South Alabama WR Jalen Tolbert
Photo | Mike Kittrell
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With a 3-0 record to start the season, South Alabama faces its toughest test to date Saturday in its first Sun Belt Conference game of the year when the Jaguars entertain Louisiana at Hancock Whitney Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
The Jags are off to their best start ever as a Football Bowl Subdivision team, but the Ragin’ Cajuns bring a talented and favored team to Mobile. Louisiana was ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 preseason poll, but have since dropped out. But the Cajuns bring an overall record of 3-1 and a Sun Belt mark of 1-0 following last week’s win over Georgia Southern to Mobile.
“You look at Louisiana and what Billy Napier has built there and they have established a culture,” South Alabama head coach Kane Wommack said. “They are in Year 4 of their program, everything they have done in comparison to us is three-and-a-half years in advance. They have recruited in a certain way, they’ve set a team culture and an expectation day in and day out, and they are very locked in to what they do schematically.
“They have an identity, that identity is set and reinforced by the wins that they’ve carried; they are the standard bearer on our side of the league (West Division). I’m excited. I’ve watched the film and see a great opportunity for us. I see some things that we’ve done well to this point, and some things that we need to get better at, but it’s a tremendous opportunity for our program to just see where we are. You’re talking about the standard bearer on our side of the league and we get to go face off against them in our very first conference match up. Certainly it’s a concern, but it’s also a great opportunity to see where we are.
Louisiana owns a 7-2 advantage in the all-time series and has won the past five meetings between the two teams. That includes last year’s 38-10 victory. Napier is 3-0 against the Jags as head coach at Louisiana. Certainly, the Ragin’ Cajuns are one of South Alabama’s biggest rivals in the league.
“We have to match their physicality, they have a veteran group up front (on the offensive line),” South Alabama defensive coordinator Corey Batoon said of the Cajuns. “Their five [offensive] linemen have been somewhere in the 27- to 30-game starting range. They’ve played together for a long time and work as a unit. They had some great [running] backs in years past and this group that has replaced them, they haven’t missed a beat. Physicality is going to be huge for us.”
Louisiana is averaging 423 yards per game, compared to 355 for South Alabama. The Cajuns’ passing attack is good for 271.8 yards per game, adding 151.3 on the ground. The Jags average 228 passing yards and 127 rushing yards. On offense, South Alabama produces 27 points a game and allows 15.7 on defense. Louisiana scores 30.5 points a game but allows 24.
Levi Lewis, the All-Sun Belt preseason second-team quarterback selection, makes the Cajuns go. He has thrown for 1,047 yards and seven touchdowns and is dangerous as a runner as well. South Alabama quarterback Jake Bentley has thrown for 684 yards and two scores. His favorite target is Jalen Tolbert, who has 317 receiving yards and averages 22.6 yards per catch.
While the Jags have claimed seven turnovers, they have turned the ball over six times. Six of the turnovers have been on fumbles, four of which occurred in the Jags’ last game, a win over Alcorn State.
“Ball security might have been mentioned this week,” Wommack said. “I’ve said this before, but ball security is a program responsibility. That means if you are the head coach, the offensive coordinator, an offensive coach, it doesn’t just lie on your shoulders but on everybody in the building. If you carry water out to practice every day, you are part of our ball security in our program. That means harping on it, talking about it, having a reverence for the football everywhere it goes, and that means every single drill that we carry in practice is a ball security drill.”
The Jags’ offense looks to show improvement and will likely be called upon to score on a consistent basis in order to be successful against the Cajuns.
“We spent a lot of time working on ourselves, in terms of playing against our own schemes — a lot of fundamental work at all positions,” offensive coordinator Major Applewhite said. “And take a chance to go back and look at yourself through three games and see where you have deficiencies and focus on those. There were a lot of areas we hit on during the off week.”
NOTEBOOK
Defense ranks nationally
The South Alabama defense, called the Swarm D, is making noise nationally — at least in the NCAA rankings. Heading into this week’s game against Louisiana, the Jaguars’ defensive unit ranks No. 1 in the country in third down conversion defense (19 percent) and No. 1 in red zone defense (44.4 percent). The defense also tied for second in first downs allowed, No. 4 in rushing defense (55.3 yards per game), tied for 12th in team sacks (3.67 per game) and 25th in total defense (290.7 yards per game). The unit is also 19th in scoring defense, tied for 29th in turnovers gained and tied for 33rd in interceptions.
Individually, the Jags have players who are ranked high in the NCAA statistics. Diego Guajardo is tied for first nationally in field goal percentage at 100 percent (4 for 4), while Jalen Tolbert ranks No. 13 in receiving yards per game (105,7), No. 15 in yards per reception (22.64) and is tied for No. 42 in receiving yards (317). Yam Banks ranks tied for fifth in forced fumbles with 0.67 per game, while Darrell Luter Jr. ranks tied for 14th in passes defended at 1.7 per game. Kareem Walker ranks tied for 26th in scoring with 10.0 points per game and Jake Bentley ranks tied for 34th in completions per game with 20.0.
Ticket sales brisk
According to South Alabama assistant athletics director for external affairs Greg Keel, a good crowd is expected for Saturday’s South Alabama home game against Sun Belt Conference foe Louisiana. Keel said earlier this week he expects a crowd of between 17,500 and 18,000 fans to attend the game, which kicks off at 7 p.m. Those wishing to purchase tickets for the game, the first Sun Belt Conference game of the year for the Jaguars, may do so online at [email protected] or by phone at 251-461-1872.
‘Whiteout’ game
South Alabama officials have designated Saturday’s game against Louisiana as a “whiteout” game. Fans are encouraged to wear white to the game in support of the Jags. It is similar to the recent “whiteout” game at Penn State against Auburn. The first 10,000 fans in attendance Saturday will receive a white South Alabama T-shirt. The team is scheduled to wear white jerseys and pants for the game, as well.
West battles all in a row
With Saturday’s game against Louisiana starting things off, the Jags will face all four of its Sun Belt Conference West Division opponents in a row before the end of the month. They are also scheduled to play at Texas State on Oct. 9, at home against Georgia Southern on Thursday, Oct. 14 (ESPNU), at Louisiana-Monroe on Oct. 23 and at home against Arkansas State (homecoming) on Oct. 30. The remaining Sun Belt games will be against teams in the East Division — Nov. 6 at arch rival Troy, Nov. 13 at Appalachian State and Friday, Nov. 26 at home against Coastal Carolina. They also play SEC member Tennessee in Knoxville on Nov. 20.
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