Looking for Sponsorships
Thunderjags is looking for sponsors. I have a ticket to the UC-Davis game, a place to stay but I don’t have a way out to California. So, do you or anyone you know want to sponsor Thunderjags? We are all ears so please contact us with any lead you may have.
Thanks and hope you enjoy the posts.
Injury Updates
Quarterback Brennan Sim receives the Offensive player of the game away after the Jags defeat Edward Waters College in the Wiregrass Football Classic in Dothan, Alabama.
South Alabama quarterback, Ray Cotton, had successful surgery on his throwing shoulder Coach Joey Jones announced. Cotton, a transfer from Ole Miss, who has reported had a torn Labrum since high school.
The labrum is a cuff of cartilage that helps to compensate for the shallow shoulder socket. It circles the shallow shoulder socket to make the socket deeper and makes the joint much more stable and allows for a very wide range of movements. It is thick tissue that is susceptible to injury with trauma to the shoulder joint like one could suffer playing football.
Coach Jones said that it was obvious that it was causing problems. Some of the tell-tale signs was that Cotton was throwing low to receivers and his throwing motion was off such that he was not bringing his elbow up to shoulder level. Also there was some pain when he threw the ball.
According to Coach Jones, Cotton should be ready in four months, just in time for spring practice.
When asked about Brandon Ross’ recovery, he said that if they allow the swelling and inflamation to go down before performing surgery, he should be able to recover in about six months. So he would probably miss spring practice, but he would be able to work out over the summer and be ready by fall camp.
Coach Jones also mentioned that Brennan Sim was a little dinged up in the Missouri game but has checked out okay with the medical staff. He actually practiced this morning with the team and will be ready to play on Saturday. However, Coach Jones did say that they will have to get the point across to the Jaguar quarterbacks that they need to slide more and take less hits.
Brandon Ross Sidelined By Torn ACL
Coach Joey Jones talks with Brandon Ross as the trainers tends to his knee.
South Alabama’s sophomore running back Brandon Ross, has been sidelined for the remainder of the season with a torn ACL suffered in the Jags big win over Missouri S&T on Saturday. Kendall Houston will move into the starting roll with Ellis Hill also coming in for some relief work.
Ross transferred into South Alabama from Memphis before last season. In five games this season he carried the ball 36 times for 274 yards and five touchdowns. Kendall Houston has rushed 31 times for 259 yards and six touchdowns.
The Jags go into a two game road stretch a bit banged up. Several injuries on the offensive line has lead to some shuffling of players, a knee injury to Myles Gibbon sidelined him for a couple games, Brennan Sim left the game against Missouri S&T with a concussion and now Ross. Brandon is the second season ending knee injury this season. Defensive back Darrow Fisher is missing the season when he tore his ACL in fall preseason camp.
We wish Brandon a speedy recovery and look forward to seeing him rejoining the team next fall.
Another Big Jaguar Win 45-6 Over Missouri S&T
Brandon Ross scores a touchdown early in the Jags game against Missouri S&T.
The Jags stay undefeated when another big win at home against Missouri S&T, 45-6. They improve to 5-0 on the season and 12-0 overall in the programs history.
Jordan Means opened up the scoring with a career-long 36 yard field goal on the Jags opening drive, just two and a half minutes into the game. The drive covered 41 yards in six plays but stalled and had to settle for the field goal.
Brennan Sim, the starting quarterback, took the first four snaps, including completing a pass to Courtney Smith for 29 yards. However, on a scramble the lowered his head for a few extra yards but was hit hard and had to leave the game. Myles Gibbon came in on third down but his pass to Courtney Smith was incomplete forcing the field goal attempt.
The Jags held the Miners and forced a punt. On the subsequent South Alabama possession, Sim returned to the field. Sim then completed his first pass attempt to T.J. Glover for 14 yards. Then two snaps later Sim was sacked and fumbled the ball which Missouri S&T recovered at the USA 26 yard line.
On the first play, Missouri S&T ran for one yard but offsetting penalties, holding on MS&T and a horse-collar tackle on USA, nullified the play. Missouri rushed twice for two yards on the first and no gain on the second. Then facing third and eight at the USA 24 a pass reception by Chad Shockley from Steve Watson for 13 yards got the Miners down to the Jaguar 11 yard line. The following play was an 11 yard touchdown reception again by Chad Shockley. However the extra point attempt was blocked, leaving the Miners with a 6-3 lead with 5:15 left in the first quarter.
C.J. Bennett was under center for the next South Alabama possession. The opening play was a run by Ralph Turner for eight yards to the USA 41 yard line, but a holding penalty put the Jags back at the 31 yard line. On first and 12, Bennett’s pass attempt to Lemontis Gardner was incomplete, but the very next play Bennett hit Corey Waldon for a 42 yard gain to the Miners 27 yard line. Brandon Ross followed it up with two rushes, one for 13 and another for 14 to score the answering touchdown. With the Jordan Means extra point the Jags regained the lead 10-6 with 3:10 left in the first quarter.
On the subsequent MS&T possession, after an incomplete pass and a two yard rush, Enrique Williams sacked the quarterback Watson for 14 yards causing a fumble. Randon Carnathan picked up the fumble and returned it eight yards for the touchdown. Means point after was good extending the Jags lead to 17-6 with 1:50 left in the first quarter.
Missouri S&T’s next possession went 25 yards in nine plays covering 6:10 before being forced to punt, which was downed at the Jaguar five yard line.
C.J. Bennett handed off to T.J. Glover for three yards. Then Kendall Houston ran for another ten yards to give the Jags some breathing room. Bennett tried to connect with Ryne Baxter but the ball fell incomplete. Then the following play he hooked up with Corey Waldon for 16 yards. Another incomplete pass before another Kendall Houston rush for 25 yards put the Jags at the Miners 41 yard line.
Following a time out by South Alabama, a rush by Bryant Lavender for 38 yards to the three yard line. Houston then plunged in for the touchdown. The Means PAT made the score 24-6 with 7:28 left in the second quarter.
The Jaguars defense held the Miners to -4 yards in a three and out on their next possession. The punt went 39 yards but Jereme Jones got most of it back on a 20 yard return to the Missouri 39 yard line.
It only took the Jags three plays to score. A six yard run by C.J. Bennett to the 33 yard line. Brandon Ross then rushed for 22 yards to the 11 yard line. However, Ross would need to be helped off the field with an apparent knee injury. Kendall Houston would cap off the drive with an 11 yard rush for the touchdown. With the Means PAT, the Jaguar lead extended to 31-6 with 4:10 left in the second quarter.
Again the Jaguar defense shut down the Miner offense with another three and out punt. The Jaguars started at their own 40 yard line. Bennett’s two passing attempts went incomplete. Then on third and ten Bennett was sacked and fumbled which was recovered by Missouri S&T at the Jaguar 31 yard line.
The first Missouri play was a 15 yard completion to the Jaguar 16 yard line. Following an incomplete pass, Watson completed a pass for a loss of one yard. Then on third and 11, an incomplete pass brought up fourth down. Missouri S&T then faked a field goal but only managed to gain three yards before Justin Dunn made the tackle.
The Jags ran out the final 54 seconds of the first half with two rushes by Ellis Hill for seven and eight yards respectively.
Missouri received the kickoff to begin the second half and started at their own 12 yard line. The Jags defense started the half with big to force a three and out. The Miners punt went 43 yards but Jereme Jones returned it 24 yards to the Miners 34 yard line, but a face mask penalty on Missori put the ball at the Miner 19 yard line.
Gibbon connected with Courtney Smith for 14 yards to the five yard line. Santuan McGee came up a yard short, only gaining four of the needed five yards. But Gibbon would plunge in for the score on the next play. The extra point put the Jaguar lead at 38-6 with 12:28 left in the third quarter.
On a drive that ended the third quarter and began the fourth quarter, the Jags had another scoring opportunity. The Jags drove 54 yards in eight play and getting down to the Miner four yard line before facing a fourth and three at the six yard line. Lawson McGlon attempted a 23 yard field goal but his plant foot slipped causing him to fall but the kick went wide left.
Later in the fourth quarter, Missouri started at their own 12 yard line. After a time out before the Miners third and two, they come up short on a rush and only gained one yard. Then, after a bad snap, the punter picked up the ball and tried to run for the first down but ended up losing five yards.
Santuan McGee would run four consecutive times for three, three, three and seven yards respectively before scoring the final touchdown of the game.
South Alabama gained 202 yards on 33 rushes and 167 yards passing for a total 369 yards. The Jaguar defense only allowed 71 yards on 41 rushes and 83 yards passing for at total of 154 yards.
South Alabama had several players run the ball. Brandon Ross rushed 6 times for 55 yards before leaving with a knee injury. Kendall Houston ran 4 times for 49 yards, Bryant Lavender ran once for 38 yards, Ellis Hill seven times for 29 yards and Santuan McGee six times for 21 yards. While several others also ran the ball for single digit yards.
Six Jags caught passes. Courtney Smith caught three for 73 yards, Corey Waldon caught two for 58 yards, T.J. Glover caught one for 14 yards and Richard Ross caught one for 11. Two others had one reception each.
C.J. Bennett went 5-for-10 for 107 yards. Gibbon was 2-for-4 for 17 yards and Brennan Sim was 2-for-2 for 43 yards.
Enrique Williams finished with a career high eight tackles and a forced fumble. Ben Giles added seven tackled while Justin Dunn added six himself with each of them with two tackles for loss. Tim Harvey and Jake Johnson had five tackles each and Ken Barefield and Alex Page each had four tackles. The defense held the Miners to an average of less than two yards per rush.
Coach Jones commented on the Jaguars performance after the game. “I thought the defense played very well. Obviously, early they made a drive, but as always our coaches on the sideline made adjustments and our kids adjusted to what they were doing. From that point on, they did a really good job. I was real proud of them today.”
Coach Jones commented on Brennan Sim returning to the sidelines after halftime without his shoulderpads. “Brennan got dinged a little bit, and we had to get him out. C.J. came in and played well. It seems like each game that there is a quarterback who steps into the mix and plays well. It’s more of a feel thing that we go with each game. I thought C.J. had a great game today.”
The Jags will go on the road for their next two games. The first is in Beaumont, Texas against Lamar for a 6pm kickoff. However reports are that Brandon Ross will have an MRI on his knee on Monday so the Jags appear to be without their number one running back going into their two game road swing.
Coach Jones commented about the players and the upcoming road games. “They know these upcoming weeks are going to be tough; we have to travel to Texas and California, and come back here and play Georgia State after that. As competitors we’re looking forward to that. They’re excited about getting on the road, going on a six-hour bus trip and playing a very good Lamar football team.”
October is shaping up to be a huge month for South Alabama football with games against Lamar, UC-Davis and Georgia State. The first two being road games. We will soon see much this team has grown and how far they are on their roadmap to Division I-A play.
Go Jags!
Coach Joey Jones Show Recap 2010-10-05
South Alabama sporting their all red uniforms at Ladd-Peebles Stadium against Kentucky Wesleyan.
Coach Perry was the guest along with Coach Jones and Lee Shirvanian on the radio show on Monday. The show started off talking about Baumhower’s is in the process of changing its name to reflect more of its dishes rather than just focus on their wings. So go out and support the show by visiting Baumhowers and ordering the Joey Jones Special, the black and white chicken with steamed broccoli.
This weeks game will see another new uniform combination with the Jags wearing their white jersey’s with their red pants. So the fans and students are being encouraged to wear their red apparel but get ready for Georgia State when they are having a complete white out.
The coaches spoke about how Kentucky Wesleyan stacked the box and the offense took advantage by throwing the ball and getting some big plays out of the receivers.
Lee mentioned the end of the LSU and Tennessee game and asked coach Jones if he has someone that is responsible to make sure that only 11 players are on the field at any given time. Coach Jones said that first off, the coordinator call the personnel grouping so then the position coaches make sure that the correct players get on the field. So when the players go on or off the field they tell them the package and the players are responsible to get on or off the field.
Coach Perry said he is responsible for making sure all of the offensive players are on the field. He also mentioned that it has been easier this year than it was last year, which means they are improving. But as long as the guys go onto and off of the field at the same time, it makes it much easier to keep up with numbers. If two guys go on, then two guys must come off.
Lee then asked that since USA has so many running backs, how do they determine who gets the most carries or more playing time. Coach Jones they are trying to find the winners on the team. If a player shows that they can win the game, then they will be on the field. The Coach Jones starts talking about the running back and how they have two big backs and two scat backs.
Obviously Brandon Ross (234 lbs) is one of their big backs along with Kendall Houston, while Ellis Hill is a bit between the big backs and the scat backs. TJ Glover and Santuan McGee make up the scat backs. Coach Jones talked about how he has never had such a group of backs before and how they can put Houston or Ross in there and they can pound for about 8 yards for play after play. Then they can put in McGee or Glover and they can get outside and got for 20 or 25 yards really quick. To round out the question, Coach Jones said they are trying to rotate all of the backs to keep them fresh and healthy as they go through the season.
Lee then posed a question to Coach Jones saying “If South Alabama gets into a tight game this year.” But before Lee could finish the question, Coach Jones said “we will, we will.” Lee then finished the question that when they get into that situation, will they continue to do like Alabama has done with Mark Ingram and Trent Richardson and continue to rotate. Coach Perry pretty much said that it just depends on who has the hot hand. Some days its Brandon then there are days when Kendall has the hot hand. Brandon has more experience and also that he has to be among the best in the nation in pass protection may sometimes be a better choice.
Lee said that if Brandon had more carries he would break 100 yards every game and Coach Jones was quick to agree in saying he definitely would. But he also added that there will be games in the not too distant future where he will be needed to carry the ball much more than he has been up to now. But the way that the games have been going, they have wanted to get as many players in the game as they can without overusing their starters.
Coach Jones mentioned that there are several players who are day to day or who will be 50/50 as they get closer to game day this Saturday. He mentioned Levi Slaydan has come back. Chris Brunson with a wrist injury. Brian Krauskoff had a weight room accident and has a big club on his hand. Shaun Artz has a cast on his wrist. Corey Pittman has returned to the team with fresh legs and is doing pretty good. They just have several guys who are a little beat up but if everything keeps progressing the way it has, they should be back to full strength in the next couple weeks.
Lee mentioned that Trey Clark, the center, has been the constant on the offensive line. Coach Jones said he makes all the calls on the line concerning pass protection and identifying the Mike linebacker. He may be considered undersized but teams will win with players like Trey.
After another break, they came back to the show to talk about a very sobering subject that they wanted to announce. Something that is more important than winning or losing on the field. They announced that Coach Perry’s wife was recently diagnosed with cancer. At a young age, only 29 years old, it was shocking for them to hear the diagnosis and find it boggling that someone as active, healthy and athletic as Ms. Perry, who runs every day and is a triathlon athlete, to be diagnosed with cancer. Coach Perry encouraged everyone to go downtown to Bienville Square for the American Cancer Society’s ‘Making Strides Against Cancer’ on October 30th. It starts at 8am and there is no fee. Donations are accepted.
Coach Perry stressed that if you do not know of anyone who has faced cancer, it’s only a matter of time with the current rate of diagnosis. So both he, Coach Jones and Lee Shirvanian wanted to make sure to encourage everyone to think about going downtown for ‘Making Strides Against Cancer’ on Saturday, October 30th at 8am starting at Bienville Square in downtown Mobile, Alabama.
The first write in question was about time of possession and asking if Coach Jones agreed that time of possession is a distorted statistic. Coach Jones agreed someone, he did say that about 90% of the time it is a good statistic, but there are games like the Jags have had this season, where time of possession favored the losing team and thus was a bit of a distorted stat. Generally, having the ball longer than your opponent means that you are probably sustaining drives better than your opponent and giving yourself more scoring opportunities.
Lee mentioned he wondered how may yards per rush the team was averaging. Coach Jones mentioned that Tommy Hicks ran some stats and compared them against Division I-AA schools and had them number one in a few categories on offense and defense. However, he was quick to mention that the numbers were distorted because they are not playing all Division I-AA schools so they can’t vouch for the validity.
Lee then asked about Missouri S&T, South Alabama opponent this weekend. Coach Jones said that they are giving them the most fits so far, coaching wise. They have odd looks defensively and offensively. Defensively you they typically see 3-4 and 4-3 defenses as well as the 8 man fronts. But Missouri runs a flex defense which few teams actually run and are making them really do their homework this week.
Lee mentioned the Troy and Middle Tennessee State game that was going to take place that night. Lee asked if he would like to play a Tuesday night game. Coach Jones chuckled and said definitely and that the Jags would play on Monday morning if they could be on television. However, their time on TV is rapidly approaching as the mid-majors are playing Tuesday and Thursday night, midweek games for ESPN and ESPN2.
Encouraging Words From Sun Belt Commissioner
South Alabama head coach Joey Jones greeting fans during Jaguar Prowl before the Jaguars game against Kentucky Wesleyan.
Sun Belt Conference commissioner Wright Waters has some bold words as he was looking at South Alabama’s football program recently.
Fans of college football, especially SEC football, knows that South Mississippi, northwest Florida and South Alabama is quite the hotbed of talent. Just a couple of the recent players are Pat White, Julio Jones, Trent Richardson among many others have come out of this area. While South Florida is heralded as a hotbed of talent, this area is just as fertile.
But Mr. Waters’ comments were uttered at the Heron Lakes Country Club for the Cellular South 1st & 10 club. “Not to put undue pressure on Joey or Joel or Gordon, but very honestly, South Alabama can be the Boise State of the next decade.”
Boise State was in Division I-AA in the mid-90’s. Waters visited for their playoff game against Marshall back then and they weren’t ready for the game. However, we all know that Boise State has remedied that situation since then.
But the other glaring one I want to make note of is the following one as he spoke about Boise State’s recruiting. “They understand their recruiting area, they understand what’s important, they’ve done a great job of scheduling and I think those omens are here too (at South Alabama). As I look at future non-conference schedules for South Alabama, they’re not taking the $1.3 million guarantee, they’re doing it the right way and scheduling games home and away. They’ll be ready. … Joey’s been there, done that, and that’s huge.”
This year marks the 10th season the league has sponsored a championship in football. As good things have happened to the league since they added football as a championship sport.
Troy moved up to Division I-A and have done well. The changes to South Alabama has been tremendous since the announcement of the addition to football at the University.
Currently with nine football schools, South Alabama will get the Sun Belt one school closer to the minimum 12 schools for a conference championship game. However, with the loss of the University of New Orleans and the impending departure of the University of Denver, this will leave the conference with only 11 schools. Since Arkansas-Little Rock does not appear to be making any movements towards adding football, a 12 team football conference is not on the horizon just yet.
Tommy Hicks has many more quotes from Commissioner Waters in his article here.
Another Big Win For The Jags, 52-3 Over Kentucky Wesleyan
South Alabama’s Paul Bennett dives for the end zone in the Jaguars win against Kentucky Wesleyan.
South Alabama scores a 52-3 win over Kentucky Wesleyan at Ladd-Peebles Stadium. The Jags defense forced five turnovers which tied a school record in the game.
The Jags got started quick in the game. After taking the opening kick off out to their own 36 yard line, Brandon Ross took the first hand off from starting quarterback Brennan Sim, 62 yards down to the Panthers two yard line. After a one yard gain up the middle by Ross, Kendall Houston plunged in for the touchdown after only one minute of play.
The first possession by the Panthers started at their own six yard line after a fumbling the kickoff. Two offensive plays netted seven yards for the Pathers before an illegal procedure penalty took them from third and short to third and long inside their own 10 yard line. A screen pass lost five yards and forced the Panthers to punt out of their own end zone.
The punt went out of bounds at the KWC 38 yard line, but a holding penalty on the Jags put them at the 48. The first two pass attempts by Sim went incomplete before he found Kevin Helms for six yards forcing the Jags to punt. A 41 yard punt by Scott Garber was downed at the Panther five yard line.
Kentucky Wesleyan got their first, first down of the game after a six yard rush and a five yard pass completion, however two plays later Jake Johnson would pick off a pass and set the Jags up at the Panther 14 yard line.
Kendall Houston, after being stopped for no gain on his first rush of the possession, he would break loose and score from 14 yards out to put the Jags up 14-0 with 8:19 left in the first quarter.
KWC, starting at their own 20 yard line, got their second first down of the game after a one yard rush, and eight yard completion and another one yard rush. But then they went into backwards gear. Two incomplete passes on first and second down forced KWC to call a timeout, but immediately following the time out they get flagged for a false start and moved back to the 25 yard line. Then Logan Bennett sacked the quarterback to put them back where they started at the 20 yard line.
The Panther punt went out of bounds at the Jaguar 31 yard line, but a group of penalties occurred. Offsetting personal fouls for both schools but also a 12 yard penalty on the Jags for holding put the ball at their own 19 yard line.
Myles Gibbon saw his first in-game action since his knee injury. His first play back was a 41 yard completion to Courtney Smith. This was followed up with a 15 yard rush by Brandon Ross to quickly move the ball to the Panther 25 yard line. Gibbon’s next pass was complete again to Courtney Smith for 11 more yards, however this play would be wiped away because of an illegal chop block. The penalty moved the ball back to the 40 yard line. An incomplete pass to Brandon Ross forced a fourth down punt by Garber that went into the endzone for a touchback.
Two short Panther completions began their next possession before their largest gain thus far in the game. An 18 yard pass completion and run got the Panthers out to the 43 yard line. Then a 15 yard facemask penalty on the Jags would put the Panther into Jaguar territory for the first time in the game. After a couple more plays, the Jags force the Panthers to punt.
The Jaguar returner let the ball go and had it downed at the four yard line. Gibbon, playing his second series of the game, would find Lamontis Gardner for 33 yards out to the Jagaur 37 yard line. An incomplete pass and a short run by Houston would bring up their and long at their own 39 yard line. But South Alabama would convert when Gibbon found Corey Waldon for 46 yards down to the Panther 15 yard line. T.J. Glover would lose four yards on a rush but Gibbon would find Paul Bennett for a 19 yard touchdown pass to put the Jags up 21-0 with 10:54 left in the second quarter.
On the ensuing kickoff, Sammy Bland would return the kickoff 18 yards but would fumble the ball back to South Alabama. C.J. Bennett would come in for the Jaguars on this possession. he started out with three pass attempts. The first was complete for five yards to Corey Besteda, the second was incomplete then the third was complete to Besteda again for another four yards. After a Jaguar time out, C.J. Bennett would find Courtney Smith for a 19 yard touchdown on fourth and one. The Jags then lead 28-0 with 9:36 left in the second quarter.
KWC would go three and out on their next possession and a terrible punt would put the Jaguar offense at their own 49 yard line. Brennan Sim would return to the game for the Jags and would complete his first pass attempt to Bryant Lavender for 49 yards down to the Panther two yard line. Santuan McGee would cap off the two play drive with a two yard touchdown putting the Jags up 35-0 with 7:54 left in the second quarter.
On the Pathers first play, they were flagged for a holding penalty putting them back at their own 10 yard line. The next play was a personal foul penalty on South Alabama to give the Panthers a first down at the 25 yard line. Then KWC would complete a 37 yard pass to get down to the South Alabama 38 yard line. An incomplete pass and a six yard rush later and the Panthers are facing a third down and four at the Jaguar 32 yard line. Then defensive back Michael Wilson would pick off a Panther pass and return it 75 yards for another Jaguar touchdown. The Jags lead was then 42-0 with 5:11 left in the first half.
The kickoff went into the end zone for a touchback, but a five yard penalty was added on at the end because South Alabama was offsides on the kickoff. But no matter as the Jags force and recover a fumble by the Panthers. But the Jags were set back by 15 yards on a personal foul penalty.
C.J. Bennett would return to the game but would fumbled himself on the first play, putting the Jags in a second down and 18 yard situation which was complicated by a false start penalty. Then on second down and 22, Bennett would complete a four yard pass to Ralph Turner, but a flag on South Alabama for an illegal formation would be declined. On third down Bennett’s pass was incomplete forcing a Jaguar punt.
Kentucky Wesleyan would have their best drive and only points of the game on their last possession of the first half. Two big pass plays, one for 49 and the other for 23 would put them at the South Alabama 11 yard line. Three consecutive incomplete passes would lead to a Panther field goal. The score was 42-3 at halftime.
The second half started with a three and out by the Panthers. C.J. Bennett would lead the Jags on a six play 64 yard drive for a touchdown. The drive was highlighted by a 31 yard pass completion to Courtney Smith and topped off with a pass to Lemontis Gardner for a 25 yard touchdown. The Jags then lead 49-3 with 9:47 left in the third quarter.
The Panthers next possession spanned 6:16 in six plays but only went 11 yards before they punted. The possession had penalties on KWC for holding and the Jaguars for holding twice and an illegal block.
The Jags next series was six plays for 19 yards before the Jags punted. The Panthers returner fumbled the punt and was recovered by the Jags at the Panther 14 yard line. The Jags would then drive down to the one yard line, but on fourth down, Coach Jones send in Jordan Means for the easy field goal to wrap up scoring at 52-3.
For the game, South Alabama had seven running backs touch the ball. Brandon Ross had three carries for 78 yards, Houston had five carries for 17 yards and two touchdowns, and Ellis Hill had six carries for 15 yards.
Nine receivers caught passes in the game. Courtney Smith lead them with three receptions for 91 yards and a touchdown. Lemontis Gardner had two receptions for 58 yards and a touchdown, Ralph Turner had two for 17 and Corey Besteda had two for nine yards. Other receivers with only one reception each were Bryant Lavender for 49 yards, Corey Waldon for 46 yards, Paul Bennett for 19 and a touchdown, Kevin Helms for six yards and Jeremy Roberts for four yards.
The Quarterbacks went for a collective 14-of-24 for 299 yards and three touchdowns. Myles Gibbon was 4-of-7 for 139 yards and a touchdown, C.J. Bennett was 8-of-13 for 105 yards and two touchdowns while Brennan Sim went 2-of-4 for 55 yards.
USA had 14 first downs compared to 11 for Kentucky Wesleyan. Jags had 299 yards passing, 114 yards rushing for 413 yards of total offense. While the Panthers had only 19 yards rushing and 209 yards passing for 228 yards total.
Coach Jones commented after the game, “I thought we came out offensively and played well. They stacked the box on us and made us throw the ball; we have to get in the mode of throwing the ball down field when the opponent does that, which I think we were able to today.”
Coach Jones continued, “We can’t get complacent where we are. It’s up to our players, staff and everybody involved not to get complacent at any time. We know the task at hand. We have to get better next week.
The most obvious improvement has been special teams. Jags kickers did not boot a single kickoff out of bounds in this game. Kick coverage was much improved but still needs work with big games against Lamar, UC-Davis and Georgia State looming on the horizon.
South Alabama hosts Missouri S&T on Saturday, October 9 with kickoff scheduled for 4pm. The Jags will then depart the friendly confines of Ladd-Peebles Stadium for two road games against formidable opponents. The first is Lamar in Texas and UC-Davis in California.