South Alabama Commits Five Turnovers, Fall To The Cajuns 33-20
The South Alabama Jaguars fell back to earth on Saturday. Louisiana-Lafayette came into Hancock Whitney Stadium and forced five turnovers in route to a 33-20 defeat of the Jaguars. The Jags fall to 4-4 overall and 2-2 in conference play while the Cajuns improve to 5-3 overall, 2-2 in conference play.
Anything that could go wrong for the Jags, did go wrong.
Cater Bradley was sacked five times with three fumbles and threw two interceptions accounting for all of the Jags 5 turnovers. One of the Cajuns field goals hit the right upright and miraculously fell across the crossbar.
South Alabama had the opportunity to put the first points on the board. They had the ball 4th and 1 at the Cajuns 6 yard line. Opting to keep the offense on the field, La’Damian Webb’s run up the middle lost a yard against the Lafayette defensive push which resulted in a turnover on downs.
The Cajuns proceeded to drive 93 yards in 15 plays, which was capped off by a 33 yard touchdown pass by Zeon Chriss to Jacob Bernard with 12:58 left in the second quarter.
On the third play of the Jags ensuing possession Bradley was sacked and fumbled it away to the Cajuns at the Jags own 41 yard line. The Cajuns scored with a 3 yard touchdown pass to finish off the seven play drive.
The Jags offense went three-and-out on the next possession. The snap to Jack Brooks was very low, he was able to pick it up off the ground and was barely able to get it away and it only went 9 yards. The Jags defense kept them out of the end zone, but with a 20-yard field goal the Cajuns were able to take a 17-0 lead into the halftime locker room.
South Alabama started the second half with a quick score. Bradley connected with Jamaal Pritchett for a 6 yard touchdown with 11:53 left in the third quarter.
Louisiana-Lafayette answered with a 42-yard field goal. The kick high the right upright and somehow fell across the crossbar giving the Cajuns a 20-7 advantage.
South Alabama’s offense only needed three plays to answer. A two yard run by Webb set up Bradley to connect with Caullin Lacy for a 62 yard gain. Then La’Damian Webb went untouched for a 25 yard touchdown, which tied him for the season record for most rushing touchdowns.
The Jags were then trailing 20-14 with 6:09 left in the third quarter.
The Jags called a safety blitz while Zeon Chiss ran the zone-read perfectly. The defense bit on the quarterback letting Jacob Kibodi get through the defensive front and go for a 56 yard touchdown. The Cajuns lined up for a two-point conversion, but an offensive pass interference call negated a conversion. Then Kenneth Almendares’ long extra point missed wide left leaving the Cajuns with a 26-14 lead.
Another Jaguar drive ended with a sack fumble on Bradley. But this one was picked up and returned 45 yards for a scoop-and-score touchdown with 1:07 left in third quarter.
The first two possessions by the Jags in the fourth quarter both ended with interceptions. The first was tipped and intercepted by a diving, outstretched defender. The second was on a 3rd and 7 pass at the Cajun 9 yard line. Pritchett was crossing in the end zone but Tyrone Lewis jumped in front and took the ball away.
The Jags weren’t finished. They got the ball with 1:14 left in the game and quickly drove down the field. Bradley connected with Pritchett for a 39 yard touchdown down the left sideline with :16 left.
On the two point conversion, Bradley’s pass was low and fell incomplete. But he was hit and rolled on the floor clutching his left knee in pain. He was helped off the field and all the way to the trainer’s tent.
After the game head coach Kane Wommack said that the early report on Bradley’s injury was positive, but it’s too early to be certain.
“He tweaked his knee in the end there,” coach Wommack commented. “He’s such a competitor and he’s trying to make something happen…It’s going to be pretty sore. He got dinged up, similar to the injury he’s been dealing with all season, but it just got tweaked.”
If Bradley is unable to play on Thursday, Wommack and offensive coordinator Major Applewhite will have to choose between sixth-year senior Desmond Trotter or true freshman Gio Lopez. Trotter has experience starting for the Jags, he was the starter in the 2020 season. Lopez can play in one more game and still redshirt for the season.
Stats
South Alabama
The Jags finished with 498 total yards of offense, with 381 passing and 117 rushing. The Jags were 6-of-14 on 3rd down attempts and 2-of-4 on 4th down attempts. They were flagged eight times for 71 yards.
The big difference was the 5 turnovers. Bradley was sacked five times total, three of them resulted in fumbles lost to the Cajuns. Bradley also had a pair of interceptions.
The Cajuns dominated with a 34:44 to 25:16 time of possession.
Bradley finished the game 29-of-49 for 381 yards, his second most passing yard in his Jaguar career, with two touchdowns and two interceptions.
Jamaal Pritchett led all receivers with 168 yards on 11 catches with of the Jags passing touchdowns. Caullin Lacy continues his 100 yard receiving streak with 131 yards on 7 catches.
La’Damian Webb finished with 96 yards on 16 carries with a touchdown. Kentrel Bullock had 32 yards on 6 carries.
Quentin Wilfawn set a new record for most stops in a game. He had 15, 7 of them solo, with a sack and 4.5 tackles for loss. Jaden Voisin, James Miller and Khalil Jacobs all finished next in line with eight stops each.
Lafayette
The Cajuns finished with 348 total yards of offense, 145 passing and 203 rushing. They were also 6-of-14 on 3rd down attempts. They were flagged six times for 40 yards.
Zeon Chriss was 13-of-17 for 145 yards and two touchdowns.
Terrance Carter les the Cajuns with tree catches for 36 yards. Peter Leblanc had two catches for 37 yards.
Jacob Kibodi ran for 119 yards on 23 carries with a touchdown. Kre’lyn Washington finished with 52 yards on 12 carries. Zeon Chriss finished with 30 yards on 10 carries.
Jalen Clark led the Cajuns with 10 total stops, five solo. Cameron Whitfield was in the backfield the whole game, he finished with 3.5 sacks. Antoine Baylis had 1.5 sacks.
Next
The Jags have a short turnaround. They will travel to Troy for the Battle of the Belt in a Thursday night nationally televised game. The game is slated for a 6:30 pm kickoff at Veterans Memorial Stadium on ESPN2.
South Alabama Hosts Ragin’ Cajuns In SBC West Showdown
Kickoff: Saturday, October 28, 4pm
Venue: Hancock Whitney Stadium, Mobile, AL
TV/Streaming: ESPN+
Radio: 96.1 fm The Rocket, Sports Talk 99.5 fm, iHeartRadio App
Thunderjags on X (formerly known as Twitter): @USAThunderjags
#5 Jersey: Reggie Smith (he will be wearing #50 due to jersey numbering restrictions for offensive linemen)
South Alabama returns to the field after having 11 days off and only it’s second game in 21 days in a pivotal Sun Belt Conference Western Division showdown against Louisiana-Lafayette on Saturday.
Over the last two games the Jags have been on a tear. They have won them by a combined scored of 110-10. They won their first game in Monroe, LA 55-7 and then continued their unbeaten streak against Southern Miss 55-3 on a nationally televised Tuesday night game.
The Ragin’ Cajuns start a two-game stretch for the Jags in determining if they have what it takes to contend for the SBC West title.
Currently the Jags are tied with Texas State and Troy on top of the Western division standings at 2-1 in conference play with the Cajuns and Arkansas State right behind them at 1-2. The Jags have games remaining against all the teams mentioned down the stretch. But the immediate two are the Cajuns then a short turnaround to play Troy on Thursday night on the road in the Battle for the Belt.
But they can’t look ahead, the Jags are 0-0 this week and need a win.
Hall of Fame
But before the game, as part of the Hall of Fame weekend, South Alabama’s first head coach Joey Jones will be inducted into the University of South Alabama Hall of Fame. Jones along with Charde Hannah (women’s soccer), Kevin Hill (baseball) and Daniel Leitner (men’s tennis) will all be inducted at 10am at the Moulton Bell Tower and Alumni Plaza then they will also be honored at halftime of the game.
Jones was the architect of the football program starting in 2008 and fielded the first team in 2009. They began the program with 19-consecutive wins, joined the Sun Belt conference in 2012 and reached their first bowl game in 2014. Jones was selected as the SBC Coach of the Year in 2013. His career record at USA was 52-50 with two bowl berths. He is currently the director of player personnel at Mississippi State University.
Hannah was a two-time All-SBC and was named MVP of the 2014 and 2015 SBC tournament championships. The Jags won the championship all four seasons she was with USA.
Hill was a first-team All-American in 2016 and was named SBC Pitcher of the Years twice. He won the SBC pitching Triple Crown as a junior with a 10-0 record, 1.73 ERA, and 107 strikeouts. Only playing for USA for three seasons after transferring from junior college, Hill’s 326 strikeouts and 298.2 innings pitched are 6th in program history. His 22 wins are 9th in program history.
Leitner was SBC Player of the Year in 2014 and 2015. He was named to the All-Conference team three consecutive years and was Sun Belt Player of the Week eight times, five of them in his senior season.
South Alabama (4-3, 2-1 SBC)
The Jags have a turnover margin of +3 so far this season. They have given the ball away nine times on the season so far, six by interception and three by fumble. So far, the Jags have only fumbled the ball five times on the season in total, only losing three of them to their opponent. The defense has taken the ball away 12 times through seven games. They’ve forced nine fumbles, recovering six of them and also intercepting six passes.
The Jags have also played fairly clean football over the last two weeks. On the season they have been flagged 49 times for 430 yards, which is an average of 61.43 penalty yards per game.
Offense
After outscoring the opponents the last two weeks by a combined score of 110-10, the Jags have really bolstered their point differential on the season. On average the Jags are racking up 35.4 points, 448 total offensive yards, 271.86 passing yards, 176.1 rushing yards per game with an average time of possession of 30:42.
They are converting 46-of-94 (48.9%) on 3rd down and 7-of-12 (58.3%) on 4th down situations. They continue to be perfect in the red zone for the season by scoring on all 27 trips, with only five of them being field goals.
Carter Bradley is 138-of-205 passing for 1,775 yards, 11 touchdowns and 5 interceptions. Gio Lopez got in some extra work against Southern Miss and is 10-of-15 for 128 yards with a passing touchdown and a rushing touchdown with only one interception.
Caullin Lacy continues to distance himself from the field with 48 catches for 826 yards and six touchdowns on the season. Lacy now ranks 3rd in the nation in receiving yards and tied for 17th in receiving touchdowns. His average of 118 yards receiving per game ranks him 2nd behind Malik Nabers of LSU (122.6).
Jamaal Pritchett, who had a standout performance against Southern Miss, now has 24 catches for 373 yards and a touchdown. Lincoln Sefcik has 16 catches for 152 yards and a touchdown. DJ Thomas-Jones has 11 catches for 136 yards.
La’Damian Webb seems to be back in full form after a 20-carry performance against the Golden Eagles. He now has 578 yards on 103 carries with 12 touchdowns on the season. Webb ranks 2nd in the nation in rushing touchdowns only trailing Blake Corum of Michigan by one touchdown. His rushing yards places him in the top 50 in the nation.
Kentrel Bullock has 343 yards on 68 carries with three touchdowns. Marco Lee Jr adds 186 yards on 39 carries and two touchdowns.
Defense
After the dominant performances the last two weeks the defensive stats are really looking impressive.
On average the defense is allowing 19.4 points, 312.4 total yards, 198.14 passing yards, and 114.3 rushing yards per game. Opposing teams have an average time of possession of 29:17 per game.
Opponents are converting 32-of-92 (34.78%) of their 3rd down attempts and 3-of-8 (37.5%) of their 4th down attempts on the season.
Trey Kiser leads the defense with 44 total stops, 19 solo, with two pass breakups and a quarterback hurry. James Miller is right behind him with 43 total stops, 14 solo, with a quarterback hurry and a forced fumble.
Kiser also leads the team with 6 tackles for loss. Khalil Jacobs has 5 TFLs. Quentin Wilfawn has 4.5 TFLs.
Brock Higdon leads the team with 3 sacks. Jamie Sheriff and Maurice Strong Jr both have two sacks each.
Jaden Voisin leads the team with two interceptions. Strong Jr, Yam Banks, Wesley Miller and Marquise Robinson each have an interception. Sheriff leads the team with 5 quarterback hurries and Higdon is behind him with three.
Special Teams
Diego Guajardo is now 9-of-12 on the season on field goal attempts. He missed a 52 yard attempt to start the season and his other two misses have been from 40+ yards. He has a long of 46-yards this season.
Jack Martin’s best friend has been the kicking net on the sidelines over the last two games. He has not seen the field for a punt since the September 30th game against James Madison. He is still averaging 40.68 yards per kick on 19 attempts with 10 fair catches, 7 downed inside the 20 and two kicks of 50+ yards.
ULL (4-3, 1-2 SBC)
The Cajuns are a -5 turnover margin on the season. they have turned the ball over 15 times, seven by interception and eight by fumble. They’ve actually fumbled 17 times on the season and lost 8 of them. Their defense has taken the ball away 10 times, recovering four of their opponents 7 fumbles and six interceptions.
The Cajuns have been flagged 41 times for 345 yards on the season. They are averaging 49.3 penalty yards per game.
Offense
The Cajun offense is averaging 32.9 points, 425 total yards, 209.4 passing yards, and 215.6 rushing yards per game with an average time of possession of 29:04.
They are converting 39-of-90 (43%) of their 3rd down attempts and 7-of-12 (58%) of their 4th down attempts on the season.
They have been in their opponents red zone 31 times on the season and have scored on 23 (74%) of those trips with 17 of them (55%) being touchdowns.
Zeon Chriss is 77-of-119 (64.7%) passing for 906 yards, eight touchdowns, and 5 interceptions. Ben Wooldridge, who’s only appeared in three games, is 39-of-69 (56.5%) for 508 yards, five touchdowns and only one interception.
Robert Williams leads the Cajuns receiving corps with 289 yards on 22 catches with three touchdowns. Jacob Bernard has 241 yards on 19 catches. Neal Johnson has 163 yards on 15 catches. Peter LeBlanc also has 15 catches for 209 yards with three touchdowns.
Jacob Kibodi leads the Cajun rushing attack with 466 yards on 64 attempts with five touchdowns. Zeon Chriss is right with him with 446 yards on 57 carries with 5 touchdowns as well. Dre’lyn Washington has 272 yards on 41 carries with a touchdown. Zylan Perry has 113 yards on 34 carries and a touchdown.
Their rushing attack ranks eighth in the nation with Zeon Chriss as their #2 rusher on the team.
Defense
K.C. Ossai leads the Cajun defense with 49 total stops, 25 solo, with two tackles for loss, a sack, two quarterback hurries, two forced fumbles and a blocked kick. Jasper Williams is next in line with 44 total stops, 23 solo, with two sacks, and 3.5 TFLs. Tyrone Lewish has 41 total stops, 17 solo, with ½ sack, an interception and two pass breakups.
Kendre’ Grant leads the defense with five sacks, a pass breakup, a quarterback hurry, two fumble recoveries and two forced fumbles. Jordan Lawson has 4 sacks, 4.5 TFL’s, and three quarterback hurries. Tyler Guidry has 3 sacks, 5.5 TFLs, an interception, a pass breakup and a forced fumble.
Tyree Skipper leads the Cajuns with two interceptions with four other players tied for 2nd with one interception each.
Special Teams
Kenneth Almendares is 7-of-8 of his field goal attempts this season, his long is from 46-yards. His only miss is from 40+ yards.
Leo Thomas is averaging 42.4 yards per punt across his 25 attempts. He long for the season is 52 yards with 12 fair catches, 8 downed inside the 20, 3 kicks of 50+ yards and two touchbacks.
Injuries
No key injuries to note. Josh McCulloch is currently listed as the starter on the two-deep roster for the game. Maybe this is the week he finally returns from the knee injury that’s been hampering him since mid-September leading up to the Oklahoma State game. However, we won’t know for sure if McCulloch is a go until game time.
Keys to the Game
Quarterback Containment
Zeon Chriss rushed for a game high 119 yards in the Cajuns homecoming loss last week to Georgia State. Including a 34 yard run on 3rd and 6 on their final drive in their attempt to win the game.
The Jags defense has struggled defending against a dual-threat quarterback. The losses to Central Michigan and James Madison were both to teams with quarterback with dual-threat capabilities.
Against Central Michigan, the Jags were up 14-0 before Jase Bauer came in and led the Chippewas come-from-behind win.
If South Alabama wants to continue to their winning streak and remain at bunched at the top of the Sun Belt Conference Western Division, they will have to keep Chriss in check.
Continued Consistency
The Jags have been executing at a very high level over the last two games. The only thing you can knock on their play over the last two games were late in the first half against Southern Miss. The Jags had a couple of opportunities for touchdowns that were squandered. They had a few attempts to punch the ball into the end zone from at or inside the one-yard line and couldn’t convert. Then a costly false start when they were lining with the offense on fourth down, led them to a field goal.
They had another drive stall the field goal attempt by the usually reliable Diego Guajardo missed wide right leaving points on the field.
But outside of those and a couple other instances in the last two games, the Jags have almost been the embodiment of consistency over the last two games.
They need to keep striving to hit that mark this week (and the rest of the season).
Continue To Involve Other Receivers
Caullin Lacy was slotted in at the clear #2 receiver with Devin Voisin expected to be the #1. But when Devin went down with a season-ending injury, Lacy has stepped into the #1 position and has excelled.
Lacy has gone over 100-yards receiving in all but one game this season. He only managed 60 yards in the season opener at Tulane.
Jamaal Pritchett broke out in the Jags game vs Southern Miss last time out. He showed his speed and ability to avoid defenders.
Pritchett and other pass catchers will need to play big roles down the stretch this season with the meat of the SBC West coming up over the last few games.
Prediction
South Alabama is a 10.5-point favorite against the Cajuns. After the last two weeks, it’s hard for Jag fans to not nod their head in agreement with that.
Last time I was nervous about the Southern Miss game and that was a big whiff.
Call me what you want, but I’m nervous about this game too. Dual-threat quarterbacks have been kryptonite against the Jags defense historically (and this season). Head coach Kane Wommack, defensive coordinator Corey Batoon, and secondaries coach Jay Hopson have all done a great job correcting issues in the back side of the defense. Ricky Fletcher has stepped up his game noticeably. Jaden Voisin continues to play like the leader of the unit he is.
Lafayette seems to have improved in the second season under head coach Michael Desormeaux. Though they currently sit at 4-3 overall, they played Minnesota close and were one play away from potentially upsetting Georgia State, however an interception in the end zone with 30 seconds left derailed that comeback.
I feel that the Jags win I don’t think they cover the spread.
Go Jags!
South Alabama Dominates Southern Miss 55-3
It was a record setting night for the South Alabama Jaguars.
The Jaguar offense recorded a new program record 647 total yards of offense as well as a record setting seven rushing touchdowns. La’Damian Webb tied his program record with four rushing touchdowns.
Southern Miss (1-6, 0-4 SBC) didn’t cross the 50 yard line until the 3rd quarter and finally surpassed 100 yards of total offense with under 6 minutes left in the game.
The Jags scored touchdowns of their first four possessions; the first three were La’Damian Webb before Kentrel Bullock added one for himself. The fifth possession was field goal. With an attempt to put points on the scoreboard with just one second on the clock, Diego Guajardo’s 41 yard attempt missed wide right.
Guajardo came back with a 39-yard kick on South Alabama’s first possession of the second half.
Southern Miss broke the shutout with a 32-yard field goal with 5:40 left in the third quarter to make it 34-3.
South Alabama responded with a 3-play scoring drive. A pair of passes to Lincoln Sefcik went for 24 and 20 yards respectively then Webb capped it off with a 16 yard touchdown run for his 4th of the game.
After getting the ball back on downs, head coach Kane Wommack started sending in the subs. Walk-on running back Dorian Smith took his first collegiate carry 29 yards for his first career touchdown to make it 48-3 with 1:20 left in the 3rd quarter.
Freshman Gio Lopez had his fourth appearance of the season and gave Jaguar fans a glimpse of the future with a 20-yard touchdown run to finish off the scoring with 13:47 left in the game. It looked like Lopez had a 27-yard touchdown run later in the game, but a penalty for holding wiped it off the board.
“This was probably one of the more dominating performances I’ve been a part of,” head coach Kane Wommack said after the game. “Arguably our most dominating performance since I’ve been here.”
“We’re really starting to lean into how we’re supposed to start the game,” Wommack said.
Stats
South Alabama
South Alabama put up 647 yards of total offense, 360 passing yards and 287 rushing. They were 7-of-11 on 3rd down and held a 31:15 to 28:45 time of possession advantage.
Carter Bradley finished 21-of-27 for 319 yards. True freshman Gio Lopez was 2-of-4 for 41 yards with an interception late in the game.
“We’re starting to see things click, for sure,” Bradley said. “I think it’s just preparation. Our coaches are doing an unbelievable job of getting us prepared and guys are buying into it.”
Jamaal Pritchett led all receivers with 122 yards on five carries. Caullin Lacy led all receivers with nine catches for 103 yards, extending his streak of consecutive 100-yard games to six. Four other receivers caught passes in the game.
La’Damian Webb rushed for 102 yards on 20 attempts with the four touchdowns. Kentrel Bullock finished with 58 yards on nine carries with a touchdown. Dorian Smith had two carries for 34 yards and a touchdown. Marco Lee Jr has 26 yards on six carries. Gio Lopez was credited with one carry for 20 yards and a score. Jarvis Durr had three carries for 20 yards, Bradley had 19 yards on two carries, and Jonathon Carter had one carry for 8 yards.
Khalil Jacobs led the team with seven total stops, four solo, with three tackles for loss and a forced fumble. James Miller had six total stops, one solo, with a TFL.
Jordan Norman, Maurice Strong Jr both had a sack in the game. Carlos Johnson Jr and Brock Higdon both has ½ sack.
Strong Jr got the only takeway with an interception for the Jag defense.
“It was just about being consistent for us,” defensive lineman Wy’Kevious “Bubba” Thomas said after wearing the honorary #5 jersey this week. “If you show consistency throughout the week of practice, it’s easy on game day.”
Southern Miss
The Golden Eagles only managed 149 total yards of offense, a mere 46 passing and 103 rushing. The Jags defense held them to only 1-of-13 on 3rd down and 1-of-2 on 4th down attempts. They were only penalized four times for 25 yards.
Billy Wiles was 2-of-5 for 5 yards as the starting quarterback. Holman Edwards came in and went 5-of-15 for 41 yards and an interception.
Frank Gore Jr was the leading Golden Eagle receiver with 22 yards on two catches. He also had the longest play from scrimmage with a 20 yard pass reception.
Tiaquelin Mims had two catches for 4 yards. Tyquan Henderson had the second most receiving yards on the team with 9 on just one catch.
Kenyon Clay finished as the leading rusher for USM with 60 yards on 10 carries. Gore Jr finished with 27 yards on 12 carries. Rodrigues Clark was the only other player with positive rushing yards with 13 on five carries.
Swayze Bozeman finished with 12 total stops, 8 solo, with a TFL. Dylan Lawrence had nine total stops, 6 solo. MJ Daniels got the only takeway from the Jags with an interception of Gio Lopez in the fourth quarter.
Next
The Jags will take the field next on Saturday, October 28th for a 4pm kickoff against Louisiana-Lafayette. The Ragin’ Cajuns are currently 4-2, 1-1 in conference play, and are set to host Georgia State at Cajun Field this Saturday.
Preview: South Alabama Hosts Southern Miss Tuesday Night Nationally Televised Showdown
Kickoff: Tuesday, October 17, 6:30pm
Venue: Hancock Whitney Stadium, Mobile, AL
TV/Streaming: ESPN2
Radio: 96.1 fm The Rocket, Sports Talk 99.5 fm, iHeartRadio App
Thunderjags on X (formerly known as Twitter): @USAThunderjags
#5 Jersey: Wy’Kevious “Bubba” Thomas
Half of the regular season schedule is in the books. Through the first six games of the season we’ve seen some of the best play from the Jaguars, but we’ve also seen some of the worst. They’re record is an even split across the board: they are 3-3 overall and 1-1 in Sun Belt Conference play.
After back-to-back losses, South Alabama went to Louisiana-Monroe. They had never won in Monroe but this time they did in emphatic fashion. They took the Warhawks out behind the woodshed by the score of 55-7.
The next test for the Jags will be the Southern Miss Golden Eagles. In the three meetings between the two programs, the Jags have yet to lose to USM. They’ve won two in Hattiesburg and one in Mobile.
Both teams come into the game on Tuesday night with a little extra rest. Both teams last played on October 7th and have a semi-bye week. They don’t get a full two weeks between games, since they were picked up by ESPN to play a nationally televised mid-week game.
Southern Miss (1-5, 0-3 SBC)
Southern Miss head coach Will Hall are in the midst of a five-game losing streak in his third season at the helm. They opened with a 40-14 win over Alcorn State then dropped games to #4 Florida State, Tulane, Arkansas State, Texas State and Old Dominion.
They come to Mobile for only the fourth meeting between these two programs looking for their first conference win of the season and their first win against the Jags.
Offense
Despite the record, Southern Miss remains a team that you cannot take lightly. Frank Gore Jr is one of the best all-around backs in the country. He has 3,288 career rushing yards and 58 career receptions to go along with seven career touchdown passes.
The Golden Eagles average 23.7 points, 356 total yards of offense, 213.8 passing yards, and 142.2 rushing yards per game.
They are converting 36-of-94 (38.3%) on 3rd down attempts and are 7-of-16 (43.8%) on 4th down attempts. They hold a 33:16 to 26:44 advantage on average time of possession per game too.
Of their 25 trips into the red zone, they have scored 22 times, but 11 (50%) have been field goals.
Sophomore Billy Wiles is 107-of-200 (53.5%) passing for 1,254 yards with 7 touchdowns, and 5 interceptions. His rushing stats don’t look so good because of sack yardage, but he has gained 122 yards on the ground yet he only has a net yardage of 14 for the season with a touchdown run. Quarterbacks have been sacked 14 times on the season.
Frank Gore Jr has only attempted one pass on the season and it was incomplete.
Jakarius Caston leads USM with 334 yards on 21 catches with three touchdowns. Latreal Jones leads the team with 23 catches with 324 yards and a touchdown. Tiaquelin Mims has 18 catches for 209 yards and a touchdown. Chandler Pittman adds 13 catches for 111 yards to round out the list of receivers with over 100 yards on the season.
Gore has 10 catches for 50 yards and a touchdown as the last player with double-digit receptions on the season. He leads the team rushing with 397 yards on 103 carries with four touchdowns. Gore has rushed for over 100 yards in two of his last three games.
Rodrigues Clark has 356 yards on 50 carries with two touchdowns.
Defense
The ‘Nasty Bunch’ defense has not been as nasty as their predecessors.
They have allowed an average of 35.3 points, 395.3 total yards of offense, 207.2 passing yards, and 188.2 rushing yards per game.
Opponents are only converting 26-of-71 (36.6%) of their 3rd down attempts and 4-of-7 (57.1%) on 4th down attempts.
They have 17 sacks on opposing quarterbacks on the season for a loss of 105 yards though.
Safety Dylan Lawrence leads the team with 36 total stops, 13 solo, with a sack. Fellow safety Jay Stanley is right behind him with 34 total stops, 18 solo, with ½ sack, a team leading two interceptions, 3 pass breakups, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery. Linebacker Hayes Maples is third on the team in total stops with 24, 9 solo, with 1.5 sacks.
Linebacker Jalil Clemons leads the team with three sacks.
Special Teams
Placekicker Andrew Stein is 13-of-15 (86.7%) on the season with a long of 52. His only two misses have come in the 40 yard zone.
Bryce Lofton is averaging 38.5 yards per punt with 10 fair catches, 7 downed inside the 20, and a long of 50 yards.
South Alabama (3-3, 1-1 SBC)
The Jags put together a consistent game last time out. The offense consistently moved the ball and the defense didn’t allow any big plays to note.
Offense
The Jag offense is averaging 32.2 points, 414.8 total yards of offense, 257.1 passing yards, and 157.7 rushing yards per game.
They are converting on 39-of-83 (46.99%) on 3rd down and 7-of-12 (58.3%) on 4th down attempts. They hold a slight advantage in average time of passion with 30:36 to their opponents 29:23.
USA continues to hold a perfect record when getting into the red zone. They have scored on all 20 trips, with 16 of them coming as touchdowns.
Carter Bradley is 117-of-178 (65.7%) passing for 1,456 yards, 11 touchdowns and 5 interceptions. Gio Lopez is 8-of-11 for 87 yards and a touchdown, with most of that work coming last time out against ULM.
Caullin Lacy has stepped up as the Jaguars leading receiver. He has 39 catches for 723 yards with 6 touchdowns. He is averaging just over 18.5 yards per catch. He is third nationally in receiving yards. He has a five-game streak of 100+ receiving yard games entering this game.
Jamaal Pritchett is next with 19 catches for 251 yards and a touchdown. Tight end DJ Thomas-Jones has 9 catches for 103 yards. Fellow tight end Lincoln Sefcik has 12 catches for 88 yards and a touchdown.
Kentrel Bullock has 84 yards on 10 catches with a touchdown while fellow running back La’Damian Webb has 12 catches for 66 yards.
Webb leads the team with 476 yards rushing on 83 carries with 8 touchdowns. His eight rushing touchdowns has him tied for 3rd in the national rankings, while his yards ranks him 33rd.
Bullock has 285 yards on 59 carries with two touchdowns. Marco Lee Jr has 160 yards on 33 carries with two touchdowns as well.
Defense
The Jag defense is allowing an average of 22.2 points, 339.7 total offensive yards, 223.5 passing yards, and 116.2 rushing yards per game. Opponents are converting 31-of-79 (39.2%) of their 3rd down attempts and 2-of-6 (33.3%) of their 4th down attempts.
Opponents have scored on 14 of their 19 trips into the Jags red zone, with only 9 of them scoring a touchdown.
Trey Kiser leads the defense with 39 total stops, 18 solo. He also leads the team with 6 tackles for loss too.
James Miller is second on the team with 37 total stops, 13 solo, with 1.5 sacks. Jaden Voisin has 34 total stops, 13 solo, with a team-leading two interceptions.
Brock Higdon leads the team with 2.5 sacks.
Yam Banks, Wesley Miller, and Marquise Robinson all have one interception each.
Special Teams
Diego Guajardo is 7-of-9 on the season with a long of 46. He missed a 52 yard attempt in the season opener against Tulane and a 43 yard attempt last time out against ULM.
Jack Martin is averaging 40.7 yards per punt with 10 fair catches, 7 downed inside the 20, two kicks of 50+ yards and a long of 53.
Injuries
Outside of the players that were lost for the season, head coach Kane Wommack anticipates that the players that are banged up will potentially be available against USM. Josh McCulloch has missed the last four games with a knee injury. Safety Mike Harris didn’t play against ULM due to an undisclosed injury.
Braylon McReynolds, Devin Voisin, Keith Gallmon Jr and Ed Smith are all considered out for the season. McReynolds has an outside chance to return late in the regular season and/or potentially for post-season play.
Keys to the Game
Consistency
The Jags have only played consistent ball for all four quarters in two games this season. Both were big wins (33-7 over Oklahoma State and 55-7 over ULM). When they play with consistency, the Jags are a powerhouse. They can beat any team in the conference.
But they have yet to play consistent ball in back-to-back games. This is an opportunity to do just that on national television.
Offensive Line
This is one of the keys to the game for at least the last two games. Even though Southern Miss haven’t shown it on the scoreboard, their defense has caused a bit of havoc on the season. They’ve collected 17 sacks of opposing quarterbacks and 32 tackles for loss.
They know that they have to attack at the line of scrimmage. They also know that the Jags have had some games where the offensive line hasn’t played very well either.
They’ll try to draw up some schemes to limit the Jaguar rushing attack and apply pressure on Carter Bradley.
Composure on the National Stage
The Jags have a somewhat bad history with nationally televised games. They have played flat and haven’t brought the same energy that they’ve had in other games not broadcast on a national platform.
I don’t know if it’s something to do with preparing to be seen nationally or just that the extra pressure has resulted in them playing tight historically.
This could be one of those games that, if the Jags don’t come to play for all 60 minutes, they could be on the bad end of an upset.
Prediction
Coach Wommack said that he and his staff spent a lot of time before the season planning out how they would navigate their two mid-week games. Getting off the usual Saturday game cadence and adjusting the schedule for a Tuesday night game with a couple extra days between can disrupt the rhythm of a team.
Hopefully the attention to detail helps the team play to their standard and ability.
South Alabama is a 15.5 point favorite against the Golden Eagles.
I think coach Hall and Southern Miss will throw everything they have at the Jags in order to find that first elusive conference win of the season. They’d also love to break that winless streak against the Jags too.
I think the Jags win, but I also think that Southern Miss will fight and cover the spread as their window to bowl eligibility is closing quickly. A loss to the Jags leaves them needing to win out with games against Mississippi State and Troy to close out the regular season.
Go Jags!
Preview: South Alabama Heads To Louisiana-Monroe To Face Division Foe
Kickoff: Saturday, October 7, 6pm
Venue: Malone Stadium, Monroe, LA
TV/Streaming: ESPN+
Radio: 96.1 fm The Rocket, Sports Talk 99.5 fm, iHeartRadio App
Thunderjags on X (formerly known as Twitter): @USAThunderjags
#5 Jersey: Jaden Voisin
UPDATE:
Well, this was embarrassing. My day job had me sleep deprived and working long hours this week. South Alabama is a 10.5 point favorite over ULM. With this realization, I am concerned. As I wrote originally, it depends which South Alabama team gets off the bus. They could come out and play like they did at OSU and easily cover. But I could see a Jaguar team that gives up too many big plays, especially to Howell, and drop another game.
My heart tells me the Jags win, but don’t cover the spread.
South Alabama (2-3, 0-1 SBC) have dropped their last two games since their big 33-7 win over Oklahoma State in Stillwater. In those last two losses the Jags have allowed too many explosive plays on defense and the offense has struggled moving the ball consistently.
The Jaguar defense has already allowed more touchdown plays of over 40 through five games this season than they allowed all of last season. After allowing only six touchdowns of over 40 yards in 2022, they have given up seven already this season, with three of them coming last week at James Madison.
Last season the Jags held off Louisiana-Monroe 41-34 in Mobile. However the Warhawks scored on two explosive plays, a pair of touchdown passes that went for 75 and 83 yards. Those were the two longest plays that the Jags allowed in the 2022 season.
Tyrone Howell, the recipient of both of those touchdown passes, is coming off of a three-touchdown performance last week against Appalachian State. The Warhawks lost that game 41-40 on a walk-off field goal.
South Alabama is winless in their four trips to Malone Stadium. ULM tends to play good football at home, they generate their own energy on the sidelines and behind their fans.
Head coach Terry Bowden’s team looks to have improved from last season. Offensive Coordinator Matt Kubik returned to fill the position he left in 2019 after Rich Rodriguez left after just one season to assume the head coach position at Jacksonville State. Under Kubik’s direction the offense seems to have improved. They put up 471 yards of total offense against what is normally a strong defense in App State. They currently rank second in the conference with 205.5 yards rushing per game.
The Jags defensive woes have not come on the ground necessarily. That has been the strong point of the defense going back to last season even.
Tyrone Howell had 244 yards and three touchdowns last season against the Jags. So the Jags secondary know what they may be facing on Saturday in Monroe.
ULM (2-2, 0-1 SBC)
Offense
The Warhawks are averaging 21 points, 343.8 total yards, 138.3 passing yards, and 205.5 rushing yards per game.
They are converting 14-of-52 (26.9%) of their 3rd down attempts and 5-of-7 (71.4%) of their 4th down attempts.
Jiya Wright is 35-of-64 (54.7%) passing for 432 yards, 4 touchdowns and 3 interceptions on the season. Hunter Herring is 16-of-30 (53.3%) passing on the season with 121 yards and a touchdown in two games.
Howell leads the team with 23 receptions, the only receiver in double-digits receiving) for 234 yards and four touchdowns. Dariyan Wiley has nine catches for 136 yards and a touchdown.
“Tyrone Howell is probably the best receiver we faced a year ago and he had a career day against us,” defensive coordinator Corey Batoon said in the Jaguars Monday media day. “We understand how good he is, because we saw it live last year. So it will be a tremendous challenge for us.”
Hunter Smith leads the team with 258 yards rushing on 32 carries with two touchdowns. Isaiah Woullard has 247 yards on 39 carries with a touchdown. Jiya Wright has 143 yards on 33 carries and a touchdown. Hunter Herring has 68 yards on 13 carries in two games.
Defense
Michael Batton leads the team by a far margin with 35 total stops, 11 solo, with ½ sack and 1.5 tackles for loss. Simion Hines is second on the team with 23 total stops, 13 solo. Then four other Warhawks are bunched up with 22 stops each. James Smith leads the team with 2.5 sacks on the season, four TFLs, and three quarterback hurries.
AJ Watts and Ja’Terious Evans both lead the team with two interceptions each. Max Harris and Austin Goffney both have an interception as well.
Special Teams
Derek McCormick is 3-of-4 on the season placekicking. His only miss was a blocked kick.
Braxton Builbeau is averaging 38.96 yards per punt with a long of 59 yards, 7 fair catches, 6 downed inside the 20, two kicks of 50+ yards and one touchback.
South Alabama (2-3, 0-1 SBC)
Offense
The Jags are averaging 27.6 points, 380 total yards, 231.2 passing yards and 148.8 rushing yards per game.
They are converting 32-of-70 (45.7%) on 3rd down attempts and 4-of-9 (44.4%) on 4th down attempts on the season.
Carter Bradley is 97-of-149 (65.1%) passing with 1,153 yards, 8 touchdowns and 5 interceptions on the season.
Caullin Lacy leads the team with 32 catches for 567 yards and 5 touchdowns. Jamaal Pritchett has 17 catches for 226 yards and got his first career touchdown last week. Lincoln Sefcik has 9 catches for 65 yards and a touchdown.
La’Damian Webb leads the team with 376 yards on 64 carries with 7 touchdowns. Kentrel Bullock has 247 yards on 52 carries with a touchdown. Marco Lee Jr has 111 yards on 22 carries with a touchdown.
Defense
James Miller continues to pace the defense with 31 total stops, 12 solo, with 1.5 TFLs. Trey Kiser and Jaden Voisin are next with 30 stops each.
Jamie Sheriff and Brock Higdon are tied for the team lead with 2 sacks each. Trey Kiser leads the team with 5 TFLs.
Yam Banks, Marquise Robinson, and Jaden Voisin all lead the team with 1 interception each.
Special Teams
Diego Guajardo is 5-of-6 on the season with a 42 yarder as his longest of the year. His only miss came in the season opener against Tulane from 52 yards.
Jack Martin is averaging 40.68 yards per punt with 10 fair catches, 7 inside the 20, two kicks of 50+ yards with a long of 53.
Keys to the Game
Explosive Plays
In all three of the Jaguar losses the defense gave up big, chunk plays or explosive plays as they are also referred as. The first two scored by James Madison were touchdown passes of 48 and 44 yards. Then their last touchdown was a 66 yard pass.
“You can’t give up explosive plays for touchdowns,” head coach Kane Wommack said in his Monday press conference. “I think that put us in a really challenging situation… We dug ourselves in a pretty deep hole, really defensively (against JMU) with those three explosive plays.”
“We’re not going to reach our potential as a football team until we stop doing that” he continued.
Against Central Michigan They only game up one explosive play touchdown, but it was huge 3rd down pass that went for 70 yards to start the fourth quarter. In that game it was more complicated than just explosive plays. It was a combination of that with poorly timed penalties, the inability to stop Jase Bauer running the ball, and 3rd down conversions.
But back to start the season at Tulane they had three touchdown passes of 47, 47 and 48 yards.
If the Jags want to get back into the win column more consistently this season, the explosive plays in the secondary must be reduced or eliminated.
Offensive Line
James Madison and Tulane both exposed the Jaguar offensive line. The Jags struggled to establish the run and Carter Bradley was consistently under pressure. The offense starts up front with the line, and right now they are struggling.
James Madison’s front seven lived up to their billing too. They got into the backfield and caused havoc. They consistently moved the line of scrimmage into the Jags backfield, they got a number of sacks, and Bradley had a number of passes batted at the line. One of the batted passes was caught and returned for a touchdown.
Hopefully the offensive line that showed up to play at Oklahoma State reemerges and reestablishes themselves as the Jaguar Standard beginning this week.
Consistency
This goes from top to bottom on both sides of the ball. Consistency in executing the offense, in tackling, in coverage, just in everything.
Against Central Michigan the Jags went down the field on their first two possessions and held a 14-0 lead early only to go cold on both sides of the ball.
Against James Madison the Jags went down 14-0 in the first quarter and were down 17-0 before they put points on the board. Even against Tulane the Jags opened the game with a turnover and were down 10-0 in the first quarter.
It looked like that in the second half of the Southeastern Louisiana game the Jags found their way. It seemed to be confirmed in the 33-7 thrashing of Oklahoma State. However the play in the last two games have shown that the problems still persist.
But it’s not a case where they’re not fixable. If anything, SLU and OSU show what this team is capable of when they play up to their standard.
Injuries
No major injuries of note came out of the James Madison game. It’s still unknown if Josh McCulloch will return to play this week but it’s looking doubtful. Adrien Strickland, who appeared to get a poked in the eye against James Madison, came back to play later in the game and will be ready to suit up on Saturday as well.
Several players seem to be banged up, which is a kind of expected after five consecutive weeks of play. So next week quasi bye week can get here fast enough.
Prediction
The Jags defense has been plagued this season by dual threat quarterbacks. Jase Bauer, Jordan McCloud and now they will face another in Jiya Wright leading a resurgent ULM offense. Add to that Tyrone Howell’s playmaking ability and the Jags defense has a big test ahead of them.
Additionally they are facing down starting conference play 0-2.
So far this series has been all about the home team. While South Alabama holds the advantage overall at 5-4, all 5 wins have come in Mobile while every loss has been in Monroe.
The Jags hold their destiny in their own hands in conference play. This is their first divisional game, if they can run the table in the division; they will have a spot in the conference championship game in December.
But it has to start this Saturday.
South Alabama is a 10.5 point underdog against the Warhawks. I think the Jags cover the points with a chance to win. But it all depends on which team gets off that team bus in Monroe.
Go Jags!
South Alabama’s Rally Falls Short At James Madison
South Alabama cannot overcome early miscues against James Madison and fall in first conference game of the season. JMU quarterback Jordan McCloud threw for three touchdowns passes of 48, 44, and 66-yards while running for 61 yards leading the Dukes 31-23 win.
James Madison (5-0, 2-0 SBC) remains unbeaten through five games for the second time in as many seasons. The Jaguars (2-3, 0-1 SBC) drop their second consecutive game and their fourth in their last six games going back to the 2022 R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl.
The Dukes top-rated rushing defense prevented the Jags from establishing their running game and made the Jaguar offense one-dimensional. USA didn’t get into positive yardage on the ground until the 3rd quarter.
Carter Bradley was pressured the entire game with five sacks and a number of balls batted at the line of scrimmage. One of the batted passes was intercepted and returned for a touchdown late in the 2nd quarter that led to a 24-7 deficit at halftime.
The Jaguar defense kept the Dukes off the scoreboard in the third quarter, but the offense only managed a 40-yard Diego Guajardo field goal.
McCloud went back to Horton in the fourth quarter. The Jag defender dove and put his shoulder on Horton’s hip to take him down, but Horton shrugged it off and scampered the rest of the way for a 66-yard touchdown to go up 31-10 with 11:32 left in the game.
The Jaguars came alive, but too little too late.
After a sack, the Jags faced 4th and 7 at the JMU 49. Bradley was able to find Caullin Lacy over the middle for 31 yards to the 18. A flag for pass interference put the Jags at the 3-yard line which set up Bradley to toss it to Lincoln Sefcik for a 3 yard touchdown. Guajardo’s extra point attempt hit off the right upright and fell no good leaving the Jags down 31-16 with 8:17 left.
The Jags burned two time outs but forced the Dukes to punt with 5:44 left in the game.
Bradley again found Lacy again for a 55-yard gain. The referees ruled his knee was down at the 1-yard line. But Webb punched the ball in on the next play to get the Jags within one score, 31-23 with 3:56 left in the game.
James Madison was able to burn 2:40 off the clock as the Jags had used up their time outs earlier in the quarter.
Knowing the Jags only had time to throw, the Dukes pinned their ears back and blitzed. After a flag for pass interference on the first play, they forced Bradley to throw incomplete, then a quick screen pass to Webb lost 7 yards, and a 9 yard sack left the Jags with 4th and 26 at their own 34. Bradley’s pass under duress went over DJ Thomas-Jones’ head and was intercepted to end the game.
“I’m really pleased with the fight of our team,” said head coach Kane Wommack. “When you’re down and you put yourself in a hole, I think that guys seemed to stay really locked in on the sideline. Had a lot of adversity today, but it was all self-created.”
Stats
Bradley finished the game 28-of-50 with 299 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions.
Caullin Lacy led all receivers with 132 yards on six catches. Jamaal Pritchett had 65 yards on three catches with his first career touchdown. La’Damian Webb led all receivers with 7 catches for 24 yards. Lincoln Sefcik caught two passes for 19 yards with a touchdown.
Webb also led the Jags rushing attack with 36 yards on 12 carries with a touchdown. Marco Lee Jr had one carry for 5 yards. Bradley finished with 8 carries for -6 yards.
Trey Kiser led the defense with 8 total stops, 5 solo. Quentin Wilfawn finished with 7 stops, 4 solo. Jamie Sheriff got himself a sack and Charles Coleman III and Wy’Kevious Thomas both combined for a sack. Jaden Voisin got his second interception of the season.
JMU’s Jordan McCloud went 12-of-22 for 241 yards passing with three touchdowns and an interception.
McCloud added 61 yards rushing on 10 carries. Kaelon Black added 61 yards on 19 carries. Ty Son Lawton added 18 yards on 11 carries.
Zach Horton led the receivers with 116 yards on just 3 catches for two touchdowns. Elijah Sarratt had 92 yards on 5 catches with a touchdown.
South Alabama had 326 total yards of offense, 299 of it through the air and only 27 on the ground.
The Jags were only 5-of-18 on 3rd down attempts and only converted 1-of-4 on 4th down attempts. They were flagged 5 times for 50 yards.
James Madison gained 377 yards of total offense, 241 through the air and 136 on the ground. The Dukes only converted 2-of-13 of their 3rd down attempts and were 0-of-2 on 4th down attempts. The refs flagged them 10 times for 108 yards.
James Madison held the time of possession advantage 31:14 to 28:46.
Next
South Alabama will work to rebound at Louisiana-Monroe next Saturday. The Jags and the Warhawks are set to kickoff at 6pm.
Preview: South Alabama Opens Conference Play At James Madison
Kickoff: Saturday, September 30, 11am
Venue: Bridgeforth Stadium, Harrisonburg, VA
TV/Streaming: ESPNU
Radio: 96.1 fm The Rocket, Sports Talk 99.5 fm, iHeartRadio App
Thunderjags on X (formerly known as Twitter): @USAThunderjags
#5 Jersey: Caullin Lacy
The South Alabama Jaguars coaches and players are still seeking that key ingredient that breeds continued success: consistency. They will need to play their type of football consistently from the opening kickoff until the final buzzer if they want to get to 1-0 in conference play this week.
When the Jags are on, they are on, but when they’re not they’re not….but still aren’t too bad.
Two weeks ago the Jags played arguably one, if not the, best games in program history. The 33-7 win over Oklahoma State was never in doubt. Even though many Jaguar fans were bracing for the Cowboys to at least make a run in the second half. It never really came though.
The Jaguar offense hit a little lull in the third quarter, but responded urgently when the Cowboys scored their only points of the game. Most of the first quarter against Central Michigan it looked like the Jags were just picking up where they left off in Stillwater.
However it came to a screeching halt near the end of the first quarter.
When Jase Bauer came in at quarterback the defense was put on their heels and the offense went cold. It was a one-two punch that stunned the Jags. The Chippewa’s scored 20 unanswered before the Jags managed to stop the Chippewa scoring run. They mustered a field goal and cut the lead to three points very late in the third quarter.
It looked like the Jaguar defense had gotten a stop on the first play of the fourth quarter. However, Bauer avoided a sack, managed to kept his balance, and delivered a pass that went for a 70-yard touchdown. Then the Jaguar offense finally responded. They came alive, and got the crowd back into the game as well, by scoring a pair of touchdowns to regain the lead with just 2:42 left in the game. The defense was playing with momentum again.
The defense looked to have the Chippewa’s stopped for a 4th and 7 at the Jaguar 35 when a little yellow flag was tossed. A momentary, and uncharacteristic, mistake by Quentin Wilfawn drew an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. With it came a fresh set of downs at the Jaguar 20-yard line. A couple of plays later Bauer punched it in and the Chippewa’s were able to hold on for the final 13 seconds and defeat the Jags 34-30.
It’s a new week and a new season is being ushered in with it. The Jags are 0-0 this week and looking to go 1-0 on Saturday.
James Madison (4-0, 1-0 SBC)
The Dukes joined the Sun Belt last season and by looking at their poise and the results on the field, you wouldn’t have known that 2022 was their first season in the FBS ranks. They have long been a powerhouse program in FCS and now join the ranks of fellow Sun Belt members that have found success early in their transition to FBS. Programs like Georgia Southern, Appalachian State, and Coastal Carolina.
James Madison went 8-3 last season, 6-2 in conference play. They hit a mid-season slump with losses at Georgia Southern, vs Marshall, and at Louisville. However they rebounded to end the season with three wins, including a 47-7 spanking of then #23 ranked Coastal Carolina Chanticleers.
JMU has picked up right where they left off so far in 2023.
They added to the conference’s list of wins over Power 5 programs with a 36-35 decision over Virginia. They knocked off the defending conference champion Troy 16-14 in Troy, AL. Last week they held off a pesky Utah State team on the road for a 45-38 win.
South Alabama will travel to Virginia for their first-ever game between the two programs on Saturday.
Offense
The Dukes are averaging 33.75 points, 408.3 total yards, 238.5 rushing yards, and 169.8 rushing yards per game on the season. They are converting 17-of-54 (31.5%) on 3rd down and 2-of-5 (40%) on 4th down on the season.
Out of 21 trips to the red zone, they have scored on 17 of those trips, with 11 of them being touchdowns.
They have a slight edge in time of possession by averaging 30:30 while their opponents are averaging 29:30 per game.
They’ve turned the ball over six times on the season, three fumbles lost out of five total fumbles, and three interceptions. The defense has forced six fumbles, recovering one, but they have gotten five interceptions to make them even on the year in turnover margin.
Jordan McCloud is 67-of-101 (66.3%) on the season for 919 yards, eight touchdowns and two interceptions.
Reggie Brown leads an experienced group of receivers with 15 catches for 354 yards and three touchdowns. Elijah Sarratt is right behind him with 14 catches for 188 yards and a touchdown. Kaelon Black is the only other receiver with over 100 yards receiving though. He has 12 catches for 103 yards and a touchdown. Phoenix Sproles is the only other receiver with double-digit receptions at 11 for 62 yards and two touchdowns.
Kaelon Black leads the team rushing with 304 yards on 54 attempts. Ty Son Lawton has 191 yards on 32 carries with three touchdowns. Latrele Palmer has 102 yards on 24 carries with a touchdown. McCloud has run for a pair of touchdowns himself.
The offensive line returned intact from last season. They were averaging about 30 starts each across the line. However, College Football Network Preseason Sun Belt Offensive Lineman of the Year, redshirt senior right tackle Nick Kidwell suffered a season-ending injury on the first play against Utah State. Junior Tyler Stephens, who has previously started at left guard this season, will move over to right tackle to fill in in his absence.
The Dukes are capable of marching down the field quickly. They don’t really grind out a lot of 3rd downs and do a good job of limiting negative plays or getting off-schedule on offense.
Defense
The JMU defense is allowing an average of 22.5 points, 356 total yards, 314.5 passing yards, and a mere 41.5 rushing yards per game. Part of the rushing defense is that they have 18 sacks for a loss of 133 yards on the season. They are averaging 4.5 sacks per game through the first four games.
Opponents are converting 17-of-62 (27.4%) of their 3rd down attempts and 5-of-11 (45.5%) of their 4th down attempts. Teams have been in the red zone only 10 times on the season, they’ve scored 8 times with 7 of them being touchdowns.
They lead the FBS in rushing defense and yards per rush allowed (1.39 per carry). They are tied for the lead nationally with an average of 10.2 TFL’s per game, and are tied for second nationally with 4.5 sacks per game.
Aiden Fisher leads the team with 28 total stops, 11 solo, with three pass breakups, three quarterback hurries and an interception from his linebacker position. Jalen Green has 22 total stops, 8 solo, with 7.5 tackles for loss, four sacks, a forced fumble and a pass breakup on the defensive line.
Kikail Kamara has 19 total stops, 11 solo, and a team leading 8.5 tackles for loss on the season with three sacks and a pair of forced fumbles from the defensive lineman.
Green is tied with Jamree Kromah for the team lead in sacks (4). Kromah has 19 total tackles, 9 solo, with 6.5 TFLs two quarterback hurries, and a fumble recovery.
The Dukes defensive front seven generate lots of pressure and havoc. As previously mentioned they have 18 sacks on the season, but they also have a total of 41 tackles for loss. They rotate a lot of players in their front seven so they do a good job of keeping players fresh and getting experience down the depth chart. They play very complimentary to each other too.
But they have also allowed some explosive plays downfield.
Special Teams
Camden Wise is a perfect 6-of-6 on the season placekicking, however his longest kick has been from 38 yards.
Ryan Hanson is averaging 40.4 yards per punt, his longest being 59 yards his only kick of 50+ yards, with 10 fair catches, 7 downed inside the 20, and one touchback.
South Alabama (2-2, 0-0 SBC)
Consistency, that’s the objective of the coaches this week. It’s also been the objective for the entire season through four games.
If the Jags can play with more consistency, then last Saturday’s game would have turned out completely different. The Tulane game would have been a very different game too. I’m not going to say that the Jags would have definitely defeated the Green Wave, but allowing three touchdown passes of 47, 47 and 48 yards definitely changes the dynamic of the game.
Offense
The Jags are averaging 28.8 points, 393.6 total yards, 214.3 passing yards, and 179.3 rushing yards per game. They are converting 27-of-52 (51.9%) of their 3rd down attempts and 3-of-5 (60%) of their 4th down attempts on the season.
They’ve made the most of their red zone trips this season. They’ve scored on all 12 trips with 9 of them being touchdowns.
Last week the Jags didn’t commit any turnovers on offense, but the defense didn’t get any take-away’s either so the Jags continue to be +1 in the turnover margin. They’ve lost three of the four fumbles they’ve committed and have thrown three interceptions. The Jag defense has forced and recovered five fumbles and has gathered a pair of interceptions.
The offense is averaging 29:36 on time of possession on the season.
Carter Bradley is 69-of-99 (69.7%) for 854 yards, six touchdowns and three interceptions on the season.
Caullin Lacy has emerged as the leading receiver with 26 catches for 435 yards and five touchdowns, all from 35 yards or more. He is the only receiver in the nation with five touchdown receptions of 35 yards or more.
Jamaal Pritchett has added 14 catches for 161 yards as the only other receiver with either double-digit catches or over 100 yards receiving.
Lincoln Sefcik has 7 catches for 46 yards. Kentrel Bullock has 7 catches for 40 yards.
La’Damian Webb leads the team with 340 yards on 52 carries with six touchdowns. He’s averaging 6.5 yards per attempt and has only lost 3 yards on the season. That loss came in the last game on a 4th down attempt when the offense rushed to the line and Central Michigan sold out to stop the run.
Kentrel Bullock has 255 yards on 49 carries with a touchdown. Marco Lee Jr has 21 carries for 106 yards and a touchdown. Both are averaging 5 yards or more per carry.
Jordan Davis filled in for Josh McCulloch again last week as Josh was still recovering from a knee injury sustained in practice prior to the Oklahoma State game.
Defense
The Jaguar defense is allowing an average of 23.8 points, 352.8 total yards, 247 passing yards and 105.8 rushing yards per game. Opponents are converting 22-of-50 (44%) of their 3rd down attempts and 2-of-2 (100%) of their 4th down attempts.
Out of 15 trips to the red zone, the Jags have allowed opponents to score 12 times and only 8 of them resulting in a touchdown.
James Miller is still on top of the defensive statistics with 26 total stops, 12 solo, with 1.5 tackles for loss a quarterback hurry and a fumble recovery. Jaden Voisin is next with 24 total stops, 11 solo, with a forced fumble and a pass breakup.
Trey Kiser has 21 total stops, 10 solo, also with 1.5 tackles for loss, a pass breakup, and a quarterback hurry.
Quentin Wilfawn has 19 total stops on the season, 14 solo, with a sack and a team leading 3 tackles for loss.
Brock Higdon leads the team with 2 sacks. Yam Banks and Marquise Robinson both have an interception.
After starting the season allowing big plays in the secondary, the Jags have been able to make adjustments. They are playing with more of that key word head coach Kane Wommack keeps talking about: consistency.
Special Teams
Diego Guajardo is 4-of-5 on field goal attempts for the season. His long is 42 and his only miss was in the season opener against Tulane from 52 yards out.
Jack Martin is averaging 41.9 yards per punt with a long of 53 yards. He has 7 fair catches, 5 downed inside the 20, and two kicks of 50+ yards.
Keys to the Game
Offensive Line
The JMU defense is going to bring pressure and cause havoc. Their sheer number of sacks and tackles for loss show it. When Bradley and the offense struggle, it has been because protection has broken down and Bradley is under pressure. JMU is going to generate some negative plays, but how the team responds will be a storyline of this game.
The offensive line has shown that they can play at a high level. Just look at the second half against Southeastern Louisiana, Oklahoma State, and the first quarter against Central Michigan.
If they play with consistency and up to their potential, which we’ve seen, the Jags can play with anyone.
They need to set the line of scrimmage, because the JMU defensive line will be determined to set the line of scrimmage in the Jaguar backfield. If they are able to give Bradley time, he has Lacy, Pritchett, Ivory, Sefcik and others that are talented pass-catchers that can make plays downfield. Which leads to…
Establish the Run
Utah State showed how a team can get a foothold establishing the run on them. Between Webb and Bullock, the Jags have two players with great vision that can find the hole and make positive yardage. They have turned plays that seemed to be destined for a loss into gains or even big plays. They just need the opportunity.
Between the two they have less than 20 yards of negative plays between them this season. If the line can give them a lane, they’ll find it.
The matchup between the Dukes proficiency is generating negative plays and Webb and Bullock’s ability to avoid losing yardage will make for some interesting viewing on Saturday.
Play Responsive Football
South Alabama has been very “responsive” after an opponent has scored. This means that, when the opponent scores, the offensive has not responded with a score of their own on the next possession.
Responsiveness really takes the air out of the stadium. When the opponent scores just to get the ball back and answer with your own score really seizes any momentum back away from the other team.
The Jags didn’t respond to several of the Chippewa’s scores in the game last Saturday. You could feel the small contingent of fans who traveled for the game as their presence became more and more prominent with each score.
When the Jags had closed within 3 points in the fourth quarter and the Chippewa’s scored to stretch it out to a 10-point lead, they seized the opportunity. USA responded with a 3 play 75-yard drive, with a 72-yard touchdown pass, that electrified the crowd.
The Jaguar fans got loud and really got into the game.
That’s what a response will do for you at home. On the road it will do similar to what Central Michigan did, it will quiet the crowd.
Injuries
Braylon McReynolds, Devin Voisin, and Keith Gallmon Jr are all out for the season with injuries. McReynolds has not been ruled out for potential post-season play.
Josh McCulloch has been improving since his non-season threatening knee injury. It’s unknown if he may be back for the game on Saturday.
The Jags came out of the game against Central Michigan pretty healthy, no major injuries.
Prediction
This is a big game for the Jaguars. You only have eight conference games and each one looms large, especially if you lose one.
The Jags only lost one conference game last season, their head-to-head matchup against Troy. Troy also only lost one conference game but held the tiebreaker due to the head-to-head victory. The Trojans were the preseason favorite to win the western division again, but they’ve already have a loss in conference play…to James Madison.
In that game, the Dukes got six sacks and held the Trojans to -12 yards rushing. Prior to Troy, they held Virginia to just 18 rushing yards. Last week Utah State was able to rush for 98 yards, the most the Dukes have allowed during their current seven game winning streak, dating back to 2022.
The Dukes opened at a 5 point favorite and the line has moved down to just 3.5 points.
What was once a thorn in the Jags side, they have turned around their fortunes when playing on the road. They are now 10-4 over the last 14 games away from Hancock Whitney Stadium.
On one hand, my predictions have not turned out too accurate this season. Which makes me want to pick against the Jags this week to see if that helps them win. But I think the players and coaches understand what this game means and will get back focused on the task at hand.
I think the Jags win outright in a close game.
Go Jags!
South Alabama Falls To Central Michigan In Final Seconds, 34-30
South Alabama came into their homecoming game against Central Michigan with the same momentum that they had when they left Stillwater last Saturday, but it faded quickly after the first quarter. They finally found it again in the fourth quarter after falling behind by two scores.
But in the end they left too much time on the clock and made too many mistakes as Central Michigan takes the win 34-30 at Hancock Whitney Stadium.
The Jaguar defense came out and stymied the Chippewa’s in the first quarter with two three-and-outs and held them to a mere 60 yards of total offense. The Jaguar offense came out hitting on all cylinders. Behind Kentrel Bullock and La’Damian Webb’s one-two punch, the Jags put up two touchdowns on both first quarter possessions with 146 yards of total offense.
The script flipped in the second quarter.
The Chippewa’s outgained the Jags 104 to 36 and put two touchdowns on the board themselves, however the Jags retained the lead on a missed extra point, 14-13.
The Jaguars woes continued into the third quarter with an opening three-and-out. The Chippewa’s took advantage with a 10 play, 56 yard drive burning 5:35 off the clock to take their first lead of the game.
Diego Guajardo ended the scoring drought late in the quarter with a 32 yard field goal to cut the Chippewa lead to three points. The fourth quarter started with quarterback Jase Bauer being chased to his right, being knocked off balance but being able to stay up with his free hand, and being able to throw downfield for Jesse Prewitt III and a 70 yard touchdown. At that time the Jags were down 27-17 and the crowd was quiet.
But just three plays later, Carter Bradley threw down the right numbers for Caullin Lacy, who ducked inside the defender to make the catch, and then won a footrace to the end zone for a 72 yard touchdown to electrify the crowd, and his team, again.
The Jaguar defense found their feet again and held the forced the Chippewa’s to punt twice. The second one Lacy was able to return 21 yards to the Jaguar 41 with 6:09 left in the game. Behind that spark and the spark lit in the crowd, the Jags drove down the field on some key third-down conversions by La’Damian Webb and Kentrel Bullock. Facing 3rd and 8, Webb found running room and gained 19. A few plays later the Jags faced 3rd and 2 and Bullock reeled off a 29 yard run before being forced out of bounds at the 1 yard line. Webb punched it in to give the Jags the lead once more with 2:42 left in the game.
But that was too much time.
A fairly even game had been called by the officials, but that would change in the final few minutes of the game. On a 2nd and 1 at the Jags 48, Jaden Voisin was called for defensive holding when the receiver obviously slipped down, like he had similarly earlier in the game, but this time the official threw a flag. Instead of 3rd and 1, they had a fresh set of downs at the Jaguar 38.
When it looked like the Jags was going to force Central Michigan head coach Jim McElwain to choose what to do on a 4th and 7 at the Jaguar 35, but it would not happen that way. Quentin Wilfawn would finally allow the emotion and frustration of the game to get to him. He would get flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct, giving the Chippewa’s an automatic first down with the ball at the Jaguar 20 yard line.
Facing 3rd and goal at the 4, quarterback Jase Bauer used the same thing that he had plagued the Jags defense with for most of the game: his legs. He was able to duck behind his line, find a crease and duck into the endzone for game-winning score with just 18 seconds left on the clock.
After a quick 20-yard pass to Jamaal Pritchett, the Jags had 7 seconds left to make a play or two from their own 45. Bradley was pressured to roll to his right, narrowly avoiding a sack. He heaved the ball downfield as he was running and the ball was just a little behind Lacy near the numbers between the 10 and 15 yard lines but fell incomplete with no time left on the clock.
“I want to start by apologizing to our fan base. The loss certainly… hat’s a disappointing thing,” head coach Kane Wommack said after the game. “But the way we lost the game. We played with reckless emotion. We did not play in a way that represents this university well.
“There have been a lot of people that have worked tirelessly and done it the right way to build South Alabama’s football program and the University of South Alabama, and the City of Mobile and we did not represent any of those entities well tonight. And it goes way beyond the score.”
“We did not handle adversity well, both emotionally and from an execution standpoint,” Wommack said.
“We just let them completely off the hook … and we have nobody to blame but ourselves,” said Wommack of the Chippewa’s final drive and the costly penalty by Quentin Wilfawn. “I will say they were a very chippy team all night. They were pushing, shoving our guys, talking to our guys after each play. We can either make a decision that we choose the team and to sacrifice a piece of our own ego or we can react. Which is exactly what we did.”
Stats
The Jags (2-2) ended the game with most all of the statistical advantages in the game, but the scoreboard didn’t go in the Jags favor.
South Alabama outgained Central Michigan 405 to 355 total yards, 254 to 230 through the air, and 151 to 125 on the ground.
The Jags were 7-of-13 on 3rd down attempts and 0-of-1 on 4th down attempts. Bradley was sacked twice for 11 yards. They were flagged five times for 49 penalty yards.
The Chippewa’s were 9-of-16 on their 3rd down attempts and converted their only 4th down attempt in the game. They were sacked twice for 21 yards and were flagged four times for just 30 yards.
The Chippewa’s finished the game with a 33:44 to 26:16 time of possession advantage.
Carter Bradley was 17-of-27 for 254 yards and two touchdowns.
Caullin Lacy led the Jags receivers with 132 yards on 6 catches with two touchdowns. Jamaal Pritchett also had 6 catches for 62 yards.
La’Damian Webb led the Jags rushing attack with 68 yards and 18 carries with a pair of touchdowns. Bullock added 65 yards on five attempts even though he missed a big chunk of the game after an injury on a kickoff return.
Diego Guajardo made his only field goal attempt of the game from 32 yards out, though he missed one extra point in the game.
Bert Emanuel Jr started the game for Central Michigan and only attempted one pass, which he completed, for 6 yards. Jase Bauer came in after the first two possessions and finished 19-of-30 for 224 yards and a touchdown.
Jesse Prewitt III led all receivers with 10 catches for 142 yards and a touchdown. Marion Lukes had 4 catches for 31 yards.
Bauer led the Chippewa’s rushing with 55 yards on 15 carries with all four rushing touchdowns. Lukes added 35 yards on 9 carries. Lyles Bailey had 27 yards on 12 carries.
Next
The Jags will look to regroup as they begin Sun Belt Conference play at James Madison in Harrisonburg, Virginia next Saturday September 30th. The Dukes entered the weekend a perfect 3-0 with a 36-35 win over Virginia and a 16-14 win at Troy.
The game will be televised on ESPNU and is scheduled to kickoff at 11am.
Preview: South Alabama Faces Off Against Oklahoma State In Stillwater
Kickoff: Saturday, September 16, 6pm
Venue: Boone Pickens Stadium, Stillwater, Oklahoma
TV/Streaming: ESPN+
Radio: 96.1 fm The Rocket, Sports Talk 99.5 fm, iHeartRadio App
Thunderjags on X (formerly known as Twitter): @USAThunderjags
#5 Jersey: Trey Kiser
It took six quarters of football, but we finally saw the Jaguar team we expected this season make their real debut.
The Jags (1-1) first half of play against Southeastern Louisiana (0-2) was just the test we expected the Jaguars to face. SLU was able to move the ball on the Jags, but the defense wouldn’t break. The Jaguar offense also struggled to move the ball consistently early. But by the end of the opening quarter, it looked like the Jags had found their groove and were driving.
Penalties and negative plays completely derailed the drive and took them out of scoring position. They started the quarter at the Lions 25-yard line, but by the time 4th down arrived, they had given up 27 yards mostly due to penalties.
SLU scored first, but the Jaguars responded with a matching touchdown. The third quarter began with more adversity when Carter Bradley was intercepted on the fourth offensive play of the half. After the defense forced a three-and-out the Jags offense came alive with a spark by La’Damian Webb. South Alabama scored 21-straight points before the Lions stopped the bleeding with a field goal.
The next test for South Alabama is a familiar Power-5 foe, Oklahoma State (2-0).
Oklahoma State (2-0)
The Cowboys experienced a rather disappointing season in 2022 going 7-6. In 18 seasons as the head coach at OSU, Mike Gundy has had seven 10+ win seasons and two 12-win season. The 2021 season was one of those 12-win seasons. They were 12-2 with a win over Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl. They were ranked #5 in the nation and on the precipice of their first appearance in the College Football Playoff. However, 9th ranked Baylor upset the Cowboys 21-16 in the conference championship game and knocked them out of the playoff picture.
The 2022 season started off 5-0 before dropping 6 of their final eight games.
So far, the 2023 season has started off on the right foot with non-conference wins over Central Arkansas 27-13 and Arizona State 27-15. But this may be the most vulnerable Cowboy team the Jags have faced in their match-ups over the last few years.
In 2018 they defeated the Jags 44-7 at Ladd-Peebles Stadium and then they defeated the Jags 55-13 at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater 2018.
Offense
Head coach Mike Gundy and offensive coordinator Kasey Dunn have yet to settle on a single starting quarterback. They are currently rotating between three players: redshirt freshman Garret Rangel, senior Alan Bowman and sophomore Gunnar Gundy.
In the first two games each have seen action. Against Central Arkansas they played Rangel-Bowman-Gundy in that order. Then against Arizona State they went Bowman-Gundy-Rangel. All three are pretty equal athletically, neither one is more dynamic in the run game that the others. All three understand the offense and are efficient throwing the ball.
Rangel may be considered the most efficient of the three since he is 16-of-24 for 164 yards and two touchdowns with one interception and an additional 20 yards on four carries rushing. Bowman is 24-of-40 for 193 yards with -7 rushing yards on four carries. Gundy 12-of-16 for 138 yards, one touchdown, and has rushed for 12 yards on four carries.
Every year the Cowboys seem to have a deep stable of pass catchers and this season is no different. De’zhaun Stribling leads the team with 11 catches, 138 yards and a touchdown. Jaden Bray has nine catches for 118 yards. Brennan Presley has 10 catches for 78 yards and two touchdowns. They have eight other receivers who have caught passes so far this season.
Ollie Gordon II leads the rushing attack with 97 yards on 16 carries with a pair of touchdowns. Elijah Collins also has 16 carries for 71 yards and a touchdown. Jaden Nixon has 13 carries for 70 yards.
As expected the Cowboy offensive line are quite big. They average 306.6-pounds across their offensive line with the smallest listed starter at 296-pounds and the shortest is 6’4”. That size is probably a good reason why the Cowboys tend to rush the ball better later in the game.
The offense has only turned the ball over once and it was by interception.
Defense
The Cowboy defense is good at converging on the ball. The base defense is a 3-3-5 with three down linemen, three linebackers, two corners and three safeties.
They have allowed an average of 334 total yards of offense to opponents through two games. They give up an average of 116.5 yards rushing and 217.5 yards passing per game.
The defense has taken the ball away from opponents twice, once by interception and once by fumble recovery.
Safety Kendal Daniels leads the team with 15 total stops, 10 of them solo, with a fumble recovery. Linebacker Nickolas Martin is next with 13 total stops, eight solo, with three tackles for loss and two sacks. As a team, the defense has eight sacks and 17 tackles for loss.
Special Teams
The Cowboys have used two punters so far this season. Wes Pahl has 6 punts for an average of 47 yards per attempt, a long of 60 yards, three kicks of 50+ yards, three fair catches, two downed inside the 10, and one touchback. Hudson Kaak has four attempts for an average of 36.5 yards per attempt, a long of 42 yards, four downed inside the 20, and two fair catches.
Alex Hale is 4-of-5 on kicking duties with a season long of 52 yards.
South Alabama (1-1)
The Jaguar offense has taken a little time to find its identity this season. It wasn’t until the second half last week did we really see the offense play up to expectations. La’Damian Webb hasn’t fully gotten up to speed yet this season. He was limited in fall camp due to off-season surgery. He only had seven carries against SLU but he made them count by gaining 81 yards and scoring two touchdowns.
Kentrel Bullock and Marco Lee carried most of the load in the game with a brief appearance by true freshman PJ Martin. In all the Jags rushed for 248 yards and four touchdowns against the Lions.
Offense
The Jaguar offense is averaging 26 points, 387 total yards, 225.5 passing yards, and 161.5 rushing yards per game through the first two contests.
Carter Bradley is 42-of-56 (75%) for 448 yards, two touchdowns, and three interceptions.
Caullin Lacy leads the team in both catches (15) and yards (199) with a touchdown. His yardage stats are aided by the 84 yard touchdown catch and run against the Lions. Jamaal Pritchett has 8 catches for 99 yards. Devin Voisin has 5 catches for 77 yards with a touchdown. Bullock adds 5 catches for 22 yards out of the backfield. Tight end Lincoln Sefcik has 25 yards on four catches.
Webb leads running back corps with 121 yards on 16 carries (7.6 yards per attempt) with two touchdowns. Bullock leads the team with 26 carries for 119 yards and a touchdown. Marco Lee has 11 carries for 66 yards and a touchdown.
Across the offensive line the Jags are big. They average 322 yards per starter with left tackle Josh McCulloch being the lightest listed at 312-pounds. Which may also lend to why the Jags also tend to run the ball better later in the game.
Defense
The Jaguar defense is allowing an average of 27 points, 424 total yards of offense, 322 passing yards, and 102 rushing yards per game.
James Miller leads the defense with 12 total stops, six solo, with a fumble recovery. Yam Banks, Trey Kiser and Jaden Voisin are all right behind him with 10 total stops each. Banks has 7 solo tackles, a forced fumble and an interception on the season.
Quentin Wilfawn leads the defense with two tackles for loss. Khalil Jacobs and Maurice Strong Jr are tied with one sack each.
Special Teams
Jack Martin only has three punts on the season, two of them against SLU last week. He is averaging 42.7 yards per punt with a long of 45, two fair catches and one downed inside the 20.
Diego Guajardo is 1-of-2 on field goal attempts, both in the season opener against Tulane. His long on the season is 36 yards with his only miss from a 52-yard attempt.
Keys to the Game
Secondary Play
The Jaguar secondary made some big strides from game one where Tulane took advantage with three explosive touchdown plays (two of 47 and one of 48).
Against SLU the secondary played better and more consistent. They gave up only one long pass in the game, but they allowed some easy, short passes to be completed and third downs to be converted.
The Cowboys are a better passing team than SLU though.
They will attack the perimeter and look to create one-on-one matchups to their advantage. They’ll mix tempos during the game at what feels like random. Likely the Cowboys will favor how their personnel matches up with the defensive personnel or they see something that is immediately exploitable, so they go up tempo to dissuade subbing players in-and-out. Or they simply want to catch the defense off-guard.
Offensive Line
The offensive line has struggled protecting Bradley early in the season. They found some success against SLU but Oklahoma State will be another big test for this unit. The starting defensive front they’ll be facing will consist of a trio of redshirt seniors. Actually on their two-deep chart they have nine players listed on the defensive line and seven of them are all redshirt-seniors.
Bradley was unable to stretch the field against Tulane. He doesn’t have a big, tall receiver to really go up and contest passes like Jalen Wayne last season. While the Jags receiver corps is really good, they are a little undersized in some matchups.
If the offensive line can win their battles and give Bradley time to throw and the running backs openings to run, the Jags can play some keep-away and shorten the game, especially with the new clock rules this season.
Stay Healthy
With Braylon McReynolds out for an extended time with a broken collarbone and Devin Voisin looking doubtful with a knee injury, the Jags really need to stay healthy.
McReynolds was listed as the #2 running back behind Webb coming into the season. He also was a primary kickoff returner averaging 23.1 yards per return last season.
Voisin was the leading receiver last season with 64 catches, 871 yards and five touchdowns last season.
Jalen Jordan and Keith Gallmon Jr are likely to return to the defensive secondary this week. Jordan sat out last Saturday after suffering a foot injury against Tulane. Gallmon suffered an unspecified injury against SLU and didn’t return to the game.
With Sun Belt Conference play quickly approaching, staying healthy for a run at the conference championship will be paramount.
Prediction
According to odds sites, the Jags are mostly a 7.5 point underdog to the Cowboys. One site has the Cowboys as much as a 9 point favorite.
I don’t really know about this matchup. One moment I feel like the Jags really have a good opportunity. But then I think how they played the first six quarters this season and how we’ve historically played against OSU and doubts creep in.
I think I’ll go with the pessimistic side and say the Cowboys cover narrowly, but I’ll be hoping that they prove me wrong on the field.
Look for a passionate performance by Trey Kiser, he’s returning to his home state and will be wearing the honorary #5 Anthony Mostella jersey this week.
Go Jags!
Jaguars Use Strong Second Half To Win Home Opener 35-17 Over Southeastern Louisiana
The Jags pulled away eventually to earn a 35-17 win, but it was a tale of two halves.
In the first half, the Jags offense really couldn’t get anything going while the defense bent but wouldn’t break. Head coach Kane Wommack acknowledged that after the game. “I thought our team seemed like we were playing with a bit of a hangover, in terms of some of the things execution-wise, particularly in the passing game on defense, and not executing enough offensively to sustain drives,” he said.
South Alabama (1-1) and Southeastern Louisiana (0-2) played to a scoreless draw in the first quarter. Just when the Jags looked like they were moving the ball well at the end of the first quarter, they started the second quarter and nothing seemingly went right.
Offensive pass interference bookended by holding calls and the Jags went from the SLU 25 back to their own 48.
The Lions were the first to get on the board on the next possession. Aided by a roughing the passer call on Quentin Wilfawn, the Lions mixed run and pass down the field and capped it off with a 4-yard touchdown pass.
The Jags answered quickly with a 4 play, 75 yard touchdown drive. Bradley opened the drive with a pair of pass completions to Caullin Lacy and Devin Voisin for 6 and 29 yards respectively. Then La’Damian Webb got his first two carries of the game and he made good with them. He ran for 33 yards on his first touch then finished it off with a 3-yard touchdown to even the score.
Carter Bradley was intercepted on the third play from scrimmage in the second half and it looked like the first half woes were going to hang around.
After forcing a three-and-out, the Jaguar offense came out swinging with La’Damian Webb. Webb got the drive started and he ended the drive. In all he carried the ball four times for 38 yards while the scoring drive was only 7-plays, 74 yards as the Jags took their first lead of the game and the season, 14-7.
After another three-and-out by the defense, it was Marco Lee and Kentrel Bullock’s turn to drive the running game. Lee started the drive carrying the ball four of the first five plays. Then Bullock finished the drive with three consecutive runs ending with an 8-yard touchdown and a 21-7 advantage.
On the third play of their next possession, and the first play of the fourth quarter, Bradley connected with Caullin Lacy on a drag route just short of the first down. But Lacy weaved his way down the far sideline, got a key block from a fellow wide receiver downfield, and took it 84 yards to the end zone for a 28-7 advantage.
SLU opened their ensuing drive with a 76 yard pass against the Jaguar secondary. The defense held strong and forced a 29 yard field goal.
The Jags pretty much iced the game on their next possession. The Jags put together a 14-play 75 yard drive that burned almost nine minutes off the clock. Marco Lee capped it off with a 13 yard touchdown on 4th and 1 to put the Jags up 35-10 with 3:18 left in the game.
The Lions took advantage of the Jags playing reserves on defense and scored a trash-time touchdown for the final score of 35-17.
Stats
The Jags put up 509 yards of total offense, 261 through the air and 248 on the ground. The defense allowed SLU to put up 412 yards of total offense, 350 through the air and only 62 on the ground.
Carter Bradley finished 19-of-26 for 258 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Gio Lopez took one snap and completed his only pass attempt for 3 yards as a true freshman.
Caullin Lacy led the Jags receiving corps with 8 catches for 139 yards and a touchdown. Devin Voisin had four catches for 70 yards before leaving as a precaution after an injury. Jamaal Pritchett caught three passes for 36 yards.
Kentrel Bullock led the Jaguar rushing attack with 14 carries for 82 yards and a touchdown. Webb only had 7 carries but rolled up 81 yards and two touchdowns. Marco Lee had 11 carries for 66 yards and a touchdown. True freshman PJ Martin had three carries for 19 yards in his brief appearance.
Yam Banks led the defense with 7 total stops, four solo, and an interception. Trey Kiser, Ricky Fletcher, Quentin Wilfawn, LaMondre Brooks all had a tackle for loss each. Jamall Hickbottom and Wy’Kevious Thomas combine for a sack.
Zachary Clement finished 18-of-24 for 267 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Eli Sawyer finished 7-of-12 for 83 yards.
Darius Lewis led the Lions with 7 catches for 81 yards. Da’Shun Hughley only had one catch but it went for 76 yards. Harlan Dixon had five catches out of the backfield for 62 yards.
Rodeo Graham led the Lions rushing with 33 yards on eight carries. Dixon has 19 yards on 11 carries.
“There are certainly some things that we’ve got to get cleaned up, if we want to reach our potential as a football team,” coach Wommack said after the game.
The Jags had a couple injuries in the game. Keith Gallmon Jr left the game early and didn’t return. Devin Voisin had a knee injury but was seen on the sideline with his pads off and ice on it. They join Jalen Jordan, who didn’t dress out for the game but was seen on the sideline in street clothes. Braylon McReynolds injured his shoulder last week and wasn’t seen on the sideline for the game.
Khalil Jacobs was ejected for targeting on a late hit in the third quarter. He will miss the first half of the Jags game against Oklahoma State next Saturday.
Next
South Alabama will travel to Stillwater to face Oklahoma State for a 6pm kickoff. The Jags are 0-2 all-time against the Cowboys. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.
