MOBILE, Ala. – A pair of familiar foes confront the University of South Alabama football program as it closes out October, with the first featuring a matchup in a National Football League stadium.
The Jaguars will face Georgia State in the second of three rematches against 2010 opponents when the two schools meet at the Georgia Dome Saturday. Last fall, USA used 24 unanswered points in the second quarter to build a 19-point advantage before holding off the Panthers for a 39-34 win at Ladd-Peebles Stadium.
The first time the Jags faced an opponent from last year, they handed Lamar a 30-8 defeat in Mobile on Sept. 10. After taking on GSU, they will return home to play host to Henderson (Ark.) State — last fall’s Homecoming opponent — in the first of three straight contests at Ladd-Peebles Stadium to close out the 2011 campaign.
Kickoff for the USA-Georgia State matchup is slated for 2 p.m. Central time. It will be the last of four games away from home for the Jags, who won the last time they travelled after defeating Texas-San Antonio 30-27 in double overtime on Oct. 8; that contest was also contested indoors.
“That was a great atmosphere we played in at San Antonio. Our kids liked it, they really did,” said Jaguar head coach Joey Jones. “It was a little difficult to communicate with the crowd as loud as it was, but the kids really liked the atmosphere. I think they are very excited about going to the Georgia Dome, a lot of them haven’t been there so it will be the first time for most of them playing in the dome. It’s a great place and it’s their Homecoming so I would think they have a good crowd there as well.”
C.J. Bennett made his first career start in the first-ever meeting between the two schools, finishing the day 12-of-24 passing for 181 yards and three touchdowns while also rushing for 80 yards on 10 attempts; the rush total and scoring passes are both still career-high figures for the redshirt freshman. Kendall Houston also set a personal standard against the Panthers that still stands today after carrying 31 times for 175 yards and one touchdown.
Behind the effort of those two, USA would rack up 474 yards of total offense while averaging six-and-a-half yards per snap.
The duo also paced the Jags last time out in a 33-30 victory over Tennessee-Martin, with Houston leading the ground attack with 16 carries for 85 yards — that included scoring two third-quarter touchdowns as USA built a 20-point advantage — and Bennett completing 12-of-19 attempts for 179 yards and a score.
Corey Besteda caught the lone touchdown pass from Bennett, an eight-yard play, that gave the Jaguars an early 6-0 lead; he would also catch a 40-yard pass to set up Houston’s second score, finishing as the team’s leading receiver with three receptions for 64 yards. Lamontis Gardner also caught three balls against the Skyhawks, with Kevin Helms and Jeremé Jones adding multiple catches as well. Gardner and Jones are two of four individuals with a double-digit reception total through six contests; Bryant Lavender leads the squad with 16 catches for 255 yards, and Corey Waldon has 12 receptions as well.
UT-Martin entered play with the highest-scoring attack at the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision level, averaging 45.2 points per outing, but the Jaguar defense limited the unit to just 64 yards in the opening half and 144 through three quarters. B.J. Scott led USA with 10 tackles — his third outing in double figures — while Gabe Loper posted a career-best seven stops, including the first of his career behind the line of scrimmage, broke up one pass and intercepted another which led to the first Houston touchdown.
Last week’s game was similar to the first matchup between the Jags and Panthers — USA surrendered only 129 first-half yards in building a 30-14 edge at the intermission, holding GSU to a total of 280 including just 46 on 19 rushing attempts. The Panthers rallied with 13 points in the fourth quarter before falling short.
Drew Little was 20-of-34 for 214 yards while accounting for four scores, two rushing and two passing. This season he is one of three Panther signal callers to see significant action, going 37-of-83 for 468 yards. Bo Schlechter has thrown for four touchdowns and 550 yards while completing 42-of-85 attempts, and Kelton Hill has rushed for 127 yards and thrown for 83 more.
“Offensively, Drew Little really makes them go. He gave us a hard time last year, completing a lot of passes; he’s a big guy, a Roethlisberger-type who is 6-foot-4, 250 pounds and can really deliver the ball,” explained Jones. “They’ve got two more quarterbacks that they’ve rotated into games, so you really don’t know what to prepare for other than to prepare for all of them.
“The difficulty is being able to have plans when those guys come in the game, and our guys realizing when they come in and making adjustments accordingly.”
The trio’s top targets include Danny Williams and Albert Wilson, who both have more than 300 receiving yards entering play. Travis Evans and Donald Russell spearhead the GSU ground attack with 316 and 272 yards, respectively, with the former adding 12 catches too.
Dexter Moody has a team-high 41 total tackles, with Demazio Skelton adding 36 and Michael Hall 34. Christo Bilukidi leads the Panthers with five stops behind the line — he has accounted for four of the squad’s 12 sacks — while D’Mario Gunn has intercepted two passes.
“I think they are more athletic than they were on defense last year, they’ve done a good job recruiting real tall, rangy athletic guys,” Jones observed. “They run a lot of different looks, they’re real hard to prepare for from a standpoint of what we’re going to do so we have to cut our game plan down some offensively to be able to attack all the looks they have.”
Both schools feature special teams units that have performed well thus far this fall. Jordan Means has connected on five straight field goals for the Jags and has made 7-of-8 overall — he’s third on the team with 35 points — while GSU’s Christian Benvenuto has made 6-of-9 field-goal attempts in scoring 31 points. Scott Garber, who has averaged better than 40 yards per punt in each of the last four outings, has a season average of 42.2 yards per kick for USA; his counterpart on Saturday, Matt Hubbard, enters play with a 40.6 yard-per-punt average.
The Panthers, who have dropped five straight contests since opening the year with a 41-7 win over Clark Atlanta, are surrendering 35.2 points and 435.8 yards per game while scoring 19.3 and gaining 314.3 per outing offensively.
“It all starts with the head coach; Bill Curry is a great football coach and a great man,” Jones stated. “They’re putting a program together like we are and have recruited some really good, athletic players. I have all the respect in the world for their coaching staff.”
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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