MOBILE, Ala. – Perhaps for the University of South Alabama football team, the third time will be the charm. The Jaguars will look to pick up their first road victory of the season when they conclude a three-game stretch away from home Saturday at Texas-San Antonio.
Instead of an NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision opponent, however, the Jags will be taking on a program that is just a year behind them in the building process.
The Roadrunners — who fell to 2-3 after dropping a 22-7 decision at Sam Houston State Saturday, the 11th-ranked team in this week’s Sports Network/Fathead.com NCAA Football Championship Subdivision rankings — are in their first season of competition; they, like the Jaguars, are not eligible for the FCS playoffs this fall. UTSA will join the Western Athletic Conference next summer, and be eligible for the league championship and a bowl berth in 2014, one year after South Alabama reaches that classification.
Kickoff is set for 4:30 p.m. Saturday at the Alamodome, with the contest to be televised live on the Longhorn Network.
“They are a very hungry football team,” commented USA head coach Joey Jones. “They remind me of us a couple of years ago, the way we came out that first year with a lot of hunger and excitement.”
While the Jags enter play coming off back-to-back losses to NCAA FBS opponents North Carolina State and Kent State, in two seasons they have won all four contests following an open weekend.
“I think the off week was better for most of the players who needed to recover, and it allowed us to refocus and figure out what we’re doing wrong and what needs to be fixed,” said running back Demetre Baker. “I think the two losses affected us, but the break we got was the break we needed to allow us to refocus and recover.”
“The week off was a chance to let us get our legs back under us and get some rest to get ready for this week’s game,” added junior free safety B.J. Scott. “Coach talked a lot about Texas-San Antonio being hungry, but I feel like we as a team are really hungry. I just want to see how we come back and compete in this game after losing two straight.
“I think the way we come out will say a lot about our team.”
Jones believes the break provided more than just a chance to recuperate, though. “I talked to the team about how the little things matter. When you do the little things right, the big things seem to work out,” he stated. “We have to work on us, and if we work on that this week and really concentrate on getting better then we’ll let the chips fall.
“But our kids are excited. They are excited about being back and playing games again, but that two-to-three day break helped us out.”
A defensive battle on Saturday would not come as a surprise. The Jaguars enter play 10th at the FCS level in pass defense (153.75 yards per game), 15th in total defense (294.75 ypg) and 30th in scoring defense (21.50 ppg), while the Roadrunners are surrendering just 90 yards per contest on the ground and 20.2 points per outing.
Jake Johnson paces USA with 39 total tackles and three-and-a-half for loss after setting a school record with 17 stops last time out at Kent State; his efforts in that game helped the unit limit the Golden Flashes to only 83 yards in the second half and 281 total. Enrique Williams has 29 tackles — sharing the team lead with Johnson in stops behind the line of scrimmage — and Charles Harris has recorded 27, while Ken Barefield has been credited with 24 stops including a sack, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery while also intercepting a pass in the Jags’ first four games.
Steven Kurfehs has a team-high 48 stops for UTSA to go along with a pair of interceptions. Brandon Reeves and Mauricio Sanchez have both collected 31 tackles as well, with the former making four-and-a-half tackles for loss. Marlon Smith also has four-and-a-half stops behind the line for the Roadrunners, with four of those coming on sacks.
UTSA has 12 takeaways in five games with seven fumble recoveries and five interceptions, and is coming off a game in which it limited Sam Houston State to 126 yards passing and 14 first downs.
The Jags were held to only 44 first-half yards last time out, but C.J. Bennett accounted for a career-best 321 yards of total offense — 281 of those came over the final 30 minutes as USA scored 25 unanswered points — in a rally that ended at the KSU-23 yard line as time expired. For the year, the redshirt freshman has completed 52-of-103 passes for 758 yards and three scores.
His top targets include Bryant Lavender, who set career highs with five catches for 97 yards at KSU and leads the squad in both categories through four games with 14 receptions and 232 yards, as well as Corey Waldon and Jeremé Jones. Both have 11 catches for over 100 yards in 2011, with Jones accounting for two of the Jaguars’ three touchdown receptions — he stands third on the team with 238 all-purpose yards as well, with 77 of those coming on 11 punt returns.
Both Kendall Houston and Baker are averaging better than four-and-a-half yards per carry, collecting 261 and 167 rushing yards, respectively. The two have scored seven of the team’s eight touchdowns on the ground thus far, with Baker reaching the end zone in each of the last three outings after scoring twice against the Golden Flashes.
According to Jones, Eric Soza is the key to the Roadrunner offensive attack. Through five games, he has completed 81-of-157 pass attempts for 1,007 yards and six scores while rushing for 178 yards on a team-high 50 attempts; he is just one yard off the team lead on the ground, trailing Evans Okotchka in the category. Okotchka has needed just 21 carries to rack up 179 yards, and average of 8.5 per rush, while Chris Johnson (107) and David Glasco (100) have also surpassed the 100-yard mark on the ground for UTSA.
Kam Jones and Brandon Freeman have each recorded 17 receptions to share the team lead, with Jones posting 261 yards and a touchdown and Freeman 213 yards and two scores.
“You have to prepare for all of it, and that takes away from some of your time during the week,” Jones explained. “The key to their offense is the quarterback; he does a very good job. He can run and throw, and with that they can be multiple.”
“My mindset right now is to watch as much film as possible to be ready for this game. This team has the most formations I have seen since I started playing football,” observed Scott. “It’s going to take a lot of focus. From a defensive standpoint, we just have to dissect the small things and improve on that side of the ball.”
Scott Garber is averaging 41.5 yards per punt — which ranks 25th in the FCS statistical rankings — after posting a season-best 43.2 mark at Kent, and Jordan Means converted a 25-yard field-goal attempt against the Golden Flashes and has now hit on 4-of-5 field goals this season. Sean Ianno has connected on all 16 extra-point attempts and 5-of-8 field-goal tries to lead UTSA in scoring with 31 points, while Josh Ward is averaging 35.6 yards per punt.
The Jaguars have made one other trip to the Lone Star State, having beaten Lamar 26-0 in Beaumont on Oct. 16 a year ago in the first-ever road game for the program.
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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