SAN DIEGO — South Alabama heads west this weekend to face San Diego State on Saturday night at Qualcomm Stadium, one week after a 48-9 loss at Nebraska. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. CDT.
Both teams are coming off losses to Power Five opponents. The Aztecs fell 35-7 at California last week.
Lessons From Lincoln
The Jaguars played in front of roughly 89,000 fans at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, where Nebraska extended its streak of consecutive sellouts to 342. South Alabama’s offensive line generally kept quarterback Cody Clements protected, but the Cornhuskers’ linebackers and secondary limited the Jaguars’ running game. Nebraska’s defensive front overmatched a younger South Alabama defensive line for much of the night. The Jaguars allowed the same number of points in each half.
Head coach Joey Jones said this week that he was unhappy with the performance.
“We have fared well against a lot of these teams — Mississippi State, Tennessee and South Carolina — so that was the first time we haven’t played well against a Power Five team,” Jones said at the weekly press conference. “I wasn’t real happy with the way we played overall.”
Jones said the film showed some positives. “Looking at the film there were some things we did well, I thought for the most part the offensive line protected the quarterback — and they have some first-round draft picks on that defensive front — that Cody [Clements] threw the ball well and stood in there and didn’t panic, and Josh [Magee] obviously had a great game at receiver,” he said.
He pointed to gap control on defense as the main problem. “Defensively we just didn’t fit the gaps. I preach to them all the time about being fundamental, making sure that you play your gap, and I don’t think we did that,” Jones said. He added that the Jaguars did not play well on special teams, where several freshmen saw action.
“When you play a team like Nebraska, they expose your weaknesses because a lot of times they have better cats than your cats, they are bigger and faster,” Jones said. “We have to see our weaknesses — we knew we had some, some that were obvious — to make them strengths by the time [Sun Belt] conference play gets here.”
Young Defense Gains Experience
Jones said South Alabama is playing four to five freshmen on defense regularly, along with other players with limited experience, and that the Nebraska trip should help them in similar settings.
“We can play all the loud music and fight song over speakers, but until they get out there and look around at 89,000 people it is just different,” Jones said. “You have to go through it to learn, but there’s no doubt we’ll be able to handle that better the next time because the young guys are coming along.”
Jaguar Statistical Leaders
Josh Magee caught six passes for 147 yards against Nebraska, including a 33-yard touchdown reception in the fourth quarter. Gerald Everett, Kevin Kutchera and Marvin Shinn each added three catches. Everett and Magee share the team lead with seven receptions apiece through two games.
Xavier Johnson leads the Jaguars with 149 rushing yards. Tyreis Thomas and Terrance Timmons have combined for 112 more.
On defense, Roman Buchanan and Blake Dees share the team lead with 20 tackles each. Buchanan led South Alabama for the first time in his career with a career-high 11 tackles at Nebraska. Jeremy Reaves has 15 tackles, two for loss. Kalen Jackson has 14 stops, Devon Earl 13 and Demarius Rancifer 12.
The Jaguars have forced four turnovers this season. E.J. May’s first interception of the year set up South Alabama’s only touchdown against Nebraska.
Scouting San Diego State
San Diego State runs a traditional I-formation offense built around a power running game, with counters, isolation plays and play-action passing. Donnell Pumphrey leads the Aztecs with 147 rushing yards, and Chase Price has added 101 yards on 19 carries, an average of 5.3 yards per attempt. Quarterback Maxwell Smith, a transfer from Kentucky, has completed 19 of 40 passes for 236 yards. Mikah Holder leads the team with five receptions, and Eric Judge and Pumphrey have four each.
The Aztecs return a veteran defense that includes several seniors and frequently shows multiple players at the line of scrimmage before the snap. Through two games, San Diego State is allowing 19 points and fewer than 340 yards per game, including just over 120 rushing yards per game.
Linebacker Jake Fely leads the team with 20 tackles. Fellow linebacker Calvin Munson has 17 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, three sacks, two interceptions returned for touchdowns and a fumble recovery.
Game Information
- Opponent: San Diego State Aztecs
- Site: Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, home of the NFL’s San Diego Chargers
- Kickoff: Saturday, 7 p.m. CDT
- Radio: 99.9 FM in Mobile and the Jaguar Sports Network statewide; worldwide on iHeartRadio
- Video: Free online stream from the Mountain West Network
