SAN MARCOS, Texas — South Alabama (3-3, 1-1 Sun Belt) travels to face Texas State (1-4, 0-1 Sun Belt) this weekend, with Jaguars head coach Joey Jones stressing that his team must run the football to win on the road.
South Alabama opened conference play with a road win over rival Troy before returning home to lose to Arkansas State on Oct. 13. The Jaguars led the Red Wolves by 11 points early in the fourth quarter but lost by 18.
Texas State is coming off an open week after losing to Louisiana-Lafayette on Oct. 10.
A Short, Close Series
The two programs have met twice, and both games came down to the final seconds. In 2013 in San Marcos, South Alabama took a 31-30 lead, but Texas State won on a 41-yard field goal with four seconds remaining.
Last season in Mobile, the Jaguars went ahead 24-17 early in the fourth quarter and then held off a potential game-winning drive. On second-and-goal from the 4-yard line, a pass by Bobcats quarterback Tyler Jones fell incomplete in the end zone as time expired, giving South Alabama a 24-20 victory. The win made the Jaguars bowl eligible and led to a bowl invitation. Texas State finished that season 7-5 without a bowl bid.
Injury Report
Both teams have used the time between games to recover. Texas State is reportedly expected to be without a starting offensive lineman and one of its top two running backs.
For South Alabama, offensive lineman Cameron Blankenship will miss the game and could be out up to three weeks after having minor knee surgery following the Arkansas State game. Running back Xavier Johnson, who missed most of that game with a foot injury, is expected to be ready Saturday. Antiono Carter is set to return after missing the first half of the season with an injury sustained in the preseason.
By the Numbers
Texas State’s defense ranks last in the Sun Belt in scoring defense, total defense, pass defense, pass efficiency defense, interceptions, kickoff coverage, opponent field goal percentage and opponent third-down conversions. It ranks eighth of 11 teams in rushing defense.
The Bobcats’ offense ranks third in the conference in total offense at 458.4 yards per game and in scoring at 34 points per game, and second in passing at 258.2 yards per game.
Tyler Jones leads the Texas State offense with 1,501 yards of total offense, second in the Sun Belt. He has completed 62.3% of his passes for 1,154 yards and is the team’s leading rusher with 347 yards and five touchdowns on 58 carries. He ranks among the conference’s top five in passing yards per game and passing efficiency and eighth in rushing.
South Alabama’s defense ranks second in the Sun Belt against the pass, allowing fewer than 190 yards per game, and third in pass efficiency defense with a 130.22 rating. Roman Buchanan and Kalen Jackson each have two interceptions, and E.J. May and Jalen Thompson have broken up four and three passes, respectively. The Jaguars held Arkansas State to 345 yards, lowering their season average to below 400 yards allowed per game.
Jaguars Offense
Quarterback Cody Clements threw for a career-high 273 yards and three touchdowns against Arkansas State. He ranks third in the Sun Belt in passing yards per game at 234, sixth in total offense at 226.7 yards per game and seventh in passing efficiency at 123.5.
Josh Magee is fifth in the conference in receiving yards with 402 on only 14 catches. His lone reception against Arkansas State went for a 76-yard touchdown. Gerald Everett is sixth with 375 yards on 26 catches, and his seven touchdown receptions place him among the conference’s top 10 in scoring. He is also in the top 10 in receptions per game.
Johnson leads South Alabama with 410 rushing yards, and Tyreis Thomas has 251.
Jones: ‘We Have to Be Able to Run the Football’
Jones said South Alabama cannot expect to win simply by showing up, pointing to Texas State’s difficult schedule and a recent change on its coaching staff.
“With the teams they’ve played — Florida State, Louisiana-Lafayette, Southern Miss — they have had a tough schedule and a tough road,” Jones said. “They are very good on offense, but they lost their defensive coordinator a couple of weeks ago and are trying to fix things. I know (head coach) Dennis Franchione very well, he’s a great competitor who is going to have his team ready so we are looking forward to a great ballgame.”
Jones said the team can draw on road wins earlier this season at San Diego State and Troy. “When you go through a season there are going to be times when you do make mistakes and lose ballgames, you saw that this weekend across the country,” he said.
He identified the running game as the deciding factor.
“If you look at the games we’ve won we have run the ball well,” Jones said. “We didn’t run the ball well against Arkansas State. In the fourth quarter when you are ahead you have to run the football to run the clock, and we didn’t do that. But we ran the ball well against San Diego State and against Troy, and that translated into wins, so we know that we have to be able to run the football. Our coaches know that and our players know that.”
The numbers support that point. In South Alabama’s three wins, the Jaguars have averaged more than 200 rushing yards. In their three losses, they have averaged just over 30.
