49 yard kickoff return on his resume for the season.
Keys to the Game
Turnovers
In a rivalry game, turnovers play a huge part of the game. A poorly times mistake can swing the momentum to your opponent on a dime. The Jags are +8 in turnover margin and are very protective of the ball with only six giveaways on the season.
Meanwhile Troy is +1 on the season in turnover margin. They’ve given the ball away 13 times but have generated 12 takeaways defensively.
Pass Defense
The Jags secondary were exposed on a few pass plays and allowed a number of explosive plays, including an 83 yard touchdown pass. The Trojans, who are a primarily passing offense, will try to exploit the same weaknesses if given the opportunity.
Coach Wommack and coach Batoon have certainly worked with the players on those issues and will come into the game with a good gameplan to get pressure on the Trojan quarterback and limit the explosive plays. But how will the players execute is the question.
Health
The Jags were able to return a few players to the lineup after their bye week. Braylon McReynolds and Quintin Wilfawn were two notable exceptions. McReynolds has not played since prior to the Louisiana-Lafayette game due to a quad issue. La’Damian Webb left the ULM game with an injury on the teams first possession. Without Webb and McReynolds, the Jags were left with Omni Wells and Marco Lee at running back.
Wells and Lee performed great against ULM, neither one has had anywhere near that level of success in the previous five games. They were the next men up and they played their heart out.
Who can forget losing Bentley to a hit below the knee on the first drive last year at Troy.
There is some uncertainty out of Troy as well as they lost their starting quarterback Gunnar Watson early in their game against Texas State last Saturday. It’s unknown if Watson and Tez Johnson, who also left the game early, will both be available to play in the game. Coach Wommack said they will continue to prepare for both quarterbacks since they do utilize a rotation at that position.
If Webb, McReynolds, and Wilfawn can all play Thursday night, that would be a huge boost to the Jags roster for the rivalry game. I’m sure they are eager to see action against the Trojans too.
Prediction
Rivalry games can be difficult to prognosticate. There are times when you can “throw the records out the door.” Troy is a good team, particularly on defense. They are riding a four-game winning streak in the series.
The Jags are a 3-point favorite at home. Which traditionally the home team is typically given a three-point advantage, which translates to the bookies considering the game basically a toss-up.
I feel that this game could honestly go either way, it would be a big win by the Jags or it could be a nail-biter.
This game is always circled on the calendar, but I think this one had some extra circles drawn around it. Coach Wommack doesn’t focus too much on any one particular opponents too much, but if there ever was one, this would probably be it. My gut is nervous but my head tells me the Jags should win this barring any unforeseen developments prior to or during the game. I’m going with a Jags win and cover.
Go Jags! Go home Troy!