MOBILE, Ala. — South Alabama erased a 24-0 deficit Saturday at Ladd-Peebles Stadium, scoring in all three phases on the way to a 52-45 homecoming victory over Idaho, the largest comeback in the history of the Jaguars’ football program.
Xavier Johnson led the rally with 289 all-purpose yards, including a 104-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to open the second half and a 61-yard touchdown run that put the game out of reach late. The two teams combined for 97 points, a South Alabama record.
A Spark Before Halftime
Idaho controlled the first 25 minutes and led 24-0 midway through the second quarter. Johnson’s 41-yard return on the ensuing kickoff set South Alabama in motion, and the Jaguars drove to the Idaho 1-yard line before being stopped on fourth down with 2:30 left in the half.
The South Alabama defense forced a three-and-out, with the Jaguars using their timeouts to get the ball back. After the Idaho punt, South Alabama took over with 1:58 remaining and a short field.
Quarterback Cody Clements opened the drive with a 9-yard completion to Chris Lewis, and Terrance Timmons ran 4 yards for a first down. Clements then found Marvin Shinn for 20 yards to the Idaho 25 and Danny Woodson for 19 yards to the 6, with both receivers getting out of bounds to stop the clock. Clements finished the five-play, 58-yard drive with a 6-yard slant to Shinn for a touchdown. The drive took 38 seconds, and Idaho led 24-7 at halftime.
“That was big,” South Alabama coach Joey Jones said of the late first-half score. “We were down on the one-foot line and didn’t score, and called three timeouts and got the ball back. We drove down and scored, and that was big; some good things happened there.”
“That score really sparked us and turned our whole momentum around,” Clements said.
Third-Quarter Turnaround
Johnson returned the second-half kickoff 104 yards for a touchdown, cutting Idaho’s lead to 24-14.
After an exchange of punts, South Alabama’s Josh Magee returned an Idaho punt 22 yards but fumbled near midfield, and the Vandals recovered in front of their own bench. Two plays later, linebacker Blake Dees forced a fumble by Idaho running back Elijhaa Penny, and Devon Earl scooped it up and returned it 57 yards for a touchdown with 4:19 left in the third quarter, making it 24-21.
The defense forced another three-and-out, and freshman cornerback Jalen Thompson blocked the Idaho punt. Margo Reed recovered it and returned it 6 yards to the Idaho 6. Clements ran in untouched on the next snap, and South Alabama led 28-24 with 3:08 left in the third.
Idaho answered. Quarterback Matt Linehan converted a third down with a 32-yard pass to Hightower, and three plays later Penny scored on a 19-yard run to put the Vandals back in front 31-28 with 44 seconds left in the quarter.
Fourth-Quarter Surge
South Alabama leaned on its running game to reclaim the lead. Johnson gained 9 yards on the final play of the third quarter, Tyreis Thomas added runs of 5 and 18 yards, and Timmons followed with carries of 7, 13 and 1 yards. Clements then hit tight end Gerald Everett for a 16-yard touchdown, giving the Jaguars a 35-31 lead with 13:14 to play.
The ensuing kickoff bounced off the shoulder pads of Idaho’s Rueben Mwehla, and South Alabama’s Buford-Hughes recovered at the Idaho 9. A 4-yard loss and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Shinn pushed the Jaguars back to the 29, and Aleem Sunanon kicked a 41-yard field goal with 11:47 left for a 38-31 lead.
Idaho drove to its own 49 before Reed made an over-the-shoulder interception at the South Alabama 16. On the first play of the next drive, Johnson broke a 50-yard run to the Idaho 34. A few plays later, Clements threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to D.J. Vinson for a 45-31 lead with 7:42 remaining.
The Vandals needed 1:59 to answer with a touchdown and pull within 45-38. Lewis returned the following kickoff 22 yards to the South Alabama 39, and Johnson took the first handoff of the drive 61 yards for a touchdown, making it 52-38 with 5:19 left.
Linehan moved Idaho to the South Alabama 18 with his arm and his legs, and he and Penny worked the ball to the 1 before Linehan scored on a keeper to make it 52-45. Braedon Bowman recovered Idaho’s onside kick attempt, and South Alabama ran out the clock in the victory formation.
By the Numbers
Johnson rushed nine times for 148 yards and a touchdown and added 141 kick return yards. Thomas ran 15 times for 88 yards, Timmons had 33 yards on seven carries, and Clements gained 29 yards on seven carries. Clements completed 11 of 19 passes for 114 yards.
For Idaho, Linehan completed 26 of 39 passes for 317 yards with two touchdowns and an interception, and ran eight times for 49 yards and two touchdowns. Penny carried 35 times for 135 yards and two touchdowns.
Johnson’s kickoff return was South Alabama’s first for a touchdown since J.J. Keel’s in 2010. The game was the first in which the Jaguars scored on offense, defense and special teams since their win over Pikeville on Sept. 4, 2010.
The 24-point comeback surpassed the previous program record, a 14-point rally against Florida Atlantic on Oct. 20, 2013, which produced South Alabama’s first win over a Football Bowl Subdivision opponent. The 97 combined points broke the previous program record by 15.
What They Said
“I want to commend our football players for the guts and mental toughness to be able to come back in a game like that,” Jones said. “Everything was going wrong there for a quarter-and-a-half, and we just got it turned. The big kickoff return gave us a spark, and the kids came back and kept fighting. … Nobody panicked, and that was the biggest thing.”
Jones called Idaho “a good team” with “a great quarterback and running back” and said the win was a step toward bowl eligibility for the program.
“We just kept telling ourselves that we had to keep the motor going. That’s what we’ve been preaching all week,” Dees said. “You can’t ever give up.”
“We needed to make a few changes, and just do our job,” Earl said. “We came in at halftime and talked it over, and it all came together in the second half.”
Idaho coach Paul Petrino said his team executed its game plan well but was undone by the special teams and turnover plays. “You can’t give up a kickoff return for a touchdown, a blocked punt and a fumble,” Petrino said. “Even after all that, we still came back and scored twice. We just had to get one stop, and we had the chance.”
Up Next
South Alabama has a short week before hosting Louisiana-Lafayette on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. in a Sun Belt Conference game televised nationally on ESPNU.
Update
South Alabama entered the game coming off an open week that followed a 36-18 loss at Texas State, and the Jaguars had won all six of their previous homecoming games, scoring at least 30 points in each.
Idaho arrived at 3-5 overall and 2-3 in the Sun Belt, with conference wins over Troy and Louisiana-Monroe, after going 1-10 last season, when South Alabama won in Moscow, Idaho, at the Kibbie Dome. The Vandals were coming off a 55-48 overtime loss at New Mexico State that ended the Aggies’ 15-game losing streak, and they had averaged 34 points in three conference road games.
Idaho played without two key starters. Wide receiver Mezmon Epps, who led the Sun Belt in receptions and receiving yards per game with 61 catches for 757 yards, missed his third straight game while suspended indefinitely. Linebacker Marc Millan, who had two interceptions and two forced fumbles, was suspended for the game by the Sun Belt office for multiple unsportsmanlike acts in the New Mexico State game.
Idaho coach Paul Petrino previously ran the offense for his brother, Bobby Petrino, at Arkansas and Louisville. Jones said during the week that the Vandals’ offense was complex and different from any South Alabama had faced. Earlier in the week, Clements said the Jaguar offense needed to “kick it in gear.”
