South Alabama Hosts Ragin’ Cajuns In SBC West Showdown
Kickoff: Saturday, October 28, 4pm
Venue: Hancock Whitney Stadium, Mobile, AL
TV/Streaming: ESPN+
Radio: 96.1 fm The Rocket, Sports Talk 99.5 fm, iHeartRadio App
Thunderjags on X (formerly known as Twitter): @USAThunderjags
#5 Jersey: Reggie Smith (he will be wearing #50 due to jersey numbering restrictions for offensive linemen)
South Alabama returns to the field after having 11 days off and only it’s second game in 21 days in a pivotal Sun Belt Conference Western Division showdown against Louisiana-Lafayette on Saturday.
Over the last two games the Jags have been on a tear. They have won them by a combined scored of 110-10. They won their first game in Monroe, LA 55-7 and then continued their unbeaten streak against Southern Miss 55-3 on a nationally televised Tuesday night game.
The Ragin’ Cajuns start a two-game stretch for the Jags in determining if they have what it takes to contend for the SBC West title.
Currently the Jags are tied with Texas State and Troy on top of the Western division standings at 2-1 in conference play with the Cajuns and Arkansas State right behind them at 1-2. The Jags have games remaining against all the teams mentioned down the stretch. But the immediate two are the Cajuns then a short turnaround to play Troy on Thursday night on the road in the Battle for the Belt.
But they can’t look ahead, the Jags are 0-0 this week and need a win.
Hall of Fame
But before the game, as part of the Hall of Fame weekend, South Alabama’s first head coach Joey Jones will be inducted into the University of South Alabama Hall of Fame. Jones along with Charde Hannah (women’s soccer), Kevin Hill (baseball) and Daniel Leitner (men’s tennis) will all be inducted at 10am at the Moulton Bell Tower and Alumni Plaza then they will also be honored at halftime of the game.
Jones was the architect of the football program starting in 2008 and fielded the first team in 2009. They began the program with 19-consecutive wins, joined the Sun Belt conference in 2012 and reached their first bowl game in 2014. Jones was selected as the SBC Coach of the Year in 2013. His career record at USA was 52-50 with two bowl berths. He is currently the director of player personnel at Mississippi State University.
Hannah was a two-time All-SBC and was named MVP of the 2014 and 2015 SBC tournament championships. The Jags won the championship all four seasons she was with USA.
Hill was a first-team All-American in 2016 and was named SBC Pitcher of the Years twice. He won the SBC pitching Triple Crown as a junior with a 10-0 record, 1.73 ERA, and 107 strikeouts. Only playing for USA for three seasons after transferring from junior college, Hill’s 326 strikeouts and 298.2 innings pitched are 6th in program history. His 22 wins are 9th in program history.
Leitner was SBC Player of the Year in 2014 and 2015. He was named to the All-Conference team three consecutive years and was Sun Belt Player of the Week eight times, five of them in his senior season.
South Alabama (4-3, 2-1 SBC)
The Jags have a turnover margin of +3 so far this season. They have given the ball away nine times on the season so far, six by interception and three by fumble. So far, the Jags have only fumbled the ball five times on the season in total, only losing three of them to their opponent. The defense has taken the ball away 12 times through seven games. They’ve forced nine fumbles, recovering six of them and also intercepting six passes.
The Jags have also played fairly clean football over the last two weeks. On the season they have been flagged 49 times for 430 yards, which is an average of 61.43 penalty yards per game.
Offense
After outscoring the opponents the last two weeks by a combined score of 110-10, the Jags have really bolstered their point differential on the season. On average the Jags are racking up 35.4 points, 448 total offensive yards, 271.86 passing yards, 176.1 rushing yards per game with an average time of possession of 30:42.
They are converting 46-of-94 (48.9%) on 3rd down and 7-of-12 (58.3%) on 4th down situations. They continue to be perfect in the red zone for the season by scoring on all 27 trips, with only five of them being field goals.
Carter Bradley is 138-of-205 passing for 1,775 yards, 11 touchdowns and 5 interceptions. Gio Lopez got in some extra work against Southern Miss and is 10-of-15 for 128 yards with a passing touchdown and a rushing touchdown with only one interception.
Caullin Lacy continues to distance himself from the field with 48 catches for 826 yards and six touchdowns on the season. Lacy now ranks 3rd in the nation in receiving yards and tied for 17th in receiving touchdowns. His average of 118 yards receiving per game ranks him 2nd behind Malik Nabers of LSU (122.6).
Jamaal Pritchett, who had a standout performance against Southern Miss, now has 24 catches for 373 yards and a touchdown. Lincoln Sefcik has 16 catches for 152 yards and a touchdown. DJ Thomas-Jones has 11 catches for 136 yards.
La’Damian Webb seems to be back in full form after a 20-carry performance against the Golden Eagles. He now has 578 yards on 103 carries with 12 touchdowns on the season. Webb ranks 2nd in the nation in rushing touchdowns only trailing Blake Corum of Michigan by one touchdown. His rushing yards places him in the top 50 in the nation.
Kentrel Bullock has 343 yards on 68 carries with three touchdowns. Marco Lee Jr adds 186 yards on 39 carries and two touchdowns.
Defense
After the dominant performances the last two weeks the defensive stats are really looking impressive.
On average the defense is allowing 19.4 points, 312.4 total yards, 198.14 passing yards, and 114.3 rushing yards per game. Opposing teams have an average time of possession of 29:17 per game.
Opponents are converting 32-of-92 (34.78%) of their 3rd down attempts and 3-of-8 (37.5%) of their 4th down attempts on the season.
Trey Kiser leads the defense with 44 total stops, 19 solo, with two pass breakups and a quarterback hurry. James Miller is right behind him with 43 total stops, 14 solo, with a quarterback hurry and a forced fumble.
Kiser also leads the team with 6 tackles for loss. Khalil Jacobs has 5 TFLs. Quentin Wilfawn has 4.5 TFLs.
Brock Higdon leads the team with 3 sacks. Jamie Sheriff and Maurice Strong Jr both have two sacks each.
Jaden Voisin leads the team with two interceptions. Strong Jr, Yam Banks, Wesley Miller and Marquise Robinson each have an interception. Sheriff leads the team with 5 quarterback hurries and Higdon is behind him with three.
Special Teams
Diego Guajardo is now 9-of-12 on the season on field goal attempts. He missed a 52 yard attempt to start the season and his other two misses have been from 40+ yards. He has a long of 46-yards this season.
Jack Martin’s best friend has been the kicking net on the sidelines over the last two games. He has not seen the field for a punt since the September 30th game against James Madison. He is still averaging 40.68 yards per kick on 19 attempts with 10 fair catches, 7 downed inside the 20 and two kicks of 50+ yards.
ULL (4-3, 1-2 SBC)
The Cajuns are a -5 turnover margin on the season. they have turned the ball over 15 times, seven by interception and eight by fumble. They’ve actually fumbled 17 times on the season and lost 8 of them. Their defense has taken the ball away 10 times, recovering four of their opponents 7 fumbles and six interceptions.
The Cajuns have been flagged 41 times for 345 yards on the season. They are averaging 49.3 penalty yards per game.
Offense
The Cajun offense is averaging 32.9 points, 425 total yards, 209.4 passing yards, and 215.6 rushing yards per game with an average time of possession of 29:04.
They are converting 39-of-90 (43%) of their 3rd down attempts and 7-of-12 (58%) of their 4th down attempts on the season.
They have been in their opponents red zone 31 times on the season and have scored on 23 (74%) of those trips with 17 of them (55%) being touchdowns.
Zeon Chriss is 77-of-119 (64.7%) passing for 906 yards, eight touchdowns, and 5 interceptions. Ben Wooldridge, who’s only appeared in three games, is 39-of-69 (56.5%) for 508 yards, five touchdowns and only one interception.
Robert Williams leads the Cajuns receiving corps with 289 yards on 22 catches with three touchdowns. Jacob Bernard has 241 yards on 19 catches. Neal Johnson has 163 yards on 15 catches. Peter LeBlanc also has 15 catches for 209 yards with three touchdowns.
Jacob Kibodi leads the Cajun rushing attack with 466 yards on 64 attempts with five touchdowns. Zeon Chriss is right with him with 446 yards on 57 carries with 5 touchdowns as well. Dre’lyn Washington has 272 yards on 41 carries with a touchdown. Zylan Perry has 113 yards on 34 carries and a touchdown.
Their rushing attack ranks eighth in the nation with Zeon Chriss as their #2 rusher on the team.
Defense
K.C. Ossai leads the Cajun defense with 49 total stops, 25 solo, with two tackles for loss, a sack, two quarterback hurries, two forced fumbles and a blocked kick. Jasper Williams is next in line with 44 total stops, 23 solo, with two sacks, and 3.5 TFLs. Tyrone Lewish has 41 total stops, 17 solo, with ½ sack, an interception and two pass breakups.
Kendre’ Grant leads the defense with five sacks, a pass breakup, a quarterback hurry, two fumble recoveries and two forced fumbles. Jordan Lawson has 4 sacks, 4.5 TFL’s, and three quarterback hurries. Tyler Guidry has 3 sacks, 5.5 TFLs, an interception, a pass breakup and a forced fumble.
Tyree Skipper leads the Cajuns with two interceptions with four other players tied for 2nd with one interception each.
Special Teams
Kenneth Almendares is 7-of-8 of his field goal attempts this season, his long is from 46-yards. His only miss is from 40+ yards.
Leo Thomas is averaging 42.4 yards per punt across his 25 attempts. He long for the season is 52 yards with 12 fair catches, 8 downed inside the 20, 3 kicks of 50+ yards and two touchbacks.
Injuries
No key injuries to note. Josh McCulloch is currently listed as the starter on the two-deep roster for the game. Maybe this is the week he finally returns from the knee injury that’s been hampering him since mid-September leading up to the Oklahoma State game. However, we won’t know for sure if McCulloch is a go until game time.
Keys to the Game
Quarterback Containment
Zeon Chriss rushed for a game high 119 yards in the Cajuns homecoming loss last week to Georgia State. Including a 34 yard run on 3rd and 6 on their final drive in their attempt to win the game.
The Jags defense has struggled defending against a dual-threat quarterback. The losses to Central Michigan and James Madison were both to teams with quarterback with dual-threat capabilities.
Against Central Michigan, the Jags were up 14-0 before Jase Bauer came in and led the Chippewas come-from-behind win.
If South Alabama wants to continue to their winning streak and remain at bunched at the top of the Sun Belt Conference Western Division, they will have to keep Chriss in check.
Continued Consistency
The Jags have been executing at a very high level over the last two games. The only thing you can knock on their play over the last two games were late in the first half against Southern Miss. The Jags had a couple of opportunities for touchdowns that were squandered. They had a few attempts to punch the ball into the end zone from at or inside the one-yard line and couldn’t convert. Then a costly false start when they were lining with the offense on fourth down, led them to a field goal.
They had another drive stall the field goal attempt by the usually reliable Diego Guajardo missed wide right leaving points on the field.
But outside of those and a couple other instances in the last two games, the Jags have almost been the embodiment of consistency over the last two games.
They need to keep striving to hit that mark this week (and the rest of the season).
Continue To Involve Other Receivers
Caullin Lacy was slotted in at the clear #2 receiver with Devin Voisin expected to be the #1. But when Devin went down with a season-ending injury, Lacy has stepped into the #1 position and has excelled.
Lacy has gone over 100-yards receiving in all but one game this season. He only managed 60 yards in the season opener at Tulane.
Jamaal Pritchett broke out in the Jags game vs Southern Miss last time out. He showed his speed and ability to avoid defenders.
Pritchett and other pass catchers will need to play big roles down the stretch this season with the meat of the SBC West coming up over the last few games.
Prediction
South Alabama is a 10.5-point favorite against the Cajuns. After the last two weeks, it’s hard for Jag fans to not nod their head in agreement with that.
Last time I was nervous about the Southern Miss game and that was a big whiff.
Call me what you want, but I’m nervous about this game too. Dual-threat quarterbacks have been kryptonite against the Jags defense historically (and this season). Head coach Kane Wommack, defensive coordinator Corey Batoon, and secondaries coach Jay Hopson have all done a great job correcting issues in the back side of the defense. Ricky Fletcher has stepped up his game noticeably. Jaden Voisin continues to play like the leader of the unit he is.
Lafayette seems to have improved in the second season under head coach Michael Desormeaux. Though they currently sit at 4-3 overall, they played Minnesota close and were one play away from potentially upsetting Georgia State, however an interception in the end zone with 30 seconds left derailed that comeback.
I feel that the Jags win I don’t think they cover the spread.
Go Jags!
Preview: South Alabama Hosts Southern Miss Tuesday Night Nationally Televised Showdown
Kickoff: Tuesday, October 17, 6:30pm
Venue: Hancock Whitney Stadium, Mobile, AL
TV/Streaming: ESPN2
Radio: 96.1 fm The Rocket, Sports Talk 99.5 fm, iHeartRadio App
Thunderjags on X (formerly known as Twitter): @USAThunderjags
#5 Jersey: Wy’Kevious “Bubba” Thomas
Half of the regular season schedule is in the books. Through the first six games of the season we’ve seen some of the best play from the Jaguars, but we’ve also seen some of the worst. They’re record is an even split across the board: they are 3-3 overall and 1-1 in Sun Belt Conference play.
After back-to-back losses, South Alabama went to Louisiana-Monroe. They had never won in Monroe but this time they did in emphatic fashion. They took the Warhawks out behind the woodshed by the score of 55-7.
The next test for the Jags will be the Southern Miss Golden Eagles. In the three meetings between the two programs, the Jags have yet to lose to USM. They’ve won two in Hattiesburg and one in Mobile.
Both teams come into the game on Tuesday night with a little extra rest. Both teams last played on October 7th and have a semi-bye week. They don’t get a full two weeks between games, since they were picked up by ESPN to play a nationally televised mid-week game.
Southern Miss (1-5, 0-3 SBC)
Southern Miss head coach Will Hall are in the midst of a five-game losing streak in his third season at the helm. They opened with a 40-14 win over Alcorn State then dropped games to #4 Florida State, Tulane, Arkansas State, Texas State and Old Dominion.
They come to Mobile for only the fourth meeting between these two programs looking for their first conference win of the season and their first win against the Jags.
Offense
Despite the record, Southern Miss remains a team that you cannot take lightly. Frank Gore Jr is one of the best all-around backs in the country. He has 3,288 career rushing yards and 58 career receptions to go along with seven career touchdown passes.
The Golden Eagles average 23.7 points, 356 total yards of offense, 213.8 passing yards, and 142.2 rushing yards per game.
They are converting 36-of-94 (38.3%) on 3rd down attempts and are 7-of-16 (43.8%) on 4th down attempts. They hold a 33:16 to 26:44 advantage on average time of possession per game too.
Of their 25 trips into the red zone, they have scored 22 times, but 11 (50%) have been field goals.
Sophomore Billy Wiles is 107-of-200 (53.5%) passing for 1,254 yards with 7 touchdowns, and 5 interceptions. His rushing stats don’t look so good because of sack yardage, but he has gained 122 yards on the ground yet he only has a net yardage of 14 for the season with a touchdown run. Quarterbacks have been sacked 14 times on the season.
Frank Gore Jr has only attempted one pass on the season and it was incomplete.
Jakarius Caston leads USM with 334 yards on 21 catches with three touchdowns. Latreal Jones leads the team with 23 catches with 324 yards and a touchdown. Tiaquelin Mims has 18 catches for 209 yards and a touchdown. Chandler Pittman adds 13 catches for 111 yards to round out the list of receivers with over 100 yards on the season.
Gore has 10 catches for 50 yards and a touchdown as the last player with double-digit receptions on the season. He leads the team rushing with 397 yards on 103 carries with four touchdowns. Gore has rushed for over 100 yards in two of his last three games.
Rodrigues Clark has 356 yards on 50 carries with two touchdowns.
Defense
The ‘Nasty Bunch’ defense has not been as nasty as their predecessors.
They have allowed an average of 35.3 points, 395.3 total yards of offense, 207.2 passing yards, and 188.2 rushing yards per game.
Opponents are only converting 26-of-71 (36.6%) of their 3rd down attempts and 4-of-7 (57.1%) on 4th down attempts.
They have 17 sacks on opposing quarterbacks on the season for a loss of 105 yards though.
Safety Dylan Lawrence leads the team with 36 total stops, 13 solo, with a sack. Fellow safety Jay Stanley is right behind him with 34 total stops, 18 solo, with ½ sack, a team leading two interceptions, 3 pass breakups, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery. Linebacker Hayes Maples is third on the team in total stops with 24, 9 solo, with 1.5 sacks.
Linebacker Jalil Clemons leads the team with three sacks.
Special Teams
Placekicker Andrew Stein is 13-of-15 (86.7%) on the season with a long of 52. His only two misses have come in the 40 yard zone.
Bryce Lofton is averaging 38.5 yards per punt with 10 fair catches, 7 downed inside the 20, and a long of 50 yards.
South Alabama (3-3, 1-1 SBC)
The Jags put together a consistent game last time out. The offense consistently moved the ball and the defense didn’t allow any big plays to note.
Offense
The Jag offense is averaging 32.2 points, 414.8 total yards of offense, 257.1 passing yards, and 157.7 rushing yards per game.
They are converting on 39-of-83 (46.99%) on 3rd down and 7-of-12 (58.3%) on 4th down attempts. They hold a slight advantage in average time of passion with 30:36 to their opponents 29:23.
USA continues to hold a perfect record when getting into the red zone. They have scored on all 20 trips, with 16 of them coming as touchdowns.
Carter Bradley is 117-of-178 (65.7%) passing for 1,456 yards, 11 touchdowns and 5 interceptions. Gio Lopez is 8-of-11 for 87 yards and a touchdown, with most of that work coming last time out against ULM.
Caullin Lacy has stepped up as the Jaguars leading receiver. He has 39 catches for 723 yards with 6 touchdowns. He is averaging just over 18.5 yards per catch. He is third nationally in receiving yards. He has a five-game streak of 100+ receiving yard games entering this game.
Jamaal Pritchett is next with 19 catches for 251 yards and a touchdown. Tight end DJ Thomas-Jones has 9 catches for 103 yards. Fellow tight end Lincoln Sefcik has 12 catches for 88 yards and a touchdown.
Kentrel Bullock has 84 yards on 10 catches with a touchdown while fellow running back La’Damian Webb has 12 catches for 66 yards.
Webb leads the team with 476 yards rushing on 83 carries with 8 touchdowns. His eight rushing touchdowns has him tied for 3rd in the national rankings, while his yards ranks him 33rd.
Bullock has 285 yards on 59 carries with two touchdowns. Marco Lee Jr has 160 yards on 33 carries with two touchdowns as well.
Defense
The Jag defense is allowing an average of 22.2 points, 339.7 total offensive yards, 223.5 passing yards, and 116.2 rushing yards per game. Opponents are converting 31-of-79 (39.2%) of their 3rd down attempts and 2-of-6 (33.3%) of their 4th down attempts.
Opponents have scored on 14 of their 19 trips into the Jags red zone, with only 9 of them scoring a touchdown.
Trey Kiser leads the defense with 39 total stops, 18 solo. He also leads the team with 6 tackles for loss too.
James Miller is second on the team with 37 total stops, 13 solo, with 1.5 sacks. Jaden Voisin has 34 total stops, 13 solo, with a team-leading two interceptions.
Brock Higdon leads the team with 2.5 sacks.
Yam Banks, Wesley Miller, and Marquise Robinson all have one interception each.
Special Teams
Diego Guajardo is 7-of-9 on the season with a long of 46. He missed a 52 yard attempt in the season opener against Tulane and a 43 yard attempt last time out against ULM.
Jack Martin is averaging 40.7 yards per punt with 10 fair catches, 7 downed inside the 20, two kicks of 50+ yards and a long of 53.
Injuries
Outside of the players that were lost for the season, head coach Kane Wommack anticipates that the players that are banged up will potentially be available against USM. Josh McCulloch has missed the last four games with a knee injury. Safety Mike Harris didn’t play against ULM due to an undisclosed injury.
Braylon McReynolds, Devin Voisin, Keith Gallmon Jr and Ed Smith are all considered out for the season. McReynolds has an outside chance to return late in the regular season and/or potentially for post-season play.
Keys to the Game
Consistency
The Jags have only played consistent ball for all four quarters in two games this season. Both were big wins (33-7 over Oklahoma State and 55-7 over ULM). When they play with consistency, the Jags are a powerhouse. They can beat any team in the conference.
But they have yet to play consistent ball in back-to-back games. This is an opportunity to do just that on national television.
Offensive Line
This is one of the keys to the game for at least the last two games. Even though Southern Miss haven’t shown it on the scoreboard, their defense has caused a bit of havoc on the season. They’ve collected 17 sacks of opposing quarterbacks and 32 tackles for loss.
They know that they have to attack at the line of scrimmage. They also know that the Jags have had some games where the offensive line hasn’t played very well either.
They’ll try to draw up some schemes to limit the Jaguar rushing attack and apply pressure on Carter Bradley.
Composure on the National Stage
The Jags have a somewhat bad history with nationally televised games. They have played flat and haven’t brought the same energy that they’ve had in other games not broadcast on a national platform.
I don’t know if it’s something to do with preparing to be seen nationally or just that the extra pressure has resulted in them playing tight historically.
This could be one of those games that, if the Jags don’t come to play for all 60 minutes, they could be on the bad end of an upset.
Prediction
Coach Wommack said that he and his staff spent a lot of time before the season planning out how they would navigate their two mid-week games. Getting off the usual Saturday game cadence and adjusting the schedule for a Tuesday night game with a couple extra days between can disrupt the rhythm of a team.
Hopefully the attention to detail helps the team play to their standard and ability.
South Alabama is a 15.5 point favorite against the Golden Eagles.
I think coach Hall and Southern Miss will throw everything they have at the Jags in order to find that first elusive conference win of the season. They’d also love to break that winless streak against the Jags too.
I think the Jags win, but I also think that Southern Miss will fight and cover the spread as their window to bowl eligibility is closing quickly. A loss to the Jags leaves them needing to win out with games against Mississippi State and Troy to close out the regular season.
Go Jags!