South Alabama Rally Falls Short At Texas State 52-46

November 25, 2023 · Filed Under Football, Sun Belt Conference · Comments Off on South Alabama Rally Falls Short At Texas State 52-46 

South Alabama couldn’t overcome an early 24-point deficit in the first quarter as Texas State wins 52-44 in San Marcos.

“We dug ourselves into an incredible hole and earned a loss with poor execution,” head coach Kane Wommack said after the game. “We didn’t make enough plays defensively. We weren’t nearly responsive enough. That was really the story to me all season. When we’re in tight games and tough moments, we didn’t have a defense that was responsive enough.”

DJ Thomas-Jones had three receiving touchdowns. Desmond Trotter, who came in for an injured Bradley Carter in the second half, threw for 220 yards and four touchdowns. Braylon McReynolds, who started for an injured La’Damian Webb rushed for a team-leading 79 yards on 19 carries.

After the South Alabama (6-6, 4-4 SBC) defense kept Texas State (7-5, 4-4 Sun Belt) off the scoreboard on their first possession for only the third time this season.

But on the first offensive play by the Jags, the Bobcats forced Caullin Lacy to fumble and Texas State’s Kaleb Culp scooped it up and ran it back 31 yards for the first score of the game.

On the Bobcats next possession, TJ Finley connected with Ashtyn Hawkins for a 48-yard touchdown to take a 14-0 lead at the 8:47 mark.

The Jags offense go three-and-out and the Bobcats march down the field sparked by a 31-yard run by Donerio Daveport on the first play of the drive. Jahmyl Jeter keeps the ball in the wildcat and scores from a yard out to put the Bobcats up 21-0 at the 3:38 mark in the first quarter.

Texas State catches the Jags off-guard with an onside kick and recover it at the Jags 37-yard line. The defense finally got their legs underneath them and held the Bobcats to a 28-yard field goal at the 1:05 mark of the first quarter.

“We just made too many errors in all three phases – offense, defense, special teams,” Wommack said.

South Alabama finally gets on the board early in the second quarter when Carter Bradley connected with Javon Ivory for 39-yards and his first touchdown of the season. The Jags go for a two-point conversion but it fails on an incomplete pass leaving the Jags trailing 24-6 at the 14:08 mark of the second quarter.

Texas State’s Kole Wilson caught the kickoff about two yards deep in the endzone and found a lane on the left side of his protection and returned it for a touchdown to go up 31-6 with 13:55 left in the second quarter.

After Khalil Jacobs forces a fumble and Marquise Robinson caught it and returned it 25 yards to the Bobcats 29-yard line. Diego Guajardo added a season-long 51-yard field goal.

The Jags forced a punt and got the ball back with 1:52 left in the first half. Bradley led the Jags down the field and found DJ Thomas-Jones for an 18-yard touchdown. The two-point conversion was good when Bradley went back to Thomas-Jones to make it 31-17 at halftime.

On the third play of the second half Carter Bradley would go down on a hit that aggravated his left knee injury. Desmond Trotter led the team into field goal range, but Guajardo’s 55-yard attempt had the distance but was pulled wide right.

After forcing the Bobcats the punt, Trotter hit on back-to-back passes for 19 yards to Lacy then 51 yards to Jamaal Pritchett to quickly flip the field. A couple plays later Trotter would toss a 1-yard touchdown to Thomas-Jones to cut the Texas State lead to 31-24 at the 6:41 mark of the third quarter.

Unfortunately, that would be as close as the Jags would get.

“Our offense was better in the second half,” coach Wommack said. “But our defense never gave us a chance to get back in the game enough. We had to find a way to get one more stop and we didn’t do that. That’s kind of been the take of our season, we have not been responsive enough in tough games. That’s something we’ve got to get better at.”

Texas State would go back up by two touchdowns just a little bit later. Aided by pass completions of 39 and 16 yards, the Bobcats capped off a 64-yard drive with a one-yard TJ Finley touchdown run with 3:35 left in the third quarter.

On the second play of the fourth quarter, Quentin Wilfawn tipped Finley’s pass at the line of scrimmage and Khalil Jacobs intercepted it and returned it 12 yards to the Texas State 28-yard line. Braylon McReynolds opened the drive with a 16 play rush then on the third play Trotter connected with Lacy on a perfectly thrown corner route for a 12 yard touchdown at the 12:57 mark. But the two-point conversion attempt would fall incomplete leaving the Jags trailing 38-30.

The Bobcats only needed four plays to get back on the scoreboard. Finley connected with Kole Wilson for a 24-yard score with 11:31 left in the game to go up 45-30.

Trotter led the Jags back down the field with a mix of run and pass, but the drive took 7:25 off the clock. He threw it to Thomas-Jones who used his size and hands to come down with the touchdown. The Jags got two attempts at the two-point conversion after a pass interference penalty on the first attempt. On the second, Trotter was rushed and had to move up in the pocket. He threw to the right side of the end zone, but possibly could have kept it and converted. The Jags were then down 45-36 with 4:01 left to play.

The Jags used two of their time outs on the ensuing Texas State possession, but on 3rd & 9, Finley connected with Konner Fox for 41 yards to the 1-yard line. The Jags let the Bobcats score to preserve time and go up 52-36 with 2:54 left in the game.

The game got very chippy on the Jags possession after Jordan Revels was flagged for unnecessary roughness when he leveled Thomas-Jones after the whistle had blown and Thomas-Jones was looking to the sideline. By all rights he should have been ejected, but the officials let him keep playing and Texas State kept him in the game.

Dontae Lucas was flagged on the next play for unsportsmanlike conduct, though it was actually another Jaguar, who took a shot at Revels after the play. The offense caught the Bobcats in the neutral zone on two consecutive plays, but were unable to capitalize on the free plays down the field. A few plays later Trotter connected with Hopper for a 5-yard touchdown. McReynolds converted the two-point attempt on a shovel pass from Trotter to make it 52-44 with 1:02 left in the game.

However, the Jags were unable to cover the onside kick and only had one time out which allowed Texas State to run out the clock.

Stats

After being dominated on the stats sheet in the first quarter, the Jags ended up out-gaining the Bobcats overall.

StatSouth AlabamaTexas State
Total yards:485479
Passing yards:403368
Rushing Yards82111
3rd down conversions:7-of-156-of-13
4th down conversions:2-of-21-of-1
Turnovers (defensive points off)2 (6)2 (9)
Possession:31:1528:45

Bradley finished the game 18-of-24 for 183 yards and two touchdowns before having to exit the game. Trotter finished out 19-of-22 for 220 yards, four touchdowns and an interception.

“I’m so proud of Desmond Trotter,” Wommack said. “He answered the bell and made play after play. He’s worked so hard every single day. He’s been the guy ready at a moment’s notice. He was selfless when we put Gio in versus Troy. I didn’t want to burn Gio’s redshirt, but we wanted to give Dez a shot and what a tremendous job he did. We would have loved to be able to execute better so he had a chance to win it at the end.”

Caullin Lacy led with 11 catches for 94 yards and a touchdown. Thomas-Jones had 56 yards on nine catches with the three touchdowns. McReynolds had six catches for 70 yards. Javon Ivory had 85 yards on four catches with a touchdown. Pritchett had four catches for 81 yards.

McReynolds added 79 yards rushing on 19 carries. Trotter had 20 yards on seven carries. Marco Lee Jr had 4 yards on four carries.

Several Jags all finished with six stops each – James Miller, Ricky Fletcher, Quentin Wilfawn, Khalil Jacobs and Charles Coleman III. Wilfawn and Jacobs both had sacks in the game with Jacobs getting the only interception by the Jags.

TJ Finley finished 19-of-28 for 368 yards, three touchdowns and an interception.

Kole Wilson led the Bobcats with six catches for 102 yards and a touchdown. Ashtyn Hawkins led all receivers with 131 yards on five catches with a touchdown.

Ismail Mahdi had 97 yards on 23 carries with a touchdown. Donerio Davenport added 35 yards on six carries. Jahmyl Jeter had two carries for 3 yards and a touchdown.

Next

South Alabama will officially find out their bowl destination on Sunday, December 3rd. Go to usajaguars.com/tickets/bowlgames to secure your tickets to any of the three bowl games that the Sun Belt Conference is tied to in case the Jags are selected to one of them. You will not be charged and the ticket office will contact you BEFORE charging you if you have tickets selected for one of the SBC tie-in bowl games. This helps the Jags with ticket-commitments to lobby for their selection by the respective bowl committees.

See you at the Bowl Game!

Preview: South Alabama Hosts Marshall For Senior Day With Bowl Eligibility Implications

November 17, 2023 · Filed Under Football, Sun Belt Conference · Comments Off on Preview: South Alabama Hosts Marshall For Senior Day With Bowl Eligibility Implications 

Kickoff: Saturday, November 18, 4:00pm
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: Jamie Sheriff


South Alabama (5-5, 3-3 Sun Belt Conference) will look to give their departing seniors one last win at Hancock Whitney Stadium on Saturday when they host Marshall (5-5, 2-4 SBC). If they accomplish the task, they will be the first senior class to earn back-to-back bowl berths in program history.

Both teams enter needing just one win to earn bowl eligibility.

Marshall snapped a five-game losing streak last week behind redshirt freshman Cole Pennington’s first career start. They started the season 4-0 with wins over Albany (21-17), East Carolina (31-13), Virginia Tech (24-17) and Old Dominion (41-35).

Then they hit the rough patch in their season. They lost to @ NC State (41-48), @ Georgia State (24-41), vs James Madison (9-20), @ Coastal Carolina (6-34), and @ App State (9-31).

Marshall head coach Charles Huff is in his third season at the helm. He went 7-6 in his first season with a loss in the New Orleans Bowl against Louisiana-Lafayette. The Herd was still in Conference USA at the time.

Last season Huff lead the Herd to a 9-4 and a 5-3 conference record in their first year in the Sun Belt. They made waves in with a 26-21 win at then #8 Notre Dame and finished the season with a 28-14 win over UConn in the Myrtle Beach Bowl.

Prior to Marshall, Huff was an assistant coach at Alabama for two years.

The Jags were able to break their two-game losing streak themselves with the return of Carter Bradley behind center, an offensive line that were determined to set the line of scrimmage, and a stingy defense.

With two games left for both teams to earn bowl eligibility, both squads would like to go ahead and get that done this week.

Marshall (5-5, 2-4 SBC)

Marshall has a -11 turnover margin on the season. They’ve given the ball away a total of 23 times, 14 interceptions and have lost 9 out of 18 total fumbles. Meanwhile the defense has taken the ball away 12 times, they have 10 interceptions and have recovered 2 out of 9 fumbles.

Offense

StatAverage per game
Points24.4 (83rd)
Total Offense359.9 (85th)
Passing Offense230.9 (T-59th)
Rushing Offense129.0 (97th)
Time of Possession29:13
Penalty Yards55.8

Cam Fancher is the leader passer on the team going 186-of-287 (64.8%) for 1,948 yards with eight touchdowns to 11 interceptions on the season. Redshirt freshman Cole Pennington is 27-of-43 (62.8%) for 278 yards with no touchdowns to three interceptions in two game appearances. Pennington made his first career start last week in Marshall’s 38-33 win over Georgia Southern.

The Herd has many receivers involved in their passing game. Five receivers have 20 or more catches on the season and 10 receivers in all have 100+ receiving yards. Caleb Coombs leads the team in catches with 33 catches and receiving touchdowns with two, for 287 yards. DeMarcus Harris leads the receiving corps with 362 yards on 21 catches with a touchdown. In all, eight receivers have touchdowns receptions on the team.

Jaden Harrison has 238 yards on 19 catches with a touchdown. Darryle Simmons has 226 yards on 22 catches.

Rasheen Ali leads the team with 932 yards rushing on 173 carries with 14 touchdowns in nine games played. Ali is tied for 7th in the nation in rushing touchdowns, one TD behind Webb. Ethan Payne has 183 yards on 50 carries. Fancher is third on the team in rushing with 173 yards on 102 carries with two touchdowns in the nine games he’s played in.

Season Stat 
3rd Downs40-of-130 (31%)
4th Downs6-of-21 (29%)
Red Zone Scoring Attempts26-of-34
Red Zone Touchdowns17-of-34
Penalties-Yards61-558
Fumbles-Lost18-9

Defense

StatAverage per game
Points28.9 (T-94th)
Total Offense381.5 (72nd)
Passing Offense216.3 (50th)
Rushing Offense165.2 (94th)
Time of Possession30:47
Penalty Yards62.5

JJ Roberts leads the team with 73 total stops, 39 solo, with two interceptions, a forced fumble, a pass breakup and a quarterback hurry in nine games played. Eli Neal has 64 total stops, 20 solo, with 6.5 Tackles for Loss, 2 sacks, an interceptions and three quarterback hurries.

Owen Porter leads the team with 13 sacks, is tied for the team lead with 5 sacks, with 50 total stops, 20 solo, 11 quarterback hurries, two forced fumbles and two pass breakups.

Elijah Alston is second on the team with 9.5 TFLs, 4 sacks, 15 quarterback hurries, two pass breakups, and an interception with an 85 yard return for a TD.

Sam Burton co-leads the team with 5 sacks, he has 5.5 TFLs and 8 quarterback hurries.

Season Stat 
3rd Downs44-of-143 (31%)
4th Downs9-of-21 (43%)
Red Zone Scoring Attempts29-of-37
Red Zone Touchdowns15-of-37
Penalties-Yards68-625
Fumbles-Lost9-2

Special Teams

Rece Verhoff is 10-of-13 (76.9%) placekicking with a long of 44 with one kick blocked. Kameron Lake is 1-of-2 with a long of 20.

John McConnell is averaging 43 yards per punt, a long of 74 yards, with 16 fair catches, 13 downed inside the 20, 5 kicks of 50+ yards, and one touchback.

South Alabama (5-5, 3-3 SBC)

The Jags continue to have a turnover margin of -2 on the season. They have turned the ball over a total of 16 times, nine interceptions and seven fumbles lost. The defense has taken the ball away from opponents 14 times, seven interceptions and seven fumbles. The Jags gave the ball away once to Arkansas State last week, but took the ball away once as well.

Offense

StatAverage per game
Points29.9 (T-49th)
Total Offense423.0 (40th)
Passing Offense258.4 (42nd)
Rushing Offense164.6
Time of Possession29:50
Penalty Yards59.70

Carter Bradley’s is 186-of-279 (66.7%) for 2,301 yards and 15 touchdowns to 7 interceptions in nine games played. Gio Lopez, with one start but four game appearances, is 27-of-42 (64.3%) for 283 yards with 1 touchdown to 2 interceptions on the season.

Caullin Lacy leads the team with 71 catches, 1,096 yards, and six touchdowns. Lacy ranks 4th in the nation in receiving yards after a 50-yard game last week. Jamaal Pritchett has 650 yards on 44 catches with 5 touchdowns. Lincoln Sefcik has 165 yards on 17 catches with a touchdown. DJ Thomas-Jones has 156 yards on 15 catches.

La’Damian Webb leads the team with 890 yards rushing on 162 carries with 15 touchdowns and an average of 5.5 yards per carry. Webb is 31st in the nation in rushing yards and tied for 2nd in the nation in rushing touchdowns. Kentrel Bullock, despite missing last week in the concussion protocol, has 380 yards on 76 carries with three touchdowns and a 5 yard per carry average. Marco Lee Jr has 186 yards on 41 carries with two touchdowns and a 4.5 yards per carry average.

Season Stat 
3rd Downs57-of-133 (42.9%) (29th)
4th Downs12-of-20 (58.8%)
Red Zone Scoring Attempts32-of-34
Red Zone Touchdowns26-of-32
Penalties-Yards69-597
Fumbles-Lost12-7

Defense

StatAverage per game
Points21.1 (37th)  
Total Offense323.7 (25th)
Passing Offense198.9 (31nd)
Rushing Offense124.8 (35th)
Time of Possession30:09
Penalty Yards46.7

Quentin Wilfawn’s tear over the last three weeks continues to have him pace the defense with 71 total stops, 40 solo, with a team leading 13.5 TFLs and also a team leading 5.5 sacks. He also has 5 quarterback hurries, two forced fumbles, and a pass breakup.

James Miller has 61 total stops, 23 solo, with 4 TFLs, a quarterback hurry and a fumble recovery.

Trey Kiser has 60 total stops, 26 solo, with 8.5 TFLs, 2.5 sacks, two pass breakups and a quarterback hurry.

Jamie Sheriff is third on the team with 6 TFLs and is tied for second on the team with 3 sacks. He leads the team with 7 quarterback hurries with a forced fumble.

Jaden Voisin leads the team with 3 interceptions to go with his 6 pass breakups and a forced fumble.

Ricky Fletcher leads the defense with 11 pass breakups.

Season Stat 
3rd Downs45-of-1330 (33.83%) (43rd)
4th Downs7-of-15 (46.67%)
Red Zone Scoring Attempts19-of-26
Red Zone Touchdowns11-of-26
Penalties-Yards55-467
Fumbles-Lost11-7

Special Teams

Diego Guajardo is 10-of-14 (71.4%) placekicking with a long of 46 yards.

Jack Martin is averaging 39.06 yards per punt with a long of 53 yards, 16 fair catches, 10 downed inside the 20 and two kicks of 50+ yards.

Injuries

Carter Bradley returned and played the entire game. At times it looked like he may have been favoring his left knee, but he moved around in the pocket well and even ran a few times. There was a strong northern wind during most of the game which affected his deep passes a bit. Some sailed long on him when the wind was at his back.

Overall Bradley looked good in his return.

Braylon McReynolds returned to the lineup for the first time since his injury suffered against Tulane in the season opener. The coaching staff said they were limiting how much playing time he got in the game. His first time touching the ball he gained 10 yards, so it’s safe to say he is ready to go. The coaching staff will evaluate him throughout the week and may “significantly” increase it workload this Saturday.

McReynolds return came at the perfect time. Kentrel Bullock missed the game after being unable to clear the concussion protocol prior to the game against Arkansas State. Each player and each concussion is different so the timetables to return are completely different each time. Hopefully Bullock will completely recover in time for the game.

Lincoln Sefcik will miss the remainder of the season due to breaking unspecified team rules, not due to injury.

Keys to the Game

Turnovers

Marshall averages 2.3 turnovers a game this season. Last week they gave the ball away twice to Georgia Southern, an INT and a fumble, yet still won the game. Over the five game losing streak they had a total of 14, or nearly three per game.

The Jags defense has not generated as many turnovers this season as they have over the last two seasons. I’m sure the team will look at this game as an opportunity to improve on the turnover margin with some takeaways

Meanwhile the Jaguar offense wants to protect the ball more. Webb had a very uncharacteristic fumble last week against the Red Wolves. It looked as though he was slipping on the turf as the defender knocked the ball loose. Bradley has cut down his interceptions after what looked like he was trying to force the ball downfield into bad coverage.

Turnover margin in a game is one of those key stats teams want to win as it increases their likelihood to win.

Offensive Line

The guys up front did a great job against the Arkansas defense. They limited the Red Wolves to only two sacks and led the way for La’Damian Webb to rush for 163 yards.

That kind of play is exactly what the team needed to help defeat the Red Wolves.

Marshall’s rushing defense is 94th in the nation, so if the offensive line can set the line of scrimmage the Jaguar backfield could have a field day running the ball.

But it all starts up front.

Stadium Presence

South Alabama still has a fan problem. Despite on-campus students not having far to go to view the game, they just didn’t turn out very well against Arkansas State.

It was the Jaguar Marching Band along with the Honor Band that provided most of the crowd noise in the game. They did a very good job of it too!

Everyone in the stadium last week could take a lesson from them.

The stadium was rocking for the Southern Miss game. We need that each and every week at Hancock Whitney Stadium. We need to “Rock the ‘cock” every home game. Whoever programs the in-game music really needs get off their personal playlist and look for some music to energize the crowd. The “Stand up and Shout” on 3rd down needs to go away for the foreboding chimes of “Hell’s Bells.” We need to settle on one good sing-along song to play early in the fourth quarter.

Give Thunderjags a crack at the in-game musical choices!

Senior Recognition

A strong group of seniors will be honored before the game on Saturday. They are in no particular order: Jamie Sheriff, Jamall Hickbottom, Maurice Strong Jr, Carter Bradley, Desmond Trotter, Tanner McGee, La’Damian Webb, Marco Lee Jr, Reggie Smith, Josh McCulloch, Brandon Crum, Jacob Hopper, Lincoln Sefcik, Ke’Shun Brown, Trey Kiser, James Miller, Quentin Wilfawn, Keith Gallmon, Jalen Jordan, Jacob Meeks and Diego Guajardo.

Many of those names you’ve heard mentioned on this site, while watching on television or streaming, or on the radio broadcast. Thank you for what you have done as a Jaguar and for being outstanding ambassadors of the team and the school. We wish you the best in whatever comes next in your journey.  

Prediction

The Jags are another double-digit favorite this week with a 10.5 point favorite to win. Every time the Jags have been favored this season I have cringed a bit just because of the uncertainty and the inconsistency.

But I think South Alabama will be ready for Marshall. If the Jag defense can pick up where they left off last week, they should hold Marshall in check like they did Arkansas State no matter who starts at quarterback.

Though the Jaguar offense did just enough to win, we’d like to see them do a bit more.

The weather was a factor last week though. A strong northerly wind with mist doesn’t make for the best playing conditions, particularly throwing the ball. The weather on Saturday looks good, so hopefully that means lots of fireworks and light display for South Alabama.

I think the Jags win and they squeak out a cover while they’re at it.

Go Jags!

Jaguars Use Strong Second Half To Win Home Opener 35-17 Over Southeastern Louisiana

September 9, 2023 · Filed Under Football · Comments Off on Jaguars Use Strong Second Half To Win Home Opener 35-17 Over Southeastern Louisiana 
South Alabama evens their record on the season after a strong second half against 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+.