South Alabama Begins Final Four Game Stretch At Texas State
South Alabama (1-7, 0-4 SBC) begins their run of four game to close out the 2019 season with a trip to San Marcos, Texas to face the Texas State Bobcats (2-6, 1-3 SBC) in what may be the Jaguars best chance to add their first FBS win of the season.
Last time out on the gridiron, the Jags fell 30-3 to Appalachian State and secured a losing record. Despite keeping the game close for most of the game, the most concerning aspect of the game was how futile the offense seemed to be for most of the game. Through the first 19 offensive play, the Jags amassed only 2 yards of total offense. By halftime, the Jags only had 43 yards of total offense.
The Jags put together a very good game plan to open the season against Nebraska with the best offensive showing in any of the six FBS games they have played this season (excluding their 37-14 win against FCS Jackson State). But they had all of preseason camp and the normal game-week preparation time to gear up for a good showing against a Power-5 school.
With two weeks to prepare, can the Jags put together another good game plan to face Texas State?
When head coach Steve Campbell spoke to the media on Monday, he said that they worked problem areas such as third down, red zone, and two minute drills. He also confirmed that quarterback Cephus Johnson has been playing on a bad ankle since the Georgia Southern game and it has limited his mobility. It was very apparent against Appalachian State as he kept few, if any, carries in the RPO game which limits its effectiveness. The offense picked up once Desmond Trotter came into the game in the third quarter.
Coach Campbell also indicated that they have made changes at other positions and also indicated the quarterback position was not off limits to potential changes. While it may be Trotter who could be the main recipient of expanded playing time, especially if Johnson’s ankle continues to hamper his ability. But with the new redshirt rule for freshmen, it will benefit Tanner McGee as he can play in all four of the remaining games without losing his redshirt.
Ultimately the offensive strategy and execution has not been successful on the field. Out of the 130 FBS teams in the country, the Jags rank 125th in total offense, 123rd in passing offense, 84th in rushing offense, 127th in 3rd down percentage and 128th in scoring offense.
Defensively the Jags will need to play assignment football. The Bobcats have a handful of plays that they run throughout the game and they take advantage of defenses when they line up wrong or miss assignments.
Last season the Jags defeated the Bobcats in Mobile 41-31. Both teams finished 3-9 that season. Similar to last season, both teams are desperate for a win. This time it’s in San Marcos and it’s the Bobcat’s homecoming game. Texas State is a 7.5 point favorite in the game.
I think the Jags will cover the spread and in fact I think they will win outright and spoil the Bobcats homecoming.
The game is set for a 2pm kickoff at Bobcat Stadium in San Marcos, Texas. It can be streamed on ESPN+ and the radio broadcast can be heard on 99.5 FM locally in Mobile and on the iHeartMedia app worldwide starting at 12pm with pregame coverage.
Go Jags!
South Alabama Falls In Battle For The Belt 37-13
Questionable play calling, mistakes, and a porous defense were the key in the Jags 37-13 loss at Troy.
South Alabama falls to 1-6 overall and 0-3 in conference play while Troy improves to 3-3 overall and 2-1 in conference play.
After Troy opening the game with a field goal, the Jags answered by driving down to the 1 yard line. On back-to-back plays Jared Wilson and Cephus Johnson would both be stopped dead in their tracks and head coach Steve Campbell would settle for a 17 yard field goal to tie the game.
On the ensuing possession, Troy would methodically drive down and put a touchdown on the board with a 1 yard rub pass towards the front pylon.
The Jags next possession would stall at the Troy 35 and Frankie Onate would drill a 51 yard field goal, but the Trojans would be flagged for a personal foul for hitting the kicker giving the Jags 15 yards and a first down at the Troy 20 yard line. Minter would carry the ball on back-to-back plays to give the Jags a 1st and goal at the 3 yard line. Minter would add two more yards and then the offense could not put it in the end zone. Minter would be snuffed on two consecutive plays. Then on 3rd and goal, Cephus took the snap from the shotgun, Troy would bring pressure up the middle and drop him for a two yard loss.
After a time out, Cephus would throw the ball too high for Jalen Tolbert, who was in double coverage anyway and Troy would get the ball.
Three plays later, Troy quarterback Kaleb Barker would just lose his grip on the ball and the Jags would recover at the Troy 3 yard line.
A jet sweep to Kawaan Baker would net the Jags a touchdown, their only one of the game.
Travis Reed would pick off Barker at the USA 22, but then two plays later Johnson would be picked off at the Troy 43 yard line.
The Trojans would get three points off the turnover.
USA would get the ball with 1:08 left in the opening half trailing 13-10. They would draw up passes on first and second down before giving it to Minter up the middle for no gain. Troy would get the ball back after only :21 when Jack Brooks punt was shanked and only netted 24 yards.
Behind Barker’s passing, the Trojans quickly moved the ball but the Jags defense held for only a field goal to go into the locker room at halftime trailing 16-10.
USA opened the second half with two first downs before having to punt. Brooks would pin the Trojans at their own 13 yard line but Barker and the offense would pick apart the Jaguars slashing runs and precision passing. Barker would cap the drive off with a 15 yard touchdown pass to Kaylon Geiger to make it 23-10.
Tra Minter breathes some life into the team with a 45 yard kickoff return to the Jags 47. After a jet sweep to open the drive, which gained one yard. The Jags then threw the ball on 8 consecutive plays. On the final one, Johnson had Jalen Wayne in the end zone but he dropped it. Onate’s 45 yard attempt would miss wide right.
The Jags would get the ball back two plays later when Barker was intercepted by Travis Reed again. But the drive would stall at the Troy 14 yard line and Onate connected on a 31 yard field goal to make it 23-13.
Troy would miss a 36 yard field goal giving the Jags the ball at their own 20 yard line.
Cephus then threw what looked like was supposed to be an out route but the receiver was at least 10 yards farther down the field, and it was intercepted and returned 29 yards for a Troy touchdown.
After the Jags could not convert 4th & 1, Troy took over at their own 31 and just ground out 69 yards on 13 consecutive run plays, with four of them going for 10+ yards, to make the final score 37-13.
The confusing and frustrating part were so many attempts from the 1 yard line and not a single one of them came from a snap under center. Instead the ball was snapped to the quarterback in the shotgun and either handed off or the quarterback was stopped once stopped for a 2 yard loss.
Another frustrating set of play calls came on the Jags final possession of the half. With 1:08 left, 1st and 10 from your own 25 yard line and still in the game trailing 13-10. Kenny Edenfield calls two passes that fell incomplete and stopped the clock then came back with a draw up the middle for just one yard gain. Something we’ve seen countless times this season. That coupled with a poor punt and a defense playing deep and not putting pressure on receivers allowed the Trojans to quickly move the ball and get a field goal as the first half expired.
Troy did their best to help keep the Jaguars in the game. Two interceptions by Travis Reed and a fumble recovery by A.J. DeShazor led to 10 of the Jaguars 13 points in the game. But they left points on the field offensively.
Unfortunately the defense wore down as the game played out and by the fourth quarter Troy was gashing the defense both on the ground and through the air.
The game was effectively put away when Troy scored the pick-six at the 14:02 mark of the fourth quarter and yet they would put another score on the board as the Jaguar defense just was unable to slow down the Trojan ground game.
“I’m very disappointed in the loss,” coach Campbell opened his post game press conference. “I thought the kids gave a good effort, but we obviously came up short in a game like this. We need to go back to work, keep improving and find a way to win a game like this; we had opportunities.”
“We need to make a few more plays, we talked about what we could’ve done better,” Campbell said when asked what he told the players in the locker room after the game. “There are some calls I wish I could have made differently, and there are some things that we can definitely do better to put ourselves in a position to win. This game hurts and those players in the locker room are hurting. Let’s get back to work. No defeat is ever final and no victory is ever final; you have to get back and get to work, and we have some things we need to work on.”
“We probably could have run the ball outside a little bit more, but the coaches made good play calls,” senior running back Tra Minter responded when asked about being unable to capitalize on short-yardage plays near the goal line. “We just need to execute them as players.”
The Trojans held advantages in all of the stat columns, except turnovers. Total yards the Trojans led 432 to 271. Passing yards they led 212 to 183. Rushing yards they led 220 to 91. First downs they had 28 to USA’s 20, which was a huge improvement over their 4 (though two were touchdowns) against Georgia Southern. Third down conversions the Trojans were 10 of 17 while the Jags were only 3 of 12. Troy converted the only 4th down attempt they tried while the Jags converted 1 of 3 attempts. Troy held an 81 to 72 play advantage and a time of possession advantage of 34:57 to 25:03.
Offensively it was the Tra Minter show for the Jags as he put up 200 all-purpose yards in the game. He had 78 yard on kick off returns, 86 rushing yards on 17 carries, and 36 yards receiving on 6 receptions leading the team in rushing yardage and passes caught.
Kawaan Baker added 15 yard rushing on four carries and the lone Jaguar touchdown. He also caught five passes for 42 yards. Davyn Flenord caught four passes for 33 yards and Jalen Tolbert caught two passes for 48 along with the teams longest offensive play of 34 yards.
Cephus Johnson went 20-for-38 for 183 yards and was sacked twice. Though at times he was inaccurate throwing the ball, he did have several passes hit players in the hands with opportunities make the catch.
Jack Brooks punted twice for an average of 27 yards per punt, hurt by the 24 yarder off the side of his foot in his first kick. But the second was nicely placed inside the opponents 15 yard line.
South Alabama will have a couple extra days to recover and game plan before hosting conference-leading Appalachian State on October 26 for the Jaguars homecoming game. The Mountaineers are an undefeated 5-0 on the season and 2-0 in the conference with noteworthy wins over North Carolina and Louisiana-Lafayette.
ASU will be in action this Saturday as they host Louisiana-Monroe for a 3:30pm kickoff at Kidd Brewer Stadium in Boone, NC for their annual homecoming game.
The Jags and the Mountaineer will kick off at 11am on ESPNU on Oct 26 at Ladd-Peebles Stadium. Radio coverage can be heard on 99.5 FM The Jag and 96.1 FM locally in the Mobile area or on iHeartRadio app world wide.
In the meantime, the Jags have to go back to the drawing board once again to figure out a way to get their first FBS win of the season.
Go Jags
Jags Vs Trojans: The 2019 ‘Battle for the Belt’
South Alabama and Troy started playing each other annually as the Jags were a transitional member of FBS. In 2015, in order to give the game the significance people thought it deserved, the two schools embraced the title “Battle for the Belt” and adopted a wrestling style championship belt as the trophy to be exchanged between the two schools.
Since introducing the Belt trophy, neither school has successfully defended the title and the road team has been the winner.
In 2017 South Alabama traveled to Troy with a 1-4 record and displayed grit and determination on national TV to bring home the belt. They did it with a stifling defense, solid special teams play, and enough offense to get the job done against an eager Trojan defense. That was also a Trojan team that defeated LSU and won 11 games.
Last year the Trojans came to Mobile with a big crowd and took a two-score lead early in the second quarter before cruising to a 38-17 win.
The Jags enter the game with a 1-5 record overall and 0-2 in conference play on the season and desperately seeking a win against an FBS opponent. They also enter the game after a tough double-overtime loss to Georgia Southern last time out on the field.
The team is talented and has shown flashes of that talent, but have been unable to put it together from the opening kick all the way until the scoreboard shows :00 at the end of the game.
Head coach Steve Campbell, defensive coordinator Greg Stewart and offensive coordinator Kenny Edenfield all have very strong ties to Troy. All three were teammates on the 1987 NCAA Division II national championship team. Stewart was also on the 1984 national championship team. Edenfield has the most experience in this rivalry as he’s been an assistant coach at Troy for 10 years prior to joining Campbell at USA in 2018.
Troy enters the game with a 2-3 record under new head coach Chip Lindsey. They too enter the game after a tough loss, a 42-10 whipping at Missouri. Also adding insult to injury, they may be without quarterback Kaleb Barker due to an injury against Missouri. With that, they hope to have a strong showing by their defense, who has already allowed over half the points in five games as they allowed in 13 games last season.
But the Jags coaching staff aren’t quite buying it. They think Barker will actually play in the game and his questionable status is just something to force the Jags to prepare for both contingencies.
Troy will definitely scheme to stop Tra Minter and the Jags running game. He is obviously the center piece to the Jags offense. He is quite clearly the primary running back, often the leading receiver, and returns kicks and punts.
The next player the Trojan defense will look to neutralize is Kawaan Baker. Behind Minter, Baker is the next most consistent playmaker in the offense through jet sweeps and pass catching.
The third and one that touches the ball the most, Cephus Johnson, has been quite efficient running the ball in recent games. Johnson also showed off his arm against Georgia Southern with two big touchdown passes of 75 and 60 yards to Baker and Jalen Tolbert.
This may give have given Troy something else to prepare for as Troy’s secondary has been struggling so far this season. Couple that with the possibilty of a second-string quarterback stepping in and getting stops and limiting scoring opportunities by the Trojan defense will be a premium.
The Jags defense has played strong this season with standout performances against Nebraska and Georgia Southern. Through most of the game the Jags played strong but when the defense is on the field for over 40 minutes, its no wonder the Eagles were able to drive down the field to tie the game and send it to overtime.
The major difference the Jags will see when they face the Trojans is the offense. Under Lindsey. the Trojans are spreading the field and throwing the ball more when, under Neal Brown, they ran more Run-Pass Option (RPO).
Defensively the Trojans are pretty similar to last year.
The Trojans are a 15 point favorite in the game. Both teams have had extra time to prepare and scheme ahead of a nationally broadcast game.
Can this be the week the Jags turn the corner on the 2019 season?
I think the Jags will play inspired and energized game in this rivalry game. They will have a chance to win. So I think the Jags will cover the spread but they have to prove themselves before I can pick them to win outright. I definitely don’t want the Trojans to be the first to defend the belt since it’s introduction. I hope the trend keeps up and the road team wins the game.
Go Jags
South Alabama Hosts Georgia Southern In Thursday Night Sun Belt Showdown
South Alabama was able to move the ball early against Louisiana-Monroe last Saturday. They actually scoring first to take the lead, however after that they struggled until late in the game.
The combination of Tra Minter and Cephus Johnson moved the ball effectively on the ground with Minter rushing for 150 yards and Johnson adding 72 more. However, as ULM extended their lead, it forced the Jags into more throwing situations and the offense became less effective with fewer than 60 yards passing.
The Jaguar defense got a stop on the Warhawks first possession, but began to allow big plays afterwards, including a number of crucial conversions on third down and two fourth downs that led to touchdowns.
But the ability of the Warhawk receivers to get open and run free in the secondary has to be very concerning. Also concerning is that some of the top tacklers for the game were in the Jaguar secondary.
With the loss still fresh on the players minds, maybe it’s a good thing that they have a short week to prepare for Georgia Southern.
GSU, like the Jags, have struggled out of the starting block this season. The Eagles are 1-3 on the season and dropped their conference opener last Saturday against Louisiana-Lafayette 37-24. Their only win, similar to USA, is against an FCS team (Maine).
The Eagles will bring their triple option offense into Mobile, an offense that has historically given the Jaguars major headaches in the past.
Through their first four games, the Eagles have averaged just under 202 yards per game rushing and have only thrown the pass 41 times. While it may be a one-dimensional offense, if you can roll up those kind of yards you basically have to be stopped. That is what GSU does to you, if you cannot stop their triple option rushing attack then you’re in for a long day. They will wear you down, beat you up, and control the clock basically strangling you out of a chance to win.
What a defense has to do when facing a triple option team is they have to play assignment football and stay disciplined. Someone has to cover the dive, someone has to be on the pitch man and not let him get to the perimeter and someone has to be on the quarterback.
Unless you see the triple option on a regular basis, its hard to really master that as a team. Additionally, the Jags defense is playing pretty undisciplined too: missed assignments, poor tackling, and getting gashed for big plays.
The Eagles offense struggled ever since redshirt junior quarterback Shai Werts was injured in the season opener against LSU and then missed the next two games. He returned against Louisiana-Lafayette and rushed for 93 yards and threw for another 37 yards on 6-of-12 passing but was sacked three times.
Additionally, junior running back Wesley Kennedy III is set to return after serving a four game academic suspension.
In 2017, the winless Eagles under the direction of interim head coach Chad Lunsford and coming off a bye week took the Jags to the woodshed and held the Jags to their first-ever shutout, 52-0. This devistating loss sealed head coach Joey Jones’ fate.
Since that game the Jags have a 4-14 record with only two wins against FBS opponents to show for it.
In order for the Jags to win, they need to control the ball and keep it out of the hands of Werts and company. If the offense is unable to convert third downs and keep moving the chains, it’s going to be a very long game for the defense.
The Jags enter as a 12 point underdog at home, both teams are hungry to break two-game losing streaks, and to get their first conference win of the season.
It’s truly a battle of who wants it more.
So over the last few weeks if I picked the Jags to cover, they wouldn’t and vice versa if I picked them not to cover, they have. So I don’t know if I should knowingly pick the opposite and hope for the best or to go straight up and pick my gut.
Picking my gut, the Jags cover the spread, however the Eagles are the ones who walk away with the victory. The Jags are 0-5 against the Eagles, historically have had fits trying to defend the triple option, and they just don’t seem to have what it takes to turn it around in a short week. Especially when the offensive line cannot protect the quarterback.
South Alabama and Georgia Southern kick off at 6:30pm Central time. The game can be seen on ESPNU nation wide and radio coverage can be heard on 99.5 fm The Jag in the Mobile area as well as world wide on the iHeartMedia app.
Go Jags!
USA At UAB: The Battle of I65
South Alabama (1-2) will hit I65 and travel up to Birmingham to face off with UAB (2-0) for the first time in program history. These two schools had a home-and-home scheduled previously, but was cancelled when UAB abruptly shut down their football program in 2014.
UAB has since restarted their program and have found new success on the gridiron.
If this becomes a regular matchup (which I hope for) I think this would be great for both programs. The (real) Battle of I65.
If you’ve been around the Jaguar football program since it’s inception, the name Bill Clark should be familiar with you. Coach Clark was the defensive coordinator under coach Joey Jones from 2009 – 2013 when he left for a head coaching opportunity at Jacksonville State.
In all, there are 25 players and coaches with ties to the Mobile area that are a part of the UAB program. Former assistant coaches Bryant Vincent and Richard Owens are both on Clark’s staff. Quarterback Tyler Johnston was a standout player for Spanish Fort before signing with UAB.
Since UAB restarted their program in 2017 they are an undefeated 13-0 at home. Including a 13-3 record in 2018 with a bowl win over Northern Illinois in the Boca Raton Bowl.
The Jags come into the game after a 42-6 trouncing by Memphis in Mobile when Tra Minter, the Jags leading all-purpose yardage leader, was forced out of the game with a concussion early in the game. They also made ESPN and other lists for the botched PAT that was returned by Memphis for 2-points after the Jags only score of the game.
Here’s the PAT just in case you need a reminder.
I present to you: the worst PAT attempt in college football history courtesy of South Alabama. pic.twitter.com/myXZpsA6m1
— Eagle-Eyed Social Media User Dan Why-Ner (@DanWeiner) September 14, 2019
The USA coaches pulled Cephus Johnson in the third quarter against Memphis, but head coach Steve Campbell said that he will continue to be the guy behind center for the Jags. Cephus, on the bright side, has thrown for 393 yards and three touchdowns but on the down side he has thrown four interceptions, committed three fumbles and has only completed 53% of his passes. It’s unknown if Johnson may be on a “short leash” and could be pulled in favor of Tylan Morton or Desmond Trotter.
The Blazers have a 1-2 punch at running back with Spencer Brown and Jonathan Haden. They are licking their chops after watching USA allowing over 300 yards to Memphis last weekend. However the Blazer offensive line has not performed as well run blocking as they have pass blocking. They will probably test the Jaguar rush defense to see if they can get some early success because the Jaguar secondary has covered well with an interception in each of the Jags first three games and only allowing Memphis to throw for more than 200 yards.
The Jaguar offensive line has helped the Jags average over 199 yards per game, with the help of the big game against Jackson State. But the Jags pass protection has not been the best so far this season as they have allowed six sacks so far. They will be facing a Blazer defense that are sack-hungry and will be looking to put pressure on Johnson to try to force him into some bad decisions and to try to cause some fumbles.
The Blazer defense has held their first two opponents to 7-of-31 on 3rd down conversions, tallied 20 tackles-for-loss and eight sacks while holding them to an average of 89.5 yards per game rushing, but those two opponents have been Alabama State and Akron.
When your leading receiver is your running back, that says a lot about your receiver corps. Minter leads the team in receptions (9 for 80 yards) as well as rushing yards (242). Kawaan Baker is right behind him with one fewer catch (8) but has 184 yards receiving and two touchdowns. But when your two quarterbacks combine to have 6 interceptions only completing 50% of their passes, to say the Jags passing game is struggling is an understatement.
Meanwhile the Blazers have looked very good early with two players in the top eight of Conference USA in receiving yardage.
An additional factor is injuries. The Jags got pretty banged up against Memphis. Minter is expected to play as he was sighted at practice. However Riley Cole (undisclosed) and Roy Yancey (ankle) have also been dealing with injuries but have been practicing, so it sounds like they will play but will those injuries affect their effectiveness?
Officially Cole, Yancey, and Jalen Wayne are all probable to play. Minter was last listed as questionable. Tyree Turner and Patrick Rosette have been listed as doubtful. Max Charite and Shawn Jennings have been ruled out for the game. Meanwhile UAB only has one player listed as being out for the season.
The Blazers are an 11 point favorite in the game with an over/under of 48 points. But the Jags will have Minter back as he has reportedly cleared the concussion protocol and practiced with the team on Wednesday.
While I don’t feel good calling for the Jags to win out-right (as much as I’d love for it to happen). The Blazers have put up impressive numbers against two opponents that they should have a clear advantage against. Meanwhile the Jags gave Nebraska a scare before facing a possibly the best Group of Five team in Memphis.
I’ll be a homer and take the Jags to cover but I think UAB may run their home record to 14-0 since “The Return”.
The Jags and the Blazers are scheduled for a 2:30pm kickoff from Legion Field in Birmingham. The game can be viewed on the NFL Network.
Go Jags.
Jags Dominated By Memphis 42-6
The cat fight turned out to be a one-sided event as the Memphis Tigers (3-0) dominated all phases of the game against South Alabama (1-2) at Ladd-Peebles Stadium on Saturday.
USA looked to have made big strides leading into this season as they pressed Nebraska hard in a 35-21 loss in Lincoln to open the season, then a program record 413 yards rushing last week against Jackson State. But Memphis, from the American Athletic Conference, showed the Jags that they had not progressed as much as they may have thought, at least on September 14th.
The Jags were staring squarely at being shut out at home for the first time in program history, but a big play touchdown near midway through the fourth quarter saved the team from that fate. But they did suffer their worst home loss in program history to a non-Power 5 conference team.
Both teams opened the game with three-and-outs on offense, but Memphis eventually got their offense going as Kenneth Gainwell scored on a 5-yard run with 7:21 left in the first quarter. Kylan Watkins dove for an 18-yard touchdown pass from Brady White to make it 14-0 at the 14:18 mark in the second quarter.
Later in the second quarter after a big run by Watkins, the Tigers scored on a 4th and goal when White found Kedarian Jones for a 2-yard touchdown pass taking a 20-0 lead after the 2pt attempt on the swinging gate formation.
The Tigers added a 36-yard field goal with :39 left in the second quarter to close out the first half leading 23-0.
Of the eight first-half possessions by the Jaguars offense, six of them ended with punts. One ended by a fumble by Cephus Johnson and halftime ended the other.
The Tigers out gained the Jags in the first half 327 – 93. They out rushed the Jags 245 – 55.
Tra Minter left the game late in the first quarter after a vicious hit on an 8-yard jet sweep left him laying motionless for a couple minutes before he was helped off the field by the athletic trainers and visibly woozy. He will be in the concussion protocol this week and will have to clear that before he can be cleared to play again for the Jags.
Memphis opened the second half with a quick score that was sparked by a big play when safety DJ Daniels tipped a pass that fell right into tight end Joey Magnifico’s hands that went for 58 yards to the 4 yard line. White then connected with Antonio Gibson for the touchdown to take a 30-0 lead.
Memphis added a field goal early in the fourth quarter to take a 33-0 lead with 13:10 left in the game.
On the ensuing drive Tylan Morton ran for a 7-yard gain, but fumbled the ball and Austin Hall picked it up and returned it 48 yards for another Memphis touchdown making it 40-0 with 11:18 left in the game.
The Jags got the ball back and on the second play Morton connected with Kawaan Baker on an inside slant play which turned into a 74 yard touchdown. However on the PAT snap was bobbled and in an attempt to make a play, the ball was fumbled and Jacobi Francis took it the distance for 2-points for Memphis closing out the scoring at 42-6.
The Jags were held to 248 total yards of offense while Memphis rolled up 530 total yards. The Jags rushed for only 101 yards in the game compared to 312 for the Tigers and the Jags only managed 147 yards passing to 218 by the Tigers.
USA only converted 5 of 15 3rd down attempted, but Memphis only converted 7 of 15 attempts.
I guess the positive point in the game was the Jags were only flagged three times for 30 yards. Memphis was flagged 10 times for 100 yards.
Cephus Johnson was a mere 5-for-14 for 42 yards before he was pulled midway through the third quarter. Tylan Morton was 4-for-12 for 105 yards, a touchdown and an interception.
Johnson led the Jags with 37 rushing yards on 14 carries, followed by Jared Wilson who had 28 yards on 10 carries.
Jalen Tolbert caught four passes for 37 yards. Kawaan Baker caught two passes for 84 yards and the lone Jaguar touchdown.
Brady White went 12-for-20 for 209 yards, three touchdowns and an interception. Connor Adair completed both of the throwing attempted for 9 yards.
The Tigers had a pair of runners go over the century mark with Kenneth Gainwell rushing for 145 yards on 16 carries and a touchdown. Kylan Watkins added 113 yards on 11 carries.
Damonte Coxie caught three passes for 81 yards to lead the Tigers receiving corps.
The Jags visibly struggled at the line of scrimmage, which Jaguar head football coach Steve Campbell noted in his post game comments. “We had a hard time running the ball and we had a hard time stopping the run,” Campbell said. “If you aren’t able to run the ball, you become one dimensional on offense. We had a chance to hit a play or two early and we didn’t, so all they did was tighten up defensively, and we struggled to run the ball. Memphis rushed the ball for 312 yards and we were only able to rush it for 101 yards and most of that I believe came in the fourth quarter. We got beat on the line of scrimmage.”
Campbell also noted the loss of Minter in the game. “It hurt because we are a young football team,” he said. “Tra is someone we look to for a lot of leadership on offense. Jared {Wilson] stepped up for us a little bit, but it hurt to lose Tra because he does a lot for us.”
South Alabama will travel to Birmingham for the first game of a home-and-home series between the two programs and the Jags final non-conference game of the season. UAB is coached former South Alabama defensive coordinator Bill Clark. He is joined by former Jaguar offensive coordinator Bryant Vincent as well as former assistant coach Richard Owens.
The Jags and the Blazers are set for a 2:30pm kickoff at Legion Field. The game will be televised on the NFL Network. Radio coverage can be heard on 99.5 The Jag locally in Mobile and on the iHeartMedia app.
USA Hosts FCS Jackson State In Home Opener
South Alabama opens their home slate against FCS Jackson State, the final season playing in Ladd-Peebles as their home stadium.
The Jags come off of an inspring effort against then #24 Nebraska in Lincoln, falling short of their upset bid, 35-21. They will find themselves on the other side of the coin, they don’t want to be upset by Jackson State, who is coming off of a 36-15 road loss to Bethune Cookman in the 2019 MEAC/SWAC Challenge.
Jackson State played three quarterbacks in their first game, but head coach John Hendrick announced that Derrick Ponder will be the starter going forward. He finished 8-of-21 for 130 yards, but had a fumble in the fourth quarter when the Tigers were moving the ball.
Despite the loss and rotating quarterbacks, they ran up over 500 yards of total offense, 233 of them came on the ground in a three-headed rushing attack. Coach Hendrick challenged his offense to execute better, with all those yards they had ample opportunity to score.
The Jags won most of the statistical categories against the Cornhuskers, but the game is won or lost with the points put on the board.
The Jags settled in with Cephus Johnson taking snaps with 231 passing yards and two touchdowns, but also had two interceptions and two fumbles, one for a touchdown in the endzone.
The Jaguar defense held the Huskers to 276 yards of total offense and only 98 yards rushing.
The Jags has more talent across the board than the Tigers. The offense needs to continue to get Cephus confortable early with short, high-percentage passes and RPO’s. The JSU defense will look to disguise coverages and try to force Cephus into making mistakes.
The two fumbles by Cephus last week all came from his backside, where he never seemed to feel the pressure. Look for JSU to try to bring pressure to see if they can recreate that pressure and try to get some turnovers.
The Jags will look to better their protection from last week and getting more players involved to build depth as they prepare for Memphis next week and the fast approaching conference schedule. USA controlled the line of scrimmage pretty well against Nebraska, this week they look to get those rushing yards that eluded them last week. The rushing attack will feature Tra Minter but with Jalin Buie out for the season with a knee injury, the coaches will look to get more touches to the other guys to build depth at a position that has been pretty thin the last couple of seasons.
The Jags are a 27.5 point favorite. With their talent anything would probably be a disappointment. I think the Jags cover as they look to further forget the frustrations from last season.
Jags Fall At #24 Nebraska 35-21
South Alabama traveled to Lincoln, Nebraska with upset on their mind and they put a decent scare into the #24 ranked Cornhuskers and Coach Scott Frost.
The Jags took the Cornhuskers to halftime trailing by one score at 14-7 after Jalen Thompson was able to partially block a late field goal attempt by Nebraska. But the Jags focus on the “middle eight” didn’t go exactly as they wanted. On a 3rd and 8 play, starting quarterback Cephus Johnson was locked into his receiver allowing Eric Lee Jr. to jump the route for a 58 yard pick six at the 13:11 mark.
The Jags would get the ball right back but would go three-and-out. The Jack Brooks punt would sail 49 yards to JD Spielman, who elluded the first tackler and then ran it back 76 yards for the second score in under two minutes.
USA attempted didn’t give up, they would answer with two touchdowns in third quarter themselves. The first was set up by a JD Speilman muffed punt where the Jags covered it at the Husker 13 yard line. Four plays later Johnson would find Davyn Flenord on a tunnel screen for a 9 yard touchdown.
The second score was set up by an interception by AJ DeShazor at the Jag 24 yard line. USA got into the red zone thanks to a nice wheel route by Tra Minter down the left sideline then drive was capped off by a 13 yard touchdown reception by Khameron Taylor.
The scoring was capped off on the first play of the fourth quarter where Cephus would be hit from his backside and having the ball jarred loose where Alex Davis would cover it up in the end zone with 14:53 left in the game.
From there, the Jags had a great opportunity to cut the lead back to one score after Dedrick Mills fumbled the ball which Devin Rockette recovered at the Nebraska 49 yard line.
After driving down to the 12 yard line, Johnson was looking for Kawaan baker around the two yard line, but ball was delivered behind him, Baker got his had on the ball tipping it up where Cam Taylor could pick it off and returned it 48 yards to the mid field stripe.
The Jags won the battle on the statistics sheet if you ignore the score. They had more total yards (314 – 276), passing yards (231 – 178), first downs (19 – 15), total plays (79 – 66), time of possession (34:13 – 25:47) while Nebraska out-gained the Jags on the ground (98 – 83).
Cephus Johnson went 19-of-34 for 231 yards, two touchdowns, two interceptions and he was sacked four times. Tylan Morton came in for play and threw an interception when Cephus had to come out due to losing his helmet on a play.
Receiving Kawaan Baker led the way with 59 yards on four catches, Cade Sutherland gained 53 on four catches and Tra Minter gained 47 on five catches.
On the ground, Minter led the way with 37 yards on 10 carries. Baker added 27 yards on five carries and Cephus had a net of 9 yards on 18 carries with the lone rushing touchdown.
The Jags defense held Adrian Martinez to 13-for-22 passing for 178 yards and two touchdowns and one interception.
Rushing Dedrick Mills led the way with 45 yards on 15 carries. Washington added 39 yards on 6 carries after sitting out the first half. Martinez was held to 6 yards on 13 carries, with a big loss on a snap over his head though.
Receiving the Huskers Jack Stoll had three catches for 66 yards, Robinson added 33 yards on three catches and JD Spielman added 36 yards on two catches.
The Jags will open their home schedule with Jackson State on Saturday, September 7 with kickoff scheduled for 6pm at Ladd-Peebles Stadium.
Jags Face Nebraska In 11am Kick
Here we are, ready for the 2019 season to finally begin. While Thunderjags has been quiet, we are still here. This year has been very busy with off the field family business. Without any further ado, let’s preview game number one.
The Jags coming off a 3-9 record for the 2018 campaign opens in Lincoln, Nebraska to take on the #24 Cornhuskers.
The Huskers enter the third season under head coach Scott Frost after back-to-back 4 win seasons. Despite that, they are getting lots of early hype being ranked #24 in the nation to start the season.
South Alabama lost a lot from last season, but not all of it from graduation. Several players transferred out to other programs. They lost Jordan McCray and Malik Stanley to the transfer portal. Kawaan Baker is by far the leading receiver returning with 33 catches and four touchdowns. While the four returning receivers combine for a total of 10 catches. They do return six squad members from last season, a mixture of redshirts and others who didn’t see any gametime then added seven true freshmen and a senior transfer.
The linebacking corps will look to fill Bull Barge’s big shoes as they return one letterwinner from last season with one sack. They also return three redshirt freshmen and two previous squad members.
The offensive line returns four starters from last year, three of them started all 12 games. But the squad had problems knocking people off the ball, but hopefully an offseason of study and strengthening will pay dividends.
Punter Corliss Waitman decided to transfer to Mississippi State to spend what looks like his final college football season reunited with former Jag head coach Joey Jones. Frankie Onate looks to step up and fill Gavin Patterson’s shoes as placekicker.
Always one of the most talked about positions is quarterback. Evan Orth and Cole Garvin graduated. Orth started eight games, Garvin started three, and 2019 starting signal caller Cephus Johnson started one. While Johnson only threw 19 passes last year, he completed seven of them for three touchdowns and only one interception.
Though head coach Steve Campbell brought in the top ranked JUCO dual-threat quarterback in Tylan Morton, Johnson beat him out for the starting job.
As mentioned before, Johnson will be breaking in a lot of new receivers with one veteran leading the way in Baker.
The tight end position should see more work in 2019. They only accounted for one touchdown last season against Memphis.
The running back position returns two letterwinners. Tra Minter leads the way as a 2nd team All-America all-purpose back by the Sporting News and preseason watch list for the Doak Walker and Paul Hornung Awards. Minter was the only returning back to have carried the ball 10 times or more in a game in 2018. Actually, Jalin Buie hasn’t carried the ball in a game since September 16, 2017.
Though the Jags return four redshirt freshmen and a JUCO transfer to help give depth. Tony Brown and John Tank Miller are two names to keep up with this season as they have been mentioned many times over the last year and in the offseason.
Nebraska’s defense is big up front. The Jags offensive line will have their hands full with the size and speed of the Cornhuskers. Coach Edenfield will look to find mismatches and try to exploit them with misdirection and try to use some of their speed against them.
Additionally the Husker corners are pretty good. Opponents struggled completing outside passes down the field.
Offensively Nebraska has a very good quarterback, possibly one of the best in the nation, in Taylor Martinez. He can throw well and he’s very good and running the ball. The Jags defense will have to play very disciplined football. Everyone is going to make mistakes, especially in the first game of the season. Season openers are won and lost by those mistakes. In order to have a chance to win, the Jags have to minimize their mistakes against what looks to be a very potent offensive attack for the Huskers this season.
The Jags have a win over a top 25 team, they’ve defeated a Power 5 SEC team. This is their second time facing Nebraska in Lincoln. The team is ready to start the 2019 season after the lackluster 2018 record. Maybe the chances of a Jaguar win is a little more favorable than the odds that Doctor Strange gave in Avengers: Infinity War. But it takes precision, focus, and near perfect play.
While I’d love to recreate the Mississippi State win, I’m not confident I’ll see it today. We have 11 games after this one and we need to stay healthy but also get some game experience for lots of new players.
USA is a 36 point underdog according to the Las Vegas oddsmakers. I think the Jags will keep it closer than that on the road but the outright win is slim but would be extremely exciting.
South Alabama Host Coastal Carolina For Season Finale
South Alabama (2-9, 1-6 Conference) is set to play their final home game of the season which is also their final game of the season as a whole on Friday with kickoff scheduled for 2pm at Ladd-Peebles Stadium. The Jags will welcome a 5-6 Coastal Carolina team that are looking to get bowl-eligible (5-6, 2-5 Conference). This makes the third consecutive team looking to earn their sixth win against the Jaguars.
Head coach Steve Campbell is balancing getting playing time for the younger players with trying to win the remaining game and letting the seniors get playing time on Senior Day.
Senior Evan Orth, who started eight of 11 games so far this season injured his shoulder a couple weeks ago and has missed the last two game due to it. Cole Garvin, also a senior, started the first game of the season and played a complete game last week against Louisiana-Lafayette after missing most of the season due to a team rules violation when he was arrested for public intoxication.
Redshirt freshman Cephus Johnson started against Louisiana-Monroe two weeks ago, but split time with Garvin.
The Chanticleers, who joined the Sun Belt Conference last season, come into Mobile as a the favorite by anywhere from 2.5 to 6.5 points but in the midst of a three-game losing streak after facing Appalachian State, Arkansas State, and Georgia Southern.
South Alabama will be bidding goodbye to 19 seniors, some of the most accomplished players in program history to date. Among them, Jamarious Way who is in the top 10 in pretty much every USA career and single-season receiving category, Corliss Waitman who has the best punting average in program history, and Gavin Patterson who is the second-leading scorer in program history.
The Chanticleers join Appalachian State and Georgia Southern who were long-time FCS powerhouses who have joined the Sun Belt and have found success early. With just one win between them and bowl eligibility in their second season, they should be motivated and ready to play.
Meanwhile the Jags don’t have a post-season to play for, they only have pride. The Jags can play spoiler while heading into the off-season on a positive note.
The Chanticleers average 208.4 yards rushing per game and 170.5 yards passing per game. Meanwhile the Jags are averaging 135.7 yards rushing and 203.4 yards passing per game. But the Jags defense has been very susceptible to big plays, long runs and passes many of them for touchdowns have plagued them all season.
The Jags covered the spread last week, I think they’ll do it again but I’m not sure if they win. It’s more of toss-up and I think the more motivated team will win.
Inside the Numbers: