HATTIESBURG, Miss. — South Alabama can become bowl eligible for the third consecutive season with a win Saturday at Southern Miss, one week after becoming the first Sun Belt Conference team this season to beat Louisiana-Lafayette.
The Jaguars (5-5, 4-2 Sun Belt) won in Lafayette last week, handing the Ragin’ Cajuns their first conference loss and keeping South Alabama’s hopes for a West Division title alive. A sixth win would make South Alabama bowl eligible in Major Applewhite’s first season as head coach.
Southern Miss (1-9, 0-6 Sun Belt) has lost eight consecutive games and has scored three points in each of its last two, losing 37-3 to Marshall and 58-3 to Texas State. The Golden Eagles’ lone win came against FCS opponent Southeastern Louisiana, 35-10.
South Alabama is a 22.5-point favorite and is 4-0 all-time against Southern Miss. The game will be played at M.M. Roberts Stadium, known as The Rock.
Southern Miss Under Interim Coach Reed Stringer
Southern Miss dismissed head coach Will Hall the day after a 44-28 home loss to Arkansas State. Hall went 14-30 at Southern Miss. Since the coaching change, the Golden Eagles have scored 21 total points in three games.
Reed Stringer is serving as interim head coach. Stringer was in his fourth season as assistant head coach and general manager and his seventh year overall in the program. He joined the Southern Miss staff in 2018 under Jay Hopson as an offensive quality control coach, began coaching tight ends in 2019 and remained through the 2020 season, when Hopson stepped down and the program had three head coaches. He stayed on staff after Hall was hired. Before Southern Miss, Stringer spent seven seasons at Louisiana-Lafayette as assistant head coach, recruiting coordinator and tight ends coach.
Southern Miss will honor two seniors on senior day Saturday.
Golden Eagles Offense
Ethan Crawford leads Southern Miss in pass attempts, completing 50 of 120 (41.7 percent) for 849 yards with no touchdowns and seven interceptions. Tate Rodemaker has completed 65 of 107 passes (60.8 percent) for 643 yards with four touchdowns and five interceptions.
Larry Simmons leads the receivers with 318 yards on 20 catches, and Tiaquelin Mims has a team-high 25 receptions for 287 yards. Four other receivers have between 10 and 13 catches, and Kyirin Heath leads the team with two touchdown receptions.
Rodrigues Clark is the leading rusher with 468 yards and a touchdown on 104 carries. Kenyon Clay has 320 yards and six touchdowns on 61 attempts, and Crawford has 211 yards and three touchdowns on 97 carries.
Golden Eagles Defense and Special Teams
Tre’ Pinkney leads the defense with 67 tackles, 33 solo, 3.5 tackles for loss and a half sack. Chris Jones has 46 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, a sack and an interception. Dylan Lawrence leads the team with two interceptions, and Jalil Clemons and Ryan Johnson share the team lead with three sacks each.
Punter Bryce Lofton averages 44.96 yards per punt with 14 downed inside the 20, 14 of 50 or more yards and a long of 57. Kicker Connor Gibbs has made all eight field goal attempts with a long of 54 yards. Andrew Stein is 0 for 3 on field goals.
South Alabama Offense
South Alabama ranks third in the Sun Belt in scoring offense, rushing offense, total offense and time of possession. Nationally, the Jaguars rank 25th in rushing offense and scoring offense, 23rd in total offense and 45th in time of possession. They have thrown only three interceptions, third-fewest nationally, rank 13th in turnovers lost with eight and are sixth in punt returns at 17.5 yards per return.
Quarterback Gio Lopez has completed 174 of 265 passes (65.9 percent) for 2,174 yards with 14 touchdowns and three interceptions. He ranks 17th nationally in total offense, 24th in yards per pass attempt and 25th in completion percentage and passing efficiency. Lopez has also rushed for 427 yards and six touchdowns on 70 carries.
Jamaal Pritchett leads the team with 73 catches for 939 yards and seven touchdowns. He ranks seventh nationally in receptions per game, eighth in receiving yards and receiving yards per game, 28th in receiving touchdowns and 33rd in all-purpose yards.
Jeremiah Webb has 24 catches for 364 yards and two touchdowns, Devin Voisin has 28 catches for 332 yards and Shemar Sandgren has 16 catches for 176 yards and a touchdown.
Fluff Bothwell leads the ground game with 649 yards and a team-high 10 touchdowns on 100 carries, ranking 30th nationally in rushing touchdowns and 41st in total touchdowns. Kentrel Bullock has 630 yards and six touchdowns on 111 carries and ranks 42nd nationally in yards per carry.
South Alabama Defense
The Jaguars rank second in the Sun Belt in rushing defense, fourth in third-down defense and red zone defense, fifth in scoring defense, sixth in first-down and fourth-down defense and seventh in total defense. Nationally, South Alabama ranks 19th in passes intercepted with 12, 34th in turnovers gained with 16, 40th in punt return defense at 5.38 yards and 44th in rushing defense at 127.6 yards per game.
Linebacker Blayne Myrick leads the team with 75 tackles, 33 solo, six tackles for loss and a sack. Jordan Scruggs has 53 tackles, three tackles for loss and an interception.
Safety Jaden Voisin set South Alabama’s career interceptions record last week. He ranks seventh nationally in interceptions this season and has 52 tackles, 30 solo.
Special Teams
Punter Aleksi Pulkkinen averages 41.3 yards per punt with 14 downed inside the 20 and two of 50 or more yards. Kicker Laith Marjan has made 15 of 16 field goals (93.8 percent), with his only miss coming from beyond 50 yards.
Two Games Remaining
South Alabama played well in the first half of each of its last two games before struggling after halftime, losing to Georgia Southern and holding on to beat Louisiana-Lafayette. The Jaguars’ most recent complete performances came against Appalachian State and in a lopsided win over Louisiana-Monroe.
After Saturday, South Alabama has one regular-season game remaining. The Jaguars would need help from other results to reach the Sun Belt Championship Game.
