MOBILE, Ala. — South Alabama forced three first-half interceptions, held Marshall to 201 total yards and blanked the Thundering Herd 28-0 on Senior Day at Hancock Whitney Stadium on Saturday to become bowl-eligible.
La’Damian Webb ran for 117 yards and accounted for three scores, with a rushing touchdown, a receiving touchdown and a two-point conversion. Caullin Lacy caught nine passes for 126 yards and set up two scoring drives with punt returns as the Jaguars improved to 6-5 overall and 4-3 in the Sun Belt Conference. Marshall fell to 5-6 and 2-5.
The shutout was South Alabama’s first since a 2017 win over Alabama A&M and the first against an FBS opponent in program history. With the win, South Alabama is in position to play in bowl games in consecutive seasons for the first time.
Takeaways Set the Tone
Marshall turned the ball over on each of its first two possessions. Jalen Jordan intercepted Cole Pennington on the third play of the game, and Diego Guajardo converted a season-long 43-yard field goal.
On the third play of Marshall’s next drive, Jaden Voisin made his team-leading fourth interception of the season. The Jaguars again settled for a field goal, a 37-yarder by Guajardo with 8:38 left in the first quarter, for a 6-0 lead.
After a Marshall three-and-out, Lacy returned a punt to the South Alabama 49. The Jaguars needed four plays to score, with Carter Bradley throwing a 25-yard touchdown pass to Jamaal Pritchett. After a pass interference penalty on the first two-point attempt, Webb took a shovel pass from Bradley into the end zone for a 14-0 lead.
Another Lacy punt return gave South Alabama the ball at midfield. Braylon McReynolds ran 35 yards into the red zone, and a few plays later Bradley found Webb for an 8-yard touchdown and a 21-0 advantage. Marquise Robinson intercepted Pennington as time expired in the first half, South Alabama’s third pick of the half.
Defense Closes It Out
South Alabama opened the second half with a 13-play drive on which Webb carried 11 times, but his fourth-down dive from inside the 1 was ruled inches short of the goal line.
The game’s only second-half points came in the fourth quarter. Jamie Sheriff and Quentin Wilfawn pressured Pennington into an incomplete pass on fourth-and-7 at the South Alabama 46. Bradley then hit Lacy for 38 yards to the Marshall 6, and Webb ran the final 6 yards untouched for the last score.
Marshall had 80 total yards in the first half and never reached the red zone.
Statistical Leaders
Bradley completed 17 of 23 passes for 176 yards and two touchdowns. Desmond Trotter went 2 of 3 for 20 yards and ran twice for 13 yards late in the game.
Webb carried 24 times for 117 yards and caught two passes for 4 yards. McReynolds rushed for 53 yards on eight carries and caught five passes for 21 yards. Marco Lee Jr. added 30 yards on eight carries. Pritchett’s lone catch was his 25-yard touchdown.
Khalil Jacobs led the defense with five tackles, including one for loss, and a quarterback hurry. Jordan and Voisin each made four tackles and had an interception, and Voisin added a pass breakup.
Pennington completed 22 of 36 passes for 159 yards with three interceptions. Rasheen Ali ran for 55 yards on 16 carries and caught four passes for 41 yards, and Caleb Coombs had six catches for 23 yards.
Wommack Praises Defense
“Proud of the fight of our football team,” head coach Kane Wommack said. “We talk about adversity and working through adversity. Certainly, we’ve created adversity for ourselves this season and we’ve had to work through those things. I’m very proud of the last two weeks of our team doing hard things in hard times.”
Wommack said the defense is playing at a high level. “They’re playing fast, playing aggressive, we’re attacking the ball, we’re attacking the quarterback, and we were situationally dominant tonight on third and fourth down. They never got into the red zone,” he said.
He noted how difficult a shutout is to complete once a team builds a large lead and opponents become more aggressive. “As a defensive guy, shutouts are just fun,” Wommack said.
Banks Weighs Future
Along with the seniors honored before the game, redshirt junior Yam Banks was recognized. Banks said he has not decided whether to return for a fifth season or enter the NFL draft.
“I’m thinking about declaring, leaning towards it,” Banks said. “But it could be a possibility that I play a fifth year and stay.”
Up Next
South Alabama closes the regular season at Texas State next Saturday at Bobcat Stadium in San Marcos, Texas. The game will be televised by NFL Network, moving kickoff to 6 p.m.
