Jags Use Fast Start And Five Turnovers To Down Louisiana Tech 38-14
The Louisiana Tech’s quarterback, Parker McNeil, will have nightmares this week and the antagonist will be Yam Banks after he accounted for three take-aways and a touchdown as South Alabama wins 38-14.
The Jags improve to 3-1 on the season, half way to bowl eligibility and their non-conference slate complete. Louisiana Tech falls to 1-3 on the season.
South Alabama came out quick. It looked like Braylon McReynolds had taken the opening kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown, but a personal foul for an illegal backside block negated the score
But the Jags had already seized the momentum.
It only took the Jags six plays to cover 80 yards and put up the opening score of the game. Jalen Wayne caught back-to-back passes for 19 and 18 yards. Then La’Damian Webb reeled off a 25 yard run to put South Alabama in the red zone. A couple plays later Carter Bradley found Lincoln Sefcik for a 3 yard touchdown pass to go up 7-0.
The defense held the Bulldogs to a three-and-out and no offensive yards.
Then the special teams came up with a big play, and this one counted. Caullin Lacy caught the put on the right side of the field, weaved his way through the Bulldog coverage, and took it to the house to put the Jags up 14-0 after only 3:50 off the clock.
Louisiana Tech finally got on the scoreboard early in the second quarter on a 52 yard touchdown pass to Smoke Harris after he got behind a Jaguar defender to make it 14-7.
The South Alabama defense took the Bulldog score personally. On the next four possession the Jags would force turnovers.
The Jags answered with a 24 yard Diego Guajardo field goal for a 17-7 lead which would hold up till halftime. Ke’Shun Brown helped to preserve it with one of the Bulldogs four interceptions in the game.
The Jags were back on the scoreboard less than a minute into the second half.
On 2nd and 6, McNeil threw a pass toward the right sideline but Yam Banks was in position for the interception and was able to return it 24 yards for a touchdown to go up 24-7.
On the third play of the ensuing possession, Jamie Sheriff got a 14 yard sack on quarterback Matthew Downing and jarred the ball loose. Yam Banks covered it up for the recovery.
On 3rd & 8, Bradley tossed the ball to Caullin Lacy who took it in from 19 yards out to extend the Jags lead to 31-7 at the 11:06 mark in the third quarter.
The Jags would get on the board one last time to start the fourth quarter. After driving down to the Bulldogs 28 yard line as the third quarter expired, Bradley tossed the ball to Webb on the first play of the final stanza and he found pay dirt for a 38-7 with 14:42 left in the game.
La Tech put together an 8 play, 80 yard drive to put their final points of the game on the scoreboard with 10:59 left in the game.
The Jaguar reserves nearly added a score with seconds left in the game but a flag for holding kept them off the scoreboard one last time.
“That was a statement game in my mind,” head coach Kane Wommack said after the game. “I’m really pleased with where we are to the point. We’ve got to continue to work the momentum and build the consistency in our program that we’re looking for.”
“Are their plenty of things to get better off from this game,” Wommack asked. “Absolutely,” he answered.
On the drive that yielded the final points for Louisiana Tech, a very questionable call was made by the officials. Defensive end Brock Higdon beat his man and as he was running around the blocker, was seemingly shoved towards the quarterback. McNeil just got the ball away before Higdon’s shoulderpads hit his derriere from behind. After the play was over the officials stopped the game to review the play and eventually ejected Higdon for targeting on the third down play.
When the official announced the penalty, coach Wommack let loose with a barrage of words towards the officials. He had only said a couple words when they tossed a flag for unsportsmanlike conduct on the coach.
“There are times where you’ve got to send a message to your football team, that their head coach is going to stand up for them when they’re playing their tails off at the end of the game,” Wommack explained. “The call was the call. They had their reasons for the call and I’m not going to argue it, but my job is to stand up for my football team when our guys are playing hard, and that’s exactly what I did. Not going to apologize for that. However, certainly I recognize that that’s unprofessional, but a message had to be sent.”
Due to the targeting ejection occurring in the second half, Higdon will have to sit out the first half of the Jags next game at Louisiana-Lafayette. However Wommack indicated that he will use the NCAA’s new appeal process for targeting suspensions if, after they review the game film, they believe it is warranted.
After the game Yam Banks said that, after the UCLA loss, they were locked in all week during practice. “Coaches told us we’re too good not to be taking the ball away from people,” Banks explained. “That was our main focus this week.”
South Alabama
The Jags put up 389 total yards of offense, 214 through the air and 175 on the ground. They had 23 first downs and went 5-of-10 on 3rd down situations. They were 3-of-4 on scoring in the red zone, the only time they didn’t score was the final possession of the game.
South Alabama came out on the short side in time of possession with only 28:51 of possession time.
Bradley Carter went 14-of-21 for 178 yards, three touchdowns and an interception. Desmond Trotter was 3-of-4 for 36 yards in relief late in the game.
La’Damian Webb rushed for 75 yards on 14 carries. Braylon McReynolds added 51 on seven carries.
Caullin Lacy led the Jags receiving corps with 3 catches for 40 yards and a touchdown. Wayne had two receptions for 37 yards, he caught two passes in the first possession of the game and would not catch another pass for the rest of the game.
Webb and Sefcik both caught one pass in the game but both went for touchdowns.
Jamie Sheriff led the defense with 5 total tackles, two solo, with 1.5 tackles for loss, one sack and a forced fumble. Trey Kiser had five tackles, all solo, with 1 tackle for loss which was a sack.
Yam Banks finished the game with only one tackle but collected a pair of interceptions, one ran back for a touchdown, and a fumble recovery and three pass break-ups.
South Alabama finished the game with 14 penalties, eight of them in the first half, for 131 penalty yards.
La Tech
The Jags defense allowed 308 total yards of offense, 251 yards passing and 57 yards rushing. The Bulldogs had 17 first downs, went 3-of-12 on 3rd down and 2-of-3 on 4th down attempts. The Bulldogs only scored on one of their three trips into the red zone.
Parker McNeil went 19-of-34 for 251 yards, two touchdown, two sacks and four interceptions.
Tre Harris led all receivers with six catches for 85 yards. Smoke Harris had four catches for 84 yards and a touchdown. Griffin Hebert caught five passes for 49 yards and a touchdown.
Greg Garner rushed seven times for 51 yards. Marquis Crosby had 10 carries for 21 yards.
Next Game
South Alabama will travel to Lafayette to take on the Ragin’ Cajuns to open Sun Belt Conference play. Kickoff is scheduled for 4pm on Saturday, October 1 at Cajun Field.
Preview: South Alabama Travels To ULM Looking For First Conference Road Win Of Season
Kickoff: Saturday October 23, 6:00pm
Venue: Malone Stadium, Monroe, Louisiana
TV/Streaming: ESPN3
Radio: 96.1 fm The Rocket, Sports Talk 99.5 fm, iHeartRadio App
Thunderjags Twitter: @USAThunderjags
#5 Jersey: Jake Bentley
The South Alabama Jaguars got the win they needed last week against Georgia Southern. Not only did you see players step up to fill in for injured players, but they did it in an impressive fashion by a score of 41-14.
The Jags (4-2, 1-2 SBC) now turn their focus to Louisiana-Monroe team (3-3, 1-2 SBC) that just upset a heavily favored Liberty team 31-28 on Saturday.
ULM is the next game in a four-game stretch of games that are ripe for the picking as we wrote about a few weeks ago. The Jags dropped the first one to Texas State in a 4OT heartbreaker. The Jags came out of that game bruised and battered from a very physical contest.
The team was without Kareem Walker, Caullin Lacy, James Jackson, Shawn Jennings, and Trent Tyre. They also had a number of players who missed practice time leading up to that Georgia Southern win.
Despite the adversity the Jags showed that any given week they can play and compete with any team in the conference.
ULM
The Warhawks are under the direction of a new head coach this season. His name may be a bit familiar to some people in the state of Alabama.
At a minimum, his last name should be very familiar to anyone who’s a fan of college football.
Terry Bowden was the head coach at Auburn University in the 1990s, succeeding Pat Dye. As his last name suggests, he is the son of hall of famer Bobby Bowden.
He spent about 10 years out of coaching as a broadcaster for ABC sports among other football related media jobs. In 2009 he returned to the coaching ranks with North Alabama where he accumulated a 29-9 record and three consecutive appearances in the NCAA Division II playoffs.
He then went to Akron for the 2012 season and went from a 1-11 record his first season with the Zips to almost upsetting Michigan in 2013. There he compiled a 35-52 record and led the Zips to their first MAC Championship game appearance since 2005 and only the second in program history. He also led the Zips to their second bowl game in three seasons and only their third bowl game in program history. He was fired in 2018.
After being let go by Akron, Bowden join the Clemson staff for the last two seasons as an offensive analyst before being hired by ULM in the offseason.
Joining Bowden as his offensive coordinator is another name that many football fans may also remember, Rich Rodriguez.
Rodriguez came to prominence at the West Virginia University (2001-2007) with his zone read offensive concepts. He was considered for the job at the University of Alabama, which he turned down and eventually led to Nick Saban being hired.
He was hired at the University of Michigan in 2008. His first team finished with a 3-9 losing record, the worst season in school history and missed a bowl game for the first time in 33 years. After acknowledging rules violations to the NCAA and a disappointing season, the was dismissed.
He was the head coach at University of Arizona from 2012-2017, winning 33 games in his first four seasons, the most in school history over a four-year period. It included four-consecutive bowl berths, a first in program history.
In 2018 he was hired as offensive coordinator at Ole Miss under head coach Matt Luke. When Luke was let go, he was not offered a position with the Lane Kiffin staff.
Prior to the upset of Liberty, the Warhawks lost back-to-back games against Coastal Carolina (59-6) and Georgia State (55-21).
Offense
On the season, ULM’s offensive stats are not that impressive. They are averaging 18.2 points per game, 259 total yards of offense, 164.5 passing yards and 94.5 rushing yards per game.
They have converted 25-of-92 3rd down attempts (27.2%) and 6-of-8 4th down attempts (75%). In 12 red zone trips they have scored 11 times (91.7%) but of those 11 conversions, only six of them have been touchdowns. They have fumbled seven times and lost two of them.
Andrew Henry leads the team in rushing yards with 283 on 66 carries with two touchdowns. Chandler Rogers is next with 213 yards on 77 carries. No other ball carrier has over 65 yards rushing after that.
Chandler Rogers is leading the Warhawks quarterback position. He is 44-of-75 for 590 yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions. Rhett Rodriguez, coach Rodriguez’s son, is 35-of-62 for 337 yards and a touchdown though he’s missed three games due to a punctured lung.
Boogie Knight leads the receiving corps with 23 catches for 285 yards. Zach Jackson has 17 catches for 239 yards and two touchdowns in five games. Jared Sparks also has 17 catches for 162 yards. No other receiver has over 71 yards receiving or more than 6 catches on the season.
Against Liberty the Warhawks came out in the third quarter, trailing 14-0, and scored 28-unanswered points to take a 28-14 lead. They broke the 28-all tie with the game winning 53-yard field goal with 1:44.
Defense
As mentioned before, prior to the Liberty win, the Warhawks allowed 50+ points in back-to-back games. They allowed 291 yards rushing to Coastal Carolina and then 323 yards rushing to Georgia State. Those numbers skew the game averages, but definitely shows how Jekyll and Hyde ULM seems to be.
The Warhawk defense allows an average of 35 points, 455.3 total yards, 275.3 passing and 180 rushing yards per game.
Opponents have converted 42-of-79 3rd down attempts (53.2%) but only 1-of-7 4th down attempts (14.3%).
Opponents have had the ball in the red zone 22 times and have scored 19 times (86.4%), of those 17 have been touchdowns.
Linebacker Traveion Webster leads the defense with 46 total stops, 14 solo, two tackles for loss, and 1/2 sack on the season. Cornerback Adam Sparks has 39 stops, 21 solo with a fumble recovery.
Defensive end Ty Shelby leads the team with 6.5 tackles for loss and also leads the team with 5 sacks on the season. Linebacker Zack Woodard has 34 total tackles on the season with 4 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks, both of those are second on the team.
Special Teams
Calum Sutherland is 10-of-14 this season in his field goal attempts. He is 1-of-2 from 50+ yards, 4-of-6 from 40-49 yards. His longest was from 53 yards out. He’s had one attempt blocked. He has made all 11 extra point attempts on the season. Of his 27 kickoffs, he has eight touchbacks and one has gone out of bounds.
Punter Devyn McCormick is averaging 42.1 yards per punt over his 40 kicks this season. He’s kicked seven 50+ yards, his longest went 56 yards. He has four touchbacks and 18 fair catches. Nine has been downed inside the opponents 20 yard line.
South Alabama
Game six was finally the game where the offense came out ready to go. Not only did they get their first 1st down on an opening drive this season, but they also scored a touchdown.
That helped propelled the Jags to a 41-14 rout of Georgia Southern and broke seven-game winless streak the Jags held against the Eagles.
Offense
Jake Bentley finally showed his FBS experience. He set a school-record throwing for 389 yards and accounting for five total touchdowns in the game. That earned him Sun Belt Conference Offensive Player of the Week honors.
The offense is now averaging 28.5 points, 387.7 total yards, 253.5 passing yards and 134.2 rushing yards per game.
They have converted 32-of-85 3rd down attempts (38%) and 8-of-13 4th down attempts (62%). They have scored 22 times in 27 red zone trips (81%) with 19 of those being touchdowns.
Bryan Hill is currently the teams leading rusher with 214 yards on 52 carries in four games with three touchdowns. Kareem Walker has 208 yards on 53 carries with four touchdowns, but has missed the last couple of games due to a quad injury.
Terrion Avery has 199 yards on 59 carries with a touchdown. AJ Phillips has 78 yards on 23 carries with two touchdowns in only two games played.
Bentley is 122-of179 (68.2%) passing for 1,505 yards, 7 touchdowns and two interceptions.
Jalen Tolbert has 36 receptions for 718 yards and two touchdowns. He’s averaging 119.7 yards per game and 19.9 yards per reception.
Jalen Wayne is the next closest receiver with 307 yards on 24 catches with one touchdown. Caullin Lacy has 170 yards on 23 catches.
Defense
The Jags Swarm D keeps living up to its name. They are producing turnovers and causing havoc for the opponents.
The defense is allowing an average of 19 points, 297.8 total yards, 177.2 passing, and 120.7 rushing yards per game.
With the interceptions they gathered against the Eagles, USA now has 8 INTs on the year and have recovered four fumbles from opponents too. The team turnover margin is +3.
Yam Banks leads the Jaguar defense with 28 total stops, 17 solo. Keith Gallmon Jr. has 27 total stops, 15 solo with 2.5 sacks and an interception. CJ Rias leads the team with three sacks. Tre Young leads the team with 2 interceptions.
Special Teams
Diego Guajardo has connected on 7-of-10 field goal attempts this season. He is 4-of-5 from 40-49 yards on the season with his longest being from 48 yards out. Of his 33 kickoffs, 15 have been touchbacks.
Jack Brooks is averaging 40.9 yards over his 28 attempts on the season. He’s had three go 50+ yards and his longest has been 54 yards. None have been touchbacks, 9 have been fair caught, 7 have been downed inside the opponents 20 yard line. He had one kick blocked.
Keys to the Game
Early Game Momentum
It took six games, but the Jags offense finally came out of the locker room ready to go last week. They took the opening kick and drove 84 yards for the score.
At one point they converted first downs on 5 consecutive plays.
They really need to come out and do that again, this time on the road.
Sustaining Momentum
Last week ULM started slow and was in a 14-0 hole at halftime. They then scored 28-unanswered points to seize control of the game in the second half.
The Jags need to put pressure on ULM early like they did Georgia Southern. But they need to keep applying pressure because the Warhawks will not give up and they also have proven they can make that come back.
Minimizing Mistakes
Well, obviously minimizing mistakes is a big deal. But where I’m coming from is penalties and mental mistakes in some specific instances.
Two weeks ago the Jags lost AJ DeShazor in the second half due to a targeting call. That forced him to sit out the first half of the Georgia Southern game. He was previously flagged for targeting in the season opener against Southern Miss and missed playing time.
Against Georgia Southern Yam Banks was flagged for targeting on a kickoff return. Upon review it was overturned otherwise the Jags linebacking corps was going to be quite thin without Banks and the injured players unable to play last week.
The offense and defense has had the occasional mistake occur. The offense has committed a penalty to negate a good play and put them behind the down and distance schedule. Also the defense has committed a penalty that extended drives.
Prediction
A couple weeks ago we saw one of the best second halves of football the Jags have played all season when they came back against Louisiana.
This past week we saw the best complete game effort by the Jags this season. It was probably one of the best team efforts in several years.
Coach Wommack’s mantra about the “neutral mindset” is his process. It’s all about the team playing to the same standard regardless of the score or game situation.
There are going to be highs and lows in each game. Some will be really high and some will seem really low.
But if they can continue to focus on the next play. If they can continue to do their job at a high level, regardless of success or adversity, then good things will happen. They want to do the same high-level job over and over again. Play after play.
When the team plays like that, they can compete with anyone in the Sun Belt.
If they can do that play after play and game after game, then they will build into a consistent program.
ULM leads the series 4-3. They’ve won every game in Monroe and the Jags have won three of the four contests in Mobile. It’s an opportunity for the Jags to break another streak against a Sun Belt foe.
Monroe is a tough place to play. The Warhawks have pulled off a pair of surprises this season under coach Bowden, both at home. They upset Troy 29-16 on September 25 then the 31-28 upset Liberty last week that was mentioned above.
The Jags will need the neutral mindset and they will need to play at a high level for the entire game in order to not fall into the Monroe trap.
The Jags are favored by 13.5 points over ULM. That line makes me nervous. You can call me a homer, but I think the Jags win however I don’t think they cover. ULM plays very tough at home and it’s not the best place to travel to.
Go Jags!
South Alabama Hosts Alcorn State In Final Non-Conference Home Game
Kickoff: Saturday September 18, 7:00 pm
Venue: Hancock Whitney Stadiumn, Mobile, Alabama
TV: ESPN3
Radio: Sports Talk 99.5FM, 96.1FM The Rocket, iHeartRadio
South Alabama (2-0) returns home to face Alcorn State (1-1) from Lorman, Mississippi. The Braves are members of the Football Championship Subdivision Southwestern Athletic Conference.
Alcorn State is the fourth time in the last five seasons that the Jags have hosted a member of the SWAC conference. Previously the Jags have earned wins over Alabama A&M, Alabama State, and Jackson State from 2017-2019.
Grambling was scheduled to officially open Hancock Whitney Stadium last season on September 12, however the game was cancelled when the SWAC moved their season to the spring due to Covid-19.
Overall the Jags are 4-0 against SWAC teams with the 2011 win over Mississippi Valley State.
South Alabama has outscored SWAC opponents by a combined score of 162-24 while averaging 40.5 points per game and scoring no fewer than 35 points. The Jaguars last defensive shutout came against Alabama A&M on September 16, 2017 in a 45-0 decision.
The Jags set a single-game rushing record with 413 yards against Jackson State on Sept. 7, 2019. Tra Minter led the Jags with 189 rushing yards and 275 all-purpose yards, both rank #2 in single-game school record history.
Alcorn State
The Braves are led by fifth-year head coach Fred McNair. He has a 31-20 record with the the Braves. He played football professionally in the Canadian Football League, the World League of American Football, and the Arena Football League. His brother was Steve McNair, the most notable Brave to play in the NFL.
Offense
The Braves offense score an average of 13.5 points per game. Their offensive production is pretty balanced with an average of 179 yards per game passing and 155.5 yards per game rushing for a total of 311 total yards per game.
Of their three touchdowns scored this season, two have been through the air and one on the ground.
The offense is only converting 25% of their 3rd down attempts but they have converted four of their seven 4th down attempts.
Through their two games they have allowed four sacks. They have fumbled the ball twice, and lost one of them.
They are 4-of-8 in red zone scoring attempts. Three of those were touchdowns.
They have a pair of running backs with over 100 yards rushing on the season. Niko Duffy has 131 yards on 26 carries with an average of 5 yards per carry. Stadford Anderson has 128 yards on 11 carries with an 11 yard per carry average and a 68 yard long in only one game appearance. Quarterback Felix Harper has 50 yards rushing on 18 attempts with a touchdown.
Harper is the only quarterback with stats for the Braves. He is 30-of-50 for 358 yards on the season.
J. Anthony leads the team in receiving yards with 95 on 6 pass receptions. LeCharles Pringle leads the team in receptions with 8 for 84 yards. Manny Jones has 78 yards on his four catches. Seven other receives have caught passes this season.
Defense
Defensively the Braves have allowed an average of 16.5 points per game.
Opposing teams have rushed for an average of 139 yards per game and passed for an average of 188 yards per game.
They have three takeaways on the season. Two interceptions and one fumble recovery out of three fumbles.
Opponents have converted 13-of-31 3rd down attempts and only 1-of-4 4th down attempts on the season.
They have collected 11 tackles for loss with five sacks.
Their leading tackler is Juwan Taylor, a defensive back, with 18 total tackles, 11 solo. Keyron Kinsler has 16 total, 5 solo with an interception as another defensive back.
South Alabama
The Jaguars are off to a fast start win-wise under first year head coach Kane Wommack. However you cannot really say the same for the offense in those two games.
Against Bowling Green some early miscues led to Falcon scores, however some luck and great defensive play kept the Jags from being in a keeper hole than they faced.
The opening possession was a three-and-out, but a high snap led to a blocked punt that happened to go out of the back of the end zone for a safety.
The Jags second possession was another three-and-out, but Jack Brooks’ punt only went 23 yards and gave the Falcons great field position at the Jaguar 38 yard line.
The Jaguar defense stuffed the 4th and 1 run to get the ball back on downs at the Jaguar 29.
Later in the opening quarter the Falcon defense was gifted with an interception thrown right at the linebacker dropping back in coverage. It was returned 27 yards for a touchdown, however the PAT was wide right leaving the Jaguars in only an 8-0 deficit.
After weathering the terrible first quarter, the offense started to come alive.
Offense
Through two games the Jags average 335.5 yards per game of total offense. They average 72.5 yards rushing and 263 yards passing per game.
They have converted 10-of-30 3rd down attempts (33%) and 1-of-2 4th down attempts.
The offense has only turned the ball over twice, one fumble and one interception.
Jake Bentley has been the only Jaguar to take snaps at the quarterback position. He is 46-of-68 for 526 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.
Terrion Avery leads the Jaguar rushing attack with 94 yards on 30 attempts. Kareem Walker has 58 yards on 30 attempts.
Jalen Tolbert leads the receiver group with 263 yards on 12 catches. Caullin Lacy has hauled in 13 passes for 130 yards. Walker and Trent Tyre are the only Jags to have been on the receiving end of touchdown passes so far this season.
Defense
In both games the defense has started the game ready to play. Although against Bowling Green, they allowed several explosive plays to occur. Explosive plays are considered passes that go 15 yard or longer and run that go 12 yards or longer.
The stiff Jaguar defense has allowed an average of 13 points per game so far this season.
Opponents are averaging 220.5 passing yards, 67 rushing yards, and 287.5 total yards per game.
The defense has a total of 6 takeaways so far this season. They have recovered 3 of the six fumbles by opponents and also intercepted three passes.
Opponents have converted 4-of-27 3rd down attempts (15%) and 2-of-4 4th down attempts.
The defense has 10 total tackles for loss with seven sacks.
Tre Young and Yam Banks lead the defense with 10 total tackles each. Young has 7 solo and Banks with 6 solo.
Keys to the Game
Focus
When an FBS team takes on an FCS team, one of the big concerns by the coaching staff is focus. Teams have been caught “looking ahead” to the next game and either greatly struggled or outright lost to FCS teams.
Just this past weekend Florida State was upset by Jacksonville State. Earlier this season Montana upset #20 Washington and East Tennessee State defeated Vanderbilt (23-3). Appalachian State defeated #5 Michigan back in 2007 when they were an FCS program before they joined the Sun Belt and FBS.
The focus this week is paramount as the offense really needs come out of the tunnel with some fire early.
Running the Ball
Major Applewhite called a good game and continued to pound the ball on the ground. While it seemed ineffective in the first half, it began to pay dividends in the second half.
Terrion Avery was the workhorse on the game tying drive late in the fourth quarter. Kareem Walker also started finding holes in the second half.
This would be a great week to make major strides in running the ball heading into the teams bye week before starting conference play.
Staying Healthy
Another big concern when playing FCS teams is remaining healthy. No one wants to lose a player due to injury any time. But you especially don’t want to when you’re playing an opponent you should defeat handily.
But this also ties back into the first point, focus.
Maintaining focus and playing fundamentally sound football reduces chances of injury. With rain chances looking to be anywhere from 25% to 50% on Saturday, playing fundamentally sound football will go a long way in keeping players off the injury report.
Prediction
The expectation is that South Alabama should win this game easily.
The Braves have a fairly good sized team. The offensive line particularly stands out, size-wise, as being larger than most FCS schools.
However, they had to miss two days of practice due to Covid. Their part-time athletic trainers tested positive prior to their game last Saturday. On Tuesday, they had a walk-through aided by campus nurses and by Wednesday they were able to actually practice normally.
I think Alcorn has had a lot of distractions this week and they have missed out on a lot of preparation.
Jags win this and go 3-0 on the season by a wide margin. It depends on how well coach Wommack and his staff have been able to keep the team focused on this week as to what kind of product we’ll see on the field. I expect they will have cleaned up some stuff from the first two games and will head into the bye week ready to start preparation for the Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns and conference play.
Go Jags