Battle For The Belt 2018
South Alabama and Troy will play for the “Battle for the Belt” trophy Tuesday night at Ladd-Peebles Stadium on ESPN2. | Photo credit: USA Vanguard.
Last year, the Jags traveled to Troy after the Trojans were coming off of a 24-21 over then #22 ranked LSU in Death Valley and came away with a 19-8 win in a dominating defensive performance. The Jags scored 12 points off of four Trojan turnovers and didn’t allow any points on the board until 6:16 left in the game.
This season is a bit different though. This time the Trojans (5-2, 3-0 SBC) will travel to Mobile to face South Alabama (2-5, 1-2 SBC) after an upset loss on the road at FBS transitional Liberty 22-16.
So to say that the Trojans have something to play for is an understatement. They want revenge for that Wednesday night domination at the hands of the Jaguars on national television, bring the rivalry belt back to Troy, and they also want to redeem themselves after the upset loss.
The Jags enter the game after a pleasing 45-7 get-right win over Alabama State, but only the second ‘W’ of the season for the Jags under first year head coach Steve Campbell, a Troy alum. Actually both of his coordinators, OC Kenny Edenfield and DC Greg Stewart, are also Troy alums too and they all have Division II national championship rings from their time there. Edenfield came to the Jags after a 10 year stint at Troy, the last eight as offensive coordinator.
With the win over the Hornets, the Jags hope to start a run in this second half of the season towards a berth in the inaugural Sun Belt Conference championship game. Currently, the Jags control their fate and could move into a tie for first place in the western division with a win over Troy. Meanwhile Troy looks to keep pace in the Eastern Division with conference unbeaten Appalachian State and Georgia Southern.
Quarterback Sawyer Smith will make only his second start after Kaleb Barker was lost for the season with a knee injury. The Jags defense has been susceptible to big plays and being gashed on the ground this season. By all indications the Jags will have Nigel Lawrence back, who was the teams’ leading tackler when he went down with an injury a couple games ago.
Oh and who can forget the penalties.
The Trojans are very balanced, numbers wise. They average 207.7 yards per game rushing and 205.9 yards per game passing so the Jags will have to play disciplined.
Meanwhile the Jags will look to establish the running game to take pressure off of quarterback Evan Orth and his receivers by making the Trojan defense play honest against the run. While Jamarius Way and Kawaan Baker have both had their standout moments on the season, the Jags have also developed Jordan McCray and Jahmmir Taylor into more options. Now with the return of Malik Stanley, that adds more tools for the passing game to utilize.
Tra Minter has been the workhorse in the backfield with 84 carries on the season for 263 yards and five touchdowns. Baker is the next closest rusher with 179 yards and six touchdowns.
Troy’s leading rusher is BJ Smith, with 587 yards and eight touchdowns on the season on 94 carries. He averages 6.2 yards per carry.
The Trojans have a pair of receivers in Deondre Douglas and Damion Willis who each have five touchdowns. Douglas is the receptions leader with 34 for 348 yards. Willis is not far behind with 25 catches but for 373 yards. They also have three other receivers with over 100 yards receiving on the season and they have combined for five touchdowns between them.
The keys to a Jaguar win and keeping the Belt in Mobile are three fold.
First, limit the penalties committed by the Jags. Gifting Troy with first downs or short third downs will not help a struggling defense. Penalties of aggression or frustration simply have to be avoided. If they can play cool, calm and collected they will have a big advantage right off the bat.
Second, the Jags need to withstand the early Troy onslaught. In the first quarter, they are outscoring opponents 80-21 and in the first half they are outscoring opponents 154-87. In the second half they do not score nearly as much and are actually being outscored 85-82. In USA’s lone Sun Belt win, they were down going into the second half and scored 18 points in the fourth quarter to get the win.
Third, USA must protect the ball. The Jags have put the ball on the ground 14 times and lost possession nine times to go along with six interceptions on the season. Troy under coach Brown are 5-22 when they lose the turnover battle and they are 22-1 when they win that battle.
South Alabama enters as an 11 point underdog in the game. Call it being a homer or whatever you want, but I’m picking the Jags with that spread.
By the Numbers:
Jags Win Big Over Alabama State 45-7
Offensive line coach Mike Bangtson works with the offensive line between drives early in the first quarter in South Alabama’s 45-7 win over Alabama State on Saturday, October 13, 2018.
After a tough three-game road swing which they lost all three by a combined score of 152-55, the Jags returned home for their final non-conference tilt of the season against FCS Alabama State.
The Jaguar offense started out pretty shaky on their first two drives before putting together an 8 play, 82 yard touchdown drive capped off by an 8-yard touchdown run by Tra Minter with 4:03 left in the first quarter.
Once the Jags opened the scoring, they then put touchdowns on the board on their next three possessions. The second touchdown came by way of a jet sweep by Kawaan Baker where he outran the Hornet defense to the corner of the end zone.
Alabama State got their only points of the game on one play. Kha’Dar Davis threw it up down the far sideline, the Jaguar defender went up for it but missed, then Tyrek Allen came away with it and made for the end zone with the help of his teammates making some good blocks for a 75 yard touchdown pass.
USA answered right back with a six play, 49 yard drive capped off by Evan Orth running it in from 19 yards out. The next possession, Orth rolled to his right and found McCray open for a 9 yard touchdown pass to take a 28-7 lead into halftime.
The Jaguar defense opened the second half with a 3 and out. The ensuing punt was fielded by Tra Minter at his own 25 and he didn’t stop until he found the end zone 75 yards later to make it a 35-7 game.
On the next possession, the Jags drive stalled at the Hornet 33 yard line, but Gavin Patterson put three points on the board with a career long 50 yard field goal.
South Alabama took out Evan Orth at the beginning of the fourth quarter in favor of redshirt-freshman Cephus Johnson. On his third play directing the offense, the found Jahmmir running open on a seam route and he floated in perfectly for a 56 yard touchdown for his first career touchdown throw and the final score of 45-7.
The Jags rolled up 396 yards of total offense, 185 of it on the ground. USA held Alabama State to 219 total yards of offense and only 85 on the ground. The 75 yard touchdown pass was 34% of their entire offensive output in the game.
USA still committed seven penalties for 75 yards, which is an improvement in both categories. While the Hornets committed 13 for 83 yards.
Deonta Moore led the Jags with 65 yards rushing with Tra Minter added 61 on a team high 12 attempts with a touchdown.
Orth went 12-of-15 for 155 yards and a touchdown. Johnson went 1-of-2 for 56 yards and a touchdown.
Taylor led the way with 56 yards receiving on the touchdown reception. Kawaan Baker caught two for 52 yards. Jamarius Way caught a team-high three passes for 35 yards. Jordan McCray had the other receiving touchdown with on two catches for 12 yards.
Coach Steve Campbell spoke of how well the team played against Alabama State. “It was a really good win, I’m really proud of the way the guys responded. Tonight was a total team victory. Offensively, I thought we did a lot of good things and we protected the football. We were able to sustain drives with one of them being a 13-play drive. Defensively, we played really, really well. We gave up one play, but other than that our defense played lights out. We did a lot of good things in special teams. We returned a punt for a touchdown, we forced a couple of errant punts, we hit a 50-yard field goal and we covered kicks well, so there were a lot of good things special teams wise. All three phases contributed and I can see a lot of progress. It was good to be back in Mobile.”
With the win the Jags improve to 2-5 on the season and remains 1-2 in the conference and tied for second in the Sun Belt Conference Western Division.
South Alabama will host Troy for a Tuesday Night game on October 23 on ESPN2 the the “Battle for the Belt.”
Inside the Numbers:
Memphis’ Offense Too Much For Jags, Fall 52-35
Darrell Henderson rolled up 188 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Memphis Tigers over the Jags 52-35.
The South Alabama offense tried to keep up with Memphis, but Darrell Henderson’s 188 yards on 22 carries and two touchdowns helped the Tigers outpace the Jags 52-35.
The Jaguars offense, led by Evan Orth, kept the Jags in the game well into the fourth quarter. Orth’s favorite target, Jamarius Way, had another huge night for with 10 receptions for 185 yards and a touchdown.
Kawaan Baker continues to contribute with 82 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns. He had 33 yards on the ground on five touches with a touchdown then caught four passes for 49 yards and a touchdown.
Tra Minter led the Jags rushing with 35 yards.
Patrick Taylor added 75 yards rushing on 17 carries with two touchdowns for the Tigers. Tony Pollard carried three times for 30 yards and a rushing touchdown too.
Damonte Coxie led the Tigers with 113 yards receiving on eight catches with a touchdown. John Williams added 65 yards on five catches and a touchdown.
Nigel Lawrence led the Jags with 11 tackles. Sterling Fisher was the only Jag to record a sack.
The Jags came out strong driving down and scoring on the opening possession of the game when Baker ran in from 13 yards out.
But the Tigers answered right back on their first possession with a eight of their nine offensive plays being runs capped off by Henderson’s first touchdown. Memphis would score 21 unanswered points to take a 21-7 lead with 10:21 left in the second quarter.
The Jags would finally answer sparked by a 62 yard reception by Jahmmir Taylor and capped off by a two yard run by Tra Minter to make it 21-14.
The Jags would tie the game with 53 seconds left in the first half when Orth found Zac Crosby in the end one for his first career touchdown.
Memphis opened the second half with a touchdown drive with another run-heavy drive that covered 61 yards to make it 28-21.
After Memphis added a field goal, the Jags drove down for a touchdown after Jamarius Way’s big 29 yard catch highlighted the drive. But after a false start on the line backed up the Jags PAT attempt by five yards, the Tigers broke through the middle of the line and blocked the attempt to keep a 31-27 lead.
Down by four, the Jags decoded to go for it on 4th and 2 at the Tiger 8 yard line, but Minter was stopped for no gain turning the ball over on downs.
Memphis seized the opportunity and drove 92 yards on seven plays to take an 11 point advantage over the Jags 38-27 with 13:32 left to play. Just a few minutes later the Tigers would add to it on a three play, all Darrell Henderson drive where he ran for all 64 yards, 54 of them on the touchdown run to open up a 45-27 lead.
USA was in business deep in Tiger territory after Zac Crosby blocked a punt. Orth then went to work throwing the ball to Kawaan Baker, Jordan McCray and the final three to Jamarius Way including a four yard touchdown and a two-point conversion to him as well making it 45-35 with 7:30 left.
Memphis answered right back with another run-heavy drive with six of the eight plays being runs, but a pass interference call on Jalen Thompson on 3rd and 7 extended the drive and on the next play Patrick Taylor takes it in from 11 yards out for the final score of the game 52-35.
South Alabama had their best offensive performance of the season with 467 total yards, 360 of it through the air. Memphis rolled up 563 yards of total offense with 271 yards on the ground and 292 through the air.
Coach Campbell spoke after the game praising the receivers and acknowledging mistakes, “We made a couple of mistakes that I can point the finger directly at myself for that could have made the game even more interesting. Our guys though fought hard and gave a great effort. We created some mismatch opportunities on offense. They [Memphis] had a hard time covering Jamarius and our other receivers. They were out there making plays.”
South Alabama (1-3, 1-0 SBC) will play their second of three-consecutive road games when they travel to Boone, North Carolina to face Appalachian State (2-1, 0-0 SBC) in the Jags second Sun Belt Conference game and the Mountaineers first conference game of the season.
The Tale Of The Numbers: