MOBILE, Ala. – For weeks, University of South Alabama head football coach Joey Jones has wondered how his team would respond to its first deficit, how it would handle the initial signs of adversity. The program’s mentor had to like what he saw on Saturday.
The Jaguars twice recovered from a seven-point deficit in the opening 15-plus minutes, and when Nicholls State drew within six after the break answered with a touchdown drive to earn a 39-21 victory over the Colonels in front of an announced crowd of 23,174 at Ladd-Peebles Stadium.
“It speaks to the character of our kids and our coaching staff with the way they coach them. We try to work on that in practice where they don’t feel pressure in games,” he stated. “I thought that was a great way to respond. Had we not responded like that and they scored another touchdown, then the ball starts to roll their way.”
Down 14-7 with two-and-a-half minutes to go in the opening quarter, USA scored 20 unanswered points in the second quarter. Myles Gibbon rushed for 16 yards to pick up a first down, but left with an injury following the next play from scrimmage. Brennan Sim entered, and after a rush for nine yards he found Richard Ross down the middle for a 47-yard touchdown pass on the initial play of the second quarter, capping a six-play, 80-yard march.
“I felt real comfortable with this team, and I feel like the guys up front made it easy for me to go out and execute,” said Sim, who completed 10-of-12 attempts for career-high 185 yards. “I just prepare every game, whether I am first, second, or third string, like I am going to start. You have to be ready for anything. Myles went down, and you have to be able to step in and make the plays we need. It’s easy when you have an offensive line that is playing hard all four quarters.”
USA used a defensive stop to set up its first lead of the game less than four minutes later. On third-and-one from the USA-36, Justin Dunn and Alex Page combined to hold LaQuintin Caston for no gain, then Jonathan Cameron and Anthony Taylor stopped Jesse Turner for no gain on fourth down to turn the ball over. A 30-yard screen pass from Sim to Brandon Ross moved the Jaguars across midfield, and after a 24-yard rush by Kendall Houston Santuan McGee made it a 20-14 score with an eight-yard touchdown run. Dunn forced a fumble that Ken Barefield recoevered on the NSU-49 on the fifth play of the next Colonel possession, and the Jags needed four minutes to build the lead to 13 points. Sim connected with Corey Besteda down the middle for a pickup of 37 yards to start the possession, which was followed by a seven-yard gain by Glover before Houston scored on a five-yard run.
Dunn’s nine tackles, which included six solo, led the Jag defense. Enrique Williams posted six stops, while both Charlie Higgenbotham and Jake Johnson were credited with five apiece. Tim Harvey intercepted one pass in the fourth quarter and broke up another, Cameron defended another pass and Logan Bennett picked up the unit’s only sack of the afternoon.
The Jaguars trailed for the first time in the program’s brief history early in the first quarter after NSU went 79 yards in five plays on its first possession of the game. Turner’s 33-yard run with the Colonels’ facing fourth-and-inches made it 7-0 with 10:33 to go in the opening period.
T.J. Glover returned the ensuing kickoff 69 yards, and two Ross carries later the score was tied 7-7 after he reached the end zone from one yard out.
Turner gave NSU the lead back with another big play with just over two minutes to go in the first quarter. After an incompletion and a penalty left it facing second-and-15, Caston hit Turner in the flat leading to a 95-yard touchdown pass after he went untouched down the left sideline.
“We were trying to make too much happen when we first came out. Basically our coach just told us to settle down,” commented Dunn. “We kept playing the same assignments all the way through and just ended up stopping them.
“They had better athletes who have been playing together and been in the weight room together. They played us a hard four quarters, but we just came out on top.”
Caston would throw for 319 yards on 13-of-23 passing, adding 15 yards on the ground, while Turner would go on to post 205 all-purpose yards after leading NSU with 61 yards on nine rushes and three catches for 144 more.
The Colonels would again test the Jaguars’ resolve after the intermission.
After both teams reached the red zone but failed to score on their opening possessions of the second half, Nicholls took over on its own 13-yard line with 8:16 to go in the quarter. Four plays and a minute and 54 seconds later, Andrew Wynn caught a pass from Caston and took it 62 yards down the middle of the field to cut the Colonel deficit to six points. The NSU defense forced a three-and-out to get the ball back, however Page stopped Caston three yards shy of a first down to lead to a punt.
Sim would guide a USA drive that covered 67 yards in five plays and just over two minutes, with Houston’s 20-yard run to the left corner of the end zone on the first snap of the final period sparking a string of 12 unanswered points in the fourth quarter that put the game away. Erling Riis blocked a punt out of the back of the end zone with just over 11 minutes left to up the advantage to 36-21, while Jordan Means closed out the scoring at the 4:12 mark with a 28-yard field goal, his first as a Jag.
“I thought it was about who handled adversity best,” explained Nicholls head coach Charlie Stubbs. “When we were prospering, we couldn’t keep the momentum and while they were able to make plays, they capitalized on the momentum. I believe that was the difference in the game.”
“I thought it was a great win for our football program, they gave the other two teams they have played fits in the first half,” Jones observed. “We needed to have a game like that where we’re challenged.”
USA gained a total of 490 yards on 64 plays, an average of almost eight yards per snap, while posting more than 200 yards both on the ground and through the air for the second straight outing in 2010. Houston carried 12 times for 116 yards and Brandon Ross chipped in with 115 on 19 attempts, marking the first time in nine contests that the Jags have had two players rush for 100 or more yards. Richard Ross was the only Jaguar with more than one catch, finishing with four for 80 yards, though eight other individuals collected a reception.
“I just followed my line and ran hard every play,” said Houston, who became the first Jaguar other than Ross to record a 100-yard rushing game.
Glover finished with 116 yards on three kick returns, and Scott Garber averaged 42.8 yards on six punts, with half of those finishing inside the Colonel 20-yard line.
Pa’a Kamauoha led all players with 10 stops, while Shawn Elrod and Bobby Elder each made five stops for the Colonels.
“This is our second year and ninth football game, and we beat a [Division] I-AA program that has been around for a long time,” said Jones. “They are very well-coached and have great athletes. I don’t know what that means for the future, but my hat’s off to our players and coaching staff for the job they have done in that short amount of time.”
USA’s first-ever game away from Ladd-Peebles Stadium is slated to kickoff at 3 p.m. Saturday in Dothan, Ala., when the Jaguars take on Edward Waters (Fla.) in the Wiregrass Football Classic.
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-Nicholls State box score
USA-Nicholls State photo gallery
