MOBILE, Ala. — South Alabama plays its first home game of the 2023 season Saturday afternoon at Hancock Whitney Stadium against Southeastern Louisiana, the defending Southland Conference champion.
Both teams are 0-1. South Alabama lost 37-17 at No. 24 Tulane in New Orleans, and Southeastern Louisiana lost 48-7 at Mississippi State. South Alabama opened as a 10-point favorite, and the line has settled at 9.5.
The Jaguars have won eight straight games against FCS opponents, though several have been close. South Alabama beat Alcorn State 28-21 in 2021 and needed two overtime stops to beat Nicholls 41-40 in 2016. The Jaguars lost 22-21 to Southern Utah to open the 2013 season.
Two Losses in New Orleans
South Alabama’s last two games have both been played in New Orleans. The Jaguars finished a 10-2 regular season in 2022, head coach Kane Wommack’s second season, before losing 44-23 to Western Kentucky in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl.
Against Tulane, quarterback Michael Pratt completed 14 of 15 passes for 294 yards, including touchdown passes of 47, 47 and 48 yards. Running back La’Damian Webb lost a fumble on the second play from scrimmage, and South Alabama trailed 10-0 before cutting the deficit to a field goal early in the second quarter. After Tulane’s two long touchdown passes, the Jaguars answered with a field goal late in the first half and a later touchdown to pull within seven points.
Wommack said on his weekly radio show that opportunities like a game against a ranked opponent do not come back, and that the team must live with the result. He identified problems in the secondary and on the offensive line. Wommack said the offensive line correctly identified Tulane’s defensive schemes but did not block consistently, and that defensive backs were caught looking into the backfield.
Jaguars’ Performance at Tulane
Quarterback Carter Bradley completed 23 of 30 passes for 190 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions and was sacked five times. Procedural penalties on several third-and-short situations turned two potential first downs into sacks.
Webb ran for 40 yards on nine carries. Kentrel Bullock, in his South Alabama debut, had 12 carries for 37 yards and three catches for 19 yards. Braylon McReynolds had two carries for 9 yards before leaving with an injury.
Jamaal Pritchett led the team with 63 receiving yards on five catches, and Caullin Lacy had a team-high seven catches for 60 yards. Devin Voisin caught a 7-yard touchdown pass.
South Alabama’s defense held Tulane to 36 rushing yards in the first half before the Green Wave found more success on the ground late in the third quarter. Makhi Hughes led Tulane with 41 rushing yards, two more than Pratt.
Kicker Diego Guajardo was short on a 53-yard attempt in the first quarter but made a 36-yarder in the second, breaking a tie with Aleem Sunanon for South Alabama’s career scoring record. Guajardo now has 244 career points. Punter Jack Martin had one punt for 45 yards.
Southeastern Louisiana Under Frank Scelfo
Frank Scelfo has been named Southland Coach of the Year twice since becoming Southeastern Louisiana’s head coach in January 2018. He is 34-24 overall and 25-13 in conference play. Last season the Lions went 9-4, won their first Southland title since 2014 and reached the second round of the FCS playoffs for the third time under Scelfo. Seventeen Lions were named to the 2023 preseason all-conference team.
Scelfo’s nephew, Joseph Scelfo, was a starting center at South Alabama before transferring to NC State as a graduate transfer in 2016.
Lions Offense
Under offensive coordinator Greg Stevens, Southeastern Louisiana averaged 35.3 points and 439.8 yards per game in 2022. Former South Alabama quarterback Cephus Johnson finished his college career with the Lions last season and signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ practice squad. In 2021, Stevens coached Cole Kelley, who threw for 5,124 yards and 44 touchdowns with a 73.6 percent completion rate and ran for 491 yards and 16 touchdowns, earning Southland Player of the Year, consensus All-America honors and runner-up finish for the Walter Payton Award.
Against Mississippi State, the Lions managed 208 total yards: 125 passing and 83 rushing. Starter Eli Sawyer completed 11 of 19 passes for 85 yards in the first half before Zachary Clement went 5 of 9 for 40 yards and a touchdown. Sawyer and Clement were named to the preseason all-conference first and second teams, respectively. Harlan Dixon ran for 51 yards on eight carries and led the team with four catches for 42 yards. Rodeo Graham Jr. ran for 23 yards, and Darius Lewis had three catches for 25 yards.
Lions Defense and Special Teams
Defensive coordinator Bill D’Ottavio is in his third season with the Lions and his second calling plays. In 2022, Southeastern Louisiana ranked 10th in the FCS in turnovers forced with 24, fifth in interceptions with 16 and 11th in defensive touchdowns with three. D’Ottavio was previously defensive coordinator at Samford for 13 seasons.
Defensive back Ian Goodly had 15 tackles against Mississippi State. Linebacker Herman Christophe had 10, and linebacker Anthony Britton Jr. had nine tackles and a forced fumble. Defensive back Khamron Ford recorded the Lions’ only sack.
Senior punter Austin Dunlap averaged 46.3 yards on seven punts against Mississippi State and has a career average of 42.5 yards. Placekicker Riley Callaghan, a Stats Perform Freshman All-American last season, made 15 of 18 field goals with a long of 47 and 42 of 44 extra points in 2022.
Injury Report
Jalen Jordan left the Tulane game early with a foot injury and is listed as questionable. McReynolds suffered a shoulder injury on a kickoff return, and Wommack said he is very questionable for Saturday. Yam Banks left in the second half after forcing a fumble and entered concussion protocol; coaches believe he will be cleared but his availability is not guaranteed.
Without McReynolds, Webb, Bullock, Marco Lee, redshirt freshman Jonathon Carter and three true freshmen make up South Alabama’s running back group.
South Alabama plays at Oklahoma State in Stillwater in its third game of the season.
