MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama defense forced a school-record-tying five turnovers, returning one for a score, while Kendall Houston rushed for two touchdowns to help the Jaguars earn a 52-3 victory over Kentucky Wesleyan Saturday at Ladd-Peebles Stadium.
In addition to Michael Wilson’s 75-yard run back of a pick that made the score 42-0 in the second quarter — it was the longest interception return in the program’s first 11 games — Jake Johnson intercepted a pass that was deflected by Anthony Taylor and led to Houston’s second touchdown midway through the opening quarter. Terrell Brigham and Andy Dalgleish recovered fumbles as well as Panther miscues resulted in 24 points.
Houston scored on runs of 1 and 14 yards in the game’s first six-plus minutes to help USA build a 14-0 advantage, as the Jags would improve to 4-0 with their 11th straight double-digit victory since the program’s first-ever game last fall.
“When you turn the ball over like that, we make it even worse,” observed KWC head coach Brent Holsclaw. “It’s just uncharacteristic of our offense to turn the ball over like that. We were a little rattled to start the game, and the kids were more nervous than I thought they would be. This is a big-time environment here, we don’t play in these types of atmospheres.”
Thanks to the KWC (3-2) turnovers, USA had three scoring drives of less than 30 yards. Johnson’s interception left the Jags with only 14 yards to cover, which Houston did after he scored the first points of the contest one minute in on a one-yard run. Up 21-0 early in the second quarter, Tyrone Williams forced a fumble that Brigham recovered on the 28-yard line. C.J. Bennett would then connect with Courtney Smith for a 19-yard touchdown on fourth-and-one to make it a 28-0 advantage 68 seconds later. And the Jags’ final points, which came on an 18-yard field goal from Jordan Means with 10-and-a-half minutes to go in the contest, ended a 13-yard possession.
The offense would finish with 413 total yards, with 299 of those coming via the pass, the first time that USA has collected more yards through the air than on the ground since defeating Fork Union (Va.) Military Academy on Halloween last season. Myles Gibbon completed 4-of-7 passes for 139 yards, while Bennett was 8-of-13 for 105 yards and two scores. Smith led the Jaguars with three receptions for 91 yards, with Corey Besteda, Lamontis Gardner and Ralph Turner making two catches apiece. Brandon Ross paced the team in rushing for the first time this fall with 78 yards on only three carries, which included a career-long 62-yard run on the first play of the game that led to Houston’s first score.
“I thought we came out offensively and played well,” commented Jaguar head coach Joey Jones. “They stacked the box on us and made us throw the ball; we have to get in the mode of throwing the ball downfield when the opponent does that, which I think we were able to today.”
In addition to forcing the five turnovers, the Jags limited KWC to just 19 yards on 23 carries. The Panthers would finish with 228 yards of total offense, avoiding the shutout when Matt Wilson connected on a 28-yard field goal 13 seconds before the break to end a nine-play, 69-yard drive.
Enrique Williams collected a team-best four stops, while Justin Dunn, Romelle Jones and Montavious Williams, along with Johnson and Taylor, would finish with three tackles apiece. Logan Bennett, Randon Carnathan and Jones each were credited with two stops for loss.
The Jaguars pulled away with 28 points in the second quarter. Gibbon led USA on a season-long 96-yard march, needing eight plays and three minutes and seven seconds before he hit Paul Bennett for a 19-yard score. Making his first appearance since USA’s victory over Nicholls State, the redshirt freshman helped keep the drive alive with a pair of big gains on third down — he connected with Gardner for 33 yards to get the Jags out of the shadow of their own goal line, moving the ball across midfield with a 46-yard pass to Corey Waldon.
After Smith’s touchdown catch, the USA defense forced a three-and-out, and on the next play from scrimmage Brennan Sim found Bryant Lavender down the middle for a 49-yard gain. Santuan McGee reached the end zone on the following snap to put USA ahead 35-0 with less than eight minutes to go before the break.
Bennett recorded the first multiple-touchdown game of his career with just under 10 minutes remaining in the third quarter when he hit Gardner on a post pattern for a 25-yard score. The big gain on the six-play, 64 yard possession was a 31-yard pass from Bennett to Smith thath moved the ball to the KWC-22.
Ken Stoklosa led the Panthers with 10 total stops, which included 1½ for loss, and Khalid Harris made five solo tackles.
DaMarcus Ganaway had a game-best five catches for 132 yards, while Chris Owen was 14-of-27 passing for 162 yards.
“We can’t get complacent where we are,” explained Jones. “It’s up to our players, staff and everybody involved not to get complacent at any time. We know the task at hand. We have to get better next week.”
“It’s not very hard when you have a coaching staff like we do,” Wilson said. “They preach day-in and day-out about the importance of the fundamentals and the little things. The little things are what get you beat, so just going to practice and staying focused is not hard to do with these coaches.”
The Jags to take on Missouri S&T on Saturday — kickoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. at Ladd-Peebles Stadium — in their final home game prior to Halloween weekend.
“We come out to practice every day and coach tells us regardless of the other team’s record or who they have played, they know that we are undefeated,” stated Gibbon. “They know that we are a good team so that is going to make them fight even harder. We don’t look at a team and say they are soft, because we know they are coming here to punch us in the mouth. We have to come out to every game thinking that these guys want to get us, and it would be insulting for us to let them do that.”
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).
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USA-Kentucky Wesleyan box score
USA-Kentucky Wesleyan photo gallery
