MOBILE, Ala. – With each of its first five contests decided in the final minutes, the University of South Alabama football team had reason to believe it could compete with anyone on its schedule despite owning just two victories entering Saturday's Homecoming game against Kent State.

The Jaguars put up nearly 500 yards of total offense, held the ball for almost 35 minutes and never trailed, earning a 38-21 non-conference victory over the Golden Flashes at Ladd-Peebles Stadium.

Not only did the win even the Jaguars record at 3-3, it avenged a 33-25 loss at KSU (2-6) in the first meeting between the two schools during the 2011 campaign.

"We're gaining confidence right now and maturing as a team," said USA head coach Joey Jones afterward.  "We have played a lot of tough teams on our schedule, and we're going to play even more.  All we can control is what we do, and I think our kids are buying in to that.  If we learn from that today, then we can continue to use it and be successful with it."

"We're a confident football team right now," agreed senior quarterback Ross Metheny.  "We've played well for several weeks in a row, even though we haven't always gotten in the win column.  This week we were determined to put it all together."

The Jaguars ran for a season-high 257 yards and gained 224 more via the pass, posting 481 total yards two weeks after setting a school game record with 630 at Troy.  Jay Jones gained a USA season-high 99 yards on 13 carries to lead the effort, and Cris Dinham added a career-best 67 while rushing 12 times.  Kendall Houston gained 43 yards on seven attempts, with Terrance Timmons supplying 21 and Julien Valentin 20 late with the Jags ahead by 24 points in the final quarter.

Metheny completed 16-of-23 attempts for 224 yards and a score, rushing for 21 yards as well.  Wes Saxton paced the USA receiving corps with four catches for 38 yards, with Shavarez Smith and Danny Woodson II chipping in with 63 and 38 yards, respectively; Smith led the team in yards for the third straight game.  In all, Metheny connected with eight different individuals on the day.

In addition to averaging better than six yards per snap and converting 6-of-11 third downs, the Jaguar offense did not turn the ball over for the second contest in a row.

"We had fun out there today," observed Metheny.  "Something Coach Jones stressed today during our pregame meal was to go play with a smile on your face.  As a team, I think we play better when we're looser.  We had fun today, and executed on a high level, and that leads to victories."

Maleki Harris recorded a career-high tackle total for the second consecutive outing, posting 10 stops to lead the USA defense; that total included 1½ tackles behind the line of scrimmage.  Montell Garner was credited with seven tackles, Enrique Williams six and Romelle Jones had five while two of Alex Page's four stops were sacks.

"As a whole today, guys were motivated, and we played with a great swagger," Jones commented.  "Guys were celebrating after every play that was made."

The Jags led by just three after the first of two Dri Archer scores with just under 10 minutes left in the opening half, but by posting the next three touchdowns were able to pull away.  USA responded with a nine-play, 79-yard march — taking little more than three minutes off the clock — pushing the lead back to 10 points midway through the quarter, overcoming a penalty and a nine-yard sack in the process.  The initial first down of the drive came on an 11-yard completion from Metheny to Saxton, and Jay Jones followed with an 11-yard run on the next snap.  After a sack by Marcus Wright left the Jags facing second-and-19, Dinham rushed for seven yards and Metheny found Smith for a gain of 29 to move the ball to the KSU-31.  Dinham added a 15-yard rush, setting up the score that came on a 16-yard Metheny-to-Woodson II completion.

Houston supplied a three-yard touchdown run midway through the third period to extend the USA advantage to 24-7, ending a seven-play, 60-yard drive that included passes from Metheny to Smith for 22 yards and Woodson II for an additional 20.  The lead grew to 24 points 36 seconds into the final quarter when Metheny reached the end zone from 16 yards out, the fifth game in a row that the quarterback has scored a rushing touchdown.  Jones carried on four of the first five snaps of the 11-play, 80-yard march, picking up 30 yards, while Dinham added 26 on three rushes as well.

Houston would add a 16-yard score with 11-and-a-half minutes remaining in the contest — making the score 38-14 — to record multiple rushing touchdowns in the same game for the first time since USA defeated Mississippi Valley State, 35-3, on Nov. 3, 2011.

Archer's first score came on a 74-yard run down the right sideline, and he added a second touchdown on the first play after Metheny reached the end zone when David Fisher found him on the left sideline for 73 yards.  The senior — "That guy may be the fastest thing I've seen on a football field," observed Romelle Jones — would finish with 227 all-purpose yards, rushing for 114 on 10 attempts, catching two passes for 85 yards and adding a 28-yard kick return to start the contest.

"Anytime he has a chance to touch the ball, he can score," stated first-year Golden Flash head coach Paul Haynes.

Fisher passed and rushed for better than 100 yards, completing 14-of-26 attempts for 181 yards and gaining 106 on 12 carries.  He added a second touchdown pass with six seconds to go, hitting Casey Pierce from four yards out.

Tyshon Goode led all players with seven catches for 45 yards as the Golden Flashes totalled 428 yards.

Defensively, Matt Dellinger and DeVante' Strickland were each credited with 12 tackles, Darius Polk made nine stops, and both Jordan Italiano and Kennan Stalls posted eight for KSU.

The Golden Flashes played without starting quarterback Colin Reardon and defensive tackle Roosevelt Nix.

"My hat's off to Kent State.  They came down here banged up with a lot of injuries and two of their best players hurt," Joey Jones said.  "They have played five of six games on the road and that's a tough thing to do. I've been in their shoes, and understand what that's like."

Montavious Williams blocked a 41-yard field goal attempt on the Golden Flashes' opening possession of the contest, ending a threat that advanced to the USA-24.  The Jaguars would turn around — and for the fifth time in as many games — score a touchdown on their first offensive drive.  On the Jags' initial snap from scrimmage, Metheny found Jay Jones in the flat, with the running back cutting up the field for a gain of 38 yards.  Metheny hit Saxton and Rush Hendricks for completions of nine and five yards, adding runs for 10 and eight more, before Jones scored on a five-yard dash up the middle.

Aleem Sunanon added to the USA lead with a 45-yard field goal 10:39 before the half.

"My hat's off to my team, players, coaches and everyone involved with the organization.  That was a solid win for us," Joey Jones commented.  "I thought we played well in all phases and played for four quarters.  We challenged our players all week to take it a quarter at a time and win each quarter, and I thought they did that.  We played a little looser out there, and that was good to see.  I am real proud of the way we played.

"I'm sure we'll see some things on film that we need to correct, but overall I'm real pleased."

USA returns to Sun Belt Conference action Saturday with a 6 p.m. kickoff at Texas State in San Marcos.

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

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