MOBILE, Ala. — Ask South Alabama running back Keenan Phillips what he was thinking as he raced 100 yards with a kickoff at Arkansas State, and the answer is short. “Don’t get tackled by the kicker,” he said. That play, and the rest of his night in Jonesboro, earned Keenan Phillips Sun Belt Conference Special Teams Player of the Week honors and cemented his place as the Jaguars’ most versatile weapon.
Phillips ran for a career-high 157 yards and three touchdowns and returned a kickoff for another score in South Alabama’s 56-49 win over Arkansas State last Thursday, the highest-scoring game in the Football Bowl Subdivision this season. He finished with 264 all-purpose yards. The league office announced the award Monday.
A long-awaited special teams touchdown
The return came near the end of the first quarter with the score tied 7-7, and it gave the Jaguars a 14-7 lead they never gave up. It was South Alabama’s first kickoff returned for a touchdown since Xavier Johnson did it during the 2016 season, and Phillips is only the fourth player in program history to take a kickoff back for a score. His 100-yarder is the longest kickoff return touchdown in the Sun Belt this season.
Special teams coordinator Tommy Perry said the moment felt like a weight lifted. “It was almost like a relief. Like, why is it taking us so long,” Perry said. “Here we are game six, and we still haven’t scored a touchdown on special teams.”
Phillips is averaging 29.6 yards per kickoff return on eight attempts this season.
Scoring from anywhere
After the return, Phillips added touchdown runs of 3, 23 and 42 yards. His four touchdowns tied the South Alabama single-game record shared by La’Damian Webb and Jalen Tolbert. He gave the credit for his big-play ability to his faith. “I mean that’s just the God given ability that He gave me,” he said.
His 264 all-purpose yards stand out nationally and in the program’s record book:
- Fifth-most by any FBS player in a single game this season
- Third-most by a South Alabama player in a single game
- Most by a Jaguar since La’Damian Webb had 247 in 2022
The 157 rushing yards were also his second 100-yard game of the season, following a 116-yard performance against Ohio in September that put him on the Paul Hornung Award Honor Roll, a weekly list recognizing the most versatile players in college football.
The rest of the Sun Belt’s weekly honors
Phillips was one of three players recognized by the conference this week. Louisiana Tech quarterback Blake Baker was named Offensive Player of the Week after throwing for 319 yards and three touchdowns and running for another score in a 32-31 win over Louisiana. Old Dominion’s Javen Gibson took the defensive award after recording four tackles for loss in a 10-3 win at Appalachian State.
The win in Jonesboro was also South Alabama’s first road victory of the season, after earlier road losses at Tulane and Kentucky.
From Georgia Military College to Mobile
Phillips, a 5-foot-10, 185-pound junior from Bainbridge, Ga., has always had a nose for the end zone. In his lone junior college season at Georgia Military College, he scored 19 rushing touchdowns and caught four touchdown passes.
He transferred to South Alabama in 2025 and spent much of his first season behind Kentrel Bullock, who ran for 1,085 yards and 14 touchdowns. Phillips was second on the team with 605 rushing yards and scored three touchdowns. Bullock is now with the Cincinnati Bengals on their practice squad, which opened up carries in the Jaguars’ backfield this fall.
One piece of a three-man rotation
Phillips has not inherited the job alone. He shares the position with PJ Martin and Trae’von Dunbar in a rotation that has become a defining part of coach Major Applewhite’s offense. “He’s in a rotation where those three guys can keep each other fresh,” Applewhite said.
Phillips sees an advantage in that approach, because opponents cannot focus on one back. In each of South Alabama’s last three games, one of the three has led the team in rushing. “You can’t just game plan for one person because if you try to game plan for one person, somebody else might attack you,” he said.
- Keenan Phillips: 80 carries, 444 yards, 5 rushing TDs; 8 catches, 46 yards
- PJ Martin: 92 carries, 423 yards
- Trae’von Dunbar: 45 carries, 248 yards
Phillips leads the team in rushing and has 727 yards of total offense and six touchdowns for the season.
Records in a shootout
The Arkansas State win was memorable beyond Phillips’ performance. South Alabama’s 56 points were a program record for a Sun Belt game, and the 105 combined points were the most in an FBS game this season. The Jaguars improved to 4-2 overall and 2-0 in the Sun Belt, good for first place in the West Division, and have already matched their win total from 2025.
An unusual schedule and a Tuesday trip to Marshall
South Alabama played Arkansas State just five days after beating Louisiana-Monroe at home, and now has an extended break before its next game. Applewhite said the challenge is keeping his players sharp with so much time between games.
“It’s like when the teacher tells you, you got an assignment due on Thursday and it’s Monday, you start working on it,” Applewhite said. “When the teacher tells you, you got an assignment [due] in a month, if you’re like I was in college, you wait till 28 days from now to start working on it.”
The Jaguars travel to Huntington, W.Va., to face Marshall on Tuesday, Oct. 20, in a Sun Belt game with a 6:30 p.m. kickoff. Marshall is 3-3 overall and 0-2 in conference play, last in the Sun Belt East Division.
Game details
- Matchup: South Alabama (4-2, 2-0 Sun Belt) at Marshall (3-3, 0-2 Sun Belt)
- Date: Tuesday, Oct. 20
- Kickoff: 6:30 p.m.
- Location: Huntington, W.Va.
