Jags Fall 28-10 in Battle For The Belt

November 2, 2023 · By · Filed Under Battle For The Belt, Football · Comments Off on Jags Fall 28-10 in Battle For The Belt 

South Alabama got a glimpse of their future quarterback, but dropped their sixth-consecutive Battle for the Belt to Troy 28-10. The loss puts the Jags under .500 on the season at 4-5 (2-3 in Sun Belt play) while the Trojans improve to 7-2 (4-1 SBC) and take a 9 games to 3 lead over the Jags in the series.

Carter Bradley went down on the final play against Louisiana-Lafayette on a rather pointless two-point conversion try. Though Bradley was coy in the Monday press conference, he didn’t suit up and true freshman Gio Lopez got the start in Troy. With a short-turnaround from Saturday to a Thursday night game, Bradley was unable to recover and be ready to play.

Though Lopez played well, it was obvious that the playbook was simplified for him. Also the Jaguar offensive line had problems protecting him as the game wore on.

After trading punts Quentin Wilfawn forced a fumble which Jamall Hickbottom recovered at the Troy 44 yard line. La’Damian Webb scored a few plays later on a 2 yard run to put the Jags up 7-0 at the 10:13 mark of the first quarter.

The second quarter was all Trojans.

After a missed 50 yard field goal attempt by Diego Guajardo on the left hashmark that just didn’t move right, the Trojans capitalized. On the fourth play of the drive, Gunnar Watson threw deep for Chris Lewis and he hauled it in one-handed for a 47 yard touchdown to tie the game.

After starting at their own 4 yard line, the Trojans put together a 12-play, 96 yard drive capped off by a 26 yard touchdown pass to Lewis again for a 14-7 lead over the Jags.

South Alabama started the fourth quarter facing a 4th and 2 at the Troy 43 yard line. Lopez rolls to his right and is able to get the ball away despite being completely smothered by the Trojan defense. Caullin Lacy caught the pass for 5 yards and a first down. On the next play, Lopez scrambled out of two tackles and threw it down field on a heave that Jamaal Pritchett hauled in going out of bounds at the 3  yard line.

Unfortunately the Jags cannot put it in the end zone. After a false start, Lopez ran for 7 yards to the 1 yard line. On 3rd & goal at the 1, Webb ran to the left and ran into a gaggle of players, he backpedaled and was eventually brought down for a 10 yard loss. The Jags settled for a 29 yard field goal to narrow their deficit to 14-10 at the 11:47 mark of the fourth quarter.

The Trojans just bled the clock.

The Trojans couldn’t punch the ball in on three attempts from the 1 yard line. On 4th down, Kimani Vidal ran right and was tackled at the goal line. The play was ruled a touchdown without a review despite how it looked like he may have been kept out of the end zone.

With the Jags down 21-10 with 3:12 left in the game they had Lopez throwing the ball. After a pair of incompletions, Lopez tried to get the ball Javon Ivory but the throw was a little high and behind him and went off his fingertips and was intercepted.

The South Alabama defense had the Trojans 4th and 7 at the 29, Watson threw the ball up to Lewis and he came down with his third touchdown of the game to put the bow on the Jaguar loss.

“I think, when you look at the game, obviously missed execution is really the thing that they did a better job than we did,” head coach Kane Wommack said. “Situationally, we can’t let them bleed us for two massive drives at very critical moments in the game. Didn’t get off the field some on third down defensively at critical moments and obviously didn’t finish well enough in the red zone.”

Stats

The Jags were out-gained by the Trojans 400-252 in total yards, 271-155 in passing yards, and 129-97 in rushing yards for the game.

While the Trojans were only 5-of-14 on 3rd down, the Jags were 0-for-10 on 3rd down.

Also the Jags lost the time of possession game 24:22 to 34:38.  

Lopez finished 17-of-27 for 155 yard with an interception.

Caullin Lacy extended his streak of consecutive games with a catch to 34. He had nine catches for 89 yards, with 77 yards after catch. Pritchett caught six for 59 yards.

La’Damian Webb had 53 yards rushing on 15 carries with a touchdown, his 14th of the season and setting a new single-season record for rushing touchdowns. Lopez ran for 39 yards on nine carries. Kentrel Bullock has 2 carries for 5 yards before leaving the game in the first half with a rib contusion.

Quentin Wilfawn led the defense with 11 total stops, 6 solo, with a sack, two TFLs and a forced fumble. Jaden Voisin and Trey Kiser were next with 9 stops each. Kiser had two TFLs.

Gunnar Watson finished 19-of-27 for 271 yards with three touchdowns.

Chris Lewis had four catches for 120 yards with three touchdowns. Deshon Staudemire had six catches for 81 yards.

Kimani Vidal rushed for 125 yards on 24 carries with a touchdown. The other Trojan backs combined for 15 carries and 4 yards.

Irshaad Davis had 11 stops, 2 solo, for the Trojans. Jordan Stringer had 10 stops, 2 solo. Reddy Steward came away with the only interception of the game.

Was playing Gio the best call? We will never really know. Would Desmond Trotter have given us a better chance to win? Again we’ll never know. The coaches believed Lopez was our best shot to win and that’s what we have to go on. But he did make some big plays in the game.

With three games left and needing at least two wins to get bowl eligible, the Jags need to heal up quickly. Kentrel Bullock left the game and didn’t return. Jaden Voisin also left the game and didn’t return. Voisin is a leader in the Jaguar secondary while Bullock is a good #2 to Webb.

Next

Arkansas State comes to Mobile on Saturday, November 11 for a 4pm kick to start a two-game home stand, a game the Jags really need to win. Let’s hope the home crowd provides more energy in the stadium than it did against the Cajuns.

Preview: Battle for the Belt 2023

November 1, 2023 · By · Filed Under Battle For The Belt, Football · Comments Off on Preview: Battle for the Belt 2023 

Kickoff: Thursday, November 2, 6:30pm
Venue: Veterans Memorial Stadium, Troy, 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: Jamaal Pritchett


The 2023 edition of The Battle for the Belt is here.

South Alabama (4-4, 2-2 SBC) has come out on the wrong side of the scoreboard the last five meetings against troy (6-2, 3-1 SBC). Those five losses are the difference in the all-time record between the two teams, troy leads the series 8-3. The last time the Jags won, it was Joey Jones’ last season at the helm of the program and current head coach Kane Wommack was the defensive coordinator. That game was a 19-8 defensive struggle. Last year was another defensive struggle that finished with a low scoring 10-6 final.

In a short week after a 33-20 loss to Louisiana-Lafayette, the South Alabama players and coaches have to clear their minds, correct their issues, and treat their injuries for a 6:30 pm kickoff on Thursday night.

Some may think that’s a hard thing to do in such short time. Physically, that is true. Mentally, it may be easier that you think. Especially when you’re a talented team and you lose, you’re ready to get back on the field and prove yourself all over again.

They will have their opportunity Thursday night on national television.

South Alabama (4-4, 2-2 SBC)

As a team, the Jags have a -2 turnover margin. They have given the ball away 14 times in total, 8 passes intercepted and out of eight fumbles, they’ve lost 6 to their opponents.

Meanwhile the defense has forced nine fumbles, recovering 6 of them, and intercepted 6 passes.

South Alabama is averaging 7.125 penalties and 62.63 penalty yards per game. Their opponents are averaging 5.875 penalties and 50.88 penalty yards per game.

Offense

The Jaguars are averaging 33.5 points (31st nationally), 454.3 total offensive yards (20th nationally), 285.5 passing yards (25th), 168.8 rushing yards (50th), and 30:01 time of possession per game through eight games this season.

They are converting 52-of-108 on 3rd down and 9-of-16 on 4th down attempts.

The perfect run of red scoring came to an end against the Ragin’ Cajuns. After failing to score on two attempts, the Jags now have scored on 28 of their 30 trips into the red zone, with 23 of them being touchdowns. The Jags failed to score on their first red zone trip against the Cajuns when head coach Kane Wommack opted to keep the offense on the field for a 4th and 1 at the Cajuns 6-yard line. The other was an interception in the end zone in the fourth quarter.

Carter Bradley is 167-of-254 (65.75%) passing with 2,156 yards, 13 touchdowns and 7 interceptions. Gio Lopez is the only other Jags with passing stats, he is 10-of-15 (66.67%) for 128 yards, a touchdown and an interception in three appearances.

Caullin Lacy leads the team with 55 catches for 957 yards and 6 touchdowns. He ranks 2nd in the nation in receiving yards, trailing LSU’s Malik Nabers by only 24 yards on the season.

Jamaal Pritchett had a career game against the Cajuns. His season total is 35 catches and 541 yards with three touchdowns. Lincoln Sefcik has 17 catches for 165 yards and a touchdown. DJ Thomas-Jones has 14 catches for 150 yards. Kentrell Bullock has 13 catches for 106 yards and a touchdown. La’Damian Webb has 17 catches for 106 yards to round out the pass catchers with 100+ yards on the season.

Webb leads the team rushing with 674 yards on 119 carries and 13 touchdowns (tied for the most in a season and tied for first in the nation) with a 5.7 yards per carry average. Bullock has 375 yards on 74 carries and three touchdowns with a 5.1 yards per carry average. Marco Lee Jr has 186 yards on 39 carries with two touchdowns and a 4.8 yards per carry average.

Defense

The defense is allowing an average of 21.13 points (T38th nationally), 316.9 total yards of offense (22nd nationally), 191.5 passing yards (22nd nationally), 125.4 rushing yards (40th nationally), and 29:58 time of possession per game this season.

Opponents are converting 38-of-106 (35.85%) on 3rd down and 3-of-8 (37.5%) on 4th down attempts.

The defense has had opponents in the red zone 22 times and they have scored on 17 of those trips with 10 of them being touchdowns.

James Miller has moved back into the top spot with 51 total stops, 18 solo. Quentin Wilfawn, with his career game against the Cajuns, has moved into second place with 50 total stops, 27 solo, and he leads the team with 8.5 Tackles for Loss. Trey Kiser is now third on the team with 46 total stops, 20 solo, with six TFLs (second on the team).

Brock Higdon continues to lead the team with 3 sacks. Wilfawn, Khalil Jacobs, Jamie Sheriff, and Maurice Strong Jr are all tied for second with two sacks each.

Jaden Voisin continues to lead the team with two interceptions. Strong Jr, Yam Banks, Wesley Miller, and Marquise Robinson each have an interception.

Special Teams

Diego Guajardo is 9-of-12 (75%) on the season in field goals and is 30-of-32 on extra point attempts.

Jack Martin, after not seeing any action since September, is now averaging 39.41 yards per punt for his 22 attempts this season. His average took a plunge after the shanked punt from a bad snap and narrowly avoiding a block against the Cajuns.

troy (6-2, 3-1 SBC)

As a team, the Trojans have a turnover margin of +2 on the season. They have fumbled 15 time, losing possession on 9 of them, with 4 passes being intercepted. Defensively they have forced 13 fumbles and recovered 8 of them while also intercepting 7 passes.

Offense

The trojans are averaging 27.13 points (69th), 441.8 total yards of offense (31st), 275.88 passing yards (33rd), and 165.9 rushing yards (55th), and 32:14 time of possession per game.

They are converting 49-of-118 (41.53%) of their 3rd down attempts and 6-of-15 (40%) of their 4th down attempts on the season.

The Trojans are also doing well in the red zone. Out of their 30 trips, they have scored on 29 of them, however only 15 of them have resulted in touchdowns.

Gunnar Watson is 149-of-247 (60.32%) for 2,158 yards, 14 touchdowns and 4 interceptions on the season. Goose Crowder is 5-of-6 for 49 yards.

Jabre Barber leads the Trojans with 615 yards on 39 catches with three touchdowns. Chris Lewis has 415 yards on 18 catches with four touchdowns. Deshon Staudemire has 381 yards on 27 catches with a touchdown. Devonte Ross has 243 yards on 22 catches with two touchdowns. Finally, Kimani Vidal has 140 yards on 10 carries with a touchdown to round out the list of 100+ yard receivers.

Vidal leads the team with 994 rushing yards on 172 attempts with six touchdowns while averaging 5.8 yards per carry. Kamien Taylor has 247 yards on 45 carries with a touchdown and a 5.5 yard per carry average.

Defense

troy leans on their defense for their winning ways. They allow an average of 16.88 points (17th nationally), 301 total yards of offense (14th), 193.88 passing yards (28th), 107.1 rushing yards (20th), and 27:32 time of possession per game.

Opponents are converting 35-of-110 (31.82%) of their 3rd down attempts and 6-of-19 (31.58%) of their 4th down attempts.

Opponents have had the ball in the red zone 22 times and scored on 17 of those trips, with 10 of them being a touchdown.

Jayden McDonal leads the team with 52 total stops, 32 solo, with 7 tackles for loss. Dell Pettus is next in line with 43 stops, 26 solo, with a TFL. Caleb Ransaw has 34 total stops, 21 solo.

Javon Solomon leads the Trojans with 6 sacks. Richard Jibunor has 4.5 sacks for second place on the team.

Solomon and McDonald are tied for the lead with 7 TFLs. Jibunor has six. Ransaw has 4 TFLs.

Special Teams

Scott Taylor Renfroe is 16-of-19 (84.21%) on field goal attempts. His only misses have come from 40+ yards and his longest make of the season is 43 yards.

Robert Cole is averaging 39.71 yards per punt over 28 attempts. He’s had 9 downed inside the 20, 8 fair catches, 4 kicks of 50+ yards, and two touchbacks. 

Injuries

The most obvious injury from the game against the Cajuns was Carter Bradley. Bradley went down on the last offensive play of the game, a two-point conversion try, when he was tackled from behind just after he threw the ball. He was in obvious pain on the ground.

In the Jags Monday press conference, one of the first questions was about Bradley’s availability on Thursday. Coaches said that he has had a lingering issue with his left knee for a few weeks now. The first question to Bradley during the player portion of the press conference was about him playing against Troy. He had a sly grin on his face when he answered, “You’ll find out on Thursday.”

Bradley explained “I kind of tweaked it a little bit during the week of practice, I just landed on it weird, nothing crazy.”

Offensive coordinator Major Applewhite said that Bradley’s rehab efforts are going well. “He moved around pretty good out at practice [Monday],” Applewhite said. “…We’re going to rep all of them. Dez has played in that game before and we feel comfortable with him running the offense and Gio has gotten some reps throughout the year. He’s still young in his development but he’s come a long way and he’s doing great things as well.”

Lopez, a true freshman, has appeared in three games so far this season and is the only other player with passing statistics this season other than Bradley. However Trotter was the starter in the 2020 season and has filled in as starter in games over the last two seasons with the program. He has in-game experience and will likely be the starter if Bradley is unable to go or if Bradley has to come out early.

Keys to the Game

Offensive Line

The Jags got whipped in the trenches by Louisiana-Lafayette. They allowed Carter Bradley to be sacked five times, he fumbled on three of those sacks. The rushing attack wasn’t able to get established consistently either. The Cajuns were able to set the line of scrimmage in the Jaguar backfield.

After a failed two-point conversion, we are now waiting to hear if Bradley will even be able to play against troy. If not, will Desmond Trotter get the start or could they turn to Gio Lopez, the true freshman, who’s already shown he can also bring more of a running threat to the position.

But no matter who is back taking the snaps, they need to the offensive line to get back to the way they’ve played against Oklahoma State, ULM and Southern Miss (and quickly).

No matter who is taking snaps, troy will be looking to pressure them to see how they react. If it’s Bradley, how well can he move. If it’s Trotter, how can they pressure him into mistakes. But if it’s Lopez, how can they capitalize on this inexperience.

No matter how you slice it, the offensive line has a big test ahead of them on Thursday.

Establishing the Run

South Alabama’s offense is much more effective when they have established the run well on opponents.

It’s also very beneficial with the new clock rules this season. The new rule that is making the most impact in games is having the clock run after first downs, except for the last two minutes of each half. If you can keep the ball on the ground and churn out first downs, teams can really limit their opponents’ opportunities to possess the ball and score.

I’ll just reiterate it, the Jaguar offense simply runs much more efficiently and effectively if they can run the ball consistently.

Turnovers and Penalties

Five turnovers doomed the Jags against Louisiana-Lafayette. Five turnovers will doom you against any opponent though.

It was an uncharacteristically bad game for the Jags, they rarely turn the ball over that much under coach Wommack and they rarely are on the negative side of the turnover margin.

Coach Applewhite mentioned in the press conference that, whenever the quarterback is on the move, they have to have both hands on the ball. Bradley also mentioned that he needs to do better at picking up the backside pressure, like what the Cajuns did against him.

In order to win the game, the Jags need to be in the positive side of the turnover margin. The defense has not generated a lot of takeaways so far this season and they need to change that, starting this week.

But also, they cannot commit penalties and give their opponent free first downs to extend drives. Whenever you play, you have to play clean. You have to assume when you are playing on the road, the officials will be calling in favor of the home team.

You can almost guarantee that emotions will be running high in the game. troy will try to bait Jaguars into committing penalties. South Alabama players will have to keep cool heads and focus on the game from snap to whistle and anything outside of that has to be shrugged off.

Prediction

If this game had been swapped with the ULL game on the schedule, we would be saying that both teams were coming into the game playing their best football.

troy may be playing some of their best football coming into the game. But after the game on Saturday, where the Jags committed five turnovers, they don’t seem to be playing their best football coming into this game.

But that doesn’t mean the Jags can’t find their mojo again.

After dropping back-to-back games against Central Michigan and James Madison, the Jags rolled to back-to-back wins while scoring 55-points per game. Let’s hope they Jags don’t need two games to get that mojo back.

troy is going to go after Bradley if he plays. They know he has a questionable knee and the offensive line has had their issues this season.

It all depends which team gets off the bus at Veteran’s Memorial Stadium on Thursday.

The Jags are a 6.5-point underdog to troy. Let’s bring that Belt back to Mobile.

Go Jags!

Jags Fall To troy 10-6 In Annual “Battle for the Belt” Game

October 21, 2022 · By · Filed Under Battle For The Belt, Football, Sun Belt Conference · Comments Off on Jags Fall To troy 10-6 In Annual “Battle for the Belt” Game 

South Alabama (5-2, 2-1 SBC) was held to only a pair of field goals by Troy (6-2, 4-1 SBC) (and the refs) in the annual “Battle for the Belt” game as they fall by a score of 10-6.

The Jags were held to 246 yards of total offense, 215 yards through the air and a mere 31 yards rushing.

Troy only gained 266 total yards of offense, 138 through the air and 128 on the ground.

A number of questionable calls (and no-calls) in the game all went against the Jags. Blatant late hit out of bounds wasn’t flagged. Horse collar tackle was flagged on Troy, then picked up. A deep pass by Carter Bradley for Devin Voisin at the 4 yard line was reviewed and ruled incomplete. A final possession pass went into and immediately out of the hands of a receiver and was catch and fumble and upheld on review allowing time to expire.

This was the second worst officiated Sun Belt game I have ever seen in person, the worst being the 2017 3OT debacle of a game against Idaho. There were many who were asking if this was real and if this was the best crew the Sun Belt could muster for a Thursday night, nationally televised game.

Carter Bradley finished the game 29-of-40 for 215 yards and an interception. Devin Voisin had nine catches for 93 yards to lead all receivers. Omni Wells led the Jags rushing game with just 21 yards on four carries.

South Alabama will have some extra time to regroup and prepare for a trip to Arkansas State on Saturday, October 29.

Preview: Battle For The Belt, South Alabama vs Troy

October 19, 2022 · By · Filed Under Battle For The Belt, Football, Sun Belt Conference · Comments Off on 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!

South Alabama Rally Falls Short At Troy, 31-24

November 6, 2021 · By · Filed Under Battle For The Belt, Football, Sun Belt Conference · Comments Off on South Alabama Rally Falls Short At Troy, 31-24 

South Alabama attempted to rally back from a 24-point deficit, but couldn’t find the tying touchdown as they fall at Troy 31-24.

The Jags (5-4, 2-4 SBC) took the opening kickoff down the field to open the game with a statement touchdown. However, one play before the touchdown, starting quarterback Jake Bentley was forced out of the game after a hit below the knee.

Troy (5-4, 3-4 SBC) went three and out and was forced to punt back to the Jags. But the first handoff exchange between Desmond Trotter and Terrion Avery wasn’t clean and ended up on the turf with a Trojan covering.

The Trojans put up 31 unanswered points with the last seven coming via a pick-six when Trotter threw an ill-advised pass in an attempt to evade a sack.

South Alabama got the ball back with 1:41 left before halftime with good field position at the Troy 47 yard line after a personal foul on the Trojans on the punt return. The Jags patched together a 9 play drive, with a 4th down conversion, to put seven on the board with only 9 seconds left befor halftime.

The Jags ended the Trojan’s first possession of the second half when Tre Young picked off Taylor Powell at the Jags 24 yard line.

A 19 play, 76 yard drive with three 4th down conversions ended with a three yard touchdown pass by Trotter to Terrion Avery to make it a 10 point game.

Early in the 4th quarter a 31 yard punt gave the Jags the ball at their own 35 yard line with 12:53 left in the game.

They drove down to the Troy 10 yard line but a sack on 3rd and 9 at the 10 yard line forced the Jags to settle for a field goal with 6:45.

Troy was backed up to their 9 yard line after a mishap on the kickoff but hit on a 34 yard pass to get out of the shadow of their own end zone. Three plays later the Swarm D force a punt.

The Jags had the ball 1st and 10 at their own 10 yard line with 4:14 left in the game. They converted one 4th down to extend the drive. But the second one, a 4th and 3 at the Jags own 33 could not be converted. Trotter had an open Avery but an overthrown pass hit the turf to give the ball back to try who were able to ice the game.

Stats

Jake Bentley was a perfect 3-for-3 for 49 yards before having to leave the game with a knee injury. Desmond Trotter went 20-of-32 for 138 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.

Lincoln Sefcik caught nine passes for 55 yards. Tolbert caught four passes for 65 yards. Avery caught four for 31 yards and two touchdowns. Jalen Wayne caught three for 29 yards.

Avery led the Jags rushing attack with 75 yards on 23 carries. Trotter had 11 carries for 43 yards and a touchdown. Bryan Hill added 26 yards on nine carries.

Gunnar Watson was 11-of-14 for 121 yards before leaving the game himself. Taylor Powell was 6-of-11 for 80 yards and a touchdown in relief.

Tez Johnson led the Trojans with 4 catches for 46 yards. Luke Whittemore added three catches for 59 yards.

BJ Smith led the Trojans rushing attack with 49 yards on 12 carries. Tez Johnson had one carry for 31 yards and a touchdown. Kimani Vidal only had 5 carries for 29 yards. Jamontez Woods had 5 carries for 7 yards for two touchdowns.

South Alabama had a 335 to 308 advantage in total yardage. They were outgained 187 to 201 through the air, but out gained the Trojans 148 to 107 on the ground.

The Jags converted 5 of 16 3rd down attempts in the game and were 5-of-8 on 4th down attempts. Troy was 6-of-12 on 3rd down and didn’t attempted a 4th down conversion against the Jags.

The Jags gave the ball away twice, a fumble and an interception, which led to 10 points for the opponents. The Jags defense got one interception and turned it into a touchdown.

Next Game

The Jags travel to Appalachian State for a 1:30pm kickoff against the Mountaineers in Boone, NC on Saturday, November 13. They defeated Arkansas State 48-14 in Jonesboro, Arkansas earlier today

Preview: Battle For The Belt Edition, Jags Look To Bring The Belt Back From Troy

November 4, 2021 · By · Filed Under Battle For The Belt, Football, Sun Belt Conference · Comments Off on Preview: Battle For The Belt Edition, Jags Look To Bring The Belt Back From Troy 

Kickoff: Saturday November 6, 2:30pm
Venue: Veterans Memorial Stadium, Troy, Alabama
TV/Streaming: ESPN+
Radio: 96.1 fm The Rocket, Sports Talk 99.5 fm, iHeartRadio App
Thunderjags Twitter: @USAThunderjags
#5 Jersey: Darrell Luter


It’s Battle for the Belt Week.

South Alabama (5-3, 2-3 SBC) came out of the locker room ready to play from the opening whistle. They scored touchdowns on each of their first four possessions in route to a 31-13 win over Arkansas State (1-7, 0-4 SBC).

The only touchdown allowed came on the ensuing kickoff after the Jags fourth touchdown of the first half.

Jalen Tolbert scored the first two touchdowns for his 9th career touchdown against the Red Wolves.

Terrion Avery is only the second Jaguar to rush for over 100 yards in a game this season. The last was Kareem Walker against Alcorn State back in week 3 of the season.

Second half adjustments by Arkansas State really stymied the Jaguars offense in the second half. They had negative yardage in the third quarter. While the offensive adjustments by the Red Wolves helped them to have more production in the second half, the Jaguar defense kept them out of the end zone and forced four turnovers.

Now the Jags are just one win away from bowl eligibility.

But they also being the much talked about three-game road swing. It all begins on the road in Troy, AL.

Troy

The Trojans are 4-4 overall, 2-2 in Sun Belt play and the largest margin of defeat was 13 points to the ULM. Both of their conference wins have been by 3 points (27-24 over Georgia Southern in Troy, 31-28 over Texas State in San Marcos). Both conference wins came by late game heroics.

The two conference losses have come at the hands of ULM (29-16) and Coastal Carolina (35-28).

Their two non-conference wins were over Southern (55-3) and Southern Miss (21-9). Their losses were to Liberty (21-13) and South Carolina (23-14).

Offense

Here are the Trojans by the numbers. They are averaging 27.4 points, 138.3 rushing yards, 243.7 passing yards and 382 total offensive yards per game.

They are 41-of-99 (41.4%) on third down situations. They are 6-of-11 (54.6%) on fourth down situations.

In the red zone they have scored 19-of-25 trips, with 15 of them being touchdowns.

The offense has fumbled the ball 8 times and lost possession 6 times. Quarterbacks have thrown 4 interceptions on the season.

Kimani Vidal leads the running back corps with 105 attempts for 553 yards and 5 touchdowns. BJ Smith has 248 yards on 54 attempts with 2 touchdowns. Jamontez Woods has 222 yards on 40 carries with 4 touchdowns.

Taylor Powell, a transfer from Missouri, started the first four games of the season before being sidelined by a knee injury. Powell is 101-of-153 for 960 yards, 6 touchdowns and 4 interceptions in those four games.

Gunnar Watson has started the last four games and is 68-of-100 for 746 yards and 6 touchdowns without an interception. Watson started nine games last season before being beaten out for the job by Powell.

Tez Johnson is the teams leading receiver with 46 catches for 481 yards and three touchdowns.

Reggie Todd in the next leading receiver with 21 catches for 257 yards and a touchdown. However Todd has been indefinitely suspended after being arrested on a charge of hindering prosecution in relation to a shooting during a high school football game at Ladd-Peebles Stadium on October 15.

Three other receivers have over 100 yards receiving on the season and five have 10 or more catches on the season.

While the offense hasn’t been overly productive, they really been kept in games by their defense.

The Jags know how that goes.

Defense

The Troy defense is a scrappy, stingy unit.

Statistically speaking the Trojans defense allows an average of 21.6 points, 99.9 rushing yards, 211.4 passing yards, and 311.3 total yards of offense per game.

Opponents are converting 35-of-101 (34.7%) 3rd down attempts and 6-of-9 (66.7%) 4th down attempts.

When opponents get into the red zone, they have scored all 13 times, however less than half have been touchdowns (6-of-13).

As a team the defense has 59 tackles for loss with 27 sacks, 13 interceptions, and 3 fumble recoveries.

Linebacker Carlton Martial from Mobile’s McGill-Toolen HS, leads the team with 70 total tackles, 31 solo, 8 tackles for loss, a sack, and an interception.

The next two combined come up one short of Martial’s total. Javon Solomon from the Bandit position has 35 total stops, 19 solo with 11.5 tackles for loss and team leading 8 sacks and an interception. Linebacker KJ Robertson has 34 total stops with 3 tackles for loss and 1/2 sack.

The defense kept the game against Coastal Carolina close in the fourth quarter. The Chanticleers gambled with a fake punt on a 4th and 4 from their own 31, which paid off in their favor. Though they still had to punt a little later, they were able to burn more time off the clock before doing so.

The Trojan defense forced three interceptions in the fourth quarter against Texas State. One of them went for a touchdown which provided the go-ahead score.

The week before that the defense collected an interception which allowed the Trojans to drive and get the game-winning field goal with 1:46 left in the game.

Troy’s defense ranks 18th in the nation in total defense, 39th in passing yards allowed, 20th in rushing defense, T36th 3rd down conversion percentage, and T10th in turnovers gained. Which right there with the Jags.

Special Teams

Brooks Buce is 4-of-4 on field goal attempts, his longes of the season is only 34 yards and is 24-of-25 in extra point attempts.

Luke Magliozzi has punted 38 times on the season with an average of 42.8 yards per kick, 15 fair catches, 9 downed inside the 20, 7 have gone 50+ yards with the longest being 65 yards.

South Alabama

One win away from bowl eligibility. Did any fans think this would happen a year ago?

It’s a testament to head coach Kane Wommack and his staff for the progress they’ve been able to make through eight games.

Offense

Four touchdowns on their first four possessions. This is type of execution a coach wants to see.

Statistically the Jags are averaging 29.1 points, 133.4 rushing yards, 261.1 passing yards and 394.5 total yards of offense per game.

They are converting 43-of-115 3rd down attempts (37%) and they are converting 13-of-20 on 4th down (65%).

The offense has given the ball away 13 times with 8 fumbles loss on 10 total fumbles and five interceptions.

Terrion Avery, who wore the honorary #5 jersey, showed why he earned. Avery was only the second Jag rusher to run for over 100 yards this season. He continues to be the Jags leading rusher with 399 yards on 95 carries with a touchdown.

Bryan Hill is next in line with 271 yards on 58 carries with three touchdowns. Kareem Walker, in only his second game back from a quad inury, has 237 yards on 63 carries with four touchdowns in five games of action.

Jake Bentley is the first Jag in five seasons to throw for over 2,000 yards. And he’s only 2/3rds of the way through the season!

On the season Bentley is 181-of-259 (69.9%) for 2,073 yards and 15 touchdowns.

Not only is Jalen Tolbert leading the team, but he’s among the best in the conference and the nation in receiving. He has 54 catches for 967 yards with six touchdowns.

Jalen Wayne is next in line with 34 catches for 385 yards and two touchdowns. Caullin Lacy has 262 yards on 32 catches. Lincoln Sefcik has 17 catches for 146 yards with three touchdowns.

Defense

South Alabama’s defense held the Red Wolves to only 28 yards of total offense in the first half. The rushing yardage was -12! Though they weren’t quite as dominant in the second half, they didn’t allow a single touchdown.

Statistically the defense is allowing an average of 21 points, 118.5 rushing yards, 202.2 passing yards and 320.8 total offensive yards per game.

Opponents are converting 33-of-113 (29%) of their 3rd down attempts and 9-of-16 (56%) of their 4th down attempts.

On the season they have 54 tackles for loss with 24 sacks. Jamal Brooks, despite not playing, still leads the team with 5.5 tackles for loss. Charles Coleman III tied CJ Rias for the team lead with 3 sacks.

With Darrell Luter’s two interceptions he jumps Tre Young into the team lead with 3 on the season.

Quentin Wilfawn leads the team with 36 total stops, 18 solo with two tackles for loss and a sack. Keith Gallmon and Yam Banks are still tied with 35 stops each and both have 21 solo.

The first two interceptions last week came at great times. The Red Wolves were starting to move the ball some and the Jags were able to shut those drives down with turnovers. The final one simply sealed the game with a nice exclamation point.

Special Teams

Diego Guajardo connected on all four extra points against Arkansas State, he’s not 26-of-28 on the season. He also connected on a 39 yard field, his only attempt of the night, to put the icing on the game. He’s not 9-of-13 on the season.

Jack Brooks’ punting averaging a solid 41.6 yards per attempt.

Keys to the Game

Offensive line

Which way the game goes will greatly depend offensive line play. Both defenses create havoc which results in negative plays and turnovers.

The Jaguar offensive line needs to communicate and play well in a hostile environment. If they can give Bentley and his receivers time, the Trojan defense is susceptible to big plays. Can you think of a better pair of receivers ready to exploit a secondary deep than the two Jalen’s?

Playing Behind Schedule

The Trojan defense generate a lot of negative plays. The Jaguar offense will have to find a way to be comfortable playing behind schedule.

That means they need to come to terms with and be comfortable executing 2nd-and-12 or 3rd-and-long situations. They don’t necessarily need to get all the yards back in a chunk but they must execute each and every play with a neutral mindset.

A player does not need to be heroic when behind schedule, they just need to execute their job each and every play at a high level no matter the previous outcome.

Injuries

You can’t talk about injuries without circling back to point number one: offensive line.

The Jags are thin as gift tissue paper on the offensive line right now. Center James Jackson injured his knee a couple of games ago. Hadon Merchant missed last week with a knee injury. Right guard Anterrious Gray suffered a concussion against Arkansas State and will have to clear the concussion protocol in order to play against Troy.

Due to Jackson’s injury, Trey Simpson moved from guard to center. If neither Jackson nor Merchant are able to play against Troy, that would likely leave Kent Foster and a group of freshmen and former walk-ons to back up the interior of the offensive line.

But that’s not all.

Jamal Brooks missed playing time against Arkansas State due to a shoulder injury that he had been trying to play through.

Bryan Hill broke a 47 yard run, his only carry of the game, but exited the game with a shoulder injury of his own.

Not only do they need to stay healthy but, if needed, they need to be ready if their number is called.

Prediction

Head coach Kane Wommack talked to the team about the Battle for the Belt rivalry on Monday. He brought in the empty case that houses the belt when under South Alabama’s care.

The Trojans have won the last three games in the series and currently holds a 6 games to 3 advantage in the series.

The last time the Jags won was in 2017 when coach Wommack was the defensive coordinator.

What could be sweeter than the Jags ending the three winning streak, bringing the belt back home, and getting bowl eligible against your in-state rival?

But Troy would like to keep their streak alive and also get within one game of bowl eligibility themselves.

Troy is favored by 3.5 points in the game. Basically an even game but given the three point home boost. I think the Jags get it done and win outright, get bowl eligible, and bring the belt back to Mobile.

Go Jags!

South Alabama Falls To Troy In Season Finale 29-0

December 5, 2020 · By · Filed Under Battle For The Belt, Football, Sun Belt Conference · Comments Off on South Alabama Falls To Troy In Season Finale 29-0 

South Alabama dropped their third consecutive ‘Battle For The Belt’ to Troy 29-0. The Jaguars (4-7, 3-5 Sun Belt Conference) was stymied in the first half, particularly in the second quarter, by the Trojans (5-5, 3-3 SBC).

In the end the “battle” felt more like a flailing or a flogging depending on which side you were on.

Despite coming into the game missing a few players and with a few players banged up, the Jags expected to compete in the game. Missing linebacker Christian Bell, tight end Brandon Crum, and wide receiver Kawaan Baker the Jags were missing some key contributors. But they also had player banged up such as Riley Cole, Desmond Trotter, and backup quarterback Tanner McGee.

It was the first time in program history that the Jags have been held scoreless at home, in either Ladd-Peebles Stadium and in the first season at Hancock Whitney stadium. It’s also the first time in the series that a school has won three consecutive games.

It is only the second time in school history that the Jags have been shut out in a game. The only other time was a 52-0 loss at Georgia Southern that effectively ended Joey Jones’ tenure at head coach.

The first points of the game were not scored until there was 6:02 left in the opening quarter. Troy had converted all five 3rd down attempts prior to the failing to convert on 3rd and goal at the Jaguar 1 yard line. The Trojans settled for a 22 yard field goal for the early 3-0 lead.

It was the second quarter where the Trojans did their most damage and pretty much put the game away.

The Jags opened the second quarter with a punt and Troy converted both 3rd down attempts on the drive and finished the touchdown drive with a 15 yard pass from Gunnar Watson to Khalil McClain to grow their lead to 10-0 with 11:06 left in the second quarter.

After connecting with Jalen Wayne for 11 yards on 3rd down, Trotter would get sacked and fumble the ball which Troy would recover at the Jaguar 28 yard line. Three plays later the Trojans would score again on a 15 yard pass from Watson to Kaylon Geiger with 9:26 left in the first half.

South Alabama drove down to the Troy 37 before facing 4th and 5, instead of letting Diego Gujardo try to match this career long head coach Steve Campbell opted to leave the offense on the field down three scores. Trotter threw low and behind his intended receiver and TJ Harris picked him of on a diving catch to take over at the Troy 32.

Continuing to use their very up-tempo offense, the Trojans marched right down the field gashing the defense. On the eighth and final play of the drive, Watson found Tray Eafford for a 21 yard touchdown pass to go up 24-0 with 3:56 left in first half.

After starting at their own 35 yard line from a kickoff out of bounds, the Jags drove down to the Trojans 36 yard line. Facing 4th and 9, Trotter would hold onto the ball too long and get sacked to turn the ball over on downs at the Troy 44 with only 31 seconds left until halftime.

Yet Troy was still not done.

Watson connected on two quick passes for 12 and 11 yards before calling time out at the Jaguar 33 yard line with 15 seconds left in the half. Then Watson connected with Vidal again but for only 6 yards forcing the Trojans to use their final time out with 10 seconds left. Troy head coach Chip Lindsey opted to kick to try for the points with a 44 yard field goal. Coach Campbell called a time out just prior to the snap, but Evan Legassey went ahead and kicked it, missing it wide right. The following snap he would split the uprights to go up 27-0 with 8 seconds left.

When the teams finally headed to the locker room, Troy had put up 24 points in the quarter.

The second half was mostly just running the clock out for Troy. South Alabama moved the ball better but never could hit paydirt.

The Jags Devin Rockette blocked the only scoring attempt in the second half by the Trojans. However Troy also blocked Jack Brooks punt attempt a short time later. The ball went out of the back of the end zone for the only points in the second half, a safety, for the final score of 29-0.

Desmond Trotter went 15 of 28 for 144 yards and an interception. Freshman Eli Gainey lead the final possession and went 6 of 9 for 38 yards. Redshirt freshman Tanner McGee, who finished out last weeks win was unavailable to play due to a shoulder injury.

Caullin Lacy led the Jaguar rushers, I wouldn’t call it an attack, with 38 yards on four carries. Jared Wilson added 33 on eight carries. Carlos Davis was held to a single yard on four carries.

Jalen Tolbert caught 5 passes for 92 yards and because the first Jaguar to break 1,000 receiving yards in a season, ending the year with 1,085 yards. Jalen Wayne caught four passes for 32 yards.

Jaguar linebacker Riley Cole recorded 10 total tackles in his final game as a Jaguar. In a pre-game ceremony to honor seniors on Senior Day, he was surprised with his official invitation to the 2021 Reese’s Senior Bowl. Cole will get to play at Hancock Whitney Stadium once more on January 30.

Gunnar Watson went 34 of 41 for 297 yards and three touchdowns. Kaylon Geiger caught seven passes for 51 yards and a touchdown. Former Blound standout Reggie Todd caught six for 49 yards. Kimani Vidal caught five passes for 29 yards.

Vidal led all rushers with 76 yards on 22 attempts.

Linebacker Carlton Martial, a fellow Mobile native and McGill-Toolen standout, recorded a game-high 14 tackles.

The Trojans won every statistically category. Total yards: 414 to 239. Passing yards: 297 to 182. Rushing Yards: 117 to 57. First downs: 25 to 17. Third down conversions: 10 of 15 to 5 of 15. Sacks: Troy had 5, Jags recorded one sack. Turnovers: Troy recovered two turnovers, the Jags came away with just one. Time of possession: 31:47 to 28:13.

“It got away from us in the second quarter,” head coach Steve Campbell said. “They got on a little run and we had a hard time stopping them. We didn’t generate what we needed to offensively at all.”

“I’m very disappointed in the way it wound up,” Campbell said about ending the season with a loss. “I thought we had gotten over a little bit of a hump, but we didn’t play very well at all today. We didn’t play the way that we needed to, to finish up. We had a chance to finish strong. But I give Troy a ton of respect, they are a good football team. I thought we practiced well this week and the guys worked hard though a bunch of stuff. I thought we would come out and play better than we did today, and we didn’t.”

“It’s an ongoing problem, but it can be either side of the ball,” Jalen Tolbert said. “We should be able to pick each other up when one side is playing off, and today neither side was able to pick it up. Offense nor defense was doing good, it was just a poor performance by us today so we have to get that fixed.”

With the regular season over and the program shifting into post-season mode, there will be talks about the staff.

Through three seasons the Jags are 9-26 under Campbell.

After a 3-2 start the Jags limped to a 1-5 finish. The programs four wins this season came against teams with a cumulative 8-34 record.

Finally Campbell is now 0-3 against Troy which is one of South Alabama’s most competitive recruiting foe in the area. In those three losses, the Trojans have outscored the Jags 104-30 with the closest margin of defeat coming in 2018 in a 38-17 loss.

Campbell has one more season left in his 4 year contract with a buyout of $350,000. Campbell and Athletics Directory Joel Erdmann will be meeting in the coming days, as he always do with coaches at the conclusion of their seasons.

Preview: Troy At South Alabama (Battle for the Belt)

December 4, 2020 · By · Filed Under Battle For The Belt, Football, Sun Belt Conference · Comments Off on Preview: Troy At South Alabama (Battle for the Belt) 
Former head coach Joey Jones lifts the ‘Battle for the Belt’ championship belt for the third time in the last four years in 2017. The Jaguars have lost the last two times they have faced off. | Photo Credit: Brad Puckett usajaguars.com

Kickoff: Saturday December 5, 1:00 pm
Venue: Hancock Whitney Stadium, Mobile, Alabama
TV: ESPN3
Radio: Sports Talk 99.5FM, 96.1 The Rocket, iHeartRadio


The Battle for the Belt.

After having their annual match up, that was scheduled for October 3 postponed due to Covid, the Jaguars (4-6, 3-4 Sun Belt Conference) will finally host the Trojans (4-5, 2-3 SBC) at 1pm on Saturday, December 5.

This Rivalry Game will be played late in the season rather near the beginning of their conference schedules for the first time in this series. This is what many South Alabama fans have wanted for some time. They have felt that, like fellow in state rivals Alabama and Auburn, that South Alabama and Troy should be played at the end of the season. Thanks to Covid, their wish has finally come true.

Well, mostly.

The game was first rescheduled to be December 12 and would have been the ending of the season for both schools. However, again thanks to Covid, Troy will take on Coastal Carolina on December 12 and thus the Battle for the Belt needed a new date, and December 5 was it.

The Jags enter the game after breaking their four game losing streak and getting their first win ever in Jonesboro, Arkansas against the Arkansas State Red Wolves last Saturday. The Jags had to fight down to the last second for the win. They clinched it on a quarterback sack as time expired with the ball inside their own 10 yard line.

The Trojans travel to Mobile in the midst of a three game losing streak. Last Saturday the Trojans were dominated by Appalachian State 47-10 in Boone, North Carolina. They allowed 275 yards rushing and were held to just 106 yards rushing themselves in the loss.

But nothing can get a pair of football rivals up for a game like a rivalry game.

Troy Offense

Troy head coach Chip Lindsey is still searching for his guy at quarterback. Quarterback Gunnar Watson is 152-of-223 passing for 1,584 yards, 12 touchdowns and six interceptions on the season. Last week against App State he went 13-of-20 for 125 yards, a touchdown and an interception.

Jacob Free, a 6’5″ 217 pound junior is 79-of-134 for 957 yards, five touchdowns and four interceptions on the season. Free last saw action against Georgia Southern on November 7th when he struggled going 21-of-47 with two interceptions. He was unable to play last week due to an illness.

Lindsey was quoted during fall camp saying that their quarterback will be the one who, “can lead the team up and down the field and score.” So its possible that the Trojan may utilize him on Saturday.

On the season Troy is averaging 282.3 yards passing, 102.6 yards rushing, and 384.9 total yards of offense per game. They are scoring an average of 26 points per game, which is a bit un-Troy like.

The leading Trojan runner, true freshman Kimani Vidal, has missed the last two games. Despite that he had 393 yards on 67 attempts for the season with three touchdowns. BJ Smith is behind him with 277 yards on 73 attempts with three touchdowns.

Kaylon Geiger is the favorite receiver with 48 catches and 598 yards on the season with two touchdowns. Reggie Todd and Khalil McClain both have 29 catches and five touchdowns each, they have 380 and 350 yards receiving respectively.

Despite the numbers, Troy can still put points on the board. Especially when you’re talking about a rivalry game with an in-state opponent.

Troy Defense

Overall the Troy defense is allowing 233.7 yards passing, 177.8 yards rushing, 411.4 total yards of offense, and 26.8 points per game.

As previously mentioned, the Trojans allowed 275 yards rushing last week. So defensively they are having trouble stopping the run and the Jags have had problems running the ball in their in games they lost.

Their third down numbers look pretty good too. Defensively opponents are only converting 36% of their 3rd down attempts (48-of-132). The Jaguar offense is converting 40% of their 3rd down attempts (61-of-152) on the season.

The defense is led by linebacker Carlton Martial who has 78 total stops, 40 of them solo, with 7.5 tackles for loss, three pass breakups, and two quarterback hurries. Next in line behind him statistically is fellow linebacker Jayden McDonald, who has 59 total stops, 36 solo, four tackles for loss, a pass breakup and two quarterback hurries himself.

On the season, the Trojans have 15 sacks defensively.

Keys to the Game

Offensive Line

Last week the Jaguar offensive line held their own against an Arkansas State defense that, lets face it, is pretty terrible.

The Jaguar offense only netted 99 yards on the ground with Carlos Davis leading the way with 31 yards on 12 carries. So I wouldn’t go out and say it was a great performance by the offensive line, but it was an improvement for sure.

They were able to protect the quarterback and only allowed two sacks (25 over the last 6 games but who’s counting). That protection and the poor secondary play by the Red Wolves allowed the Jags to throw for 387 yards for the game and allowed Jalen Tolbert to set a single game record with 252 yards on 10 catches with three touchdowns.

It was good enough to earn him a helmet sticker on ESPN for his effort.

However that game is now the past and the offensive line will have to do it again this week.

Trotter should be back for the game, but will he be 100% and be mobile? Kawaan Baker seems to have suffered a partially torn MCL and does not look good to play. Brandon Crum, the most prolific pass catcher at tight end, will miss the game due to contact tracing precautions concerning Covid.

Turnovers

The Jags have been pretty good over the last couple of games concerning turnovers.

Turnovers are always big in rivalry games. There’s nothing better at shifting momentum or breathing fresh life into a team than forcing a turnover from a bitter rival.

While the Jags are still negative for the season in turnover margin, they have been +2 in turnover margin for the last two games (+3 in the loss to Georgia State). They need to keep that trend going this week and stay in the positive side of the margin.

And better yet, not giving the ball to the Trojans would be even better.

Scoring Points

The Jags found a way to put points on the board last week.

And it wasn’t field goals either!

Three of the touchdown passes went to Tolbert, the shortest of which was a 37 yard score. The only other passing touchdown went to Kawaan Baker. Tolbert scored on the ground with a designed quarterback run from 2 yards out.

With Crum out and Baker likely missing as well, that could allow Troy to focus more on Tolbert and Jalen Wayne. Could this allow the Jaguar runners to find some space to run?

Prediction

Troy opened at a 1 point favorite and the spread has grown to 4.5 points now.

As mentioned above, Crum will be out and Baker will likely be out. Trotter could have some lingering injury issues as well.

That’s just on offense.

Defensively we don’t know if Riley Cole will play, even though he has indicated that he will be ready come Saturday. But Cole has always been eager to play, but will he be cleared and able to? Christian Bell will probably miss the game as well.

The Jags have lost the last two games to the Trojans and would like nothing else than to end the season with win over their rivals as they are likely not going to get an invite to a bowl game. Plus it would be the second season in a row that the team and coaching staff took some momentum into the off-season with a season ending win.

Could this be a team getting better? Could they improve their win total by TWO games this year? A win just might save Steve Campbell his job too.

I think so! Jags not only cover, but they win outright.

Go Jags!

What We’ve Learned So Far This Season

September 29, 2020 · By · Filed Under Battle For The Belt, Football · Comments Off on What We’ve Learned So Far This Season 
South Alabama Jaguar football head coach Steve Campbell watching offensive line warm ups prior to their loss to UAB on September 24, 2020.
Head coach Steve Campbell watching offensive line warm ups prior to the Jags loss to UAB on September 24, 2020.

With the breaking news that the South Alabama game against Troy in the annual ‘Battle for the Belt’ has been postponed due to Covid-19 concerns, now it a good time to look back on what we’ve learned about the Jags through three games.

First we’ve learned that we all have to stay vigilant in the face of Covid. No matter what you think about the virus itself, an outbreak on the team can and will disrupt the season. With the Troy game postponement, the first opportunity for both teams to face off, based on their current schedules, would be December 12. The date of the Sun Belt Conference Championship.

The South Alabama Jaguar football (1-2) team closed our their home-and-home series with UAB (2-1) with a second 32-point loss. Not the showing you want against a peer in-state opponent, especially when you get outscored in the two games by a combined score of 77-13.

Looking at it through red, white and blue glasses you can point to the fact that the Jags scored more points this time around and they stayed in the game longer than too.

But a loss is a loss. UAB still bested us by 32 points both times (35-3 last year, 42-10 this year).

There’s seems to be a pattern that we can identify. The Jags come out of the gate in the first game of the season with fire. In 2018 they lost a close game to Louisiana Tech at home 30-26 before going on the road to Oklahoma State and getting blown out 55-13 then the season goes downhill from there.

In 2019, they traveled to Nebraska and gave the Cornhuskers a bit of a fright in a game that was closer than the 35-21 final score indicates. They then came home and defeated FCS Jackson State 37-14 before the debacle that was Memphis (42-6 and the infamous PAT) which started the nine-game losing streak.

After the season-ending win over Arkansas State and the season-opening win over Southern Miss, you started to think that ‘Maybe the Jags have finally turned the corner.’

That thinking continued into the second half against Tulane before the 21 unanswered points that was the remainder of the second half.

Then the blip of offense that was the UAB game that provided us with the 10 points in the second quarter and clawed the Jags to within four points of the Blazers. But that was short lived and the Blazers cruised to victory from that point on.

So what have we learned from the UAB game and the season so far?

Offensive Line

The Jags offensive line still has lots of work to do. They struggled to protect Chance Lovertich the entire game and the rushing game struggled overall too.

The Jags had 0 passing yards and only 28 yards of offense in the first quarter. 

Actually both lines suffered. The defensive line couldn’t get any rush on redshirt quarterback Bryson Lucero the entire game and they had problems stopping Spencer Brown consistently.

Without a pass rush, the Blazers were able to torch the secondary through the air. It all started with the 56 yard bomb on their first offensive play to set the tone for the game. When you have single coverage in the secondary with no pass rush, well you see what happens.

Third down efficiency

South Alabama was 3-of-12 on third down conversion attempts. Again this stat is reminiscent of the last two seasons.

But the third down scenarios were somewhat self inflicted.

The offense often found themselves behind schedule with poor first down play selection and execution. In the first quarter, on the five 1st down plays the Jags offense had the results were: 2 yard rush, incomplete pass, -2 yard rush, incomplete pass, 0 yard rush.

So five plays and a net of zero yards of offense.

Of the three 3rd downs they faced in the first quarter, the Jags shortest attempt was a 3rd & 8. That just makes a defensive coordinator smile when they can consistently get an offensive into those situations. I mean, give me that all day in NCAA Football (yes, I still play it occasionally RIP) or Madden (this is speculation, I haven’t played Madden in many years).

Distractions

So the Jags blew an 18-point lead against Tulane to lose the opener at Hancock Whitney Stadium. I don’t know if that carried over into the UAB game, but even in pregame warmups everything felt off. The team and even the fans were flat.

If we’re being honest here, it’s been a while since the fans have been fired up for more than one or two games a season. The opening of Hancock Whitney Stadium is one of those occasions this year. Troy is typically another one.

Granted the previous week saw the area take a hit from a hurricane and people were recovering from it. The university had class cancellations and the football team missed some practice time. But they had two weeks to prepare so I wouldn’t think the missed time was that much of a difference maker.

The major factor is getting the team back up after a loss. Especially one like the one to Tulane.

They have an extra week to attempt to get over UAB now that the November 3rd ‘Battle for the Belt’ has been postponed.

Despite Troy traveling across the continental United States to play BYU, any fan of these two schools know they were going to be ready for their first trip to Hancock Whitney Stadium. They were relishing the opportunity to get a win on their first opportunity in the new venue.

Offensive playcalling

The play calling in the first six quarters of the season was pretty good. I don’t think anyone would say a lot of negative things about the playcalling against Southern Miss or the first half against Tulane either.

The Jags moved the ball, scored points, and generally looked good.

But things changed in second half of the Tulane game. The offensive line started getting pushed around by the Green Wave defense. Jaguar quarterbacks started getting more pressure applied.

Lovertich, and Desmond Trotter in what snaps he got before reinjuring his shoulder, started having to move around and get rid of the ball quicker.

It seemed that the Jaguar coaching staff were determined to run the ball against UAB from the start. It didn’t go very well. Even with 6 or 7 in the box, the Jags stuck with the run.

Yes Carlos Davis would occasionally bust one outside and get a big run, but overall it just wasn’t as effective.

The South Alabama players and coaching staff had two weeks to prepare for UAB. Now they have two weeks to prepare for Texas State.

That is whenever they can resume workouts after the Covid-19 pause.

South Alabama Falls In Battle For The Belt 37-13

October 17, 2019 · By · Filed Under Battle For The Belt, Football, Sun Belt Conference · Comments Off on South Alabama Falls In Battle For The Belt 37-13 
Head coach Steve Campbell on the sidelines of the Jags 37-13 loss at Troy as he was waiting to hear the results of his challenge of a 4th down spot. | Screenshot taken from ESPN2 broadcast.

Questionable play calling, mistakes, and a porous defense were the key in the Jags 37-13 loss at Troy.

South Alabama falls to 1-6 overall and 0-3 in conference play while Troy improves to 3-3 overall and 2-1 in conference play.

After Troy opening the game with a field goal, the Jags answered by driving down to the 1 yard line. On back-to-back plays Jared Wilson and Cephus Johnson would both be stopped dead in their tracks and head coach Steve Campbell would settle for a 17 yard field goal to tie the game.

On the ensuing possession, Troy would methodically drive down and put a touchdown on the board with a 1 yard rub pass towards the front pylon.

The Jags next possession would stall at the Troy 35 and Frankie Onate would drill a 51 yard field goal, but the Trojans would be flagged for a personal foul for hitting the kicker giving the Jags 15 yards and a first down at the Troy 20 yard line. Minter would carry the ball on back-to-back plays to give the Jags a 1st and goal at the 3 yard line. Minter would add two more yards and then the offense could not put it in the end zone. Minter would be snuffed on two consecutive plays. Then on 3rd and goal, Cephus took the snap from the shotgun, Troy would bring pressure up the middle and drop him for a two yard loss.

After a time out, Cephus would throw the ball too high for Jalen Tolbert, who was in double coverage anyway and Troy would get the ball.

Three plays later, Troy quarterback Kaleb Barker would just lose his grip on the ball and the Jags would recover at the Troy 3 yard line.

A jet sweep to Kawaan Baker would net the Jags a touchdown, their only one of the game.

Travis Reed would pick off Barker at the USA 22, but then two plays later Johnson would be picked off at the Troy 43 yard line.

The Trojans would get three points off the turnover.

USA would get the ball with 1:08 left in the opening half trailing 13-10. They would draw up passes on first and second down before giving it to Minter up the middle for no gain. Troy would get the ball back after only :21 when Jack Brooks punt was shanked and only netted 24 yards.

Behind Barker’s passing, the Trojans quickly moved the ball but the Jags defense held for only a field goal to go into the locker room at halftime trailing 16-10.

USA opened the second half with two first downs before having to punt. Brooks would pin the Trojans at their own 13 yard line but Barker and the offense would pick apart the Jaguars slashing runs and precision passing. Barker would cap the drive off with a 15 yard touchdown pass to Kaylon Geiger to make it 23-10.

Tra Minter breathes some life into the team with a 45 yard kickoff return to the Jags 47. After a jet sweep to open the drive, which gained one yard. The Jags then threw the ball on 8 consecutive plays. On the final one, Johnson had Jalen Wayne in the end zone but he dropped it. Onate’s 45 yard attempt would miss wide right.

The Jags would get the ball back two plays later when Barker was intercepted by Travis Reed again. But the drive would stall at the Troy 14 yard line and Onate connected on a 31 yard field goal to make it 23-13.

Troy would miss a 36 yard field goal giving the Jags the ball at their own 20 yard line.

Cephus then threw what looked like was supposed to be an out route but the receiver was at least 10 yards farther down the field, and it was intercepted and returned 29 yards for a Troy touchdown.

After the Jags could not convert 4th & 1, Troy took over at their own 31 and just ground out 69 yards on 13 consecutive run plays, with four of them going for 10+ yards, to make the final score 37-13.

The confusing and frustrating part were so many attempts from the 1 yard line and not a single one of them came from a snap under center. Instead the ball was snapped to the quarterback in the shotgun and either handed off or the quarterback was stopped once stopped for a 2 yard loss.

Another frustrating set of play calls came on the Jags final possession of the half. With 1:08 left, 1st and 10 from your own 25 yard line and still in the game trailing 13-10. Kenny Edenfield calls two passes that fell incomplete and stopped the clock then came back with a draw up the middle for just one yard gain. Something we’ve seen countless times this season. That coupled with a poor punt and a defense playing deep and not putting pressure on receivers allowed the Trojans to quickly move the ball and get a field goal as the first half expired.

Troy did their best to help keep the Jaguars in the game. Two interceptions by Travis Reed and a fumble recovery by A.J. DeShazor led to 10 of the Jaguars 13 points in the game. But they left points on the field offensively.

Unfortunately the defense wore down as the game played out and by the fourth quarter Troy was gashing the defense both on the ground and through the air.

The game was effectively put away when Troy scored the pick-six at the 14:02 mark of the fourth quarter and yet they would put another score on the board as the Jaguar defense just was unable to slow down the Trojan ground game.

“I’m very disappointed in the loss,” coach Campbell opened his post game press conference. “I thought the kids gave a good effort, but we obviously came up short in a game like this. We need to go back to work, keep improving and find a way to win a game like this; we had opportunities.”

“We need to make a few more plays, we talked about what we could’ve done better,” Campbell said when asked what he told the players in the locker room after the game. “There are some calls I wish I could have made differently, and there are some things that we can definitely do better to put ourselves in a position to win. This game hurts and those players in the locker room are hurting. Let’s get back to work. No defeat is ever final and no victory is ever final; you have to get back and get to work, and we have some things we need to work on.”

“We probably could have run the ball outside a little bit more, but the coaches made good play calls,” senior running back Tra Minter responded when asked about being unable to capitalize on short-yardage plays near the goal line. “We just need to execute them as players.”

The Trojans held advantages in all of the stat columns, except turnovers. Total yards the Trojans led 432 to 271. Passing yards they led 212 to 183. Rushing yards they led 220 to 91. First downs they had 28 to USA’s 20, which was a huge improvement over their 4 (though two were touchdowns) against Georgia Southern. Third down conversions the Trojans were 10 of 17 while the Jags were only 3 of 12. Troy converted the only 4th down attempt they tried while the Jags converted 1 of 3 attempts. Troy held an 81 to 72 play advantage and a time of possession advantage of 34:57 to 25:03.

Offensively it was the Tra Minter show for the Jags as he put up 200 all-purpose yards in the game. He had 78 yard on kick off returns, 86 rushing yards on 17 carries, and 36 yards receiving on 6 receptions leading the team in rushing yardage and passes caught.

Kawaan Baker added 15 yard rushing on four carries and the lone Jaguar touchdown. He also caught five passes for 42 yards. Davyn Flenord caught four passes for 33 yards and Jalen Tolbert caught two passes for 48 along with the teams longest offensive play of 34 yards.

Cephus Johnson went 20-for-38 for 183 yards and was sacked twice. Though at times he was inaccurate throwing the ball, he did have several passes hit players in the hands with opportunities make the catch.

Jack Brooks punted twice for an average of 27 yards per punt, hurt by the 24 yarder off the side of his foot in his first kick. But the second was nicely placed inside the opponents 15 yard line.

South Alabama will have a couple extra days to recover and game plan before hosting conference-leading Appalachian State on October 26 for the Jaguars homecoming game. The Mountaineers are an undefeated 5-0 on the season and 2-0 in the conference with noteworthy wins over North Carolina and Louisiana-Lafayette.

ASU will be in action this Saturday as they host Louisiana-Monroe for a 3:30pm kickoff at Kidd Brewer Stadium in Boone, NC for their annual homecoming game.

The Jags and the Mountaineer will kick off at 11am on ESPNU on Oct 26 at Ladd-Peebles Stadium. Radio coverage can be heard on 99.5 FM The Jag and 96.1 FM locally in the Mobile area or on iHeartRadio app world wide.

In the meantime, the Jags have to go back to the drawing board once again to figure out a way to get their first FBS win of the season.

Go Jags

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