Jags Fall To Arkansas State 17-16
Defensive coordinator Kevin Sherrer works on in-game adjustments against Arkansas State at Ladd-Peebles Stadium.
South Alabama experienced another heart breaker of a game with yet another 1-point loss, though it did not occur in the final seconds like the previous ones. No, the final score was made with about six-and-a-half minutes left in the game and the Jaguars could not muster an answer.
The first quarter was a defensive stalemate as neither team could manage to put points on the board. Only Arkansas State managed to cross the midfield stripe during that first quarter, but the drive would end at the Jaguar 15 yard line on a fumble.
The Jags would put the first points on the board with 10:55 left in the second quarter when they kicked a 27 yard field goal. USA would add another field goal with 1:34 left until halftime when the Jags could not manage to get into the endzone from inside the five yard line.
South Alabama took the opening kickoff of the second half and marched down the field helped by a 42 yard completion from Ross Metheny to Shavarez Smith to put the ball at the Red Wolves 18 yard line. The Jags would have a third and 14 from the ASU 22 and Metheny’s pass would sail high and be intercepted in the end zone.
Arkansas State would mostly keep the ball on the ground on their ensuing possession and the Jags would be nearly powerless to stop it. Maleki Harris had left the game with a shoulder injury and key defensive linemen had been hobbled with injuries which the Red Wolves exploited beautifully. Quarterback Adam Kennedy accounted for 40 yards of the 80 yard drive by himself on the ground, including the final 12 yards for the touchdown.
South Alabama would respond with a drive of their own after a 34 yard kickoff return by T.J. Glover to started the offense at the USA 35 yard line. A pass interference call against Arkansas State in the end zone would place the ball at the 2 yard line, where Kendall Houston would punch it in and give the Jags the lead once again at 13-7.
The Red Wolves would drive down to the Jaguar 27 as the third quarter ended. Then, to begin the fourth quarter, Kennedy would be sacked by Alex Page for a six yard loss but Brian Davis would kick a beautiful 50 yard field goal to split the uprights and cut the Jaguar lead to 13-10 with 14:12 left in the game.
South Alabama would add a 30-yard field goal on their next possession when the Jags could not convert 3rd and 9 at the Red Wolves 18 yard line. USA held a 16-10 advantage with 9:58 left in the game.
Sunanon’s kickoff would go into the endzone for a touchback to put the Red Wolves at their own 25 yard line to start. The nine-play drive would consist of all runs but two which was capped off by a Sirgregory Thornton three yard touchdown run to put the Red Wolves up 17-16 with 6:29 left in the game.
The Jags drive would start on a positive note with Metheny runs for nine and two yards to gain a first down. But back-to-back incompletions, the first a wide-open pass to Shavarez Smith on the sideline could not be controlled as he fell to the ground, then Smith dropping screen pass that hit him in the hands, would force a 3rd and 10 at their own 36 yard line. Metheny would try to escape pressure but Darrius Rosser would grab ahold of his jersey and would not let go to pull Metheny down for an eight yard sack.
Garber would be called on to punt. He would delay to let his coverage run downfield as he was not pressured, but his short kick would stop dead when the nose of the football hit the turf at the ASU 37 yard line.
The Jaguar defense would hold strong and force a punt to give the offense one more shot with 3:17 left in the game.
Starting at their own 9 yard line, Metheny would open with a pass to Jereme Jones but it would be incomplete stopping the clock. Metheny would run for five yards before connecting with Bryant Lavender for a 20 yard strike to move the ball out to the Jaguar 34 yard line. An incomplete pass to Smith would be followed up with a five yard completion to Lavender to make it a 3rd and 5. An incomplete pass intended for Lavender would make it fourth down. Then Metheny would be pressured out of the pocket and he could not get the ball to Jereme Jones to turn the ball over on downs with 1:53 left in the game to effectively end it.
The Jaguars would outgain the Red Wolves 371 to 349 in total yards. The Jags would hold the edge through the air 228 to 160 but ASU would rush for 189 to the Jags 143.
Metheny would end up being the leading rusher in the game with 77 yards on 17 attempts. Jay Jones would add 44 yards on 11 carries and Kendall Houston would gain 14 yards on five carries with a touchdown.
Wes Saxton caught four passes, the most for the Jaguars, for 49 yards. Shavarez Smith caught three for 77 yards, Danny Woodson caught two for 54. Lavender, Jay Jones and Jereme Jones all caught two passes each. Jereme Jones extended his consecutive game with a pass reception streak to 35 games.
Metheny would go 15-of-29 for 228 yards and one interception. Adam Kennedy would go 15-of-17 for 136 yards and Fredi Knighten would go 6-of-8 for 24 yards for the Red Wolves.
“It’s getting tough to walk in the locker room when you lose close games like that,” head coach Joey Jones said after the game. “We played a good ballgame overall. There were some things we could have done better, but we obviously lost it in the fourth quarter again and that’s tough to take. We have a bunch of guys hurting right now.”
“I’ve never seen a team improve as much as they have and not see the rewards,” he continued. “That’s the thing that hurts me most, because I feel like we’re much improved as a team from last year to this year. It’s not even close. But it’s not showing up in the win column, and that’s the bottom line.”
South Alabama has their third and final bye week of the season before traveling to face Navy on November 16. The bye week will be much needed as a few Jaguars on defense are nursing nagging injuries.
South Alabama vs Arkansas State: Gameday
The South Alabama Jaguars will host two-time Sun Belt Conference defending champions Arkansas State Red Wolves this evening. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:30pm at Ladd-Peebles Stadium.
Both teams have an overall record of 3-4. South Alabama’s conference record is 1-2 after last week’s loss at Texas State. Arkansas State’s conference record is 1-1 after last week’s 23-7 loss at home to Louisiana-Lafayette.
South Alabama fans are asked to wear their Jaguar Blue to the game and the first 10,000 fans entering the stadium will receive a white Jaguar Rally Towel.
Parking is limited at Ladd-Peebles Stadium and only season ticket holders can purchase parking passes. Parking for single game ticket holders will not be able to park at the stadium. Parking in the immediate vicinity of the stadium are not controlled nor managed by USA or Ladd-Peebles Stadium.
South Alabama and the City of Mobile have partnered with “The Wave” for shuttle service from Bel Air Mall to the stadium. A round trip will cost only $2.50. The shuttle runs from the Bel Air Mall parking lot south of Target and JC Penny. They will begin running at 2:30pm and will run continuously until 90 minutes after the conclusion of the game. The parking area at Bel Air Mall is well lit and USA is providing security.
The Jaguar Prowl is scheduled for 4:10pm. The coaches and players will depart their buses at the Southeast corner of the stadium and walk along the south side of the stadium to the Southeast entrace.
Live play-by-play coverage of the game will be aired on 105.5fm WNSP in the Mobile area and will be streamed worldwide on www.wnsp.com. The game can be seen on ESPN3.com nationally.
Arkansas State has won eight consecutive road games against Sun Belt Conference opponents. Reciever/kick returner J.K. McKissic, an Alabama native from Phenix City, leads the Sun Belt in receptions per game with 5.7. He has 40 catches for 347 yards and two touchdowns on the season. He is third in the conference in punt return average, third in kickoff return average and is also third in the conference in all-purpose yards per game (123.7).
Head coach Joey Jones has said that they are a very talented team on offense, particularly at the skill positions. Quarterback Adam Kennedy transferred from Utah State. They lead the conference in offense and are very explosive.
Jones also said that they are very good on defense with several seniors up front. They are two-time defending conference champs, so they know how to win.
The Jags are a 3.5 point favorite in this game.
Additionally, this is the South Alabama Athletic Hall of Game game. Amber Angermeier (women’s soccer 2001-2004), Stephanie Richardson (women’s basketball 1988-1991) and Vincent Rono (Men’s track & field/cross country 2006-2007) will be inducted into the USA Sports Hall of Fame today and will be honored at halftime of the game.
Go Jags!
Jags Vs Red Wolves: By The Numbers
Tomorrow evening South Alabama will host two-time defending Sun Belt Conference Champions Arkansas State. The Red Wolves have a history in Mobile since they have played in the past two GoDaddy.com Bowl games at Ladd-Peebles Stadium.
Head coach Joey Jones got some good news on Thursday as Romelle Jones, who was expected to miss this weekends game, may be able to play. Jones suffered a sprained MCL in his left knee against Texas State on a chop-block.
Head Coach Joey Jones said it was going to be a game-time decision. There’s nothing structurally wrong, it will be a matter of Romelle having to fight through the pain.
Statistics
Both teams enter the game with overall records of 3-4, the Jags are 1-2 in Sun Belt play while Arkansas State is 1-1. But how do they stack up statically.
Scoring offense: South Alabama ranks 3rd with an average of 31.3 points per game while Arkansas State ranks 5th with an average of 27.6 points per game.
Scoring Defense: Arkansas State ranks 5th by allowing an average of 28.9 points per game, they are just ahead of South Alabama who is in 6th place while allowing 29.1 points per game.
Total Offense: South Alabama ranks 3rd in the conference with an aveage of 446.6 yards of total offense per game. Arkansas State ranks 5th with an average of 435.1 yards per game.
Rushing Offense: Arkansas State gains an average of 192.4 yards rushing per game. South Alabama rushes for an average of 165.6 yards per game.
Passing Offense: South Alabama ranks 3rd with an average of 281.0 yards per game through the air. Arkansas State is in 4th place, right behind the the Jags, with an average of 240.1 yards through the air.
Total Defense: South Alabama ranks 5th in the conference by allowing an average of 416.0 yards per game. Arkansas State ranks 6th place, just behind the Jags, by allowing an average of 444.4 yards per game.
Rushing Defense: The Jags rank 5th by allowing an average of 173.1 yards per game on the ground. Arkansas State ranks 7th out of 8 by allowing an average of 204.3 yards per game on the ground.
Pass Defense: Arkansas State ranks 4th, one spot ahead of the Jags, by allowing an average of 240.1 yards per game through the air. The Jags, in 5th place, allow an average of 242.9 yards per game through the air.
Pass Efficiency: Again a close one. The Red Wolves rank 3rd in the conference with an efficiency rating of 137.3 with the Jags right behind them in 4th palce with an efficiency rating of 134.1.
Pass Defense Efficiency: Arkansas State ranks 5th with an opponents efficency rating of 128.9 while the Jags are in 6th place with an opponents efficiency rating of 135.4.
Kickoff Returns: Arkansas State ranks first in the conference with an average of 28.4 yards per kickoff return. The Jags rank 2nd in the conference with an average of 23.6 yards per kickoff return.
Punt Returns: Arkansas State ranks 5th with an average return of 7.4 yards per punt. South Alabama ranks 7th out of 8 with an average of 6.4 yards per punt return.
Interceptions: South Alabama ranks 4th in the conference with 8 interceptions through 7 games. Arkansas State ranks 7th out of 8 with only five interceptions through seven games.
Punting: Arkansas State ranks 4th in the conference with a net average of 36.6 yards per punt. South Alabama ranks 7th with a net punting average of 35.1 yards per punt.
Kickoff Coverage: Arkansas State ranks 4th with a net average of 40.1 yards per kickoff. South Alabama is behind them in 5th place with a net average of 37.6 yards per kickoff.
Field Goals: The Red Wolves lead the conference with a perfect 9-of-9 on the year in field goal attempts. South Alabama is tied for 6th place with an average of .615 by making 8-of-13 field goal attempts.
Sacks By: South Alabama ranks 2nd in the conference with 18 through seven games. Arkansas State is tied for 3rd with WKU with 14 sacks through seven games (WKU has 14 through eight games).
Sacks Against: South Alabama is in a three-way tie for first place with Texas State and ULL by allowing only 12 sacks (USA and ULL through seven games, TSU through eight games). Arkansas State ranks last in the conference by allowing 19 sacks through seven games.
First Downs: South Alabama ranks 5th with an average of 22.6 first downs per game. Arkansas State ranks 6th with an average of 21.9 first downs per game.
Opponent First Downs: South Alabama ranks 5th in the conference with opponents averaging 21.0 first downs per game. Arkansas State is 6th by allowing an average of 21.7 first downs per game.
Third Down Conversions: Arkansas State is 2nd with a conversion percentage of 47.2. South Alabama ranks 5th by converting an average of 40.4% of their third down attempts.
Opponents Third Down Conversions: South Alabama ranks 4th with opponents converting an average of 41.2% of their attempts. Arkansas State ranks 6th by allowing opponents to convert an average of 42.1% of their attempts.
Fourth Down Conversions: South Alabama ranks 5th by converting 30.8% of their attempts. Arkansas State ranks last as they have not converted 0-of-10 attempts.
Opponents Fourth Donw Conversions: Arkansas State ranks 6th in the conference with opponents converting 45.5% of their attempts. South Alabama opponents are converting an average of 54.5% of their attempts.
The Jags and the Red Wolves kick off at 6:30pm at Ladd-Peebles Stadium.
Metheny Leads Conference In Total Offense Per Game, McClain To Fill Romelle’s Shoes
The Jaguars rally at mid field after they enter the field to just prior to kickoff against Western Kentucky on Saturday, September 14, 2013.
Head coach Joey Jones said that Romelle Jones would be a game-time decision on if he would be able to play. But someone has to fill his shoes in case he cannot go on Saturday against Arkansas State.
In steps Jerome McClain. It’s highly likely that he will be called upon to start in place of Romelle, who suffered a knee injury against Texas State on a chop-block.
McClain has seen playing time in all seven of the Jags games and has 16 tackles to show for it. McClain is a 6’3″ 275-pound Pensacola native and is a JuCo transfer from Northwest Mississippi Community College.
Arkansas State will bring an experienced and strong offensive line to Ladd-Peebles Stadium. The Red Wolves know Ladd well as they have played in the GoDaddy.com bowl over the past two seasons.
In preseason camp the Jags lost Will Thompson for the season and lost Randon Carnathan in the Jags second game against Tulane with an Achille’s heel injury. In order to absorb the injury to Romell until he can return to the field, Coach Turner told AL.com that they will move Ceasare Johnson back to the inside.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the ball, quarterback Ross Metheny leads the conference in total offense with an average of 267.3 yards per game, which puts him ahead of Troy’s Corey Robinson who is averaging 265.5 yards per game of total offense.
Metheny is in third place in the conference in scoring touchdowns with an average of 7.1 points per game with eight rushing touchdowns and a two-point conversion pass reception for a total of 50 points. He also ranks fifth in the conference in overall scoring with his 7.1 points per game average. He also ranks fourth in the conference in average passing yards per game with 227 and pass efficiency with 143.5.
Wednesday’s practice was solid accoring to coach Jones. He said he thought the team started off slow and possibly a little tired, but picked up the pace towards the end. He also said that its about the Jags approach to the game will be key in the game. He said they could not go out there and expect good things to happen, but rather they have to go out and make good things happen.
USA and Arkansas State kick off at 6:30pm on Saturday at Ladd-Peebles Stadium in a Sun Belt Conference game.
Rubit Named SBC Preseason Player Of The Year, Ammons Named To All-SBC Team, USA Picked 2nd In Conference
Augustine Rubit was named to the All-SBC First Team and also SBC Preseason Player of the Year. Photo by John Adams | usajaguars.com
South Alabama’s Augustine Rubit was named the 2013-2014 Men’s Basketball Preseason Player of the Year.
Rubit, a senior from Houston, Texas, was voted the Player of the Year after last season and earns the preseason honor for the second consecutive season. He was named to first-team All-Sun Belt Conference Team and was joined by junior Mychal Ammons who was named to the third team.
Rubit lead the conference for the third consecutive season with 10.5 rebounds per game and finished second in the conference in scoring with a career-high 19.4 points per game. He recorded 16 double-doubles and set a new school record with 198 free throws made in a season. He is only 42 rebounds away from becoming USA’s career leader.
Ammons earned his first All-Sun Belt recognition. He was the team’s second-leading scorer and was third on the team in rebounding. He was also the team’s most-accurate 3-point shooter by connecting on 39.4% of his outside shots.
Western Kentucky was voted to finish first in the Sun Belt standings this season with a total of 91 points and five first-place votes. The Jags were voted to finish second with 78 points and two first-place votes. The full list of Sun Belt rankings are below.
1. Western Kentucky 91 (5)
2. South Alabama 78 (2)
3. Arkansas State 74
4. Georgia State 73 (2)
4. Louisiana Lafayette 73 (1)
6. Arkansas-Little Rock 48
7. Texas-Arlington 36
8. Texas State 34
9. Troy 26
10. Louisiana-Monroe 17
Along with the honors for Rubit and Ammons, the conference announced its TV package for the season. The Jags have six games scheduled for television coverage with a possibility of two other games being added during the season. USA’s road opener at Texas on November 12 will be shown on the Longhorn Network and the road trip to former Sun Belt rival Middle Tennessee on November 30 will be available on CSS while Root Sports will broadcast the USA vs Gonzaga game on December 14.
South Alabama will have three conference games broadcast on the Sun Belt Network including one home contest. The Jags vs ULM on January 18 in the Mitchell Center will tip off at 7:30pm (it was originally announced for 4:05pm).
The Jags two other Sun Belt Network appearances will be January 11 at Arkansas State (7pm tip) and at Louisiana-Lafayette on March 2 (3pm tip).
The Sun Belt Network is a joint partnership with Comcast/Charter Sports Southeast (CSS) and Cox Sports Television (CST). Each broadcast game will be available in 13 states across the southeast and are often available on ESPN3.com and ESPN GamePlan outside of the CSS and CST market footprint.
Jags Host Arkansas State On Saturday For 6:30pm Kickoff
The Jaguar football team returned to the practice field on Tuesday after their normal off-day on Monday. They continued preparation for Arkansas State, which is coming off of a 23-7 loss to Louisiana-Lafayette.
The Red Wolves (3-4 overall, 1-1 SBC) will bring in an explosive offense with several playmakers which will challenge the Jaguar defense. Defensively they tend to scheme well over the last few years. Arkansas State has won the last two SBC Championship.
ASU runs a more traditional spread offense, so the defense will have to change their mindset back to their more “normal” mindset from last week when they faced the option of Texas State. The Jags will have to play their responsibilities and go from there.
The ASU running back, David Oku, from last season is back and will have to be contained. Their quarterback last season graduated and has a good quarterback who transferred in from Utah State.
The team has shown they can put the previous games result behind them and focus on their immediate obstacle and they will need to do so again in order to even their conference record against Arkansas State.
But what may help the Jaguars is that the Red Wolves are 0-3 on the season when playing away from home. They have wins over Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Troy and Idaho. Their losses include Auburn, Memphis, Missouri and most recently Louisiana-Lafayette.
The Jags and Red Wolves are scheduled to kick off at 6:30pm on Saturday at Ladd-Peebles Stadium. The Athletic Department is encouraging fans to wear BLUE to the game.
Go Jags!
USA Soccer’s Lauren Allison Gets Second SBC Offensive Player Of The Week Honor
Lauren Allison, a freshman, earned her second honor as Offensive Player of the Week after scoring four goals over the weekend to close out the regular season. | Photo usajaguars.com
South Alabama Jaguar Soccer Freshman forward Lauren Allison was named the Sun Belt Conference Offensive Player of the Week on Tuesday.
Allison, after being held goalless for four games, returned to form over the weekend with four goals in two matches including her first career hat trick against Louisiana-Lafayette.
On Sunday, she had a goal and an assist for a nine-point weekend that helped propel the Jags from fourth place to second place in the conference heading into the Conference Championships.
This is the second time this season Lauren has been named the SBC Offensive Player of the Week. Earlier this month she earned the honor after a one-goal, two-assist performance against Arkansas-Little Rock and Arkansas State.
Allison, a native of Bicester, Oxfordshire, United Kingdon, has 39-points on the season which is the fourth-best in USA single-season history. She has 14 goals which is also tied for fourth-most in a single-season at USA. Her 11 assists leaves her two assists away from making it into the Jaguars single-season top 10.
Allison led the conference in points, points per game, goals, goals per game, assists, assists per game and game-winning goals through the regular season. She had been ranked as high as second place in the NCAA in points, third place in goals and fourth place in points per game earlier this season.
Non-AQ Top 10
|
Non-AQ Top 10
|
|||
|
RK
|
TEAM
|
RECORD
|
PTS
|
|
1
|
Fresno
State (8) |
7-0
|
114
|
|
2
|
Northern
Illinois (4) |
8-0
|
111
|
|
3
|
Brigham
Young |
6-2
|
96
|
|
4
|
Ball
State |
8-1
|
86
|
|
5
|
East
Carolina |
5-2
|
43
|
|
6
|
Ohio
|
6-2
|
42
|
|
7
|
Louisiana
|
5-2
|
37
|
|
8
|
Tulane
|
6-2
|
32
|
|
9
|
Boise
State |
5-3
|
30
|
|
10
|
Rice
|
5-2
|
26
|
Dropped from rankings: Bowling Green
Others receiving votes: Buffalo 21, Bowling Green 14,
Toledo 6, Marshall 1, Troy 1.
Monday Press Conference
Head coach Joey Jones met with media on Monday for the weekly press conference. Jones along with defensive lineman Montavious Williams and offensive lineman Ucambre Williams reflected on the game at Texas State and looking ahead to this weekend’s match up against Arkansas State.
Below are highlights.
Jones began with his opening statement. “We’re obviously disappointed about Saturday’s game. Our kids played well late in the game. They (Texas State) committed a couple of late penalties and gave up a couple of touchdown passes to us. We kind of took over in the fourth quarter, but didn’t finish it. But it started with us not playing well early in the game. There was a lot more than just that fourth-and-24 play.”
“But it kind of started with us not playing well early in the game,” Jones said. “We don’t need for it to come to a point late in the game where we have to make every play to win. We need to take care of things before that. A lot of people talk about that one play, but certainly there were a lot of plays before that and early in the game where we could have done a lot better.”
“We need to play well and mature a little bit more and understand that we’ve got to make some plays there at the end because it has come down to that a lot of the time. If we make two or three plays this year everybody’s happy but unfortunately we didn’t in a couple of games and we’re not happy. It’s all about wins and losses and we’ve got to make those plays.”
“All I know to do is fight,” Jones continued. “That’s just the way I am, and that’s the way our players are too. It’s something we have to fight through mentally. We have played well this year. We’ve done a lot of good things. We are a much better team, but all of that doesn’t matter. What matters is wins and losses. But we are a better team, and I think we can bank on the fact that we are better and continue to improve.”
Jones spoke about Arkansas State. “They are probably the most talented bunch on offense that I have seen on film as far as the skill positions are concerned. They have a couple of great receivers, and a really good quarterback transferred in from Utah State. And their running backs are great. They are leading the league in offense. They are very explosive on that side of the ball. And they’re really good on defense as well. They have some seniors up front. They are the defending Sun Belt champions. They’ve won it the last two years. They know how to win, and understand what it takes to win. We know it is a great challenge for us.”
Jones spoke about how playing a full Sun Belt schedule last season is helping the team now. “We kind of found out about all these teams and what they are about by playing that schedule. We lost a couple of close games last year and won one. Just being in those different environments helps you understand teams better, and you always know how to play them the next year when you have played them before. It makes a big difference.”
Defensive lineman Montavious Williams spoke about the disappointment level after the Texas State game. “It’s difficult because I heard that the spread of points that we’ve lost is 11. As a senior it hurts, and I don’t get another shot at this, but try to make the most of it and hopefully get a bowl game for us and our fans as well.”
“It hurts me because defensively we were on the field last and the offense gave us a chance to win the game and we didn’t do our job,” Williams said about the importantance of finishing games. “I feel like we failed them so we have to get back at practice and have the best week we’ve had so far.”
Williams talked about feeling pressure: “It’s kind of self-imposed and fan-imposed as well because they’ve been behind us the last four or five years and we want to give them something to cheer about and hopefully build our fan base.”
“Defensively, it’s tackling.” Williams said is the key for this week against Arkansas State. “I think Coach said we missed 14 tackles, as opposed to a game where we win and it’s five missed tackles or seven missed tackles. We have to put more emphasis on that and get back to the basics.”
Offensive Lineman Ucambre Williams also reflected on the Texas State game. “It’s very hard to come back from a loss like that, but the biggest thing we have to do is move on to the next week and have a great week of practice. That’s the only thing we can do, not think about it and move on to Arkansas State.”
“It hurts a lot. It’s like being on the top of the world and then someone comes and knocks you down, but we just have to move on from it. We’re going to finish the season strong, I promise you,” Ucambre said about the disappointment after the Texas State game.
Ucambre spoke about the importance of finishing games. “It’s very important to finish and also to start. We started off slow at Texas State and that hurt us. The start and finish of each game is important. Coach talks about finishing every quarter and winning every quarter. We have to instill that (belief in us) this week in practice and come out with a victory Saturday.”
Ucambre also talked about having to face three of the top teams in the conference in the final five games of the season. “Having them at home is a key factor. They’re all tough teams, everybody in the Sun Belt is tough, so we have to come out and play hard.”
“On the offensive side of the ball we have start off strong and finish strong,” Ucambre said when talking about the keys for this week. “We kind of get lackadaisical when we get a lead but this week we really have to try and work on that and sustain it for the entire game.”
The Jags and Red Wolves kickoff at 6:30pm on Saturday at Ladd-Peebles Stadium.
Moore Makes Four Consecutive SBC Freshman Of The Week For USA
Mallory Moore earned her first Freshman of the Week honor to make it four consecutive for USA. Photo by Brad Puckett | usajaguars.com
The University of South Alabama women’s volleyball team had their fourth consecutive Freshman of the Week honoree. Mallory Moore earned her first weekly Sun Belt Conference Honor and the sixth on this season.
Moore joins teammates Mechell Daniel and Jessica Lewis as Jaguar Freshmen of the week honorees this season.
Moore, a Guntersville, Alabama native, helped South Alabama to a pair of wins where she recorded 24 kills for a 2.67 kills per set average while hitting .435 and seven block assists.
USA will host Arkansas State on Friday at 7pm and then travel to Arkansas-Little Rock for a 1pm match on Sunday.