MOBILE, Ala. – University of South Alabama football head coach Joey Jones along with senior linebacker Roman Buchanan and senior defensive back Devon Earl met with the media Monday to discuss Saturday's regular-season finale against New Mexico State and preview the Jaguars' bowl game against Air Force.

South Alabama Head Coach Joey Jones
Opening statement: "We're very excited about it [being invited to the NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl], it's a big game for us; just to have a reward for this season that the guys have fought through, to have the ability to go and play in a big bowl out in Arizona is very exciting for us.  I'm real proud of the guys and everybody involved in this program who has gotten us to this point."

On Air Force: "What stands out is that they have been winning as of late — they've won five in a row — and they beat Boise State last week and Navy earlier in the year.  They are a very formidable opponent for sure, they know how to win and have a really good football team."

On playing San Diego State, also a Mountain West Conference program: "Football is a game of match ups, certain teams match up with other teams different than a third team would.  You don't compare scores, you look at the body of work."

On balancing between the reward of going to and winning a bowl game: "That's my job, to make sure their minds are ready to go because that [winning] is the only reason we're going.  That doesn't mean we're not going to have fun or a good time out there, but there is a way to do things when you approach a bowl game.  We're going out there to win a bowl game, first and foremost.  Yes we're going to have some great dinners and we're going to do some sightseeing, and that's a great experience, but we have to get the guys to understand it's time for business and when we get away from those events we have to be ready to practice and ready for meetings."

Senior Linebacker Roman Buchanan
On winning Saturday's game to become bowl eligible and what this past weekend was like for them: "The [Camellia] Bowl experience [two years ago] was probably one of the best experiences of my life and no doubt that it was the best experience I've had in my football career.  Anytime you get a chance to repeat something like that and have a chance to win it is nice since we came up a little short in our first bowl game.  It's a huge opportunity for us and a great experience for all of our players and staff."

On what it means to him to play Air Force since his father was in the Air Force: "It's very exciting.  What a lot of people don't know about me is that before I received a football scholarship offer, I was about to join the Army and become an Army Ranger.  I've always had a soft spot for the military.  I know it's going to be especially fun for my dad to watch and for me it's an honor to play against a military academy team."

On how much of this trip is to have fun and how much is to win the game: "The first part of the trip will be about seeing Tucson and experience the things that come with a bowl game, but we are going out there to win.  The goal at the start of the season was to not just go to a bowl game, but to win it.  That's the mind-set that we have to have going into this.  One thing that I feel football steals from the military is attention to detail.  I know that Air Force is going to be a disciplined team and they are going to pay attention to detail, because that's who they are.  We have to match that attention to detail in order to have a chance to win the game.  To win, we will need to go beyond what they bring to the table.  We will need to be extremely focused going into these bowl practices and remain focused when we go out to Tucson."

On Air Force's triple-option offense: "Going up against a triple-option offense comes down to being focused and playing assignment football along with paying attention to detail.  Against the triple-option you can do things right three times, but the one time that you mess up is when they will make you pay with a big play.  It's going to come down to us being focused every single snap.  There can't be any lapses as far as our mental execution; everything has to be crisp and right over and over again in order for us to have a chance to beat Air Force.  Our mental execution is going to be something that we have to really focus on in order to win this game."

Senior Defensive Back Devon Earl
On winning Saturday's game to become bowl eligible and what this past weekend was like for them: "This past weekend was very exciting for us.  We set out before the season started to make a bowl game and win it.  To accomplish [the first half of] that goal was nice and very rewarding."

On how much of this trip is to have fun and how much is to win the game: "You want to go and enjoy the bowl game and the experience of a new city.  Yesterday after they announced where we were going all of the players stayed after and we talked about how we aren't just going there to enjoy ourselves or just be in the game, but we're going there to win the game.  We know the goal of winning a bowl game that we set out before the start of the season."

On Air Force's triple-option offense: "We need to be disciplined against them and understand our game plan.  We have to understand that we have to have our eyes in a certain place and we have to focus on doing our individual jobs and not anybody else's on the defense.  We need to play as a whole unit with each part taking care of their responsibilities.  We need to be focused and disciplined on every single play."

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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