Paul Finebaum And Bleacher Report Both Pick South Alabama To Upset Mississippi State
Both Bleacher Report and Paul Finebaum think the Jaguars can upset the Bulldogs at Ladd-Peebles Stadium. What a time to be a Jaguar?!?
Wow. @finebaum just predicted a South Alabama Jaguar upset over Mississippi State! #jagnation #soldout pic.twitter.com/iSMj5AvNfz
— Joe Jones (@Whojoejones) September 10, 2014
Jaguar Soccer Sweep Weekly Conference Awards
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- Haywood earner her first SBC weekly honor as she was named the Offensive Player of the Week on September 9, 2014. She posted her first career hat-trick as the Jaguars won back-to-back shutouts over Southern Miss 6-0 and Southern University 7-0. Photo: usajaguars.com
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- Rabsatt-Smith, a junior, earner her first SBC weekly honor as she was named the Defensive Player of the Week on September 9, 2014. She helped the Jaguars to back-to-back shutouts over the previous weekend to defeat Southern Miss 6-0 and Southern University 7-0. Photo: usajaguars.com
After sweeping the weekend with a pair of shutouts, the South Alabama Jaguar soccer team also swept the weekly Sun Belt Conference awards as junior Nini Rabsatt-Smith and freshman Sophie Haywood were named SBC Players of the Week on Tuesday.
Rabsatt-Smith, originally from Montgomery, Alabama, earned the conference’s weekly defensive award. She scored her first goal of the season and added two assists in a four-point week. But she also played a key role in the two shutouts and the team’s fourth overall. She started the scoring against Southern Miss after intercepting a pass at midfield. She assisted on back-to-back goals against Southern as well.
Haywood, a native of Hull, England, earned the offensive award as she helped lead the Jags to back-to-back shutouts over the weekend. She posted her first career hat-trick and an assist against Southern Miss. Then, against Southern, she got the assist on the second goal of the match to tie her for second on the team with three assists this season.
In the two matches South Alabama only allowed seven shots total and have won four of their last five matches with all four wins coming via shutout.
This is the first time that Rabsatt-Smith or Haywood have earned Sun Belt honors. The last time the school swept the conference player of the week awards was on August 27, 2013.
The Jags travel to Mississippi State to face the Bulldogs on Friday, September 12 with the match getting underway at 7pm.
South Alabama To Host First-Ever Sell-Out Crowd
C.J. Bennett reads the defense while head coach Joey Jones looks on from the sidelines in Starkville Mississippi on September 22, 2012. The Bulldogs would win the game 30-10.
South Alabama has officially sold out their game against Mississippi State on Saturday. Let me repeat that once more for you.
South Alabama vs Mississippi State is SOLD OUT.
The South Alabama Athletic Ticket Office sold out the final 300 general admission tickets before lunch on Tuesday. This marks the first sell-out in the Jaguars five-plus seasons of football. The largest crowd the Jaguars had previously was their debut against Hargrave Military Academy on September 5, 2009 which was recorded as 26,783. With over 38,000 tickets sold, this is surely to eclipse that total.
This will also mark the first time a Southeaster Conference school has played at Ladd-Peebles Stadium since the fall of 1968.
South Alabama and Mississippi State will kick off at 3pm on Saturday. The game will be telecast on ESPNews and radio coverage will be on Lite Mix 99.9FM beginning at 2PM.
No Cowbells Please – Noisemakers Not Allowed At USA Home Games
C.J. Bennett reads the defense while head coach Joey Jones looks on from the sidelines in Starkville Mississippi on September 22, 2012. The Bulldogs would win the game 30-10.
In case you haven’t heard the news, it’s looks like the Jaguars game against Mississippi State on September 13 at Ladd-Peebles is going to be a sellout. But one of the things that Mississippi State fans are known for will not be allowed into the stadium as South Alabama officials have declared that no artificial noisemakers will be allowed at South Alabama home games this season. That includes the cowbells that Bulldog fans so covet ringing.
USA officials have already contacted their counterparts at MSU to inform them of the policy in hopes that the message will be received by the Bulldog faithful prior to their travels to Mobile for the game.
Despite there being a “ban” on artificial noisemakers already in place in the SEC, Bulldog fans can let their cowbell inhibitions go wild during designated periods in Starkville. When the Jaguars played in Starkville two years ago, the Jags kept the cowbells silenced early, but as the Bulldogs gained momentum the rang loud. I can attest that it is one of the more annoying things in college football too. Personally, I think if you’re crowd has to rely on a cowbell to make noise then you’re doing it wrong as all of the other teams are able to make plenty of noise without a cowbell to encourage their team and cause communication problems. But I digress.
USA Athletics Director Joel Erdmann does not anticipate any problems with the enforcement of artificial noisemaker policy as all bags are subject to search just like any other game. “If anyone entering the stadium is found to have an artificial noisemaker, they will have to leave it at the gate or return it to their car,” Erdmann elaborated. Furthermore, if an artificial noisemaker is used during the game it is possible it will be confiscated and/or the person using it could be escorted out of the stadium.
South Alabama and Mississippi State will kickoff at 3pm on Saturday, September 13th with radio coverage on 99.9FM locally and online through iHeartRadio. It can also be seen on ESPNews nationally.
TV And Radio Schedules Announced For Joey Jones Show
The University of South Alabama announced the schedules for the Joey Jones radio and television show for the 2014 season.
The Joey Jones TV Show will begin on Sunday at 6:30pm on UTV 44. Pat Greenwood, the Jaguar Sports Properties Director of Multi-Media will host the show along with Coach Jones. They will have post-game interviews and highlights with Jones and student-athletes and will feature members of the program.
The Joey Jones Radio Show will air on Monday’s at 6pm on WNTM 710AM starting on September 1 from Baumhower’s Wings Sports Grille. JSP Director of Broadcasting J.D. Byars will be the host along with Coach Jones. The hour long program will be available on the iHeartRadio app world wide.
Henley Helps Lead Jaguars Past Nicholls State 3-0
Henley, a freshman from Hattiesburg, Mississippi, scored two goals against Nicholls State on Sunday in her first collegiate game to help lead the Jaguars past the Colonels 3-0. | Photo: usajaguars.com
The South Alabama soccer team rebounded on Sunday to defeat Nicholls State 3-0 to even their record at 1-1 in their opening weekend of play. They fell to UAB on Friday night 1-2 in 2OT.
Danielle Henley, a freshman from Hattiesburg, Mississippi, recorded a pair of goals with classmate Rio Hardy from Workington, England netting the other goal in the match. Henley scored both of her goals in the first 15 minutes of play, the first on a shot from distance at the 5:40 mark, then the second by controlling a corner kick from fellow freshman Tiina Trutsi and knocking it in the net at the 14:12 mark.
Hardy scored her first career collegiate goal shortly before halftime by converting a breakaway off of a pass from freshman Alyssa Pejic at the 44:39 mark.
“They played excellent,” Winkworth said. “Dan’s first strike was with her left peg; the keeper nearly got to it but she managed to put it in the top corner. The second strike was a tidy finish under pressure, and then Rio’s was on a 1-on-1. Those things are stressful when you go 1-on-1 with a goalkeeper and she was composed and put it away.
“We created a lot of quality chances today and hopefully we can continue to do that because the more good chances we create, hopefully the more goals we’ll score.”
The Jags shined on defense as they only allowed four shots total and none on goal. Freshman Courtney Baum earned the win in her first collegiate start.
“We defended from front to back today,” Winkworth stated. “Steffi (Hardy) and Nini (Rabsatt-Smith) were brilliant back there together today. Alyssa (Mayer) and Nikki (Shirtcliffe) too, and Emi (Passini) when she came on as well, were excellent in getting to their outside players—they had a lot of running to do out there and they did it very well and stayed organized. We stayed compact, were organized defensively and if we don’t concede goals, we’ll be very difficult to beat.”
South Alabama will return to action this weekend when they travel to Troy to play in the Trojan Classic. The Jags will face Tennessee Tech on Friday and Kennesaw State on Sunday.
Two Jaguars Named To 2015 Reese’s Senior Bowl Watch List
The Reese’s Senior Bowl announced on Wednesday that quarterback Brandon Bridge and tight end Wes Saxton are among more than 350 student-athletes that are on the 2015 watch list.
The Senior Bowl, who’s home is in Mobile, Alabama and play at Ladd-Peebles Stadium, will invite a total of 110 individuals to compete in a week of drills and workouts in front of NFL coaches and analysts leading up to the game that is scheduled to be held on Saturday, January 24 at 3PM and will be broadcast on the NFL Network.
In South Alabama’s five seasons of football, three players have been invited to participate in the game. Courtney Smith was the first to represent the Jaguars in 2011. Both linebacker Jake Johnson and safety B.J. Scott were selected fro the 2013 game, though Johnson was unable to participate due to injury during drills.
Go Jags!
Jaguar Soccer Voted To Finish 1st In Conference; Two Named To All-SBC Team
South Alabama women’s soccer team, the defending Sun Belt Conference Tournament champions, was voted to win the regular season championship and had two players named to the Preseason All-Sun Belt Team.
The Jags took first place with 98 points and 9 out of the possible 10 first-place votes. Louisiana-Lafayette was voted second with 81 points and one first-place vote.
Junior defender Nini Rabsatt-Smith and sophomore midfielder Monique Autmon were both selected to the All-Conference team.
Rabsatt-Smith was named to the 2013 Sun Belt Conference All-Tournament team where he helped the Jaguar defense allow just one goal in 290 minutes. She had 21 starts last season and recorded two goals, four assists and eight points.
Autmon also made 21 starts and appeared in all 23 matches as a freshman. She finished in a tie for fifth on the team with three goals, two of them came against SBC opponents.
The Jaguars won their first SBC Tournament title in school history last season after they ranked second in the league in both shutouts (9) and goals against average (1.01).
USA begins the 2014 season on Friday when they host UAB.
Jags Date Against Mississippi State Approaching Sell-Out
As many fans hoped and expected, the Jaguars date with Mississippi State at Ladd-Peebles Stadium is getting closer to a sell-out. The USA Athletic Ticket Office announced that the West stands at the stadium are sold out for the September 13th game.
Additionally, only about 500 tickets remain in the East stands behind the visiting team bench in sections L and M near the north end zone. Once those tickets are gone the only remaining tickets left for the game will be general admission in the end zones.
Only students with a physical ticket that they can pick up at the Mitchell Center will be allowed in for the game. Those seats will also be in the end zones.
Jaguar Volleyball Picked Fifth; Daniel Earns Preseason All-SBC Honors
Sophomore Mechell Daniel was named to the preseason All-Sun Belt team as the Jaguars were voted to finish fifth in the conference this season. Photo by Brad Puckett | usajaguars.com
South Alabama’s Mechell Daniel is starting off this season as she left off last season, earning conference honors.
Daniel, a sophomore from Chelmsford, England, was named to the Sun Belt Conference preseason All-Conference team earlier this week. Last season as a true freshman, Daniel was one of the top players in the Sun Belt as she ranked third in kills (423, 3.81 per set) and points (4.33 per set). She was named the Sun Belt Freshman of the week four times, offensive player of the week, Freshman of the Year and earning first-team All-Conference honors.
Her 423 kills last season was the most ever by a freshman at USA and the sixth most in a single season. She had 24 double-figure kill matches including four 20-plus kills in a match. She recorded 14 double-doubles on the season with 13 coming in conference play and a streak of nine-consecutive.
The Jaguar volleyball team was voted to finish fifth in the conference this season with one first-place vote. Arkansas-Little Rock was selected to win the conference with four first place votes.
Team (First place votes) – Points
1. Arkansas-Little Rock (4) – 110
2. Texas State (3) – 99
3. Georgia Southern (2) – 95
4. Texas-Arlington – 83
5. South Alabama (1) – 76
6. Louisiana-Lafayette (1) – 63
7. Appalachian State – 62
8. Arkansas State – 58
9. Troy – 41
10. Georgia State – 28
11. Louisiana-Monroe – 11