Jaguar Men Fall In Third Straight Game Of Coaches Vs Cancer Classic
The South Alabama Men’s basketball team dropped their third consecutive game of the Coaches Versus Cancer Classic to fall to 2-3 on the season. Georgia State improves to 3-2 on the season after their third consecutive win.
Augustine Rubit scored 31 points to tie his career high, but the Panthers had two players score at least 25 points and made a defensive stop on the last possession to preserve the 75-73 win over the Jaguars.
The Panthers shot 50% from the floor and scored 43 points in the first half alone. They also converted 11 of 18 three-point attempts in the contest.
“We’ve got to go back to basics. We’re just not guarding,” Jaguar head coach Ronnie Arrow said. “Our teams have always been known for good man-to-man, pressure defenses and we’re not doing it. I thought they were going to score 100 points today. We’re not going to beat too many people holding them to 50 percent (from the floor). We have to get where we take more pride in our defense and stopping the ball.”
Rubit scored 20 of his 31 points in the first half on his way to his second straight double-double with 11 rebounds. He shot 13-of-18 from the floor, 5-of-6 from the free throw line while tying his career high with three assists and had two blocks and one steal.
“I thought he played very well, but I thought our guys did a good job of getting him the ball and he was finishing,” Arrow said.
GSU’s Manny Atkins scored 26 points, 19 of them in the first half, to lead the Panthers. R.J. Hunter added 25 with 16 of them coming in the second half while going 5-of-6 from outside the three-point arc.
“When someone is having a great game like Hunter, we can’t just be off of him,” Arrow said. “We got closer to him, but in situations like that, he doesn’t even get the ball. We kept just letting him catch it. He’s a good freshman, but we should have been smart enough not to let him get the ball.”
“It’s like we’re hard-headed,” Arrow continued. “They’re going to have to make a bunch before we get on them. When a team is making 3s, you don’t come off of them. You don’t come off guys that are hot.”
The Jags went into the locker room at halftime trailing by eight points but made up that deficit in the first 5:26 of the second half to tie the score at 47 when Mychal Ammons nailed a three-pointer.
However, the Jags were unable to take the lead even though they tied the game one other time. They battled back from a six point deficit midway through the second half and closed within one point twice, the second time with 4:48 left in the game on a Rubit layup.
But the Panthers answered back with an 8-1 run which was capped off by a 3-pointer by Atkins at the 2:22 mark. The Jags answered back with a run of their own as they got three-pointers from Freddie Goldstein and Xavier Roberson on three consecutive trips down the court. Roberson’s fourth and final one of the game made it a one point game with 34.6 seconds left.
Hunter would go to the line for the Panthers and made his first shot but missed the second to set up the Jaguars for one final shot with 11.3 seconds left in the game. Ammons drove the lane but was unable to get his shot to the net.
“We were trying to run a flare for Freddie,” Arrow said of the final play.
All 12 points by Roberson came from outside the three-point arc to be the only other Jaguar in double digits scoring in the game.
The Jags will have a week to correct their mistakes from this week and refocus on Sun Belt Conference play. The Jags will open Sun Belt play against Florida Atlantic in Boca Raton, FL on Thursday, November 29 against Florida Atlantic with tipoff set for 6pm Central time.
Happy Thanksgiving
From our family to yours, happy Thanksgiving Jaguar Nation!
Jags Travel To ULL For Final Opportunity At Another SBC Win This Season
The Jaguars go on the road on Saturday for their final Sun Belt game in their first season of competition in the conference and FBS play. The Jags also look to get their second FBS and their second Sun Belt victory when they play Louisiana-Lafayette.
Over the last seven games, the Jaguars have found out where they stand in the conference as they complete their second year of a two-year transition into FBS. With only one win to show, the Jags have had four games decided by eight points or less. A single possession.
The win-loss record is not where head coach Joey Jones would like it to be, but it has still been a productive season as the fourth year of the program comes to a close over the next two weeks.
“One thing I think is that we have become a better football team throughout the season, we’ve probably improved more throughout this time than any time we ever have as evidenced by our team playing with a team like Middle Tennessee, who is probably going to play for the [Sun Belt] championship,” Jones said. “It’s 17-12 in the fourth quarter and we had chances to make plays and win the ball game. But we are right there. I think that we have found out that we can play with Sun Belt teams now. Do we have to get better and learn how to win games? No doubt about it. But in our first year I’m real pleased with the progress, though I am certainly not happy with the results at this point. We are at a point where we want to be, though we wish we had won a few more games.”
South Alabama enters this weekends game with a 2-9 (1-6 SBC) record and one last opportunity to earn a conference victory this season. Louisiana-Lafayette enters the game with a 6-4 (4-2 SBC) record with an offense that ranks in the top half of the conference as they average 433.3 yards per game and 33.1 points per game. The Jaguars defense ranks second in the conference by allowing 366.4 yards per game.
Last Saturday, the Jaguars defense held Middle Tennessee to 20 points, ten points below their scoring average when they entered the game. On the other hand, ULL gained 582 yards of total offense against the top defense in the conference in Western Kentucky. They scored two touchdowns in the final three minutes to defeat the Hilltoppers 31-27.
“Offensively they have really become much better, they are running their quarterback a lot more,” Jones explained. “Earlier in the year they were careful to run him because they lost their other quarterback, but now they have Broadway in there and he is doing a great job running the football. He is scary when he pulls it down. And they are throwing it well all the time, they were already good at that, so it has given diversity in that they can run it or throw it. They have big offensive linemen who run the zone very well, they have a complete offense that you have to defend all over the field.”
ULL quarterback Terrance Broadway accounted for 403 yards of total offense against Western Kentucky as he rushed for 145 yards on 14 carries and completing 23-of-33 passing attempts for 258 yards. For the season he has a 65.7% completion rate while accounting for 19 touchdowns (13 passing and six rushing) while posting 2,526 total yards this season.
“We do a great job every week preparing, I really want to compliment our staff and what they do scheme-wise to get ready for games,” Jones said. “Our players are buying into it, playing hard-nosed football and getting after it. If we don’t give up the big plays in games that we continue to talk about we would be doing great defensively. But I am real pleased with how we are playing defensively overall. We are preparing for this team like anyone else, but experience against some of the teams in this league has helped us.”
The ULL defense allows 419.2 yards per game, 266.8 of them through the air. Ross Metheny has threw for over 200 yards in the Jaguars last six games. So there is a good opportunity for the Jaguars to drive and score.
The Jaguars and the Ragin’ Cajuns kickoff is set for 4pm in Lafayette, Louisiana and can be seen online on ESPN3.com (if your internet service or cable TV service is from an affiliated service provider).
Jags Fall For Second Day In A Row In Coaches Vs Cancer Classic
The South Alabama Jaguars men’s basketball team fell for the second consecutive game in the Coaches versus Cancer Classic in Atlanta, Georgia. Monmouth’s Jesse Steele hit three free throws with 1.3 seconds left to give them the 73-71 win.
Those three free throws came seconds after Augustine Rubit hit three free throws of his own to give the Jaguars the lead 71-70 with 5.8 seconds left in the game.
The Jags fought back from a six point deficit in the final 3:16 before Steele’s final points of the game.
“I thought our guys really played hard, came back and had the game won,” Jaguars head coach Ronnie Arrow said. “The last thing I said to our guys was ‘don’t foul.’ The ball was there, Antoine (Allen) went for it and they called the foul. We have to do better in late-game situations. It’s just a shame that it ended like that. Hopefully we learn from it and the next time we get in that situation, we won’t foul.”
Rubit earned his first double-double of the season with 20 points and 16 rebounds while tying his career high of five blocks. Xavier Roberson scored 13 of this 18 points in the second half including three 3-point field goals in the final five minutes of the game.
Both teams traded double-digit runs in the second half. The Jags were trailing 45-41 early in the second half before an 11-0 run in just over two minutes put them in the lead.
But once that run ended, the Jags went silent by going without a field goal over the next seven-plus minutes while missing the next nine shots with three turnovers. Monmouth capitalized with a 12-0 run to retake the lead 57-52.
They would extend the lead over the Jags to seven points with 5:21 left in the game. Roberson would hit the first of his three late three-pointers to pull the Jags within four points.
“I thought tonight he did what we needed him to do, which is make shots for us,” Arrow said.
After a layup with 1:18 left in the game by Monmouth to push their lead to 70-66, Rubit would answer on the next possession with a three-point play. He would then grab a key rebound after a miss by Monmouth on their next possession.
“We did a good job there,” Arrow commented on the Jaguars rally late. “I thought Freddie (Goldstein) ran the plays that we called, we executed and Xavier hit a couple of big shots.”
After multiple scoring opportunities in the final seconds could not be converted by the Jags, Rubit would be fouled on a rebound attempt and sent to the free throw line. He would convert both shots to put the Jags ahead 71-70.
Then Steele would be fouled on the other end of the floor for the final three free throws that would seal the game.
South Alabama committed 25 turnovers in the game, both teams combined for 41 turnovers in the game. “They put a lot of pressure on us,” Arrow noted.
As mentioned before, Rubit would be the Jaguars leading scorer with 20 points and 16 rebounds. Roberson would end the game with 18 points, three rebounds and one assist. Mychal Ammons would chip in 15 points, seven rebounds and three assists.
South Alabama will complete play in the Coaches Versus Cancer Classic on Wednesday when they play against host school Georgia State with tip-off slated for 2pm Central time. The game can be heard live on the WNSP website.
Monday Press Conference
Head coach Joey Jones speaks with sideline reporter Pat Greenwood heading into halftime against Middle Tennessee on Saturday, November 17, 2012.
South Alabama head football coach Joey Jones held his weekly press conference. Coach Jones was joined by wide receiver Bryant Lavender and linebacker Bryson James to reflect on the Jaguars game against Middle Tennessee and to preview their trip to Louisiana-Lafayette this weekend.
Below are some highlights from the press conference.
Coach Jones opened the press conference with his opening statement. “It’s been a long journey from playing our first Sun Belt game with Troy to this point. One thing I think is that we have become a better football team throughout the season, we’ve probably improved more throughout this time than any time we ever have as evidenced by our team playing with a team like Middle Tennessee, who is probably going to play for the [Sun Belt] championship. It’s 17-12 in the fourth quarter and we had chances to make plays and win the ball game, and we don’t do that.”
“But we are right there,” Jones continued. “I think that we have found out that we can play with Sun Belt teams now. Do we have to get better and learn how to win games? No doubt about it. But in our first year I’m real pleased with the progress, though I am certainly not happy with the results at this point. We are at a point where we want to be, though we wish we had won a few more games.”
Jones then spoke about what concerns him the most about Louisiana-Lafayette. “Offensively they have really become much better, they are running their quarterback a lot more. Earlier in the year they were careful to run him because they lost their other quarterback, but now they have [Terrance] Broadway in there and he is doing a great job running the football. He is scary when he pulls it down. And they are throwing it well all the time, they were already good at that, so it has given diversity in that they can run it or throw it. They have big offensive linemen who run the zone very well, they have a complete offense that you have to defend all over the field.”
“They are playing with a lot of confidence,” he continued. They are good on defense. They are flying to the ball. They lost a couple of games a few weeks ago to North Texas and Arkansas State, but have bounced back with big wins including over Western Kentucky. They are playing really well right now with a chance to get into a big bowl game, that’s what’s on their agenda at this point.”
“For us, it’s another Sun Belt game and another chance for us to get a Sun Belt win, that’s what our kids are looking forward to.”
Jones then spoke about how facing similar quarterbacks this seas will help to prepare them for Louisiana-Lafayette. “It’s helped that we have played against a lot of spread teams in this league who have great quarterbacks, but I think Broadway is probably the best runner that we will face. He can pull it down, he is just like a running back with the ball in his hands, he can break tackles and has good speed, so he can run for 50 or 60 yards easily. We have to be smart about what we do and be in good position on defense.”
He was then asked about how he feels about the Jaguars defense. “We do a great job every preparing, I really want to compliment our staff and what they do scheme-wise to get ready for games. Our players are buying into it, playing hard-nosed football and getting after it. If we don’t give up the big plays in games that we continue to talk about we would be doing great defensively. But I am real pleased with how we are playing defensively overall, we have given the ball back to the offense several times on three-and-outs, they’ve done a great job.”
“We are preparing for this team like anyone else, but experience against some of the teams in this league has helped us.”
Coach Jones then spoke about the Jaguars game against Middle Tennessee again. “After the second quarter of the game [Saturday] we are down three running backs for this year. We lost Brandon Ross early in the year, then we lost Demetre [Baker] and Kendall [Houston], so we are basically with our fourth-string running back in the ball game. You lose that depth at running back and it certainly is a factor. I think that hurt the running game a little bit in the second half. The backs we have left are smaller backs that are really good outside runners, but are probably not guys you want to pound inside. Losing that in the second half hurt us offensively.”
“In the first half I thought we had a really good half,” Jones continued. We had 220 yards but only had six points to show for it, but we moved the ball fairly well. Our running back situation became pretty thin in the second half.”
“They [Baker and Houston] are day-to-day, we will find out more toward the end of the week.”
Wide receiver Bryant Lavender began by talking about what he has learned while competing in the Sun Belt Conference. “We had a lot of high hopes going into the season. It hasn’t gone the way that we planned it. At this level you have to make plays. You need big-chunk plays from an offensive standpoint, and just have to keep grinding. You have to have faith in the defense that if we [offense] go three-and-out that they will get the ball back for us or sometimes get a defensive score.”
Lavender then spoke about how competitive the team has been in conference play this season. “We expected to be in the games and win some of them that we play. We are very confident in our abilities. That’s why we were brought here, to play ball and get an education. Being uneasy about being able to play with these guys [conference competition] was not a question. It was whether or not we could make the play or make the tackle when we needed it. Unfortunately, we have not done that in most of the games like we should have. But we have learned that you have to make the play in the close games.”
He then spoke about the importance of finishing strong in the last two games of the season. “It would be great for the program and our university to close out [the season] with another conference win and a win at Hawaii, just to send us [into the offseason] on a good note. Last season, we did not finish out on a good note losing to Cal-Poly. It would set another stone for our program to get another Sun Belt victory. It would be great for us and would give us a jump-start on what we need to do for the upcoming year. It would catapult us into the next season, and have us ready to work even harder. When you get that last taste of victory, you got to have more. We haven’t had the taste of victory in a long time.”
Lavender then spoke about how the experience of playing in the Sun Belt Conference this season will be beneficial to next season. “We have to understand as a team that nobody will give us a win, or no one is going to give us a chance to make a play. We have to go out there and take it. We have to have that dog mentality. But we understand there are going to be times where there will be bad plays. You have to have a short-term memory. You can’t remember what you did last play, because it will take you two plays to get ready for the next play if you do that. You just have to keep pushing, and we have to keep pushing each other and have confidence in one another that we are going to get it done.”
Linebaker Bryson James spoke about what he has learned in competing in the Sun Belt Conference this season. “We [defense] have found that not allowing the big play means everything. That’s one thing that [defensive coordinator] coach [Bill] Clark always tells us that it’s the one play, missed tackles and little things like that, that hurts us. I have learned that it’s about preparation and watching film.”
James also spoke about how competitive the team has been this season in conference play. “I think we have brought it to every team we have played this year. We played as hard as we can. We haven’t started out as fast as we have wanted to in every game. As a whole, I feel like we haven’t actually played a full game. We’re all brothers and we all play as one, but as a unit we haven’t put together a full game.”
He then also addressed the importance of finishing strong in the last two games of the season. “For me, we’re going back to the home state of Louisiana. All of my family is going to be there, so I just want to put on a show and hopefully my teammates will do the same and we can come out with a win.”
Finally James spoke about how the experience of playing in the Sun Belt Conference can be beneficial to next season. “I talk to a lot of the players, and I tell them that there are a lot of the little things that play a part in the game – skipping a class, a rep or workout – those little things count. It’s always the little things that people look over, and they tend to get into a habit. We’re going to be leaders next year, and those are the things we have to stop.”
Second Half Shooting Woes Down Jaguars Against Tennessee State
A shooting drought in the second half allowed Tennessee State to pull away from South Alabama on Monday in Atlanta. The Jags went over nine minutes without a field goal late in the second half as Tennessee State pulled away for a 68-57 win Monday night in the Coaches versus Cancer Classic at the Georgia State Sports Arena.
South Alabama falls to 2-1 on the young season while TSU get their first win to improve to 1-3 on the season.
“It was an absolute, total let-down in the first half,” Jags head coach Ronnie Arrow said. “I hate to say it, but we played selfishly. As good as we have been playing, we took too many bad shots. I don’t even have to look at the stats to see we took bad shots. We didn’t work the ball around.”
TSU did not waste any time getting started as they scored within three seconds of winning the opening tip. They then jumped out to a 13-2 lead on the Jags as they missed their first three shots and committed three turnovers before making their first shot of the game.
At halftime the TSU Tigers had a 36-24 lead.
But the Jags would start the second half strong by scoring the first nine points of the half to get within three points of the Tigers 36-33. Augustine Rubit accounted for eight of those nine points in less that three minutes of play.
However, three points were as close as the Jags would get. Xavier Roberson would hit a jumper with 15:07 left in the game to cut the lead back to 38-35, but TSU would score the next four points to extend their lead back to seven points. The two schools would trade scores over the next few minutes before a 7-0 run by TSU to further extend their lead to 51-39.
Then a layup from Rubit at the 10:24 mark would pull the Jags within 51-43, but the team would go stone cold. The Jags would miss their next six shots with three turnovers and would go only 4-of-9 from the free throw line during that span. The Tigers would pounce on the shooting woes to go on a 17-4 run to open up a 68-47 lead.
“We played with energy,” Arrow said of the comeback early in the second half. “We gave ourselves a chance—we made the extra pass and got layups.”
“We didn’t run our offense,” Arrow continued. “We couldn’t run our offense because we were shooting the ball. We had horrible decision making with the ball.”
“They kicked our tail on the boards. We had seven offensive rebounds. They took us to the ‘shed on the boards. We’re not rebounding like we did year. We have to do something about that. This team should be a very good rebounding team.”
Augustine Rubit would lead all players with 21 points, 19 of them in the second half. He shot 7-of-10 from the floor and was a perfect 7-for-7 from the free throw line. “We weren’t getting him the ball (in the first half) and he wasn’t moving around much to get the ball. He started out slow. In the second half he got some more movement.”
Mychal Ammons would be the only other Jaguar to score double digit points with 11 and would lead all Jaguars with seven rebounds.
South Alabama will have to rebound quickly as they face Monmouth on Tuesday at 3pm Central time. The game can be heard on 105.5-FM WSNP and http://www.wnsp.com/.
Turnovers Key In Loss To Middle Tennessee
Head coach Joey Jones speaks with sideline reporter Pat Greenwood heading into halftime against Middle Tennessee on Saturday, November 17, 2012.
South Alabama has had problems with turnovers throughout the season. It bit them again against Middle Tennessee.
Even though the Jags turned the ball over four times, three interceptions and a fumble, they stayed within on score of a Middle Tennessee team that is tied atop the conference standings.
For the season, the Jags have 14 interceptions and 15 fumbles and continue to rank last in the Sun Belt Conference turnover ratio. They were -9 in turnover ratio coming into the the game, but leave with a -13 turnover ratio.
“No doubt,” coach Joey Jones said acknowledging the turnovers impact in the game. “We can’t do that and win. We talk about it, we work on it. You know, it’s part of the game that happens sometimes but bottom line, if we don’t take care of the football we’re not going to win. And that’s very simple and we’ve got to (take care of the ball) to have a chance to beat these teams.”
Four turnovers against Texas-San Antonio to begin the season lead to a loss. Four more turnovers against Troy lead to a loss. Four turnovers in a loss to Florida International. Four turnovers against Nicholls State yet they were able to win the game.
“It’s always frustrating because you coach and you work every day to not turn over the ball and when you do bad things happen,” Jones continued. “But even with all that we had a chance to win the game. If we make a drive in the fourth quarter, we’ve got the ball with three minutes left. But we don’t drive down and score and (turnovers were) obviously a big part of the game.”
When Coach Jones was asked if the frustration level rises when his team still had a chance to win the game despite a large number of turnovers, he said “Sure. Let’s be honest. If we were playing horseshoes we’d be in pretty good shape because we’ve been close a lot. But we’re not. We’re in a game where you’ve got to win on the scoreboard to win the ballgame and we haven’t done that. So it’s frustrating from that standpoint.”
South Alabama will travel to Louisiana-Lafayette for a 4pm kickoff against the Ragin’ Cajun’s which will be aired on ESPN3.
Jaguar Men’s Basketball Announce Three Signees For 2013-2014 Season
South Alabama’s head basketball coach Ronnie Arrow announced on Friday that they received three National Letter of Intent’s from players during the early signing period.
Ken Williams, Terence Johnson and Vieux Kande sent in their LOI’s as they intend to join the program for the 2013-2014 season.
Williams, a 5’11”, 170 pound point guard and son of former University of Houtson star “Juice” Williams. He was rated a three-star athlete by Scout and the #28 player ranked in the TexasHoops.com class of 2013. As as sophomore he averaged 24.6 points per game by making 57 3-point shots.
“I’ve known him and his family since he was about five years old,” Arrow said. “His father was one of the best shooters to come out of the University of Houston. He was there right before ‘Phi Slamma Jamma.’ What Ken brings to the table is the ability to shoot and handle the ball. He’s a three-star basketball player that was recruited heavily. We’re very happy to have the caliber of player that he is.”
“He’s a winner,” Arrow said. “Wherever he’s been, he’s won. There are three things you always want in your program: good citizens, good shooters and winners, and he has all three attributes.”
Johnson enters his fourth year as a starter at Deerfield Beach (FL) High School where he has led the team to a 42-10 combined record over the last two season. Last season he averaged 21.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per game as they went 22-5. He earned First Team All-Broward County honors from both the Miami Herald and the Sun Sentinel.
Johnson is a 6’4″ swing player that averaged a double-double in his sophomore season with 14.1 points and 10 rebounds per game. He also average 2.1 assists per game.
“With Terence and Ken, we feel like that we have a backcourt in the making that will be as good as any that we play,” Arrow said.
“He’s strong and likes to guard,” Arrow continued. “He is more of a scorer than just a shooter.”
Kande is a 6’9″ forward that currently attends Sagemont School in Weston, FL. He is a native of Dakar, Senegal.
“What we wanted is a true post man who wants the ball and doesn’t mind getting hit,” Arrow stated. “When the ball goes up, he goes and gets it. He doesn’t care if there’s one guy around it or three guys. He feels like every ball that comes off the rim is his.”
This season he has moved into a starting role and is averaging 16.5 points, 11.5 rebounds and 3.5 blocks per game through two games. He has back-to-back double-doubles in their first two games with 23 points and 13 rebounds in the opening game followed by a 10 point, 10 rebound and 7 block game in his second.
Jags Basketball Play Tennessee State In Atlants For Coaches Vs Cancer Classic
The University of South Alabama Men’s Basketball team will take on Tennessee State in the next game of the Coaches vs Cancer Classic in Atlanta, Georgia. This will be the first meeting by the two schools.
The Tennessee State Tigers enter the game winless with an 0-3 record coming off of a 72-43 defeat at Minnesota on Thursday. Tennessee State head coach Travis Williams is in his first season with the Tigers, his fourth overall as a head coach.
The Jags enter the game after defeating William Carey in the Jags home opener 82-64 for their 21st consecutive home opener win.
Through November 16th the Jags are ranked #4 RPI by RealTimeRPI while being ranked #148 by the Sagarin rankings. TSU ranked #262 RPI and #177 in the Sagarin.
This is the first time the Jaguars has started the season 2-0 since the the 1996-1997 season when they finished 23-7 and won the Sun Belt title and an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament.
In the second half against William Carey, Antoine Allen and Xavier Roberson combined to go 6-of-7 from the three-point arc. Augustine Rubit scored a game-high 20 points and missed a double-double by a single rebound. He scored 16 of his 20 in the first half and is currently in a tie for fifth place in the conference with an average of 16.0 points per game.
Javier Carter blocked seven shots against William Carey to extend his blocks streak to eight game. He leads the conference with an average of 6.5 blocks per game. Mychal Ammons recorded his third consecutive double-double with 19 points and a career high 13 rebounds. He is averaging 15.5 points and 8.5 rebounds in his last 11 games. He also leads the conference in rebounding with 12.0 per game while also ranking second in the conference in field goal percentage (66.7%).
The game will tip-off at 4pm EST, 3pm Central at the Georgia State Sports Arena. The game can be heard on 105.5 FM WNSP or on their web stream at http://www.wnsp.com/.
Jags Fall To Middle Tennessee 20-12 On Senior Day
The Seniors gather near midfield as the game captains B.J. Scott, Jake Johnson, Anthony Taylor and Trey Clark meet at mid field to represent South Alabama for the coin toss. From left to right: Andy Dalgleish, Cori Barnett, Michel Chapuseaux, Gabe Loper, Jonathan Cameron, Tremain Smith, Kennedy Helms, Ellis Hill and Ryne Baxter.
The South Alabama Jaguars fell to Middle Tennessee 20-12 on Saturday at Ladd-Peebles Stadium in another hard fought game for the Jags. Logan Kilgore threw for 233 yards and two touchdowns while Jordan Parker carried the ball 24 times for 154 yards to lead the Blue Raiders over the Jaguars on Senior Day.
The Jaguars turned the ball over four times in the game while Middle Tennessee did not commit a single turnover. The conference win moved the Blue Raiders into a tie atop the Sun Belt Conference standings with Arkansas State (6-1 SBC) with a 5-1 conference record.
Jake Johnson had 15 total tackles while B.J. Scott added 11 tackles in their final home game in a Jaguar uniform. Johnson equaled his highest total of the season while Scott tied his career best. Terrell Brigham and Alex Page both added 10 tackles each in the game as well.
“We can’t do that and win,” Jag head coach Joey Jones said of the turnovers. “We talk about it and work on it. It’s just part of the game that happens sometimes. But the bottom line is if we don’t take care of the ball, we’re not going to win. That’s very simple. We have to do that to have a chance to beat these teams.”
“I’m awful proud of the way our kids fight,” Jones continued. They continue to do that. We’re just not quite finishing games and making plays at the end. But I’m real proud of our young men. That is a team that’s probably going to play for the conference championship. The positive is that we’re close to playing with those teams. The negative is we’re not making enough plays in games to win, and we have to do that. I’m proud of the way they’re fighting. They certainly aren’t giving up, and are representing the University of South Alabama in a positive way.”
This was the fourth consecutive game that the Jags got on the scoreboard first with a 19 yard field goal after they drove 74 yards in 14 plays on their opening possession. Metheny connected with Jereme Jones for an eight yard gain on third and two to get the first first down of the drive. The reception also extended Jones’ streak of consecutive games with a reception.
But the Blue Raiders would take the lead shortly afterwards. They used three plays of 20-plus yards in a four-snap sequence to take the lead with just over five minutes left in the first quarter. The previous week against North Texas, the Jaguar defense only allowed two plays of 20-plus yards.
South Alabama had two drives end in the second quarter with interceptions within the opponents 10 yard line by Harley and T.T. Barber.
MTSU would drive for a field goal with just over two minutes remaining before halftime to extend their lead to 10-3. But the Jags would mount a drive of their own at the end of the half. The Blue Raiders would force what they thought was a three and out, but a penalty for running into the kicker would give the Jags the yardage they needed for a first down. On the first down play, Metheny would find Lavender open down the left sideline for 22 yards to start moving the ball. Chapuseaux would hit a 45 yard field goal with seconds remaining to cut the MTSU lead to 10-6 at halftime.
South Alabama would control the ball for over 18 minutes in the first half, but would only control the ball for eight minutes in the second half.
MTSU would extend their lead on the opening drive of the second half when Kilgore would find his receiver open on a slant pattern from the six yard line to cap off a 10 play, 75 yard drive that spanned over five minutes. That would extend their lead to 17-6.
After a forced fumble at the Jaguar 41, the Blue Raiders had a great opportunity to add to their lead, but the Jaguar defense held firm and forced a field goal attempt from 35 yards that would sail wide left.
The Jags would open the next possession with pass completions from Metheny to Jones for 12 yards. Jones would leave the game after the reception due to a concussion. After the injury time out, Metheny would hit Gabe Loper down the left sideline for a 45 yard completion to the Blue Raider 20 yard line. Metheny would cap off the drive with an 18 yard touchdown pass to Corey Besteda. The two point conversion would fail to lead the Blue Raider lead at 17-12 with under four mintues left in the third quarter.
MTSu would add another field goal but the Jaguars would not be able to put together another scoring drive against the Blue Raider defense for the final score of 20-12.
The Blue Raiders would outgain the Jags 445 to 338 overall including 212 to 149 rushing and 233 to 189 passing. Both teams would run 70 plays on offense in the game. MTSU would end up holding a 33:31 to 26:29 time of possession edge over the Jags.
Terrance Timmons would lead the Jaguar rushing attack with 76 yards on 18 carries, Metheny would gain 32 yards on 11 carries. Kendall Houston would add 22 yards on 7 carries before injuring his ankle and being held out of the remainder of the game. Glover would rush four times for 19 yards as well.
Metheny would go 17-of-30 for 189 yards with three interceptions and a touchdown. Jereme Jones would lead the receiver corps with six receptions for 53 yards in the game. Lavender would catch three for 41 yards, Besteda would add two for 29 and Timmons would catch two for -1 yards. Loper would catch one for 45, Saxton caught one for 11 yards, Glover caught one for 8 yards and Houston caught one for 3 yards.
“I told our players before the game and told them at half time that nobody should be surprised by the score of the game. We knew it was going to be a 60-minute game,” Blue Raider head coach Rick Stockstill said. “We knew that South Alabama was good on defense and that nobody had really run past them or blown them out. All of their games had been close, so we knew it was going to be this type of game. We practiced for this type of game and we got exactly what we thought we would get.”
South Alabama will play their final two games of the season on the road starting this weekend with a trip to Louisiana-Lafayette. The game will be aired on ESPN3 with a 4pm kickoff.