MOBILE, Ala. – It won’t take long for the University of South Alabama football program to experience the intensity that comes with a conference game against an in-state rival.
The Jaguars will play host to Troy in their first-ever Sun Belt Conference contest on Sept. 29 as part of the 2012 league schedule that was officially released Thursday.
After the Jags’ lone open week of fall, their first SBC road game will come at Arkansas State on Oct. 13; the Red Wolves are the conference’s defending champions, having gone 10-3 overall — which included an 8-0 mark in the league — after participating in the GoDaddy.com Bowl.
USA’s first full conference schedule also includes games at Ladd-Peebles Stadium with Florida Atlantic (Oct. 20), Florida International (Nov. 3) — the Golden Panthers played in the Beef ‘O’ Brady’s Bowl last fall — and Middle Tennessee (Nov. 17), which will be the home finale for the program. The Jaguars will visit Louisiana-Monroe on Oct. 27, North Texas Nov. 10 and conclude their initial SBC slate with a Nov. 24 trip to Louisiana-Lafayette, which went 9-4 a year ago after defeating San Diego State in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl.
As the Jags complete a two-year transition to the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly NCAA Division I-A) level, they will not be eligible to win the conference championship or participate in a bowl game in 2012.
“It’s very interesting that we will play North Carolina State and Mississippi State, then go straight into conference play against Troy,” Jag head coach Joey Jones observed. “They have such a great program and have done so well over the years, so we’re excited about that. But the bottom line is we’re going to play everyone, our kids will be motivated regardless of where and when we play anyone in the Sun Belt.”
“The Sun Belt schedule brings three teams to Mobile that have participated in a bowl game in the past two years. The spacing and alternating of home and away games is ideal as we have no long stretches without a home contest,” stated USA Director of Athletics Dr. Joel Erdmann. “It is exciting to host Troy for our first Sun Belt Conference game, they have a tremendous tradition and strong following. The attractiveness of this schedule demonstrates another progressive step in the evolution of our football program.”
The Jaguars’ non-conference schedule includes five contests, bringing the 2012 slate to a total of 13 games. USA will open the season at home against Texas-San Antonio on Sept. 1 to conclude a two-year, home-and-home agreement, and take on Nicholls State at Ladd-Peebles Stadium the following week. The Jags will visit North Carolina State on Sept. 15 and Mississippi State Sept. 22 prior to playing their first-ever conference contest.
The season will end on Dec. 1 when the Jaguars visit Hawai’i.
“It’s extremely exciting to see who we’re going to play and when we are going to play them,” commented Jones. “You look at the schedule and we’ve got four out-of-conference games early, then we go through with eight straight conference games and the trip to Hawai’i at the end with only one break in those 14 weeks. That’s a little bit concerning from the standpoint that we don’t have another off week, but our players and staff — everybody involved with our football program — are very excited.
“This is where we wanted to be four years ago, and now we’re finally here.”
All game times, as well as special dates including Homecoming and Hall of Fame weekends, will be announced at a later date.
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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