MOBILE, Ala. – Enrique Williams finished with a career-best eight total tackles, forcing a fumble that Randon Carnathan ran back for a score late in the first quarter as the University of South Alabama improved to 5-0 with a 45-6 victory over Missouri S&T Saturday at Ladd-Peebles Stadium.
Williams’ sack and Carnathan’s return came 80 seconds after the Jaguars had regained the lead from the Miners (1-5) on a 14-yard touchdown run from Brandon Ross, as USA scored 28 points in the final 18-plus minutes of the opening half to pull away. His effort helped the Jags limit S&T to only 154 yards of total offense.
“I came free on a twist, where we send the defensive linemen through the gap and I come through free on the other gap,” explained Williams, who also blocked the Miners’ extra-point attempt after their lone touchdown of the day. “I came in and made the play.”
Ben Giles and Justin Dunn collected seven and six stops, respectively, with each credited with two tackles for loss. Tim Harvey and Jake Johnson both recorded five stops, while Ken Barefield and Alex Page each had four. S&T averaged fewer than two yards per carry with 71 yards on 41 rushes, and was 12-of-22 passing for 83.
“I think our game plan was good this week, as it is every week. They came out with some things we haven’t seen, and we had to make some adjustments,” Dunn observed. “I felt like everyone was in their spots where they were supposed to be and did what they were supposed to do. We got after the quarterback and shut down the run.”
“I thought the defense played very well,” USA head coach Joey Jones said. “Obviously, early they made a drive, but as always our coaches on the sideline made adjustments and our kids adjusted to what they were doing. From that point on, they did a really good job. I was real proud of them today.”
Jordan Means’ career-long 36-yard field goal opened the scoring two-and-a-half minutes into the contest as the Jags drove 41 yards in six plays on their opening possession. However, a turnover led to USA’s first deficit since its Sept. 18 Nicholls State game — Freddy Dugard’s sack forced a fumble that Terry Robinson recovered on the USA-26 with eight minutes to go in the first quarter. The Miners would need four plays to score, with Steve Watson finding Chad Shockley in the left flat for an 11-yard touchdown with 5:15 remaining.
The Jags responded in just over two minutes, though, taking a 10-6 lead with 3:10 on the clock in the opening period after Ross capped a five-play, 67-yard march with a 14-yard touchdown run up the middle. C.J. Bennett connected with Corey Waldon for a 42-yard gain down the right sideline one play before Ross rushed for 13 yards to set up his score.
Then, with S&T facing third-and-eight from its own 24-yard line, Williams sacked Watson, forcing a fumble that Carnathan picked up at the eight-yard line and returned for a score. It’s the third straight game, and fourth time in five contests this fall, that the Jaguar defense has contributed a touchdown.
“We work on certain drills before practice every day and one of them is the ‘sack, fumble, scoop and score.’ So that was my mentality,” stated Carnathan, who would finish with two tackles including one for a loss of six yards. “As a defensive lineman I’m going to want to score, not just jump on the ball. If I see it, I’m going to take it.”
Bryant Lavender carried on an end around for a pickup of 38 yards midway through the second quarter, setting up a three-yard Kendall Houston touchdown run on the next snap to push the edge to 24-6 with seven-and-a-half minutes left until the intermission. The drive would cover 95 yards in eight plays and three minutes, 12 seconds, as Houston had a pair of gains for 10-plus yards, with Bennett and Waldon hooking up for a 16-yard completion as well. After a three-and-out that saw Carnathan record a six-yard tackle for loss to stop the drive, Jeremé Jones returned the resulting punt 20 yards to the S&T-39. The Jags scored in three plays when Houston reached the end zone again — this time from 11 yards out for a 31-6 USA lead — one play after a 22-yard gain from Ross, although the running back would leave the game with an injury.
Bennett would lead the Jaguars on four total scoring drives after Santuan McGee carried four straight times, the last for a seven-yard touchdown to close out the scoring with 3:45 left in the contest. Bennett would finish 5-of-10 passing for 107 yards — the first time in his career that he has thrown for more than 100 — with Courtney Smith collecting three catches for 73 yards, both team-high totals, and Waldon adding two receptions for another 58.
But it was the ground attack that would account for 202 of USA’s 369 total yards. Ross carried six times for 53 yards before departing and Houston gained 49 on four attempts as 11 individuals recorded at least one rush. Ellis Hill chipped in with 26 yards and McGee had 21.
Myles Gibbon added a score on a one-yard sneak less than three minutes into the third period for the only points of the quarter.
“Brennan [Sim] got dinged a little bit, and we had to get him out. C.J. came in and played well,” Jones commented. “It seems like each game that there is a quarterback who steps into the mix and plays well. It’s more of a feel thing that we go with each game. I thought C.J. had a great game today.”
“Coach [Greg] Gregory always preaches to us to be ready to play,” added Bennett. “When they put me in, we started to open up the run game. We got the looks we wanted, got some easy throws and we started moving the ball really well.”
Robinson paced the S&T defense with seven tackles, with Chris Horn, Edwin Scott and Nick Williams each adding five stops apiece.
The Miners had another opportunity to put points on the board late in the second quarter after Justin Philpy recovered a second USA fumble to give them a short field. After advancing into the red zone S&T faked a field goal; but, Dunn stopped Shockley eight yards short of a first down.
S&T would go on to cross midfield just once more the rest of the day, after a punt return started its final drive of the third quarter on the USA-46. But Montavious Williams stopped Dexter Bryant for a loss of three yards on the first play of the possession, and Bryant slipped for a loss of two more; after getting those five yards back, Brian Mueller would try to run on a fake punt, but Giles was able to stop him after a gain of only seven.
Watson would finish 12-of-22 passing for 83 yards, with Shockley catching five balls for 55 yards. Ryan Taylor led the Miner ground game with 34 yards on eight carries, and Mike Wilson collected 30 yards on a game-high 10 attempts.
USA begins a two-game road swing Saturday at Lamar, with kickoff scheduled in Beaumont, Texas, for 6 p.m.
“They [the players] know these upcoming weeks are going to be tough; we have to travel to Texas and California, and come back here and play Georgia State after that. As competitors we’re looking forward to that,” said Jones. “They’re excited about getting on the road, going on a six-hour bus trip and playing a very good Lamar football team.”
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-Missouri S&T box score
USA-Missouri S&T photo gallery
