MOBILE, Ala. — Quarterback Carter Bradley returned from a knee injury to throw two touchdown passes to Jamaal Pritchett, and South Alabama held off a late Arkansas State rally for a 21-14 win Saturday night at Hancock Whitney Stadium.
The win was South Alabama’s fifth straight over Arkansas State and left the Jaguars one victory from bowl eligibility. Both teams are now 5-5 overall and 3-3 in the Sun Belt Conference.
Running back La’Damian Webb ran for 163 yards and a touchdown on 28 carries. Quentin Wilfawn, wearing the program’s honorary No. 5 jersey, led the defense with nine tackles, two tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks and four quarterback hurries on a misty, windy evening.
Webb Answers Early Field Goal
South Alabama went three-and-out on the game’s opening possession. Arkansas State moved the ball on the ground on its first drive, but the Jaguars held the Red Wolves to a field goal.
On the second play of South Alabama’s next drive, Webb broke a 60-yard run to the Arkansas State 12. Two plays later, he scored on a 13-yard run, and South Alabama never trailed again.
Fake Punt Sets Up Halftime Lead
Late in the second quarter, facing fourth-and-5 at its own 41, South Alabama ran a fake punt with a direct snap to Todd Justice, who went 19 yards. Justice fumbled at the end of the run, but long snapper Travis Drosos recovered.
After a timeout with 12 seconds left in the half, Bradley hit Pritchett in the left side of the end zone for a 20-yard touchdown and a 14-3 halftime lead.
Red Wolves Rally Falls Short
Arkansas State opened the second half with completions of 17 and 24 yards but again settled for a field goal, making it 14-6.
Caullin Lacy returned the ensuing kickoff 40 yards to the 47, and Bradley finished the short drive with his second touchdown pass to Pritchett for a 21-6 lead at the 7:52 mark of the third quarter.
South Alabama was driving again in the fourth quarter when Webb slipped and was stripped at the Arkansas State 19. The Red Wolves capitalized when Jaylen Raynor threw a 46-yard touchdown pass to Jeff Foreman, and Raynor ran in the two-point conversion to make it 21-14 with 3:39 left.
Arkansas State used its final two timeouts and forced a South Alabama punt with 2:44 remaining, but a running-into-the-kicker penalty gave the Jaguars a first down. Webb then ran for another first down to allow South Alabama to run out the clock.
Wommack Praises Response
“I’m very, very proud of the responsiveness of our team tonight,” head coach Kane Wommack said. “We’ve been talking about doing hard things in hard times and certainly tonight was that. … This season, we’ve had to grind for everything that we’ve gotten. We’ve earned wins and earned losses, but I’m very proud of our guys.”
“I’m proud of our defense because we’ve talked about being responsive and being the aggressor, and I thought we stayed in the backfield all night,” Wommack said.
“Getting pressure to him the whole game was one of our keys, and I think we executed really well,” Wilfawn said of Raynor.
Statistics
- Bradley completed 19 of 25 passes for 145 yards and two touchdowns and was sacked twice.
- Lacy caught seven passes for 50 yards. Pritchett had three catches for 50 yards and two touchdowns, and Webb had four catches for 32 yards.
- Braylon McReynolds, back from a collarbone fracture suffered in the season opener at Tulane, ran for 20 yards on four carries.
- Wilfawn also broke up a pass. Jaden Voisin intercepted Raynor for his third interception of the season.
Raynor completed 15 of 28 passes for 186 yards with a touchdown and an interception, was sacked four times and ran for 26 yards on 10 carries. Foreman caught three passes for 61 yards and a touchdown, Adam Jones had three for 30 and Courtney Jackson had two for 23. Zak Wallace ran for 56 yards on 11 carries, and Ja’Quez Cross added 52 yards on 13 carries.
Up Next
South Alabama will try to become bowl eligible next Saturday when it hosts Marshall, also 5-5, in the first meeting between the schools. It is the Jaguars’ final home game of the season, and seniors will be honored before kickoff. The game starts at 4 p.m. on ESPN+.
