South Alabama Closes Sun Belt Slate at Louisiana-Lafayette Seeking Second Conference Win

MOBILE, Ala. — South Alabama will play its final Sun Belt Conference game of the season Saturday at Louisiana-Lafayette, looking for a second conference victory and a second win over a Football Bowl Subdivision opponent in its first year of Sun Belt and FBS competition.

Kickoff at Cajun Field in Lafayette, La., is set for 4 p.m., and the game will be streamed on ESPN3.com.

The Jaguars enter at 2-9 overall and 1-6 in the Sun Belt. Louisiana-Lafayette is 6-4 and 4-2 in conference play.

Close Calls in Conference Play

South Alabama is completing the second year of its two-year transition to the FBS. Over its last seven games the Jaguars have won once, but four of those contests were decided by eight points or fewer, a single possession.

The season, the program’s fourth since it began play, ends over the next two weeks. Head coach Joey Jones said the record is not what he wants but that his team has improved as the year has gone on, pointing to last Saturday’s 20-12 loss to Middle Tennessee.

“One thing I think is that we have become a better football team throughout the season, we’ve probably improved more throughout this time than any time we ever have as evidenced by our team playing with a team like Middle Tennessee, who is probably going to play for the [Sun Belt] championship,” Jones said. “It’s 17-12 in the fourth quarter and we had chances to make plays and win the ball game. But we are right there.”

“I think that we have found out that we can play with Sun Belt teams now,” he continued. “Do we have to get better and learn how to win games? No doubt about it. But in our first year I’m real pleased with the progress, though I am certainly not happy with the results at this point.”

Defense Against a Balanced Offense

South Alabama’s defense ranks second in the Sun Belt, allowing 366.4 yards per game. Against Middle Tennessee, the Jaguars held the Blue Raiders to 20 points, 10 below their scoring average entering the game.

Louisiana-Lafayette’s offense ranks in the top half of the conference at 433.3 yards and 33.1 points per game. Last week the Ragin’ Cajuns piled up 582 yards against Western Kentucky, the Sun Belt’s top-ranked defense, and scored two touchdowns in the final three minutes to win 31-27.

Quarterback Terrance Broadway accounted for 403 yards in that game, rushing 14 times for 145 yards and completing 23 of 33 passes for 258 yards. For the season he has completed 65.7 percent of his passes and has 2,526 yards of total offense with 19 touchdowns, 13 passing and six rushing.

“Offensively they have really become much better, they are running their quarterback a lot more,” Jones said. “Earlier in the year they were careful to run him because they lost their other quarterback, but now they have Broadway in there and he is doing a great job running the football. He is scary when he pulls it down.”

“They have big offensive linemen who run the zone very well, they have a complete offense that you have to defend all over the field,” Jones added.

Preparation

Jones credited his staff’s weekly game planning and said limiting big plays remains the defensive priority.

“We do a great job every week preparing, I really want to compliment our staff and what they do scheme-wise to get ready for games,” Jones said. “Our players are buying into it, playing hard-nosed football and getting after it. If we don’t give up the big plays in games that we continue to talk about we would be doing great defensively.”

“We are preparing for this team like anyone else, but experience against some of the teams in this league has helped us,” he said.

Jaguars’ Passing Game

Louisiana-Lafayette’s defense allows 419.2 yards per game, including 266.8 through the air. South Alabama quarterback Ross Metheny has thrown for more than 200 yards in each of the Jaguars’ last six games.