MOBILE, Ala. — Louisiana-Monroe scored 28 unanswered points after South Alabama tied the game in the second quarter and beat the Jaguars 38-10 on Saturday at Ladd-Peebles Stadium, ending South Alabama’s nine-game unbeaten streak in homecoming games.
South Alabama fell to 2-8 overall and 1-5 in the Sun Belt Conference. Louisiana-Monroe improved to 6-4 and 4-2 in league play. It was the first win by a road team in the series between the two schools.
Fast Start for the Jaguars
After punting on its first possession, South Alabama got the ball right back when Louisiana-Monroe’s Marcus Green muffed the return and DJ Daniels recovered at the Warhawks’ 34-yard line. On the next play, Cephus Johnson threw a 34-yard touchdown pass to Jordan McCray for a 7-0 lead.
Louisiana-Monroe answered with 10 straight points to take a 10-7 lead into the second quarter. Early in the second period, South Alabama stalled in Warhawk territory and settled for a 31-yard field goal by Gavin Patterson that tied the game 10-10.
Warhawks Take Control
Louisiana-Monroe scored 14 points in the final 6:24 of the first half. With 2:01 remaining before halftime, the Warhawks blocked a 38-yard South Alabama field goal attempt and later scored with 22 seconds left in the half. The Warhawks scored on four straight possessions to end the first half.
Louisiana-Monroe forced a three-and-out on South Alabama’s first possession of the third quarter, then needed three plays to score again with 12:34 left in the period. The Warhawks added another touchdown on their next possession for the final margin. They had two touchdown drives of 80 or more yards in the second half.
Evans Efficient Through the Air
Louisiana-Monroe totaled 551 yards, 376 of them passing, with 26 first downs and an average of 7.6 yards per play.
Quarterback Caleb Evans completed 27 of 32 passes for 367 yards and two touchdowns and ran 12 times for 54 yards and two more scores. D’Marius Gillespie caught all seven passes thrown his way for 159 yards and a touchdown. Markis McCray had five catches for 41 yards, and Jonathan Hodoh caught a touchdown pass on his only reception. Eleven Warhawks caught passes.
Green ran for 68 yards and a touchdown on two carries.
South Alabama Offense Held to 218 Yards
South Alabama finished with 218 total yards, 129 passing and 89 rushing. The rushing total snapped a five-game streak of 100-yard rushing games.
Johnson, making his first career start in place of the injured Evan Orth, completed 1 of 4 passes for 34 yards and a touchdown. Cole Garvin played the second and third quarters and completed 13 of 19 passes for 95 yards. It was Garvin’s first appearance since the Oklahoma State game; he had been held out for disciplinary reasons.
Three South Alabama receivers caught three passes each, led by Jordan McCray with 45 yards and a touchdown. Tra Minter ran 12 times for 61 yards, and Johnson added 23 yards on nine carries.
Louisiana-Monroe was penalized once for 15 yards. South Alabama was flagged five times for 36 yards.
Campbell: ‘I Thought the Kids Fought Hard’
South Alabama head coach Steve Campbell said his team did what it wanted early but could not recover from the end of the first half and the start of the third quarter.
“I’m disappointed in the outcome of the game,” Campbell said. “I thought the kids fought hard and that we did some good things in the first half. We had talked about starting faster and I thought we did. I hated that we gave up the touchdown right before the half with 22 seconds left, which really hurt.”
“We didn’t start the third quarter the way we wanted to, we got the ball and wanted to take it down the field and make it a seven-point game; obviously we didn’t do that,” Campbell said. “I was proud of our guys for fighting back and keeping them off the scoreboard for most of the fourth quarter.”
Asked about his biggest concern with two games remaining, Campbell pointed to preparation.
“The things that you would be concerned about have already happened,” he said. “What you have to do now is make sure you prepare hard and put together a good plan. We have to be able to go out and execute it against Louisiana-Lafayette and then finish strong against Coastal Carolina.”
Up Next
South Alabama plays at Louisiana-Lafayette next Saturday at 4 p.m. The Ragin’ Cajuns are 5-5 and one win from bowl eligibility. The Jaguars close the season against Coastal Carolina.
