HATTIESBURG, Miss. — South Alabama will try to extend its program record for wins Saturday when the Jaguars visit Southern Miss seeking a ninth regular-season victory.
South Alabama (8-2, 5-1 Sun Belt Conference) set a program record with its seventh win, over Georgia Southern two weeks ago, guaranteeing a winning regular-season record, and secured a winning season overall with an eighth win last Saturday against Texas State. Before this season, the program’s best finishes were 6-7 records in 2014 and 2016, when the Jaguars lost their bowl games, and a 6-6 mark in 2013 without a bowl invitation. This is the second season under head coach Kane Wommack.
Air Attack Topples Texas State
After two wins driven by running back La’Damian Webb and the ground game, South Alabama beat Texas State 38-21 through the air. Quarterback Carter Bradley threw for 274 yards and a career-high four touchdown passes, tying a program single-game record. Devin Voisin caught six passes for career highs of 118 yards and two touchdowns. Caullin Lacy had three catches for 58 yards and a touchdown, and Texas State held Jalen Wayne to three catches for 27 yards.
South Alabama scored on a 41-yard touchdown pass on the fourth play of the game, and James Miller sacked Texas State quarterback Layne Hatcher on the Bobcats’ first offensive play. The Jaguars led 17-0 at halftime. South Alabama converted all six of its fourth-down attempts, and Ke’Shun Brown sealed the game with an interception return for a touchdown.
Webb left the game with an injury. Coaches have not indicated serious concern about it.
West Division Race
South Alabama is tied atop the Sun Belt West Division with Troy, which holds the tiebreaker by virtue of its head-to-head win. To overtake the Trojans, the Jaguars must win at Southern Miss and at home against Old Dominion, and Troy must lose to either Louisiana-Monroe or Arkansas State.
Southern Miss
Southern Miss (5-5, 3-3 Sun Belt), in its first season in the conference after leaving Conference USA, needs one more win for bowl eligibility. The Golden Eagles opened with a 29-27 four-overtime home loss to Liberty and a 30-7 loss at Miami before beating Northwestern State 64-10 and upsetting Tulane, now 8-2 and No. 21 in the AP poll. After a 27-10 loss at Troy, they beat Arkansas State 20-19, Texas State 20-14 and Louisiana-Lafayette 39-24. They have since lost 42-14 at home to Georgia State and 26-23 at East Division champion Coastal Carolina.
The Golden Eagles average 25.1 points, 324.6 total yards, 213.2 passing yards and 111.4 rushing yards per game. They have converted 35.4 percent of third downs and 62.5 percent of fourth downs, and have scored on 22 of 29 red zone trips, 12 of them touchdowns.
Head coach Will Hall has used at least four quarterbacks, and at least two running backs have thrown passes. Freshman Zach Wilcke has completed 100 of 175 passes (57.1 percent) for 1,151 yards, eight touchdowns and nine interceptions in eight games. Redshirt junior Trey Lowe is 27-of-54 for 458 yards, two touchdowns and an interception, and sophomore Jake Lange is 11-of-21 for 110 yards.
Senior Jason Brownlee leads the receivers with 44 catches for 687 yards and six touchdowns. Freshman Tiaquelin Mims has 23 catches for 361 yards and two touchdowns, junior Jakarius Caston has 22 catches for 272 yards and three touchdowns, and tight end Cole Cavallo has 15 catches for 145 yards and a touchdown. Sophomore running back Frank Gore Jr. leads the team with 788 rushing yards and five touchdowns on 163 carries and has 16 catches for 177 yards. Janari Dean has 134 yards and three touchdowns.
The Southern Miss defense allows 24.5 points, 377 total yards, 236.2 passing yards and 140.8 rushing yards per game. Opponents have converted 36.2 percent of third downs and 16.7 percent of fourth downs, and have scored on 27 of 31 red zone trips. Malik Shorts leads the team with 74 tackles and shares the team lead with three interceptions with Jay Stanley, who also has five pass breakups, three forced fumbles and a fumble recovery. Dominic Quewon and Averie Habas lead the pass rush.
Kicker Briggs Bourgeois is 13-of-14 on field goals with a long of 53 yards. Punter Mason Hunt averages 42.8 yards with 23 punts downed inside the 20.
South Alabama by the Numbers
The Jaguars average 32.9 points, 427.6 total yards, 266.3 passing yards and 161.3 rushing yards per game. They have converted 42.6 percent of third downs and 63.2 percent of fourth downs, and have scored on 36 of 43 red zone trips, 27 of them touchdowns.
Bradley has completed 208 of 323 passes (64.4 percent) for 2,555 yards, 19 touchdowns and seven interceptions. Wayne has 49 catches for 697 yards and seven touchdowns, Lacy has 51 catches for 673 yards and four touchdowns, and Voisin has 44 catches for 585 yards and three touchdowns. Webb has 941 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns on 179 carries. Marco Lee has 214 yards and four touchdowns, Omni Wells has 180 yards and Braylon McReynolds has 155 yards. Lee rushed for 57 yards against Texas State.
The South Alabama defense allows 19.3 points, 295.2 total yards, 209.9 passing yards and 85.3 rushing yards per game. Opponents have converted 26.9 percent of third downs and have scored on 22 of 29 red zone trips, 15 of them touchdowns. Miller leads with 58 tackles, one more than Trey Kiser, who shares the team lead in tackles for loss with CJ Rias at nine each. Jamie Sheriff leads with five sacks, and Rias has four. Yam Banks has five interceptions and Brown has two.
Diego Guajardo missed his first field goal of the season against Texas State and is 13-of-14 with a long of 48 yards. Jack Brooks averages 42.2 yards on 49 punts.
Series and Line
South Alabama is 2-0 against Southern Miss after the teams completed a home-and-home series last season. The Jaguars are 7.5-point favorites.
