Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

December 25, 2023 · By · Filed Under Uncategorized · Comments Off on Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 

Breaking: Sun Belt Conference Basketball Tournament CANCELLED

March 12, 2020 · By · Filed Under Uncategorized · Comments Off on Breaking: Sun Belt Conference Basketball Tournament CANCELLED 
Sun Belt Statement on 2020 Basketball Championships

After further discussion with the Presidents and Chancellors and Directors of Athletics and mounting concerns surrounding the coronavirus (COVID-19), the Sun Belt Conference has decided to cancel the remaining games of the 2020 Sun Belt Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships scheduled for March 14-15 at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans.

sunbeltsports.org

This announcement came on the heels of the Southeastern Conference announcing the cancellation of their conference tournament that was being held in Nashville.

It is currently unknown what the NCAA will ultimately decide concerning the NCAA Tournament. They stated yesterday it would continue on however only essential staff, media, etc would be able to attend. Now that statement is in question.

USA At UAB: The Battle of I65

September 20, 2019 · By · Filed Under Uncategorized · Comments Off on USA At UAB: The Battle of I65 
The South Alabama Jaguars travel to Birmingham for their first-ever game against the UAB Blazers.

South Alabama (1-2) will hit I65 and travel up to Birmingham to face off with UAB (2-0) for the first time in program history. These two schools had a home-and-home scheduled previously, but was cancelled when UAB abruptly shut down their football program in 2014.

UAB has since restarted their program and have found new success on the gridiron.

If this becomes a regular matchup (which I hope for) I think this would be great for both programs. The (real) Battle of I65.

If you’ve been around the Jaguar football program since it’s inception, the name Bill Clark should be familiar with you. Coach Clark was the defensive coordinator under coach Joey Jones from 2009 – 2013 when he left for a head coaching opportunity at Jacksonville State.

In all, there are 25 players and coaches with ties to the Mobile area that are a part of the UAB program. Former assistant coaches Bryant Vincent and Richard Owens are both on Clark’s staff. Quarterback Tyler Johnston was a standout player for Spanish Fort before signing with UAB.

Since UAB restarted their program in 2017 they are an undefeated 13-0 at home. Including a 13-3 record in 2018 with a bowl win over Northern Illinois in the Boca Raton Bowl.

The Jags come into the game after a 42-6 trouncing by Memphis in Mobile when Tra Minter, the Jags leading all-purpose yardage leader, was forced out of the game with a concussion early in the game. They also made ESPN and other lists for the botched PAT that was returned by Memphis for 2-points after the Jags only score of the game.

Here’s the PAT just in case you need a reminder.

The USA coaches pulled Cephus Johnson in the third quarter against Memphis, but head coach Steve Campbell said that he will continue to be the guy behind center for the Jags. Cephus, on the bright side, has thrown for 393 yards and three touchdowns but on the down side he has thrown four interceptions, committed three fumbles and has only completed 53% of his passes. It’s unknown if Johnson may be on a “short leash” and could be pulled in favor of Tylan Morton or Desmond Trotter.

The Blazers have a 1-2 punch at running back with Spencer Brown and Jonathan Haden. They are licking their chops after watching USA allowing over 300 yards to Memphis last weekend. However the Blazer offensive line has not performed as well run blocking as they have pass blocking. They will probably test the Jaguar rush defense to see if they can get some early success because the Jaguar secondary has covered well with an interception in each of the Jags first three games and only allowing Memphis to throw for more than 200 yards.

The Jaguar offensive line has helped the Jags average over 199 yards per game, with the help of the big game against Jackson State. But the Jags pass protection has not been the best so far this season as they have allowed six sacks so far. They will be facing a Blazer defense that are sack-hungry and will be looking to put pressure on Johnson to try to force him into some bad decisions and to try to cause some fumbles.

The Blazer defense has held their first two opponents to 7-of-31 on 3rd down conversions, tallied 20 tackles-for-loss and eight sacks while holding them to an average of 89.5 yards per game rushing, but those two opponents have been Alabama State and Akron.

When your leading receiver is your running back, that says a lot about your receiver corps. Minter leads the team in receptions (9 for 80 yards) as well as rushing yards (242). Kawaan Baker is right behind him with one fewer catch (8) but has 184 yards receiving and two touchdowns. But when your two quarterbacks combine to have 6 interceptions only completing 50% of their passes, to say the Jags passing game is struggling is an understatement.

Meanwhile the Blazers have looked very good early with two players in the top eight of Conference USA in receiving yardage.

An additional factor is injuries. The Jags got pretty banged up against Memphis. Minter is expected to play as he was sighted at practice. However Riley Cole (undisclosed) and Roy Yancey (ankle) have also been dealing with injuries but have been practicing, so it sounds like they will play but will those injuries affect their effectiveness?

Officially Cole, Yancey, and Jalen Wayne are all probable to play. Minter was last listed as questionable. Tyree Turner and Patrick Rosette have been listed as doubtful. Max Charite and Shawn Jennings have been ruled out for the game. Meanwhile UAB only has one player listed as being out for the season.

The Blazers are an 11 point favorite in the game with an over/under of 48 points. But the Jags will have Minter back as he has reportedly cleared the concussion protocol and practiced with the team on Wednesday.

While I don’t feel good calling for the Jags to win out-right (as much as I’d love for it to happen). The Blazers have put up impressive numbers against two opponents that they should have a clear advantage against. Meanwhile the Jags gave Nebraska a scare before facing a possibly the best Group of Five team in Memphis.

I’ll be a homer and take the Jags to cover but I think UAB may run their home record to 14-0 since “The Return”.

The Jags and the Blazers are scheduled for a 2:30pm kickoff from Legion Field in Birmingham. The game can be viewed on the NFL Network.

Go Jags.

USA Hosts FCS Jackson State In Home Opener

September 7, 2019 · By · Filed Under Uncategorized · Comments Off on USA Hosts FCS Jackson State In Home Opener 

South Alabama opens their home slate against FCS Jackson State, the final season playing in Ladd-Peebles as their home stadium.

The Jags come off of an inspring effort against then #24 Nebraska in Lincoln, falling short of their upset bid, 35-21. They will find themselves on the other side of the coin, they don’t want to be upset by Jackson State, who is coming off of a 36-15 road loss to Bethune Cookman in the 2019 MEAC/SWAC Challenge.

Jackson State played three quarterbacks in their first game, but head coach John Hendrick announced that Derrick Ponder will be the starter going forward. He finished 8-of-21 for 130 yards, but had a fumble in the fourth quarter when the Tigers were moving the ball.

Despite the loss and rotating quarterbacks, they ran up over 500 yards of total offense, 233 of them came on the ground in a three-headed rushing attack. Coach Hendrick challenged his offense to execute better, with all those yards they had ample opportunity to score.

The Jags won most of the statistical categories against the Cornhuskers, but the game is won or lost with the points put on the board.

The Jags settled in with Cephus Johnson taking snaps with 231 passing yards and two touchdowns, but also had two interceptions and two fumbles, one for a touchdown in the endzone.

The Jaguar defense held the Huskers to 276 yards of total offense and only 98 yards rushing.

The Jags has more talent across the board than the Tigers. The offense needs to continue to get Cephus confortable early with short, high-percentage passes and RPO’s. The JSU defense will look to disguise coverages and try to force Cephus into making mistakes.

The two fumbles by Cephus last week all came from his backside, where he never seemed to feel the pressure. Look for JSU to try to bring pressure to see if they can recreate that pressure and try to get some turnovers.

The Jags will look to better their protection from last week and getting more players involved to build depth as they prepare for Memphis next week and the fast approaching conference schedule. USA controlled the line of scrimmage pretty well against Nebraska, this week they look to get those rushing yards that eluded them last week. The rushing attack will feature Tra Minter but with Jalin Buie out for the season with a knee injury, the coaches will look to get more touches to the other guys to build depth at a position that has been pretty thin the last couple of seasons.

The Jags are a 27.5 point favorite. With their talent anything would probably be a disappointment. I think the Jags cover as they look to further forget the frustrations from last season.

Happy New Year Jag Nation!

December 31, 2017 · By · Filed Under Uncategorized · Comments Off on Happy New Year Jag Nation! 

As the book closes on 2017 and we open the book on 2018, we at Thunderjags wish you a great New Year! Go Jags!

Jags Defeat NMSU 35-28 And Earn Second Bowl Birth

December 4, 2016 · By · Filed Under Uncategorized · Comments Off on Jags Defeat NMSU 35-28 And Earn Second Bowl Birth 

Xavier Johnson, a junior, rushed 21 times for 154 yards and three touchdowns to have 250 all-purpose yards. | Photo Credit: Bobby McDuffie from the 2015 season  usajaguars.com

Xavier Johnson, a junior, rushed 21 times for 154 yards and three touchdowns to have 250 all-purpose yards. | Photo Credit: Bobby McDuffie from the 2015 season usajaguars.com

The Jaguars now get to play the waiting game.

With the 35-28 win over New Mexico State, the Jags are assured a bowl birth, unlike three seasons ago when the Jags were bowl eligible and on the outside looking in for a bowl (which they wouldn’t get). This season they are assured they are getting a bowl as bowl tie-ins are chaotic to say the least.

As of writing this, ESPN projects the Jags to play Air Force in the Arizona Bowl on December 30. However, that is only speculation at this point. Until the bowl match-ups are announced, the Jags could be going just about anywhere.

Everyone should be proud of what South Alabama has accomplished by earning this bowl birth. They overcame numerous injuries (10 starters among others) to get here. No other has gone to two bowl games in their first four FBS seasons.

Now, for the game itself.

South Alabama found themselves trailing New Mexico State in the fourth quarter but were not going to fall short of bowl eligibility for a second consecutive season.

A run of 21 unanswered points started with Dallas Davis connecting with senior Josh Magee for a 76 yard, game-tying touchdown. But if you ask head coach Joey Jones or quarterback Dallas Davis, the play of the game may have come on the next Jaguar possession. Davis dropped back to pass and had the pocket collapsing around him. Davis found an opening sprinted for it, then Magee made a key block on the outside which allowed Davis to get the first down and extend the drive.

The Jaguars opened the scoring on their second possession when, on the second play, Davis handed off to Xavier Johnson and he found an opening and took the ball 51 yards down the right sideline for a touchdown.

The Aggies would answer in the second quarter after a quarterback change. Conner Cramer would find an opening and scamper 50 yards, then on the next play he would give it to running back Larry Rose who took it 30 yards to the end zone and just like that it was a tie game all over again.

The Aggies were close in on another score after Rose ran for 51 yards but was tripped up at the 7 yard line by Neiko Robinson on the biggest play of the first half. Two plays later Neiko would force a fumble at the Jaguar 6 yard line which Quinton Dent recovered and allow the Jags to run the time out in the half after trying to make an attempt at a couple big plays to get some points on the board before halftime.

The Aggies began the second half with the ball but Devon Earl picked off Cramer at the Jaguar 26 and returned it 23 yards to the 49, but an Aggie penalty placed the ball at the Aggie 34. Then a heavy dose of Xavier and Dami with Magee completion and a Davis first down run, would put the Jags on top 14-7.

The Aggies would tie it up and take the lead early in the fourth quarter. On the ensuing kickoff a trio of offsetting unsportsmanlike penalties were called then Davis found Magee for the tying touchdown.

After forcing a three and out, the Jags demonstrated their ground game dominance with another steady dose of Xavier and Dami but a key run by Davis for 29 yards on 2nd and 18 kept the drive alive and eventually into the end zone to retake the lead.

On the next Jaguar possession, Davis to Gerald Everett got the possession started with a 24 yard hookup, then it would be capped off by Xavier finding a hole in the middle of the Aggie defense, getting tripped, recovering and taking it to the house for a 35-21 lead with 2:28 left in the game.

The Aggies would add one more score to make in interesting but the Jags hands team handled the onsides kick perfectly to seal the game.

The Jags ended the game with 521 yards of total offense, 282 on the ground and 239 through the air. The Aggies finished with 463 total yards, 353 of it through the air.

Xavier Johnson finished with 154 yards rushing on 21 attempts and three touchdowns. Dallas Davis added 82 yards on 11 carries and Dami Ayoola had 64 on 14 carries with a touchdown.

Davis was 16-of-28 passing with two interceptions and a touchdown. Magee had 135 yards on four catches and a touchdown. Everett caught six passes for 69 yards. Kevin Kutchera caught three for 21 yards and Grant Powell, Mseiah Francis and Xavier all caught one pass each.

Of Brandon McKee’s four punts, three of them were downed inside the 20.

For the Aggies, Larry Rose III was their leading rusher with 170 yards and two touchdowns while Conner Cramer added 110 yards and a touchdown.

Cramer went 7-of-15 for a 95 yards, a touchdown and an interception while Tyler Rogers, who started the game, finished 4-of-10 for 15 yards and an interception. Jonathan Boone was the top Aggie receiver with two catches for 47 yards and a touchdown.

See you at the bowl game!

Also apologies for missing reviews on the last couple of games but life got busy and this is currently one of my several side-gigs.

Go Jags!

28 USA Student-Athletes Received Degrees on Saturday

December 15, 2014 · By · Filed Under Uncategorized · Comments Off on 28 USA Student-Athletes Received Degrees on Saturday 

newjagsmallAt the Annual Fall Graduation ceremony held at the Mitchell Center, a total of 28 current and former student-athletes from eight USA sports programs received their undergraduate degrees on Saturday.

Among the group was a dozen USA football student-athletes who will play in the Jaguars first-ever bowl game just one week removed from graduation. The group also included five who were on the soccer team when they earned the programs first-ever Sun Belt Conference Championship and NCAA Tournament berth in 2013. The group includes an all-league selection from the 2013 baseball team that also participated in the NCAA Tournament.

Morgan Motes and Tatum Perry were both in 20 or more matches as seniors during the 2013 season as their team finished 14-6-3 after their initial national postseason contest. Carlaine Myers, Tina Schaar and Linsey Snavely also contributed that season.

Earlier in 2013, Matt Bell was a second-team All-SBC selection after the Jags posted a 43-20 record and earning a second seed at the NCAA Starkville Regional.

Terrell Brigham and Ucambre Williams were both selected to the second-team All-SBC this week with Melvin Meggs earning an honorable mention selection after helping the Jaguars to a 5-3 conference record and six wins overall. Along with current teammates Drew Dearman, Brandon Bridge, Shane Doty, Trey Fetner, Qudarius Ford, Anthony Harris, Kendall Houston, Ridge James and Nathan Sassaman will all be on the field on Saturday, December 20 to face Bowling Green in the inaugural Raycom Camellia Bowl. Jay Jones, who suffered a season-ending injury in October and was the team’s leading rusher at the time, also graduated.

Other All-Conference honorees who earned their degrees following the fall semester includes Tyler Agee, Meghan Dunn and Sayann Vaezzadeh.

Former student-athletes Brandon Hallford, Jennifer Johnson, Anna Lasher, Natalie Parsons, Devin Robinson and Corey Waldon all received degrees as well.

For those who also earned their degrees, both as student-athletes and were not listed or as fans, Jaguar Nation congratulates you and also thanks you for representing the University of South Alabama in every capacity. It takes a large group of people to make up the University community and South Alabama has the best!

Go Jags!

South Alabama Bowl Bound! Press conference called for tomorrow at 1pm

December 2, 2014 · By · Filed Under Uncategorized · Comments Off on South Alabama Bowl Bound! Press conference called for tomorrow at 1pm 

Helmet_CameraSouth Alabama director of athletics announced that the school will hold a press conference tomorrow at 1pm “pertaining to the football program”. But according to numerous Jaguar players posting on Twitter, they will be playing in their first bowl game in program history.

The press conference will be held in the John Counts Room in the Mitchell Center and will be open to the public.

Go Jags!

**UPDATE: South Alabama will be playing in the first-annual Camellia Bowl in Montgomery, AL on December 20th with kickoff scheduled for 8:15 CST.

Jags Pick Up Pair of Wins, Claims SBC Regular Season Title

October 27, 2014 · By · Filed Under Uncategorized · Comments Off on Jags Pick Up Pair of Wins, Claims SBC Regular Season Title 

USA_SoccerThe South Alabama soccer team had a very successful road trip through Arkansas over the weekend.

On Friday afternoon the Jaguars used four goals from four different players to defeated Arkansas State 4-1 to clinch the Sun Belt Conference regular season championship.

They overcame an early 1-0 deficit after six minutes with a quick doublestrike from freshman Danielle Henley and Steffi Hardy. Henley’s goal game in the 20th minute of play and went in off the goalkeeper. Hardy’s goal came on a free kick from 20 yards out in the 22nd minute.

After halftime, the Jags added two more insurance goals. Charde Hannah converted a pass from Chelsea Followwell in the 81st minute. Then freshman Rio Hardy completed the scoring at the 89:13 mark on a breakaway.

Sarah Hay made eight stops in the victory.

On Sunday, the Jags finished out their regular season schedule and extended their unbeaten streak to 15 matches with a 2-1 win over Arkansas State.

Nini Rabsatt-Smith started the scoring when she took a bad back pass to the goalkeeper and put it in the net at the 6:22 mark.

The Trojans tied the match in the 34th minute of play.

Freshman Rio Hardy broke the tie just over four minutes after the equalizing goal. Freshman Charde Hannah had a shot on goal but was saved by the UALR goalkeeper. The rebound went to Hardy who headed it into the net for the game winner.

Sarah Hay made five saves in the net for the Jags and allowed only one goal.

Next up for the Jaguars is the Sun Belt Tournament beginning November 5. The tournament will be hosted on the South Alabama campus at The Cage. The Jags will open play with a rematch against Arkansas-Little Rock at 7pm on November 5.

Jags Fall To Bulldogs In Front Of Record Crowd

September 14, 2014 · By · Filed Under Uncategorized · Comments Off on Jags Fall To Bulldogs In Front Of Record Crowd 

South Alabama's offense lines up against Mississippi State in front of a record-breaking crowd on September 13, 2014.

South Alabama’s offense lines up against Mississippi State in front of a record-breaking crowd on September 13, 2014.

South Alabama’s home opener was spoiled by Mississippi State 35-3 in front of 38,129, a new record for the Jaguars.

Dak Prescott rushed for 139 yards on 14 attempts and accounted for almost 350 yards of total offense and two scores. The Bulldogs outgained the Jags 514-345 which included a 288-57 yard advantage on the ground.

Maleki Harris led the defense with a career-best 14 tackles while forcing two fumbles. Brandon Bridge went 21-of-39 passing for 203 yards while Jereme Jones catched a career high with seven catches for 76 yards. Wes Saxton added six receptions for 30 yards while Shavarez Smith and Danny Woodson Jr both finished with four catches for 52 and 38 respectively.

Terrell Brigham and Davin Hawkings each added nine stops with Montell Garner and Jerome McClain both added six.

The Jaguars couldn’t take advantage of early opportunities and suffered from several dropped passes which kept the Jags from putting seven points on the board in the red zone.

The Bulldogs forced four turnovers, two fumbles and two interceptions, while recording five sacks and six passes defended.

Brandon Bridge came out of the game late in the second half and Matt Floyd moved the ball before throwing an interception to end another Jaguar threat.

“What a great atmosphere,” head coach Joey Jones said. “I want to thank our fans for coming out and supporting us. It’s so exciting for our players and everyone involved with the university, and we are excited they came out. It was an atmosphere our kids will never forget, and I appreciate our fans coming out and supporting them. I wish we would have played a little better, but you have to play great to beat those guys and we didn’t play great.”

“We knew how good they were on defense,” Jones explained. “You have to make big plays on them. We had a couple of chances early, and we didn’t take advantage of them. They kind of wore on us in the second quarter. They are a much-improved team. My hat’s off to them. They have a lot of good athletes out there, a lot of size and speed. You have to play pretty well to beat these guys, and I don’t think we played as well as we could.”

“We finished the game last week against Kent State and took a step forward, but this week we had some early opportunities we didn’t take advantage of and we just have to get it done. We have to make those plays.”

South Alabama will open their conference schedule when they host Georgia Southern at Ladd-Peebles Stadium on Saturday, September 20 for a 6:30pm kickoff.

Next Page »