Jags Send Senior Out On Top With 31-28 Win Over Coastal Carolina
Head coach Steve Campbell talking with the Jaguar offensive line between possessions early in the game against Coastal Carolina.
South Alabama took advantage of their final game of the season and a beat-up and bruised Coastal Carolina team to send 19 seniors out with one final 31-28 win.
Coastal Carolina (5-7, 2-6) came into the game looking for a win to get bowl eligible in their second season playing a Sun Belt schedule. Meanwhile the Jags (3-9, 2-6 SBC) only had pride and the program’s seniors to play for in their final game of the season.
The Chanticleers entered on a three game skid and plagued by injuries which only got worse during the game with more injuries occurring during the course of play.
The Jags jumped out early with a 32-yard field goal on their opening drive. Then a 45-yard touchdown pass from Cole Garvin to Jamarius Way on the first play after recovering a Coastal Carolina fumble to take a 10-0 lead.
The Jags kept it up in the second quarter with a one-play 73-yard drive when Evan Orth came in and lofted a throw over the Coastal defender to let Jamarius Way to out run the defense to the end zone for a 17-0 lead.
Coastal Carolina finally got on the board on their next possession, capped off by a 31-yard touchdown when Bryce Carpenter came in for an injured Kilton Anderson and found Isaiah Likely for the touchdown.
The Jags answered right back with a 13-play, 75 yard drive capped off by Kawaan Baker’s 6 yard touchdown run. Which let the Jags take a 24-7 lead to the locker room at halftime.
The second half was a different story, the Chanticleers opened the second half throwing the ball and systematically driving down the field for a touchdown.
USA got their only points of the second half two possessions later when they drove 51 yards in 10 plays and 4:22. Garvin connected with Way for a 7 yard touchdown making the score 31-14.
Coastal wasn’t ready to give up though and proceeded to drive 65 yards to get within 10 points again at 31-21.
The Jags offense went cold midway through the fourth quarter with back-to-back three-and-outs but the Jags defense held their own and forcing an incomplete pass on a 4th down conversion attempt with 3:17 left in the game.
The Jags then went into their ground control offense to bleed the clock. After Tra Minter broke the single-game rushing record, he then broke free for a 20 yard gain but the Chanticleers forced a fumble and recovered it at their own 20.
Coastal proceeded to pass the ball down the field aided by a illegal use of hands penalty before Anderson found Malcolm Williams for a 16 yard touchdown cutting the Jags lead to only three points 31-28 with only 34 seconds left in the game.
Coastal Carolina attempted an onside kick, but it never took the high bounce as wanted and Jahmmir Taylor was able to cover it up preserving the Jags win.
The Jaguar offense rolled up an impressive 533 yards of total offense and 331 yards on the ground. Tra Minter ran 24 times for 203 yards, breaking Kendall Houston’s record of 173 rushing yards against Troy.
Deonta Moore ran nine times for 72 yards. Baker rushed seven times for 16 yards and a touchdown.
Cole Garvin went 7-of-9 for 111 yards and two touchdowns. Evan Orth went 3-of-4 for 91 yards and a touchdown.
Jamarius Way caught six passes for 141 and all three receiving touchdowns. Minter caught two passes for 49 yards and Jordan McCray added 12 yards on two receptions.
The Jaguar defense allowed 385 yards, holding the Chanticleers to only 92 rushing yards. They commited their first penalty in two games against USA and ended the game with four for 40 yards.
Anderson went 20-for-32 for 262 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Williams caught seven passes for 109 yards and a touchdown to lead the Coastal receivers.
CJ Marable ran 10 times for 40 yards while Alex James rushed for 32 yards on nine carries with two touchdowns. Anderson had 11 carries for 20 yards after sack yardage.
“I was glad our seniors could go out with a win in their last game at Ladd[-Peebles Stadium],” head coach Steve Campbell said. “Those guys really stepped up and played big in a big way.”
“After the Louisiana-Monroe game, we looked and saw that we really didn’t have a personality offensively,” Campbell continued. “We were running a little of this and a little of that; we really hadn’t established a personality. Before last week, we said we were going to run the football, be a play-action team and try to create some explosive plays with some man-to-man coverages. We were able to do that.”
“It makes it that much more special, to end with a win on this field” said senior linebacker Bull Barge after the game. “That’s what you work hard for, to go out on top at your own place. It just feels good knowing you’re going out on top after a long season.”
“It definitely gave us a spark,” said junior Tra Minter on a win to end the season. “All we wanted to do was send these seniors out with a bang and give them something to look back on. For next year, it just gave us a spark and some confidence for next season.”
The coaches will now put all their focus on recruiting with an early signing period on December 19-21 and the regular signing day on February 6, 2019.
Inside the Numbers:
Jags Fall To Redwolves 38-14
South Alabama allowed 31 unanswered points after tying the game and 7-each midway through the second quarter before getting a late trash-time score as the Jags fell to 2-7 on the season and 1-4 in Sun Belt Conference play.
Arkansas State’s Justice Hansen accounted for 357 total yards and four touchdowns. He threw for 332 yards while going 26-for-37 and three touchdowns. He added 25 yards on the ground and a 22 yard pass reception as the Redwolves improved to 5-4 overall and 2-3 in conference play.
Justin McInnis caught seven passes for 177 yards and a touchdown. Warren Wand rushed for 77 yards on 16 carries with a touchdown.
Evan Orth started the game after clearing the concussion protocol, which he suffered in the Jags game against Troy on October 23. Orth went 7-of-15 for 63 yards and a touchdown before he had to leave with an injury in the third quarter. Cephus Johnson went 5-of-7 for 30 yards and a touchdown in relief.
Tra Minter rushed 17 times for 88 yards. Cephus Johnson rushed for 28 yards on 12 carries as the second best runner. Minter also led the way receiving with four catches for only nine yards. Kawaan Baker hauled in three passes for a team-leading 40 yards.
Nigel Lawrence led the Jags with 17 stops after finally returning from injury and being disqualified in the first quarter against Troy. Bull Barge recorded 13 tackles.
The Jags trailed 14-7 at halftime before the Redwolves took control of the game in the third quarter with two scores. They got a big boost when a reverse throw-back pass to Hansen picked up 22 yards into the Jags red zone. Three plays later they scored.
The second score in the third quarter came after USA tried to convert on 4th and 1 at the Arkansas State 19 yard line and was unable to do so. Three plays later, on 3rd and 7, Hansen threw to McInnis near the right sideline and was able to race 78 yards to the end zone.
After going down 38-7, Johnson led the Jags on a 10 play, 68 yard drive capped off by a 5 yard touchdown pass to Jamarius Way.
If some crazy dominoes were to fall just right over the next three week, the Jags could conceivably still earn a berth in the inaugural Sun Belt Conference Championship game and bowl contention.
Head coach Steve Campbell said, “I thought we played hard in the first half and kept ourselves in the game. We had a couple of chances, but we gave up seven right before the half. It was a big series for us offensively when we didn’t convert the third-and-one and punted it. Arkansas State was able to drive down and score right before the half and that hurt, then we had the penalty on the kick return that could’ve evened up things for us heading into the locker room. They took the first drive [for a score] to open the second half and I didn’t get us ready coming out after halftime. We couldn’t really get anything going until our last drive.”
Coach Campbell’s positives from the game were, “We didn’t have as many penalties as we have in the past… We had a late hit on the quarterback and another 15-yard penalty on Arkansas State’s two first-half touchdown drives…. We didn’t turn it over. Those are some positive things that our young guys can build off of.”
South Alabama returns home on Saturday to host Louisiana-Monroe for homecoming. The Warhawks are coming off of a 44-25 win over Georgia Southern as they take control of the Western Division with a 5-4 overall record and 3-2 conference record.
Inside the Numbers:
Troy Wins The Battle of the Belt 38-14
A big first half by Troy was all that was needed by the Trojans to defeat South Alabama at home on a Tuesday night nationally televised game, 38-17.
The Jags lost the penalty battle, the two teams had the same number of penalties, seven, but the Jags were penalized for 91 yards while the Trojans had 67 yards in penalties.
Jaguar head coach Steve Campbell was glad to get the teams leading tackler, Nigel Lawrence, back for the game after missing the last two with a knee injury. However his time was short lived. On the third play from scrimmage he was flagged for targeting and disqualified for the game.
Later in the first half, on a play where the ball bounced off of Bull Barge and was intercepted by Sterrling Fisher, the replay booth called down for a review and eventually ejected Jeffery Whatley for targeting while throwing a block for his teammate.
These two targeting ejections makes five of them in the last four games.
South Alabama also lost the turnover battle. After being quite efficient in the passing game, Evan Orth threw three interceptions in the game, doubling his number for the season.
Meanwhile the Jags were able to pick off one of Sawyer Smith’s passes and was able to cover a muffed punt late in the first half.
USA had trouble weathering the early onslaught by the Trojans, allowing scores on each of Troy’s first five possessions. In most of the Jags games this season, the defense has dug deep holes and put the offense down by double-digits.
Risk taking, while it can turn the momentum in your favor if it works out, it can also backfire. That’s what happened at the end of the first half. After the Jags were stopped and Troy took a time out to force USA to punt, the punt bounced and hit a Troy returner and was recovered at the 27 yard line with three seconds left. But instead of kicking the gift field goal, Campbell and Edenfield decided to run a hail-mary style play against Troy’s prevent defense which nearly turned into pick six if it wasn’t for Tra Minter forcing the returner out of bounds at the USA 35 it would have been a touchdown.
After finding success with an onsides kick in the season opener against Louisiana Tech, the Jags have tried to catch their opponents by surprise a few times since then. Each time they were prepared for it or the bounce did not go the Jags way, but each time it gave the momenum back to the opponent. After the interception and return, the Trojan players rushed to the South endzone where a mass of Troy students were ready to receive them after an opening half score of 31-17 and a big play to lead them to the halftime break.
The second half was very different. The Jags defense tightened up and so did the Troy offense. While the Jags offense could move the ball, they couldn’t get into scoring position and when they did they threw interceptions and missed a field goal.
The only score of the second half came with 4:39 left in the game after Evan Orth threw the ball into the end zone but had it intercepted and ran back for an apparent touchdown only to have it called back to the 11 yard line due to a holding call. Two plays later the Trojans put the dagger into the heart of the Jags putting them up 38-17.
USA finished the game with 385 yards of total offense, 275 of them coming through the air. Troy gained 410 total yards, 261 through the air and 252 on the ground. But the Jaguar defense only allowed 71 total yards in the second half.
Tra Minter rushed 23 times for 99 yards to lead the Jaguar rushing attack and added 49 yards receiving on two catches. Jamarius Way caught six passes for 80 yards and a touchdown. Jordan McCray added three for 60 yards and the other touchdown.
Troy’s BJ Smith rushed 22 times for 170 yards and a touchdown. Damion Willis caught five passes for 132 yards and two touchdowns.
Despite being only 2-6 on the season and 1-3 in conference play, the Jags still control their destiny in the Sun Belt Conference Western division. They need to win out to get bowl eligible and three of those four are western division rivals each with two conference losses.
It’s not going to be an easy road with perennial contender Arkansas State coming up first followed by Louisiana-Monroe, Louisiana-Lafayette and Coastal Carolina. But if they can continue to correct things each week, then it’s not outside the realm of possibility. A 5-3 conference record with wins over all of the western conference members would hold all of the tie breakers.
Meanwhile Troy (6-2, 4-0 SBC) keeps pace with Georgia Southern and Appalachian State, both 3-0 and on a collision course on Thursday night, October 25th in a battle of conference unbeatens and a rivalry known as ‘Deeper than Hate.’
South Alabama will return to action on the road in Jonesboro, Arkansas against Arkansas State on Saturday, November 3. The game can be seen on ESPN+.
Inside the Numbers:
Jags Dominated in 52-7 Loss To Appalachian State
South Alabama had a disappointing trip to Boone, NC on Saturday when they ran into a buzz saw of a team in the Appalachian State Mountaineers.
App State got started with a 54 yard touchdown scramble by quarterback Zac Thomas to cap off a six play, 69 yard drive in the first 1:49 of the game.
After that the Jags defense seemingly settled in with a stop on their next series. Then we seemingly had a game when the Jags offense got in gear behind a 41 yard pass completion from Evan Orth to Kawaan Baker got the Jags in scoring position. three plays later Bakers took the handoff in for this eighth touchdown of the season to tie the game at 7-all.
But that was the end of the highlight reel for the Jags. It was all downhill from there, allowing 35 straight points in the first half for a 42-7 halftime deficit. Then another 10 points in the second half for the final score of 52-7.
The game shifted firmly into the Mountaineers favor after the Jags touchdown when Coach Campbell called for an on-sides kick trying to catch App State on their heels. But not only was the ball recovered with very good field position, but an Unsportsmanlike conduct penalty made it 15 yard better to the Jaguars 38 yard line. Two plays later the Mountaineers were back in the end zone with the lead.
Orth was 20-of-33 for 225 yards an an interception. Tra Minter was the leading rusher with 44 yards on nine carries. The recently hot Jamarius Way was cooled off with seven catches for 63 yards. Baker led the Jags receivers with 89 yards on four catches.
App State’s Zac Thomas was 8-of-18 for 146 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. Peyton Derrick was 2-for-2 for 23 yards and a touchdown as he came in to lead a 95-yard touchdown drive to close out the scoring.
Jalin Moore ran for 123 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries. Thomas added 77 yards on the ground with two touchdowns of his own.
Hennigan led the Mountaineers with 65 yards receiving on four catches. Corey Sutton had two catches for 46 yards and a touchdown while Marc Williams caught one pass for a 27 yard touchdown pass.
App State rolled up 517 yards against the Jaguar defense, 350 of them on the ground with an average of 7.6 yards per rush. Though they only gained 169 yards through the air, the Mountaineers averaged 16.9 yards per completion.
The Jags gained 308 yards of total offense, a mere 83 on the ground with an average of 2.4 yards per rush. But the Jags committed 9 penalties for 91 yards in the game.
At halftime and after the game Coach Steve Campbell had the same thing to say, “We didn’t play well…” In his post game statement he said, “We didn’t play well in any phase of the game and had too many penalties; our discipline is bad.”
Campbell on the on-sides kick said, “…from that point on things went bad. I thought we were going to be able to execute the on-side kick, get it and that would give us some momentum. They are a good football team though. They took Penn State to overtime and could have won the game, so I knew that we needed to do something. If I could take it back, I would.”
Campbell also noted, “Defensively, we need to work on our tackling. We’re still ducking our heads on some things.”
USA will travel to Georgia Southern on Saturday for the third-consecutive road game. Kickoff in Statesboro, Georgia is set for 2:30 CDT and will be aired on ESPN+.
Inside the Number:
Jags Fall To Cowboys 55-13; Prepares To Open Conference Schedule Against Texas State
South Alabama’s defense focused on stopping the Oklahoma State running game, and held them to 164 yards, but Taylor Cornelius in only his second start threw for 428 yards and a touchdown as the Jags fell 55-13 in Stillwater.
In his first career start, Evan Orth went 14-of-25 for 119 yards and a touchdown.
Kawaan Baker led the Jags with 40 yards rushing and a touchdown while adding three catches for 29 yards and another touchdown.
USA scored both of their touchdowns in the first half, the last being with 2:57 left in the half to cut the Cowboy lead to 24-13. But the Cowboys answered to go into the locker room with a 31-13 lead.
With the Cowboys gaining 730 yards of offense the previous week, 430 of it on the ground, the Jags focused on one dimension and had some pretty good success in the first half by allowing only 38 yards.
The Jag defense did pick off two passes, one in the end zone by Bull Barge and another by Tobias Moss that needed video review in order to confirm it. But they allowed Tylan Wallace to catch 10 passes for 166 yards and a touchdown as well as allowing Tyron Johnson to catch 5 passes for 137 yards.
In the end, the Jags defense allowed the Cowboys to gain 617 yards of offense. Only two of their nine scoring drive took more than two-and-a-half minutes off the clock.
The Cowboys clamped down on defense in the second half allowing the Jags only 65 yards after halftime.
Again, the Jags heavily penalized with 12 flags on the night.
Head coach Steve Campbell pointed out again that all the mistakes on the field were correctable. “…that starts out on the practice field,” Campbell said. “It starts with having a great day on Sunday and then a great day on Tuesday. You’re not going to waste a day because if you do, you’re going to play someone who isn’t wasting that day. We cannot have a wasted day. We’re looking forward to getting into Sun Belt play against Texas State. We know that they are going to be a really good football team. For me, [the season] kind of starts over and we are 0-0, and a week from now we need to be 1-0. We need to get ready and go win a football game, and that’s where our focus will be.”
Texas State brings an athletic quarterback and the team rushed for over 300 yards against Texas Southern. Their receivers have good speed and they have a sizable running back that runs with power.
Offensive coordinator Kenny Edenfield and coach Campbell both said it was too early to make a determination about the quarterback position, but they both mentioned they would like for one guy to step up to be “the guy.”
South Alabama returns home to host Texas State at Ladd-Peebles Stadium to open their Sun Belt Conference schedule with a 6pm kickoff on Saturday, September 15. The line opens with the Jags an 11-point favorite.
Jags Fall In Season Finale On Last Minute Touchdown
Head coach Joey Jones leading the team in the Jaguar Prowl in 2010.
South Alabama was unable to send the 19 seniors and head coach Joey Jones out with a final win in Las Cruces, New Mexico. The Jags finish the season 4-8 after the 22-17 defeat after the Aggies scored in the final minute of the game to regain the lead and ultimately the win.
The Jags took a 7-0 lead to start the second quarter then the Aggies scored 13 consecutive points to end the first half. The Jags had an opportunity to score a touchdown before the end of the first half after Garvin found Kawaan Baker for an 18 yard gain down to the two yard line, but a personal foul on Harrison Louden put the Jags back at the 17 yard line. Then the Jaguars went in reverse after Jordan McCray stepped out of bounds for a 9 yard loss on a reverse followed by an 11 yard sack and fumble that rolled out of bounds at the at the 40 yard line of the Aggies. A personal foul after the fumble gave the Jags 15 yards and an automatic first down at the Aggie 25. A pass to Reinkemeyer for a loss of a yard followed by Garvin being sacked for a loss of 3 set the Jags up for a 3rd & 14. Garvin’s pass, when it looked like he was just trying to throw it away, but he couldn’t get enough on it and it was intercepted on the sideline at the 24 ending the threat.
The Aggies opened the fourth quarter with a field goal to take a 16-7 lead before the Jags started began their comeback. With 11:49 left in the game, Cole Garvin found Jordan McCray for a 17 yard touchdown to cut the lead to two points.
The Aggies were facing a 4th & 4 at the Jaguar 17 and decided to go for it but the Jaguar defense forced an incomplete pass and took over the ball. Garvin complete four-consecutive passes for 10, 3, 19 and 42 yards with all but the third pass going to Jamarius Way, the third pass was to McCray. A few plays later, facing a 3rd and goal from the 10, Garvin targeted Malik Stanley but he couldn’t haul it in and Jones opted for a go-ahead field goal making it 17-16 with 3:13 left in the game.
The Aggies dinked and dunked their way down the field until Tyler Rogers connected with Grand Bay, Alabama native Conner Cramer in the back of the end zone for the go-ahead score. Their 2-point conversion attempt was no good leaving the Aggies nursing a 22-17 lead with :32 left in the game.
NMSU had the kickoff go out of bounds which would have put the ball at the USA 35 yard line with :32 left, but Jones and his staff decided to make them rekick it from the 30 yard line. The Jags attempted to set up a throw-back across the field but the throw didn’t have enough power behind it and skipped back allowing the defenders to close in, all the while with the clock running. Finally the Jags took over at the 27 yard line with :24 left.
Garvin found David Garner along the left sideline for an 11 yard gain. Garvin then kept it up the middle but short of a first down forcing the Jags to call their final time out with :12 left. After another incomplete pass, Garvin threw what was close enough to a hail mary attempt with the pass tipped by the defender and the bounce went away from Jamarius Way, if it had tipped the other way, he could have been able to cruise into the end zone for the game winning touchdown.
However, that did not happen and the Jags fell to 4-8 on the season while New Mexico State looks to be going to their first bowl game since 1960.
And with that head coach Joey Jones’ tenure at South Alabama comes to and end. Jones finishes 52-50 in nine season as the architect of the Jaguar football program since his hiring in 2008 and their first play in 2009.
Senior Jeremy Reaves became only the second defensive back in Jaguar history to record 100 or more stops in a season.
Jones spoke after the game in his final post-game press conference:
On the game itself: “All I wanted for us to do coming into this game was to fight and I thought we did that. We came up a little short. [New Mexico State’s] quarterback is a great player and made some plays on their last drive. With about five minutes left, they had a third-and-10 and he hit it. On their touchdown play, he was able to scramble around and made a great throw. It really wasn’t anything that our guys did wrong, but rather what [NMSU] did right. I was proud of our guys fighting tonight.”
On offensive adjustments in the second half: “We just executed better. In the first half, we dropped some passes. We also got down to the one and got a penalty, which brought the ball back and hurt us trying to score. Other than that, we played pretty well. I told the guys a halftime, that if we just keep running our offense, we’ll be ok.”
on his defenses play against running back Larry Rose III and forcing the Aggies to go to the air to win: “Our coaches did a great job calling plays defensively. Rose is a heck of a running back. We wanted to make NMSU throw the ball, but unfortunately Tyler Rogers is a very good quarterback. Our hats are off to New Mexico State.”
Jeremy Reaves spoke after the game as well:
On the game: “We fought and that’s all coach [Joey Jones] asked for. We fought for 60 minutes and the score didn’t reflect it, but I’m happy with the way our guys fought considering this was my last game here.”
On what the defense did to take New Mexico State’s running game away: “We knew that Rose was an electric player and that he was going to make plays. We also knew it was going to come down to us being physical. The defense was just able to stop them at the line of scrimmage and the point of attack.”
On the play of NMSU quarterback Tyler Rogers: “He’s a great player. We were talking throughout the game and he told me he was trying to throw away from me because I hit too hard. He’s a ball player though; he’s good with his legs and he’s good with his arm. He made plays when they needed him too. New Mexico State made the plays when they needed too and they showed up on third down. Credit to those guys and I congratulate them.”
Quarterback Cole Garvin, who started the game but rotated series with Dallas Davis through the first half spoke for the offense after the game:
On the way the offense played in the second half: “We made it a game [in the second half] and we really tried to get the win, but we couldn’t get it done on the last offensive drive.”
On what the offense did differently going into the fourth quarter: “We just kept calling the same plays that were working and minimized mistakes. Coach Owens called a really good game against the defense were in and we just kept hitting the holes.”
On the job the running backs and wide receivers did: “Those guys finding the holes is what made my job easy, along with what the offensive line did. It was a team effort.”
South Alabama finished with 353 yards of total offense, 331 yards through the air and only 22 yards rushing. Jaguar quarterbacks combined to go 26-of-46 for two interceptions and one touchdown.
Garvin went 22-of-37 for 268 yards with an interception and the only passing touchdown, but was sacked four times. Davis went 4-of-9 for 63 yards with one interception.
Jamarius Way led the Jags with 88 yards on seven receptions. McCray was next with 74 yards on four receptions and the lone touchdown. David Gardner, Malik Stanley, and Tra Minter all had three catches for 48, 47, and 42 yards receiving respectively. Four other Jaguars also caught passes in the game.
Davis was the Jags leading rusher with 15 yards on five carries. Jalen Wayne, and Minter both had eight yards rushing. Bull Barge, Darrell Songy and Wade Forde each had a sack in the game.
Defensively the Jags allowed 491 total yards, 451 yards through the air and only 40 yards rushing. Rogers went 40-of-61 with two touchdowns and an interception.
Jaleel Scott had 134 yards on nine receptions. Rose also had nine receptions adding 95 yards receiving. The Aggies had eight other receivers catching passes in the game.
Rose rushed for 52 yards and Jason Huntley added 10 yards rushing as well. Rogers netted a 20 yard loss in sacks and such.
With the Jaguars season over, the focus now turns to the coaching search, which should accelerate with the season’s end. Athletics director Joel Erdmann is expected to begin interviewing candidates this week since more candidate’s seasons are starting to end as well.
It’s expected that defensive coordinator Kane Wommack will serve as USA’s interim head football coach until a replacement is hired.
Thank you coach Jones, your work has built the South Alabama program from scratch to what it is today. Photo Credit: JagNationUSA Facebook Page
Thanksgiving Reflection And Looking To The Future
Head coach Joey Jones lifts the ‘Battle for the Belt’ championship belt for the third time in the last four years. | Photo Credit: Brad Puckett usajaguars.com
South Alabama was shocked and never recovered in Statesboro last weekend. It was kind of like one of those boxing matches where the favored competitor comes out against an underdog and the underdog lands that stunner head blow and the favorite is never able to recover.
The Jags got punched, and punched hard. They didn’t recover either.
Most fans thought that their bowl aspirations were going to be dashed the week before when they hosted Arkansas State, who had never lost to USA in their five previous games. They never thought an 0-9 Georgia Southern was going to be the one to dash their hopes. Which may have been a contributing factor in the loss. In college football, you can never underestimate your opponent.
The Jags went down 7-0 on the first possession, then a turnover set up the Eagles to go up 14-0. By the end of the first quarter the Jags were down 21-0 and it only got worse from there. The Eagles took out a season worth of frustration out on the Jaguars and sent their seniors out with a win in their final home game.
By the time the game was over, the Jags had been handed their first shutout, lost their chance at getting bowl eligible, and probably marked the end of head coach Joey Jones’ tenure as the only head football coach in South Alabama history.
“I’ve never been involved in a game like the one we had tonight in all my years of coaching,” head coach Joey Jones said. “The game plan got away from us. Georgia Southern executed well. They’ve been making mistakes all year and shooting themselves in the foot, and then tonight, they didn’t do that at all.”
“It all ends with me,” Jones said in his post-game radio interview. “I’ve got to get my team better ready to play than that. Obviously, we had some scheme problems. We didn’t coach well on defense, we didn’t coach well on offense. One of those games that got away from us. … Just not a good night at all.”
Just two days later that was affirmed by Coach Jones’ announcement of his resignation effective at the end of his contract and he will coach the Jags final game on December 2nd at New Mexico State.
Then the next day after the announcement of his resignation, coach Jones said, “It’s been a blast. I’m happy for South Alabama. It’ll be in my heart forever.”
“The meeting yesterday was something I was dreading in a lot of ways, just to let them know I wasn’t going to be here anymore,” Jones said. “And it turned into one of the best days of my life. I was hugging them and they were crying on my shoulder for a minute. It was touching and it means a lot to me. I’ll carry that forever. I had about 395 texts yesterday, a lot of them former players and friends. Made me realize I did it for the right reasons.”
Junior linebacker Bull Barge said that the news was tough to take but has given the team a renewed focus with intentions to send Jones out a winner.
“Yesterday was tough,” Barge said. “We love coach a lot. To hear that yesterday, you wish you could have done more. As a man, it’s life. This game is a business. We’ve been taught that from the beginning. Right now, our focus is to send coach out on top, have one of the best games we’ve ever played this last game.”
Senior guard Harrison Louden said that coach Jones not only taught his team about football, but also to “be men off the field. … He was all about character. I think that’s what I’m going to carry with me more than anything.”
After starting 7-0 and 10-0 in their first two seasons as an unclassified program they began their climb toward FBS with a 6-4 record as an FBS independent in 2011. Then they became an FBS transitional team in 2012 they went 2-11 as they drastically stepped up their competition and got their first FBS win over Florida International. Then they have been unable to get over the six win hump records of: 6-6, 6-7, 5-7, 6-7 over the previous four seasons and currently sitting at 4-7 this season with one game remaining.
They notched some historic wins over the last two seasons as well. Wins over Mississippi State, their first Power 5 win, and San Diego State, their first win over a ranked opponent, in 2016. Then they knocked off Sun Belt front-runners Troy and Arkansas State this season.
Jones, 55, has a record of 52-49 with one game remaining in his 9th season leading South.
During his tenure Jaguar fans have seen:
- Gerald Everett became the Jags’ first-ever NFL draft selection in April and is in his first season with the Los Angeles Rams.
- 3 individuals selected to participate at the NFL Scouting Combine
- 4 members of the program voted CoSIDA Academic All-District (highlighted by Trey Clark being selected the Jaguars’ first-ever Academic All-American)
- 5 players invited to play in the Reese’s Senior Bowl
- 6 alumni currently active in the NFL and Canadian Football League
- 24 former student-athletes received an opportunity to compete at the professional level
- 43 times individuals earned all-Sun Belt recognition on the field over the last five years
- 54 times an individual has been named to the Sun Belt Conference Commissioner’s List
- 92 times student-athletes have made the league’s Academic Honor Roll
After being a standout player at Murphy High School, Jones went on to be a standout player at the University of Alabama and named to Alabama’s All-Decade Team for the 1980s. He would play professionally with the Birmingham Stallions and Atlanta Falcons. He then began his coaching career in 1989 as an assistant coach at Briarwood Christian School. Two years later he was hired as the head coach at Dora. In 1996 he was hired as head coach at Mountain Brook HS and led the team to the Class 6A state championship game in 1996. He would go 101-27 in 10 seasons there.
He was then hired as the head coach at Birmingham-Southern to restart their football program and led them to a 1-7 record in Division II. He was then hired after the one season at BSC to start the program at South Alabama from scratch. He won the Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year in 2013 after going 6-6 in their first season as a full Sun Belt member and improving on a 2-11 record the previous season.
Coach Jones and his wife, Elise, have been invaluable to South Alabama and cannot be thanked enough. When he was hired he started pulling together a staff on the steps of the Mitchell Center and living out of a hotel for a couple of months. They worked out wherever they could, including an improvised weight room in a former student health center and professional business building.
Athletic Director Joel Erdmann and the administration has hired a search firm to aid them in identifying the next head coach. with a number of potential candidates being thrown around. Whoever takes over the helm of the program, they will be inheriting a solid foundation that Jones and his staff has worked hard to build. A great fieldhouse and adjoining practice fields. Soon the covered practice facility with restart construction after the partially constructed superstructure collapsed after a sudden summer thunderstorm exposed the inadequate bracing the builders had not put into place.
There has been talk of an on-campus stadium since day one of the program. As much as fans complain about it, the fans and school are all lucky the City of Mobile has Ladd-Peebles Stadium that the Jags could use as their home stadium since the beginning and for the foreseeable future. Without it who knows if football would have gotten started or how the funds to start the program would have been used as they would have possibly spent funds to outfit a location to play.
- As for those potential candidates, these are a few names that have been mentioned for the job are:
John Grass, Jacksonville State head coach who has won four-consecutive conference championships and reached the FCS title game in 2015 - Jeremy Pruitt, Alabama defensive coordinator, he’s never been a head coach and is currently making over $1 million per year
- Tee Martin, Southern California offensive coordinator, he was a standout at Williamson HS before leading Tennessee to the 1998 BCS national championship
- Kevin Sherrer, Georgia linebackers coach, was USA’s defensive coordinator in 2013, spent time on the Alabama staff but is reportedly a candidate to become defensive coordinator at Florida State
- Kevin Steele, Auburn defensive coordinator, was a serious candidate for the position when coach Jones was hired in 2007 but has a terrible 9-36 overall record as head coach at Baylor and 1-31 Big 12 record from 1999-2002.
- Chip Lindsey, Auburn offensive coordinator, he’s never been a head coach but has run successful offenses at Southern Miss and Auburn
- Will Hall, Louisiana-Lafayette offensive coordinator, has a 56-20 record as head coach at West Alabama and West Georgia in Division II football and played at North Alabama, winning the Harlon Hill Trophy (Division II equivalent of the Heisman) as quarterback at North Alabama in 2003, when current USA AD Joel Erdmann was AD at UNA
- Steve Campbell, Central Arkansas head coach, he is 33-14 in four seasons at UCA including 10-1 this season. He’s a Pensacola native, played center at Troy and was a graduate assistant for Pat Dye at Auburn. He also led Delta State to a Division II national championship in 1999 and won a junior-college national title at Mississippi Gulf Coast in 2007
- Rhett Lashlee, UConn offensive coordinator, played for Gus Malzahn in high school before coaching with him as a graduate assistant then offensive coordinator at both Arkansas State and Auburn
- Mario Cristobol, Oregon offensive coordinator, went 27-57 as head coach at FIU and took them to their only two bowl games in program history. He was then on the Alabama football staff from 2013-2016 as offensive line coach
- Matt Luke, Ole Miss interim head coach, he was thrown to the wolves after Hugh Freeze resigned just before the season started amid scandals. He has been an assistant coach there since 2012 and served as co-offensive coordinator before being named interim head coach. He is Mississippi through and through, playing at Gulfport HS, then Ole Miss. He was a graduate assistant there in 1999, then came back from 2002-2005 then came back again in 2012
- David Reeves, UAB defensive coordinator, he was a former Alabama high school coach who joined former Jag defensive coordinator in Jacksonville State in 2013, then joined him at UAB in 2014 as defensive line coach then became the defensive coordinator this season when the Blazers restarted their program
- Kodi Burns, Auburn co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach, He’s only in his sixth season as an assistant coach. He was a former wide receiver at Auburn and has had coaching stints at Arkansas State, Arizona State, Middle Tennessee and Samford
- Butch Jones, former Tennessee head coach, he started his head coaching career at Central Michigan after Brian Kelly left for Cincinnati, he then moved to Cincinatti after Kelly again left for Notre Dame. He then took over at Tennessee replacing Derek Dooley and finished with a 34-27 record there and a 14-24 SEC record. But his reputation of verbal abuse may not make him a desirable candidate. His first season at Tennessee was shakey after the Jags, down by eight points, mounted a last-minute drive to tie the game, but was intercepted in the end zone
Over the past 10 years, the South Alabama campus has changed in so many ways since they started football. New buildings, updated sports facilities, additional dorms, and increased enrollment. What the next 10 years holds only time will tell. For the first time, the Jags are searching for a new head coach. It will be interesting to see who makes it through the coaching carousel, ends up on the final list and eventually gets hired and how it impacts recruiting with early signing period coming up in mid-December and national signing day in February.
As we hear more, we’ll keep you informed.