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TUCSON, Ariz. – Looking for its first-ever postseason bowl victory, the University of South Alabama football program built a 21-3 advantage early in the second quarter. But two scores in the final two minutes before the break swung the momentum, as Air Force would record 42 unanswered points to defeat the Jaguars 45-21 in the NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl Friday at Arizona Stadium.
With the win the Falcons improved to 10-3, while USA finished the season with a 6-7 overall mark.
"My hat goes off to Air Force; they are a really good football team and they are 10-3 for a reason. They have 10 seniors on defense and they are solid," said South head coach Joey Jones. "They outplayed us in the second half, obviously with it tied 21-21 at the half. They hit a long touchdown pass [on their first play] and kind of took it from there. We had some turnovers on offense that kind of hurt us. They have a really good program though."
A pair of big plays help the Jaguars build a 14-3 advantage at the end of the opening quarter. Dallas Davis hit Josh Magee for a 75-yard touchdown on the opening play from scrimmage — the first time in program history that USA has scored on its first snap from scrimmage — while later in the period he found Chris Lewis for a 51-yard gain with the Jags facing third-and-10. Two plays later, Dami Ayoola crossed the goal line from two yards out gave South two touchdowns on as many drives and an 11-point lead with just over six minutes to go in the quarter.
"Coach [Bryant] Vincent just called up a great play to start off the game and Dallas gave me a great ball. I was just able to catch it and run it in," Magee said of the opening score. "We had been practicing that all week and we knew what look we were going to get and we executed."
Magee's 37-yard reception, followed by runs of 13 and 10 yards from Ayoola, set up a four-yard touchdown run by Davis that extended the Jaguar lead to 21-3 less than five minutes into the second quarter.
But that would be the final points for South in the contest.
Jalen Robinette made a 49-yard catch on the Falcons' ensuing drive, then appeared to score on the next snap with a one-handed grab for a 28-yard completion, but AF was called for an ineligible receiver downfield. Instead, Tim McVey recorded a 29-yard rush to the USA-4, but Devon Earl had back-to-back tackles and Zach Befort stopped Tyler Williams for one yard on third down as the Falcons had to settle for a 22-yard Luke Strebel field goal that made the score 21-6 six-and-a-half minutes before the intermission.
Following an eight-yard punt on the Jags' next possession, the Falcons needed to drive 35 yards in only four plays before Ronald Cleveland's 14-yard run drew AF to within eight, 21-13, with a minute and 49 seconds left in the second period. Two plays later the ball slipped out of Davis' hand, with the resulting fumble recovered by Santo Coppola and returned five yards to the USA-1. After holding Arion Worthman to no gain on first down, Jacobi Owens scored with 25 seconds remaining in the quarter; with the two-point conversion pass successful from Worthman to Robinette following an offside call on USA on the extra-point attempt, the two teams were tied 21-21 at the half.
"I think it could have been in several places, but when we punted the ball out of bounds and they got the ball [with a short field] and then the turnover after that that gave them the ball at the one-yard line. They were able to score two quick touchdowns and I think that was probably the turning point of the game," said South head coach Joey Jones. "In those situations though you have to be able to handle that and come out of it, and we didn't. We never got control back after that point."
The Falcons matched USA's start to the game in the second half, taking their first lead of the night when Worthman found Robinette for a 75-yard touchdown pass on the initial snap of the third quarter. Williams scored on a six-yard run to cap a 12-play, 75-yard march to help AF extend to a 35-21 lead with six-and-a-half minutes to go in the period while with two minutes left in the quarter Strebel converted a 37-yard field goal to push the Falcon advantage to 17.
AF followed on its next possession with a drive that took more than seven minutes off the clock before Owens reached the end zone on a 22-yard run that made the score 45-21 with just over nine minutes remaining in the contest.
The Jaguar defense allowed just 85 yards in the first quarter to help USA hold a 276-208 advantage in total offense at the half. But the Falcons would finish the night with 460 yards of total offense — with 253 coming on the ground and 207 through the air — while limiting the Jags to just 37 yards over the last 30 minutes.
In addition to completing 7-of-10 pass attempts, Worthman carried 21 times for 71 yards to be voted the game's Offensive Most Valuable Player. Owens had a game-high 74 yards rushing, while Robinette posted 124 yards on a pair of receptions.
"The main goal for us was to stop the dive first because that was where most of their offense had been coming from," said junior linebacker Darrell Songy. "They started beating us on some big pass plays, which was something we hadn't seen from them too much on film."
Weston Steelhammer led AF with five stops, intercepted a pass and forced a fumble, and was chosen the Defensive MVP for those efforts. Lochlin Deeks posted three tackles including a sack and Jesse Washington was credited with three solo stops and a pass defensed as the Falcons recorded three takeaways and limited the Jags to just over 19-and-a-half minutes time of possession including less than eight after the break.
Songy paced all players with a career-best 16 stops — the most by a Jaguar this fall — with two behind the line of scrimmage, while both Randy Allen and Devon Earl finished with nine stops each; both had a sack, and the latter made a career-high three tackles for loss. Jeremy Reaves collected eight stops and Roman Buchanan chipped in with six including two for loss, and Chason Milner had a pair of sacks as well.
Davis concluded the period 4-of-6 passing for 153 yards, finishing the night by throwing for 245 yards. Magee led all players with five receptions for a career-high 154 yards and Xavier Johnson led USA on the ground with 44 yards on only four carries.
"In the second half Air Force changed up their defensive scheme; they were playing two-high [coverage] at first and then they changed to one-high," said Magee. "We needed to adjust to that, but hats off to their defense; they stuck on us and caused some confusion for us."
"I told the players in the locker room that we've been a Division I team for four years and just two programs over the last 30 years have had winning records during that time span — South Florida and South Alabama," Jones said. "We're not where we want to be, but when you start to comparing us to other young programs, it's not easy. Our guys have pushed this cart way up the hill. It hasn't gotten to the top yet, but it's getting there. We've got to keep on adding to what we're doing next year. These seniors have really led this team and they have tremendous leadership skills. Sometimes the W's and L's don't always work out like you like, but our program is doing well; we wish we were better and had won a couple more games and I'd be a lot happier, but I'm happy with this team and we are going places and doing things the right way."
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).
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