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