South Alabama and Idaho meet Saturday with both teams looking for their first Sun Belt Conference victory of the 2014 season. Kickoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. CDT.
The Jaguars enter the game 0-1 in conference play.
Jaguar Offense Looks for Points
South Alabama returned nine of 11 offensive starters from last season, but the Jaguars have struggled to score through their first three games. After putting up 16 first-half points against Kent State, South Alabama has scored 16 points over its last 10 quarters, including seven in the second half of games during that span.
The Jaguars are averaging 10.7 points per game, 11th in the Sun Belt. Their best conference ranking on offense is in rushing, where they average 130.0 yards per game.
Idaho Leads League in Passing
Idaho enters with the Sun Belt’s top passing offense at 346.3 yards per game. The Vandals rank last in the conference in rushing at 75.7 yards per game but are averaging 29.3 points per game.
South Alabama’s defense ranks in the top half of the Sun Belt in several categories, including scoring defense (25.3 points per game, fifth) and passing defense (174.7 yards per game, fourth).
Statistical Comparison
Season averages and Sun Belt rankings entering Saturday’s game:
Offense
- Scoring offense: South Alabama 10.7 (11th); Idaho 29.3 (6th)
- Total offense: South Alabama 329.3 (9th); Idaho 422.0 (6th)
- Rushing offense: South Alabama 130.0 (7th); Idaho 75.7 (11th)
- Passing offense: South Alabama 199.3 (10th); Idaho 346.3 (1st)
- Pass efficiency: South Alabama 92.0 (11th); Idaho 130.3 (4th)
- Sacks allowed: South Alabama 12 (tied 9th); Idaho 11 (8th)
- First downs per game: South Alabama 20.7 (10th); Idaho 23.7 (7th)
- Third-down conversions: South Alabama 17 of 49, 34.7 percent (10th); Idaho 25 of 54, 46.3 percent (5th)
- Fourth-down conversions: South Alabama 1 of 4 (tied 9th); Idaho 6 of 7 (tied 1st)
- Red zone conversions: South Alabama 3 of 6 (11th); Idaho 8 of 10 (tied 5th)
Defense
- Scoring defense: South Alabama 25.3 (5th); Idaho 39.7 (9th)
- Total defense: South Alabama 403.7 (6th); Idaho 507.7 (11th)
- Rushing defense: South Alabama 229.0 (8th); Idaho 221.7 (7th)
- Passing defense: South Alabama 174.7 (4th); Idaho 286.0 (11th)
- Pass defense efficiency: South Alabama 123.0 (5th); Idaho 172.0 (11th)
- Opponent first downs per game: South Alabama 19.0 (4th); Idaho 23.3 (tied 9th)
- Opponent third-down conversions: South Alabama 19 of 43, 44.2 percent (7th); Idaho 13 of 35, 37.1 percent (3rd)
- Opponent red zone conversions: South Alabama 7 of 9 (4th); Idaho 12 of 14 (6th)
Special Teams and Turnovers
- Kickoff return average: South Alabama 23.9 (2nd); Idaho 18.4 (9th)
- Punt return average: both teams 2.0 (tied 9th)
- Punting average: South Alabama 36.2 (7th); Idaho 44.1 (1st)
- Field goals: South Alabama 1 of 2 (tied 7th); Idaho 3 of 3 (tied 1st)
- Penalty yards per game: South Alabama 30.7 (4th); Idaho 76.7 (10th)
- Turnover margin: South Alabama -1 (8th); Idaho -5 (9th)
Upcoming Stretch
Saturday’s game opens a five-game stretch for South Alabama against opponents with a combined record of 3-15. Idaho and Troy, both on that stretch of the schedule, have yet to win a game this season.
How to Follow
The radio pregame show begins at 3 p.m. CDT on WMXC 99.9 FM, with JD Byars calling play-by-play and Pat Greenwood providing color commentary. The game will also be available on ESPN3.
Update: About the Kibbie Dome
Saturday’s game will be South Alabama’s first visit to the Kibbie Dome in Moscow, Idaho. Officially the William H. Kibbie-ASUI Activity Center, the domed facility seats 16,000, the smallest venue in Division I FBS. Its record crowd is 17,600 for Idaho’s 1989 rivalry game against Boise State. The building also hosts Idaho basketball, tennis and indoor track and field; for basketball it is known as the Cowan Spectrum.
The facility replaced the wooden Neale Stadium, which was condemned before the 1969 season and later destroyed by fire. Concrete grandstands went up beginning in February 1971, and the still-unfinished stadium opened Oct. 9, 1971, with a 40-3 Idaho win over Idaho State before 14,200 fans. It was open-air through 1974. An arched wooden roof built by Trus-Joist was finished in time for the Sept. 27, 1975, season opener after about 10 months of work at a cost of $1 million, and it won a Structural Engineering Achievement Award from the American Society of Civil Engineers in 1976. The roof spans 400 feet and rises 150 feet above the hash marks.
The stadium is named for William H. Kibbie, a Salt Lake City construction executive whose $300,000 gift in 1974 started the fundraising. After roof leak problems, a new composite superstructure was completed in 1982 along with an East End addition housing locker rooms and athletic offices. Safety upgrades in 2009 and 2011 replaced both end walls with translucent upper panels and added a new press box above the north grandstand. The field has been RealGrass Pro synthetic turf since 2007, laid in five-yard sections that can be removed to expose the tartan surface used for track and tennis.
