South Alabama Opens Sun Belt Play at Troy in First ‘Battle for the Belt’ After Loss to NC State

South Alabama opens Sun Belt Conference play Saturday at Troy in the first “Battle for the Belt,” with a championship-style belt to be presented to the winning program after the game.

Kickoff in Troy, Ala., is set for 6 p.m. on ESPN3. Troy has declared the game a “Black Out.” The game is the conference opener for first-year Troy head coach Neal Brown.

Coming Off NC State

The Jaguars are coming off a 63-13 loss to undefeated NC State, the most lopsided defeat in program history. South Alabama took a 7-0 lead less than two minutes into that game, when Cody Clements hit Chris Lewis for 47 yards on the opening play and later threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Gerald Everett. The Jaguars added only two field goals the rest of the way.

NC State entered the game averaging more than 440 yards and 40 points per game.

Clements completed 14 of 33 passes for 201 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. Lewis’ 47-yard catch was the Jaguars’ longest, and D.J. Vinson had a 45-yard reception and Marvin Shinn a 36-yarder. South Alabama was held to 45 rushing yards.

Jones Previews Troy

“We’re excited about this ballgame,” head coach Joey Jones said at his weekly news conference Monday. “Troy is a very good football team, and they have improved over last year. … Defensively they are much more sound. They are doing a good job of playing gap control. Offensively they really run the same stuff they have been, just a few wrinkles here or there with Neal coming in and calling some of the plays.”

Brown succeeded longtime coach Larry Blakeney, who retired at the end of last season.

Jones said Troy relies heavily on quick screens to the outside. “They are going to run eight to 10 of those a game. That’s just part of what they do and part of what he has always done,” Jones said. “They do it at a fast pace, similar to what we’re doing. I think our defense has had good practice against it from working against us all summer.”

“They are very well-coached and they’re in the gaps they are supposed to be in; they are very gap sound,” Jones said of the Trojans’ defense. “That’s the best thing they do.”

“Our goals are to win the conference and get in a bowl game,” Jones said. “It’s a great start this week, and we have eight games in a row, but we are going to take them all one game at a time. … It’s not going to be about the emotion of the game. It’s going to be about who is the best team: who can block, tackle, function and execute.”

The Series

South Alabama won last season’s meeting 27-13 in Mobile for its first victory in the series, which Troy leads 2-1. Both teams are coming off losses to Power Five opponents, and Troy had an open date last weekend.

By the Numbers

South Alabama averages 22 points and 377.2 yards per game. Troy averages 22.7 points and 311.3 yards.

• Xavier Johnson leads the Jaguars with 320 rushing yards at 7.3 yards per carry, and Tyreis Thomas has 157 yards at nearly five yards per carry.
• Clements has completed 69 of 122 passes for 926 yards with five touchdowns and five interceptions.
• Everett leads South Alabama with 18 catches for 305 yards and three touchdowns. Josh Magee and Vinson also have double-digit receptions.
• Troy running back Brandon Burks has 236 yards and three touchdowns in three games.
• Trojans quarterback Brandon Silvers has completed 55 of 79 passes (69.6 percent) for 575 yards and three touchdowns without an interception.
• Teddy Ruben leads Troy with 12 catches for 146 yards and two touchdowns, and John Johnson has eight catches for 105 yards.

Turnovers

South Alabama has forced five turnovers this season, none against NC State, and has committed nine, with five interceptions and four lost fumbles. Troy has forced one turnover and lost three, two fumbles and an interception.