Game 5
South Alabama Jaguars (1-3, 0-1 Sun Belt)
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (2-2, 1-0 Conference USA)

Saturday, Sept. 30, 2017 • 6 pm CDT
Joe Aillet Stadium (28,562 capacity/FieldTurf)
Ruston, La.

Media Information
Television
ESPN3
Doug Anderson (pxp)
Butch Alsandor (analysis)
Abby Morris (sidelines)
Radio
USA Football Radio Network
(flagship 96.1 FM/99.5 FM The Jag in Mobile)
J.D. Byars (pxp)
Pat Greenwood (analysis)
Tommy Hicks (sidelines)
On the web
• Live Twitter updates available at:
@USAJaguarSports
• Live stats available at:
http://bit.ly/2wKVSs4
• Live audio available at:
http://www.iheart.com/live/995-the-jag-mobile-7117/

The Coaches
South Alabama
Joey Jones (Alabama '89)
Record at USA — 49-45 (9th season)
Career record — 52-52 (10th season)
Career Sun Belt record — 15-25
Record vs. LA Tech — 0-0
Record vs. current C-USA members — 3-3
• 1-0 vs. Florida Atlantic
• 0-1 vs. Florida International
• 0-1 vs. Middle Tennessee
• 0-1 vs. North Texas
• 1-1 vs. Texas-San Antonio
• 1-0 vs. Western Kentucky

Louisiana Tech
Skip Holtz (Notre Dame '86)
Record at LA Tech — 33-24 (5th season)
Career Record — 212-95 (18th season
Record vs. USA — 0-0

The Rankings
South Alabama
Associated Press — n/a
Coaches — n/a
Sagarin — 120th

Louisiana Tech
Associated Press — n/a
Coaches — n/a
Sagarin — 82nd

Series History
Overall: first meeting
In Mobile: n/a
In Ruston: n/a
Neutral: n/a
Series Streak: n/a
First Meeting: n/a
Last Meeting: n/a

Opening Kick
• South plays its first road game since opening the season on Sept. 2 at Ole Miss when it travels to take on Louisiana Tech Saturday.
• It marks just the second time since beginning Sun Belt Conference action in 2012 that the Jaguars will conclude its non-conference slate before the end of September.
• This will be the first of two meetings scheduled between the programs, with the second match-up slated to open the 2018 campaign on Sept. 1 in Mobile.
• The Jaguars also have home-and-home series in the future against Conference USA members Alabama-Birmingham (2019-20), Southern Mississippi (2020-21) and North Texas (2024-25).
• While the Jags have a 3-3 record against the current C-USA lineup, they have faced only one school — Tulane in 2013 — that was a member of the league at the time.
• That win over the Green Wave in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome is USA's only victory in Louisiana; the Jaguars have made five trips to the state in Sun Belt Conference action, falling three times at Louisiana-Lafayette and twice at Louisiana-Monroe (they were scheduled to play at Louisiana State last fall as well, but that contest was canceled due to Hurricane Matthew).
• Overall, however, the Jags have an all-time mark of 7-5 against Pelican State institutions, beating ULL twice and ULM once in Mobile while also defeating Nicholls on three occasions.

Notes From The Last C-USA Meeting
• The Jaguars finished with 465 yards of total offense in a 41-39 victory at Tulane on Sept. 7, 2013 — at the time the most they recorded against an NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision opponent — with 245 of those coming in the first quarter while building a 21-7 advantage.
• USA took the lead for good with just over a minute to go in the third period when Terrance Timmons recovered a punt blocked by Qudarius Ford in the end zone, which is the last time the Jags have returned a blocked punt for a touchdown.
• After recording 365 yards of total offense and accounting for four scores Ross Metheny became the first Jaguar to ever be selected the SBC Offensive Player of the Week.
• South's defense surrendered only 45 yards on 27 carries  — including limiting future NFL RB Orleans Darkwa to just 32 — which still remains among the best five performances against the run facing an NCAA Division I opponent in school history.
• Ford led the unit with eight stops and two passes broken up, while both Romelle Jones and Clifton Crews were each credited with a pair of tackles for loss.

Coaching Staff Change
Jaguar head coach Joey Jones announced Monday that assistant head coach Bryant Vincent — who was in his third season serving as the USA's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, and in his sixth on the staff overall — has been relieved of his duties effective immediately.  With his departure, third-year assistant Richard Owens will be the Jags' offensive coordinator (including handling play-calling duties) and work with quarterbacks the rest of the season; Owens was the offensive coordinator at Alabama-Birmingham during the 2013 campaign as part of his three-year tenure with the Blazers.

Reaves' Career Day Not Enough
Jeremy Reaves paced the Jaguars in the Idaho game last time out with career-high totals of 12 stops, two tackles for loss, three passes broken up, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery, setting the school career record with the seventh and eighth forced fumbles in his three-plus seasons with the program.  In addition to breaking up two passes in the red zone — including one in the end zone — the senior ended two Vandal drives inside the South five-yard line, first with a strip and recovery on the USA-2 early in the second quarter then later in the third when he collaborated on a stop behind the line on fourth-and-one from the USA-2; both protected South leads at the time.  Reaves was the seventh individual in program history to force two fumbles in a game — Randy Allen was the last to do so in a Sept. 24 win over Nicholls last fall — and in addition he was the first South player to finish with three or more passes broken up in a contest since Terrell Brigham had three in the 2014 season opener at Kent State.

Twice Is Nice For Johnson
USA RB Xavier Johnson led all players with a career-best 155 yards rushing on 20 carries in the Idaho game, scoring a pair of touchdowns for the second week in a row in the process.  It was the first time the senior has broken the century mark this fall and the 10th 100-yard effort of his career, making him the first individual in program history to reach double digits in the category, while it marked the first time that a Jag has scored two or more rushing touchdowns in consecutive outings since Demetre Baker accomplished the feat during the 2011 season.  Johnson's performance helped South finish with a season-best 244 yards on the ground against the Vandals.

Wait(Man) and See
Corliss Waitman posted an average of better than 45 yards for the third time in four games this season after recording 46.3 yards per punt on six kicks against the Vandals, with a career-high three inside the Idaho-20.  It's the third straight contest that the junior has had multiple punts inside the opposition's 20-yard line, as his eight through four games this fall are three more than he had in his first two seasons combined.

Safeties With Numbers
Reaves and Nigel Lawrence became the first Jags to post 10 or more stops in a game this year, with the latter accomplishing the feat for the first time since Oct. 15 last fall at Arkansas State after finishing the Idaho contest with a season-best 11 to go along with one pass defended.  It's the first game that USA has had multiple players end up with 10-plus tackles since three individuals accomplished the feat on Nov. 5 a year ago at Louisiana-Monroe.

Patterson Reaches 100-Point Plateau
Gavin Patterson tied a career high first set on Sept. 10 last year with three field goals last time out, equaling his total from the Jaguars' first three games this season combined.  The junior ended the contest with a career-high-tying 11 points, becoming the seventh individual in program history to score more than 100 in a career in the process.

Fast Start For Former Card
Last fall, his first in the program after coming to South as a graduate transfer from Louisville, Finessé Middleton recorded 8½ tackles for loss including 4½ sacks in 13 appearances.  He finished among the top 10 on the school's season record list in the latter category despite making only three tackles in four games the opening month of the year, none of which were behind the line of scrimmage.  After finishing with career highs of six total tackles and 1½ for loss — coming on three assisted sacks — against the Vandals the defensive end already has three sacks heading into the final outing of the first month this season, as he stands among the top five in the Sun Belt and top 50 nationally in the category.

Get Going On The Ground
Behind Johnson's efforts, the Jags ended up with a season-best 244 yards rushing and an average of better than five yards per carry against Idaho, the first time USA has gained more than 200 yards on the ground since posting 282 in a win over New Mexico State in last fall's finale.  Junior-college transfer Tra Minter contributed 48 yards on a career-high 15 attempts, while Evan Orth — on his only snap of the day while Davis was examined for injury — ran for a 41-yard gain to set up Patterson's field goal six second before the break that gave South a 13-10 advantage at the half.

Tale Of Two Halves
In building that three-point lead at the intermission, the Jaguars had 220 yards of total offense and controlled the ball for just over 17-and-a-half minutes while going 3-of-8 on third-down conversions and racking up 12 first downs.  In the second half and overtime, however, the Vandals surrendered just 130 yards — including only 20 on three completions — and five first downs, limiting USA to 1-of-9 converting third downs and less than 12-and-a-half minutes of possession.