HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — South Alabama football suffered its first Sun Belt Conference loss of the season Tuesday night, managing only one touchdown in a 20-13 defeat at Marshall that left the high-scoring Jaguars searching for answers heading into an 11-day break.
Marshall running back Judah Price scored the decisive touchdown on a 5-yard run with 1:49 remaining at Joan C. Edwards Stadium. South Alabama got one last chance to answer but turned the ball over on downs, and the Thundering Herd ran out the clock with a kneel-down to secure the victory.
The loss dropped South Alabama to 4-3 overall and 2-1 in Sun Belt play. Marshall improved to 4-3 overall and 1-2 in the conference, earning its first league win of the season.
The result was a stark departure from the way the Jaguars had been playing. South Alabama arrived in Huntington averaging 38.8 points and 437.9 total yards per game, and it was facing a Marshall defense that ranked among the worst in the Football Bowl Subdivision. Instead, the Jaguars struggled to move the ball for most of the night and did not reach the end zone until fewer than five minutes remained.
Applewhite takes responsibility for slow start
South Alabama head coach Major Applewhite did not hide his frustration after the game, pointing to his team’s inability to generate big plays or sustain drives on third down.
“Offensively, got going way too late and not enough explosive plays,” Applewhite said. “Didn’t convert on third down. Just always look inward as a staff, what can we do better?”
Applewhite said he was not pleased with the result and placed the blame on himself, saying he “just didn’t do a good enough job myself to get these guys in a position to go win the ball game.”
Applewhite, a former Texas quarterback and former head coach at Houston, was elevated to head coach at South Alabama after serving as the Jaguars’ offensive coordinator. His offenses have generally relied on a strong running game paired with an efficient passing attack, which made Tuesday’s struggles all the more unusual.
A strong defense from an unlikely source
On paper, the matchup appeared to favor South Alabama’s offense. Entering Tuesday’s game, Marshall ranked 130th nationally in total defense, allowing 447.3 yards per game, and 128th in scoring defense, giving up 33.7 points per game.
The Thundering Herd played far better than those numbers suggested. Marshall held South Alabama to season lows in both points and total yards, with the Jaguars finishing with 326 yards of offense. The Herd’s defense also pressured the quarterback throughout the night, recording 14 quarterback hurries, and limited South Alabama to just 4 conversions in 18 attempts on third down.
That third-down failure rate forced the Jaguars into a series of high-risk decisions. South Alabama went for it on fourth down six times and converted five of them, a remarkable success rate that kept several drives alive. The only fourth-down failure came at the worst possible time: an incomplete pass by quarterback Jared Hollins with 35 seconds left in the game, which handed possession back to Marshall and sealed the outcome.
Tough night for Hollins and the running game
Hollins, making the fifth start of his college career, had a difficult evening against Marshall’s pressure. He completed 12 of 33 passes for 148 yards and threw one interception, which Marshall turned into its first touchdown of the night.
South Alabama’s ground game, normally a strength, was serviceable but not dominant. The Jaguars rushed 42 times for 178 yards. Keenan Phillips led the way with 70 yards on 16 carries, but South Alabama was hurt by eight rushing plays that lost yardage. Those negative plays repeatedly left the Jaguars facing long down-and-distance situations, which helps explain the team’s trouble on third down.
The combination of an inconsistent passing game and drive-killing losses on the ground kept South Alabama from putting together the kind of explosive possessions that had defined its previous two conference games.
How the game unfolded
Both offenses sputtered through the first half, and the kickers did most of the scoring. South Alabama’s Davis Little made field goals of 29 and 42 yards, while Marshall’s Jorge Diaz Nicolas connected from 47 and 48 yards. The teams went into halftime tied 6-6.
The two kickers also combined to miss three attempts. Diaz Nicolas missed wide right from 49 yards in the first quarter, Little missed wide left from 45 yards in the third quarter, and Diaz Nicolas missed wide left from 27 yards early in the fourth quarter.
Marshall broke the tie by capitalizing on a South Alabama mistake in the third quarter. Marshall defensive end Cole Funderburk intercepted a deflected Hollins pass at the Herd’s own 45-yard line. On the ensuing drive, Marshall quarterback Zion Turner connected with Adrian Norton on a 38-yard pass to set up a scoring opportunity, and Turner finished the drive himself with a 3-yard touchdown run. That score gave Marshall a 13-6 lead with 3:25 left in the third quarter.
South Alabama finally found the end zone late in the fourth quarter. The Jaguars put together an 80-yard drive that included two fourth-down conversions. The biggest of those came on a fake punt, when tight end Rod Gibbs took the ball and ran 26 yards to keep the drive alive. PJ Martin capped the possession with a 19-yard touchdown run with 4:38 left, tying the game at 13-13.
The tie lasted only briefly. On the first play of Marshall’s next possession, Turner broke free for what appeared to be a 75-yard touchdown run. A downfield holding penalty wiped out the score, however, and the play was reduced to a 16-yard gain.
Turner was injured on the run, forcing Marshall to turn to backup quarterback Khalil Wilkins. Wilkins wasted no time making an impact. On a series of nearly identical quarterback draw plays, he ran for gains of 16, 19 and 22 yards, moving the Herd inside the South Alabama 10-yard line. He then picked up four more yards to the 5, and Price carried the ball in for the go-ahead touchdown with 1:49 to play.
Wilkins finished the night with 69 rushing yards on eight carries, most of them coming on that game-deciding drive.
Marshall totaled 328 yards of offense against a South Alabama defense that had also been giving up plenty of yards in recent weeks. Before leaving the game, Turner completed 21 of 33 passes for 181 yards and ran for 45 yards.
A sharp contrast with recent shootouts
Tuesday’s offensive struggles came as a surprise given how freely South Alabama had been scoring in its first two Sun Belt games. The Jaguars beat Louisiana-Monroe 52-35 on Oct. 3, then outlasted Arkansas State 56-49 on Oct. 8.
Those two wins showed both the strength of South Alabama’s offense and the vulnerability of its defense, which allowed 84 points across the two games. Against Marshall, the pattern flipped: the defense held the Herd to 20 points, but the offense could not take advantage.
Here is a look at some of the key numbers from Tuesday’s game:
- Final score: Marshall 20, South Alabama 13
- Total yards: South Alabama 326, Marshall 328
- South Alabama rushing: 42 carries for 178 yards, with eight negative plays
- Third down: South Alabama 4-for-18
- Fourth down: South Alabama 5-for-6
- Turnovers: One South Alabama interception, which led to a Marshall touchdown
- Marshall pressure: 14 quarterback hurries
- Jared Hollins: 12 of 33 passing for 148 yards, one interception
- Zion Turner: 21 of 33 passing for 181 yards, 45 rushing yards
Why midweek games matter in the Sun Belt
Tuesday night college football has become a familiar part of the Sun Belt Conference schedule. Like several other Group of Five conferences, the Sun Belt plays a number of weeknight games each fall, giving its teams national television exposure on nights when they are not competing with larger conferences for viewers.
Those games also create unusual scheduling rhythms for the teams involved. South Alabama played Arkansas State on a Thursday, Oct. 8, and then traveled to Huntington for a Tuesday game. The Jaguars will now have a longer stretch to rest and prepare before their next outing.
Marshall, a longtime member of Conference USA, joined the Sun Belt in 2022 along with Old Dominion, Southern Miss and James Madison. The Herd’s victory over South Alabama gave it a much-needed conference win after a 0-2 start in league play.
What comes next for the Jaguars
South Alabama returns home to host Louisiana Tech on Saturday, Oct. 31. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. Central time at the Jaguars’ on-campus stadium in Mobile.
The time off between games gives Applewhite and his staff an opportunity to address the issues that surfaced in Huntington, particularly the third-down struggles, the negative running plays and the lack of explosive gains that the head coach cited after the game. It also allows time for Hollins, still early in his career as a starter, to work through the problems that Marshall’s pass rush exposed.
At 2-1 in conference play, South Alabama remains in the mix in the Sun Belt standings, but the loss leaves the Jaguars with less margin for error over the remainder of the regular season. With five regular-season games left on a typical 12-game schedule, each of the remaining contests will carry added weight as the Jaguars try to position themselves for postseason eligibility and a run at the conference title.
Fans planning to attend the Halloween afternoon home game can find ticket information, parking details and game-day policies through South Alabama Athletics.
