MOBILE, Ala. — South Alabama recorded a school-record nine sacks and held Louisiana-Monroe to a season-low 274 yards in a 36-14 victory Saturday at Ladd-Peebles Stadium, keeping the Jaguars’ bowl hopes alive.
Pat Moore and Montavious Williams had 2.5 sacks apiece, and quarterback Ross Metheny became the first player in school history to pass and rush for more than 100 yards in the same game. Metheny threw for 194 yards and ran for 128 on 16 carries, including a 63-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.
The win snapped a three-game losing streak and improved South Alabama to 4-6 overall and 2-3 in the Sun Belt Conference. Louisiana-Monroe, which lost for the second straight week, fell to 5-6 and 3-3.
Sunanon Opens the Scoring
Redshirt freshman Aleem Sunanon accounted for South Alabama’s first six points. With about six and a half minutes left in the first quarter, he made a 43-yard field goal to finish an eight-play drive that began with a 17-yard run by Metheny.
On the next possession, Metheny connected with Shavarez Smith for 43 yards, and Sunanon followed with a 45-yard field goal with roughly three and a half minutes left in the opening quarter for a 6-0 lead.
Sunanon has made all eight of his field goal attempts since the Kent State game.
Jaguars Answer Browning’s Touchdown
Louisiana-Monroe went ahead early in the second quarter on an 11-play, 80-yard drive. Warhawks quarterback Kolton Browning, facing a South Alabama blitz, split the defenders and ran 6 yards for the touchdown about two and a half minutes into the period.
South Alabama responded a little more than three minutes later. The drive included a 17-yard completion from Metheny to Jereme Jones and a reverse to Jake Howton, who threw a 13-yard pass to Metheny to extend the possession. Metheny then hit Smith for a 29-yard touchdown, with Smith wrestling the ball away from a defender who initially had it. The extra point attempt was fumbled, leaving the Jaguars ahead 12-7.
Just before halftime, Jay Jones ran for 17 yards and Metheny for 18 to move the Jaguars downfield. Smith drew a pass interference penalty in the end zone to set up a red-zone opportunity, and Jereme Jones made a touchdown catch to give South Alabama a 19-7 halftime lead.
Pulling Away in the Second Half
Louisiana-Monroe cut the margin to 19-14 in the second half with a six-play, 55-yard drive capped by Browning’s 44-yard touchdown pass to Rashon Ceaser.
South Alabama answered with an 11-play, 75-yard drive that took a little more than four minutes. Bryant Lavender caught a 28-yard pass on third-and-7 to move the Jaguars into Louisiana-Monroe territory, and Smith’s 18-yard reception put them in the red zone. Ryan Onkka caught a 2-yard touchdown pass, the first reception of his career, for a 26-14 lead.
Sunanon added his third field goal to make it 29-14, and Metheny closed the scoring with his 63-yard touchdown run down the left sideline with about three and a half minutes remaining.
By the Numbers
South Alabama outgained Louisiana-Monroe 424 to 274. The Jaguars allowed 71 rushing yards and 203 passing yards. On offense, South Alabama picked up 25 first downs and converted 9 of 16 third downs.
Metheny completed 15 of 26 passes for 194 yards and three touchdowns with one interception, and he led the team in rushing. Jay Jones added 66 yards on 17 carries, and Kendall Houston ran for 35 yards on eight carries. Howton completed his only pass attempt for 13 yards.
Smith caught three passes for 90 yards and a touchdown. Lavender had four receptions for 46 yards, and Jereme Jones caught four for 41 yards and a score. Five other Jaguars caught passes, including Metheny and Onkka.
Defense Dominates the Line
Alex Page led South Alabama with 10 tackles, including a sack for 6 yards and two tackles for loss. Enrique Williams had nine tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss.
Montavious Williams’ 2.5 sacks totaled 15 yards in losses. Moore’s 2.5 sacks cost the Warhawks 7 yards, and he finished with 3.5 tackles for loss. Jerome McClain added two sacks for 11 yards, and Romelle Jones had one sack for 6 yards.
Browning completed 18 of 26 passes for 196 yards and a touchdown. He gained 69 rushing yards but lost 47, finishing with a net of 22 yards on 23 carries. Donald Centarius led the Warhawks on the ground with 33 yards on 10 carries, and Ceaser caught nine passes for 138 yards and a touchdown.
Jones: ‘We Have Hope Now’
South Alabama head coach Joey Jones praised his players for continuing to fight after a string of close losses.
“A lot of players and coaches would quit when you get beat in close games throughout the year like we have,” Jones said. “So my hat’s off to those guys for how they fought through it and just kept getting better.”
Jones said the defense was ready from the start. “I have never seen them play quite like that,” he said. “You have to get after the quarterback to beat a team like ULM. Kolton Browning is an unbelievable player but he just never felt comfortable the whole night, and I thought that was the difference in the game.”
“Every person needs hope in their life, and we have hope now,” Jones said. “We have a chance to play for a bowl game, and that’s all you can ask for.”
Metheny credited his receivers. “My supporting cast makes my job a lot easier. Shavarez made some awesome plays out there today,” he said. “We kind of put ourselves in a hole with all those close losses. We’ve got to take it one game at a time.”
Louisiana-Monroe head coach Todd Berry said his team was beaten up front and was short-handed. “We got man-handled on both sides of the football up front,” Berry said. He said an illness kept a couple of backup offensive linemen out of the game. “We got very tired and South Alabama kept rolling fresh bodies in and made a lot of plays on us,” he said.
Up Next
South Alabama plays its final regular-season road game Saturday, Nov. 30, against Georgia State at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. CST.
