South Alabama Earns Bowl Eligibility With 31-3 Win Over Arkansas State
South Alabama is bowl eligible!
On a rainy afternoon in Jonesboro, the Jags (6-2, 3-1 SBC) put up a dominating 31-3 win over Arkansas State (2-7, 1-5) behind La’Damian Webb’s 162 yards, three touchdown performance. The win extends the Jags winning streak to four games against the Red Wolves.
The game opened with a 69-yard run by Webb on the first offensive snap, then four plays later Webb punched it in to give the Jags a 7-0 lead less than three minutes into the game.
The Jags got excellent field possession after a blocked punt careens out of bounds at the Jags 46-yard line. On the second snap, Bradley connected with a wide-open Jalen Wayne for a 49-yard touchdown to go up 14-0.
After allowing a 42-yard pass completion, the Jags defense drew a line in the sand and would not budge. Arkansas State got their only points of the game with a 32-yard field goal.
The Jags defense kept getting to James Blackman and with 2:45 left in the first half, James Miller and Jamie Sheriff sack him for a safety and a 16-3 lead at halftime.
Webb earned his second touchdown of the game with a leap over the line from the 1-yard line with 5:18 left in the third quarter. Head coach Kane Wommack opted for a two-point try and Bradley connected with DJ Thomas-Jones to go up 24-3.
Close to the middle of the fourth quarter, the Jags forced a turnover when Lamondre Brooks knocked the ball loose from Johnnie Lang’s grip then Gi’Narious Johnson covered it up at the Jags 48-yard line with 8:50 left.
The final drive was all La’Damian Webb. Offensive coordinator Major Applewhite kept calling his number and Web kept delivering. He carried the ball on all 11 plays of the drive and finished with a 1-yard plunge for his third and final touchdown of the game as they melted 7:16 off the clock.
Stats
Webb ran for 162 yards on 28 carries with the three touchdowns while averaging 5.8 yards per carry. Bradley added 17 yards on four carries as the next closest rusher.
Carter Bradley was 17-of-24 for 179 yards and a touchdown.
DJ Thomas-Jones, his second game back after his scary incident on the sideline several weeks ago now, led the Jags with four catches with 48 yards. Jalen Wayne led the team with 83 yards on three catches with the only receiving touchdown. Lacy caught three passes for 29 yards. Lincoln Sefcik also caught three passes for only 8 yards.
James Miller led the defense with eight stops, three solo, 1.5 tackles for loss and a half sack. Jamie Sheriff led the Jags with 1.5 sacks for the game. Wy’Kevious Thomas also logged a sack in the game.
Diego Guajardo was a perfect 4-for-4 on extra point attempts. Jack Brooks averaged 42.8 yards per punt wearing the honorary number 5 jersey.
James Blackman was 22-of-39 for 177 yards. Seydou Traore was the leading receiver with eight receptions for 47 yards. Jeff Foreman led the way with 98 receiving yards on six catches.
Only two Red Wolves rusher ended the game in positive numbers. Marcel Murray led the Red Wolves rushing attack with 15 yards on four carries. Johnnie Lang added 14 yards on nine carries.
Blackman was sacked four times for -43 yards then Mike Sharpe had -5 yards on his two carries. Four other runners combined for -19 yards.
Arkansas State punters kept the Jags pinned back with six punts downed inside the 20, and it seemed like every one was down inside the 5 yard line too.
The Jags dominated the team stats with 362 total yards of offense, 183 yards rushing and 179 passing yards. The Red Wolves only managed 158 total yards, 177 yards passing and -19 yards rushing. If you factor out the sack yardage, the Red Wolves had 24 yards rushing.
That final drive helped the Jags take a dominant edge in time of possession too, 35:59 to 24:01.
There were some not so good stats for the Jags though. Eight penalties for 35 yards were called on the Jags, seven of them in the first half. They at least cleaned it up after the break. Also, the Jags were a mere 3-of-15 on 3rd down attempts.
Arkansas State wasn’t any better on 3rd down, going 2-of-14 in the game but they were only flagged for twice for 25 yards.
Next
The Jags will travel to Statesboro, Georgia to face off against Georgia Southern. South Alabama earned their first win against the Eagles last year, 41-14. The Eagles have the weekend off. The game kicks off at 3pm on Saturday, November 5.