DAVIS, Calif. — CJ Bennett threw a 45-yard touchdown pass to Courtney Smith with 5:29 remaining, and South Alabama held on when UC Davis missed a 34-yard field goal as time expired to give the Jaguars a 24-21 win Saturday night.
South Alabama overcame four turnovers and stayed unbeaten in its second season of play. UC Davis led 21-14 late in the third quarter before the Jaguars rallied.
Jones: ‘A Great Statement’
“We came through at the end, the defense did a great job,” South Alabama coach Joey Jones said. “We fumbled the ball on the 30, but we sacked them and made them kick a field goal that was fortunately wide right.”
Jones praised the Aggies, who won the Great West Conference last season and beat San Jose State earlier this year.
“I have to tell you, UC-Davis is a great, first-class football team,” Jones said. “We came out to California and beat an extremely good football team tonight. They have great players and are very well-coached team. We had so many setbacks during the game, whether it was penalties or turnovers, but never had the feeling we were out of the game. Our kids kept playing hard. It’s just a great statement for our program.”
“Are we Division I-A yet? No, but we’re probably close,” he added.
Fast Start
South Alabama opened the game with a 13-play, 74-yard drive that took six minutes, the Jaguars’ longest scoring drive of the season. Kendall Houston converted a fourth-and-1 at the UC Davis 31 with a 2-yard run and finished the drive with a 10-yard touchdown run.
After the defense forced a three-and-out, TJ Glover’s punt return set the Jaguars up in UC Davis territory, and Brennan Sim found Smith in the back of the end zone for a 13-yard touchdown. After a false start pushed the extra point back, McGlon missed the kick, but a personal foul on UC Davis gave him another try from closer range and he converted for a 14-0 lead with 6:32 left in the first quarter.
Aggies Rally
UC Davis answered with a drive highlighted by a 26-yard pass from Randy Wright to Sean Creadick, and Corbin Cutshaw scored on a 3-yard run with 2:49 left in the opening quarter.
Sim lost a fumble on South Alabama’s next possession, but UC Davis’ Sean Kelley missed a 41-yard field goal wide right. Sim threw an interception on the following drive, the first interception thrown by a Jaguar quarterback this season.
Bennett took over at quarterback and was sacked twice on his first series. Jonathan Cameron later intercepted Wright at the UC Davis 41, but the Jaguars could not convert.
Taking over at their own 15 with 1:53 left in the half, the Aggies went 84 yards in nine plays in hurry-up mode. Wright capped the drive with a touchdown pass to Creadick with 15 seconds left, tying the game 14-14 at halftime.
Davis Takes First Lead
Sim threw his second interception early in the third quarter. Later in the quarter, a South Alabama punt was fumbled but recovered by UC Davis at its own 21. Aided by a face mask penalty, the Aggies drove into Jaguar territory, and Wright threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to Tom Hemmingsen to give UC Davis a 21-14 lead.
Glover returned the ensuing kickoff 43 yards to midfield, and South Alabama turned to quarterback Myles Gibbon. Gibbon ran for 13 yards on one play and completed a 9-yard pass to Santuan McGee to help set up Jordan Means’ 39-yard field goal, which cut the lead to 21-17 late in the third quarter.
Go-Ahead Score
Bennett returned to lead the next drive into UC Davis territory, but the Jaguars turned the ball over on downs when a fourth-and-3 pass from the Aggie 28 fell incomplete.
After forcing a punt, South Alabama took over at its own 25 with 6:55 left. Bennett hit Jereme Jones for 14 yards, McGee ran for 16, and two plays later Bennett found Smith open down the sideline for a 45-yard touchdown and a 24-21 lead with 5:29 to play.
Wild Finish
UC Davis converted a fourth-and-10 on an 11-yard scramble by Wright, but Jake Johnson sacked Wright for an 8-yard loss, and the Aggies eventually punted on fourth-and-18 with 2:06 left.
Needing a first down to run out the clock, South Alabama faced third-and-1 at its own 32. A miscommunication between center Trey Clark and Bennett on a hard count produced a fumble that UC Davis recovered at the South Alabama 33 with 1:52 left.
Anthony Taylor sacked Wright for a 6-yard loss on first down. Wright answered with a 22-yard completion to Creadick to the Jaguar 17, but Taylor sacked him again for an 8-yard loss. UC Davis fumbled on the next play, and Josh Reese recovered at the 22 and advanced it to the 17. The Aggies used their final timeout with three seconds left, and Kelley’s 34-yard attempt sailed wide right as time expired.
Statistics
South Alabama finished with 369 yards of offense, 131 rushing and 238 passing. UC Davis had 347 yards, 109 on the ground and 238 through the air.
- Sim completed 13 of 18 passes for 116 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions.
- Bennett went 7-of-13 for 105 yards and a touchdown and was sacked twice.
- Gibbon completed both of his passes for 17 yards.
- McGee led the Jaguars with 53 rushing yards on eight carries, and Houston ran for 47 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries.
- Smith caught six passes for 105 yards and two touchdowns. Jereme Jones had four catches for 35 yards, and Corey Waldon caught three for 32.
- Glover totaled 150 all-purpose yards: 11 receiving, 93 on kickoff returns and 43 on punt returns.
- Scott Garber averaged 40 yards on four punts, with three downed inside the 20.
For UC Davis, Wright threw for 238 yards and two touchdowns with an interception. Creadick caught a game-high 12 passes for 147 yards and a touchdown, and Hemmingsen had three catches for 36 yards and a touchdown. Nick Aprile ran for 44 yards on seven carries. Kelley missed field goals from 41 and 34 yards, and Coulton Schmidt averaged just over 34 yards on eight punts.
South Alabama lost two fumbles and threw two interceptions. UC Davis threw one interception and fumbled twice, losing neither. The Jaguars were penalized nine times for 65 yards; UC Davis was flagged five times for 43 yards.
Up Next
South Alabama closes the season with three consecutive home games at Ladd-Peebles Stadium, starting Saturday, Oct. 30, against first-year program Georgia State and coach Bill Curry, the former Alabama head coach. Kickoff is set for 4 p.m.
