MOBILE, Ala. – For the University of South Alabama football team, one of its preseason goals is still attainable — winning six games to be eligible to compete in a postseason bowl. It's a daunting task with the Jaguars playing host over the next three weeks to the two schools favored in the preseason to win the Sun Belt Conference championship, and to do that head coach Joey Jones has turned to those in the program whose collegiate careers are coming to a close.
That would be the Jag senior class, the largest yet in their first five years of competition. The group includes 26 individuals on the current roster, half of those four-year letterwinners who have been with the program since its debut on the field in the fall of 2009.
"I think it struck home with our seniors, they realized that they could still make something special of this year. They've done some really good things to get this program where it is now, and [the ability] to do something special these last three games is within our grasp," Jones stated. "It really comes down to going back to work and having the same energy we've had for almost every game this year. I see a different look in our seniors' eyes right now, because I think they see it coming to an end and they want to do something about it."
The Jaguars (3-6, 1-3 Sun Belt Conference) will face Louisiana-Monroe (5-5, 3-2 SBC) in the first of three straight league games to wrap up the regular-season slate. Kickoff Saturday at Ladd-Peebles Stadium is set for 6 p.m., with the contest scheduled to be broadcast regionally on Comcast Sports Southeast as part of the Sun Belt Network package.
Both teams enter play coming off a 42-14 loss in their most recent outing — USA fell at Navy last weekend while Arkansas State defeated the Warhawks by that margin on Nov. 9, one week after earning a 17-16 victory over the Jags.
Each squad will be led by a senior quarterback among the top five in the league in a pair of categories. For the Jaguars, Ross Metheny (154-of-247, 1,977 yds, 11 TDs; 86-382, 8 TDs rush) is second in total offense and third in passing yards per contest, helping USA average 27.7 points and 421.9 yards per game. Kolton Browning (164-of-298, 1,736 yds, 18 TDs; 68-171, 1 TD rush) — the conference's preseason Offensive Player of the Year — is fourth in passing yards and fifth in total offense despite missing a pair of outings due to injury; his efforts have aided ULM in posting averages of 22.2 points and 365.6 yards per contest.
The Warhawks' Rashon Ceaser is among the top five in the SBC in receptions and receiving yards per game with 50 catches for 716 yards, but USA will counter with a pair of juniors in the top 10 in both categories. Shavarez Smith is fifth in yards per outing, leading the squad with 616 on 34 receptions, while Wes Saxton stands sixth in catches per game with a team-high 44 for 544 yards.
Jay Jones leads the Jags with 468 yards on 90 carries, although Jyruss Edwards (93-430, 2 TDs) and Centarius Donald (64-380, 3 TDs) have combined to account for 63 percent of ULM's ground game this fall.
"They are very good on offense, I think everyone knows about Kolton Browning," explained Jones. "He's what I call a magician out there, he just makes a play when you don't think he can make one; he has an uncanny ability to scramble, run toward the line of scrimmage, see someone 40 yards downfield and throw it for a touchdown. He does things you can't coach. Offensively they have weapons and a power running game they didn't have the last couple of years."
Defensively the two teams are posting nearly identical numbers, with USA surrendering 29.2 points and 420 yards per game and the Warhawks allowing 29.8 and 422.7, respectively.
After making 10 or more stops in each of the last three games — including a game-high 12 against the Midshipmen last time out — senior Enrique Williams enters plays third in the league with 9.4 tackles per game. The Jags are tops in the Sun Belt in both tackles for loss (6.33) and sacks (2.44) per contest led by the duo of Alex Page and Romelle Jones; the former is second in the league per outing with 11 stops behind the line and 5½ sacks, the latter ranks fourth with nine tackles for loss and five sacks. Qudarius Ford has broken up five passes and intercepted another while ranking second on the squad with 61 total stops, and Montell Garner enters the game with a team-high-tying two interceptions, four passes defensed and 48 tackles.
Cameron Blakes paces ULM with 64 tackles — a total that includes 4½ for loss and three sacks — while Hunter Kissinger has been credited with 54 stops including 6½ behind the line of scrimmage, two interceptions, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. Isaiah Newsome leads the squad with four interceptions, returning two of those for touchdowns, and both Gerrand Johnson and Ray Stovall have made nine tackles for loss.
"Defensively they run every front known to man, they are by far the most multiple defense of anybody we're going to play." Jones observed. "They'll have all sorts of fronts and blitzes that we will have to block and protect against, it will be a great challenge for us."
Each squad has an individual leading the SBC in a special teams statistical category, with the Jags' Aleem Sunanon topping the conference with 1.22 field goals per game having made 11-of-16 tries coming into play and Justin Manton of the Warhawks averaging 46.2 yards per punt. T.J. Glover averages 24.3 yards per kick return, ranking fourth in the league, while Ceaser has an average of 13.9 yards per punt return.
Saturday will mark Military Appreciation Day, as the Jaguars will salute all active duty and retired military from every branch of service. Service members can receive two complimentary admissions to the game by showing their military I.D. at the gate beginning at 2 p.m. on Saturday at the stadium, or they may be obtained by coming in person to the Mitchell Center Ticket Office — which is open Monday-Friday from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. — on Old Shell Road.
Tickets for Saturday's contest may be obtained all week either via the Internet or in person on campus; they can be purchased without a service charge at www.tickets.southalabama.edu or by visiting the Mitchell Center Ticket Office.
On game day, the Ladd-Peebles Stadium ticket office is slated to open at 2 p.m. The cost for tickets for the contest is as low as $10.
Those wishing to tailgate will be able to get into the stadium parking lot via the Lott Street entrance beginning at 8 a.m. Saturday, while gates are set to open at 4 p.m. The Jaguar Prowl is scheduled to start at 3:40 p.m. when USA arrives on site.
Shuttle service is available from the South parking lot at the Bel Air Mall with the cost $2.50 per person for a round-trip ticket. It will begin running at 2 p.m. and continue until 90 minutes after the end of the game.
While USA enters this week's contest having dropped five decisions by a touchdown or less and six overall, Jones will rely on the foundation of the program — its largest senior class yet — to help keep the Jaguars on a path to meet a significant preseason goal.
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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