MOBILE, Ala. — South Alabama senior running back Jay Jones, the Jaguars’ leading rusher, is likely to miss the rest of the season after injuring his left leg during the game-winning drive against Georgia State on Saturday night.
Jones was scheduled to undergo an MRI on Monday, according to a South Alabama assistant athletic trainer, but early indications are that his season is over.
Injured on Decisive Drive
Jones was hurt on the second play of South Alabama’s three-play, 85-yard go-ahead drive. On the first play, quarterback Brandon Bridge kept the ball and ran 65 yards to the Georgia State 20-yard line.
Jones took the next handoff up the right side into a pile of players for a 2-yard gain. Near the end of the play he appeared to lose the ball, but the nearest official ruled him down, and a replay review did not find enough evidence to overturn the call. Jones was helped off the field without putting weight on his left leg.
On the next snap, Bridge threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to Danny Woodson II to give South Alabama the lead.
Coach Reacts
“You hate it for a guy who’s such a great leader and such a great player; you hate it for him first and you hate it for us as a team second to lose a really good football player and leader,” head coach Joey Jones told AL.com after practice Sunday night. “We don’t know the final verdict yet, but it doesn’t look good right now.”
Several of Jay Jones’ teammates posted messages of support on social media after the game.
Production
Jones, a 5-foot-9, 195-pound back from Horn Lake, Mississippi, came to South Alabama after two seasons at Northeast Mississippi Community College.
He leads the Jaguars this season with 393 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 83 carries, and he has seven receptions for 49 yards. He was also South Alabama’s leading rusher in 2013, with 737 yards and five touchdowns on 143 carries. In his South Alabama career, he has 1,130 yards and eight touchdowns on 226 carries.
Next Men Up
Senior Kendall Houston, redshirt freshman Xavier Johnson, Terrance Timmons and T.J. Glover are expected to share the carries. Houston has 209 yards on 48 attempts this season, Johnson has 188 yards on 34 carries, most of them in recent weeks, and Timmons has 81 yards on nine carries.
“We’ve got Xavier (Johnson), we’ve got Kendall (Houston) and we’ve got Terrance (Timmons) and T.J. Glover is actually in the mix,” the coach said. “We’re pretty deep at running back for this year so I think those guys will step up.”
Short Week Before Troy
South Alabama hosts in-state rival Troy on Friday night at Ladd-Peebles Stadium in a nationally televised game. Because of the short week, players will not get their usual Monday off; instead, the team will hold its normal Tuesday-style practice Monday morning and move its weekly schedule up by a day.
