MOBILE, Ala. — Returning from a 23-day break between games, South Alabama beat Texas State 30-20 on Saturday to earn its first win at Hancock Whitney Stadium and open Sun Belt Conference play with a victory.
Running back Carlos Davis had a career day with 113 yards and a touchdown on 32 carries. Quarterback Desmond Trotter, back from an illness and a shoulder injury, completed 18 of 22 passes for 187 yards and threw the go-ahead touchdown to Kawaan Baker midway through the fourth quarter of the homecoming game.
The win moved the Jaguars to 2-2 overall and 1-0 in the Sun Belt. Texas State fell to 1-5 and 1-2.
Early Exchanges
Texas State won the toss, took the ball and drove to the South Alabama 35, where the Jaguars forced an incompletion on fourth down.
South Alabama answered with a drive on which Davis ran to the 1-yard line, but a personal foul on Hadon Merchant pushed the Jaguars back to the 16 and they settled for a 33-yard field goal and a 3-0 lead.
Texas State scored a touchdown on its next drive. Kicker Seth Keller’s extra point hooked left, but an offsides penalty on Davyn Flenord gave him another try, and the retry put the Bobcats ahead 7-3 with 4:07 left in the first quarter. It was Texas State’s only lead of the game.
Tolbert Score Before Halftime
With the game tied 10-10, South Alabama began its final drive of the half with 4:48 left and Chance Lovertich at quarterback. Aided by Texas State penalties, the Jaguars had two scores wiped off the board before Lovertich threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to Jalen Tolbert with 12 seconds left for a 17-10 halftime lead.
Trotter Returns to Lead the Way
South Alabama’s offense opened the second half with three consecutive three-and-outs, and Texas State tied the game at 17.
With Trotter back on the field, the Jaguars kicked a field goal early in the fourth quarter. Texas State answered to tie it again, and South Alabama took the lead for good with 7:10 left when Trotter hit Baker for an 8-yard touchdown at the end of a drive powered by Davis.
Trotter then led a time-consuming drive that ended with Diego Guajardo’s 44-yard field goal with 1:09 to play.
Statistics
South Alabama had 385 total yards, 253 passing and 132 rushing, and converted 10 of 18 third downs. Texas State gained 348 yards, 260 passing and 88 rushing, and was 4 of 13 on third down. The Jaguars’ offensive line allowed two sacks and nine tackles for loss.
- Lovertich completed 7 of 12 passes for 66 yards and a touchdown.
- Tolbert led all receivers with nine catches for 91 yards and a touchdown. Baker had five catches for 43 yards and a touchdown.
- Linebacker Riley Cole had a career-high 15 tackles, 10 solo, with 1.5 tackles for loss. Nick Mobley added seven tackles, and Jeremiah Littles had the Jaguars’ only sack.
For Texas State, Brady McBride completed 28 of 40 passes for 260 yards and a touchdown. Jackson Lanam caught five passes for 48 yards and a touchdown, and Marcell Barbee had five for 45. Jahmyl Jeter ran for 31 yards on five carries, and Brock Sturges had 30 yards and the Bobcats’ only rushing touchdown on eight carries.
‘We’re Not Looking Up at Anybody’
“It’s huge for a lot of different reasons,” head coach Steve Campbell said. “It’s the first win in Hancock Whitney, but also we needed to get a win and get back going again. I thought we started the season off hot, but we definitely cooled off for a little while.”
“The biggest deal for us, in our half of the conference, we’re not looking up at anybody,” Campbell said. “We’ve played one (conference game) and we won it. Now we just have to take care of business.”
“Getting this win was huge,” Trotter said. “Coming off of that layoff, everyone was fresh. This was a huge win going into conference (play), now we’re just looking toward next week.”
South Alabama hosts Louisiana-Monroe (0-5) on Saturday, Oct. 24, with a 6 p.m. kickoff.
