What We’ve Learned So Far This Season
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.