ATLANTA – Shavarez Smith set a school game record with 194 yards receiving and Jay Jones scored twice on Saturday, leading the University of South Alabama football team to a 38-17 Sun Belt Conference football victory over Georgia State at the Georgia Dome.

Smith — who also tied another program standard with 10 catches — recorded the most yards by a wideout in the league this fall.  He gained 50 yards on his second reception of the day and had a 13-yard catch on the Jags' second scoring drive of the contest.  After ending the opening period with 68 yards on three catches, the junior added a 20-yard reception on a possession that resulted in the Jaguars' third touchdown before adding two catches on their final scoring drive of the opening half.

Following the intermission, Smith had a 22-yard catch on third-and-six to keep USA's opening possession alive, going on to break the mark formerly held by Courtney Smith with a 37-yard scoring pass from Ross Metheny that made the score 31-3 with just over 11 minutes to go in the quarter.  He would add two more catches after that to become the second Jaguar with a double-figure reception total this season — Wes Saxton first accomplished the feat at Texas State on Oct. 26.

"They mixed up their coverage; we watched a lot of film on them," said Smith.  "We're always really prepared for what teams are going to do, and they did exactly what we thought they would.  We caught them in a couple of bad looks and took advantage of it."

"Shavarez is just a playmaker, he is so strong getting the ball.  He makes play after play after play every game," explained Jag head coach Joey Jones.  "When we have to have a big play, No. 1 comes up big for us."

Jay Jones recorded the first 100-yard game of his career as well — posting 102 yards on 17 attempts — while scoring USA's first two touchdowns as the Jags (5-6, 3-3 Sun Belt) finished with 522 yards of total offense on the day.  They will conclude the regular-season against Louisiana-Lafayette on Saturday, with Senior Day ceremonies set to begin at 6:30 p.m. and kickoff slated for 7 p.m.

The Jaguars limited the Panthers (0-12, 0-7 SBC) to just 24 yards on 25 rushing attempts, including sacking GSU quarterback Ronnie Bell four times for a loss of 18 yards.  Romelle Jones was credited with 2½ stops behind the line among his four total, and he also forced a fumble late in the opening period.  Jerome McClain equalled a career high with five tackles including a sack, Pat Moore had one, and Clifton Crews and Montavious Williams combined on the other.

Qudarius Ford led USA with eight total tackles, Terrell Brigham supplied six and Alex Page made four stops as well.

"I was really proud of our defense and the way they played overall.  We're a much better defense right now than we were three or four games ago," commented Joey Jones.

"It seems like guys are just so much more motivated now," added Romelle Jones.  "With the kind of guys we have, once our back is against the wall the fight comes out more than it ever has.  I'm so proud of all of these guys.  Next week is going to be the biggest week of the season — it's win or go home.  But I think it's motivation; guys play like they have nothing to lose."

USA got on the board first midway through the opening quarter, moving 62 yards on seven snaps its second possession of the contest.  The Jags picked up an immediate first down on a 17-yard pass from Metheny to Bryant Lavender, while facing third-and-one two plays later Jones went for 22 yards up the middle.  He would carry on the next three snaps as well, crossing the goal line from five yards out while accounting for the final 37 yards of the drive.

The teams traded fumbles, with the Jaguars taking over on the GSU-42 after Enrique Williams forced one that was recovered by Maleki Harris.  Four plays and a minute-and-a-half later, USA doubled its advantage when Jones scored again, this time from 17 yards out with two-and-a-half minutes left in the opening quarter.  The junior ran on three straight plays after Metheny connected with Smith for a 13-yard gain.

The fumble was the first turnover created by the Jag defense since the Nov. 2 Arkansas State game.  The unit would go on to get record two more turnovers, with Ceasare Johnson also recovering a fumble and Montell Garner grabbing an interception in the end zone early in the fourth quarter; it marked the first time USA has posted multiple takeaways since it had three at Tennessee on Sept. 28.

Metheny added a one-yard touchdown run, his 10th of the season, with six minutes and 20 seconds remaining in the opening half to extend the USA lead to 21-3.  Facing third-and-six from the USA-44, he hooked up with Smith for a 20-yard completion then found Jeremé Jones across the middle for 24 more yards.  Kendall Houston carried on three straight snaps before Metheny converted on fourth-and-inches on play before scoring.

Metheny accounted for 330 yards of total offense for USA, completing 19-of-28 passes for 280 yards and rushing for another 50 as well.  It was the sixth time this season that the senior has finished with 300 or more yards of total offense.

The lead was 21 points at the break after Aleem Sunanon kicked a 42-yard field goal with 34 seconds to go in the period, his school-record ninth straight conversion.  On the drive, Metheny found Smith for completions of 15 and 10 yards for back-to-back first downs to move the Jags to the GSU 30-yard line.

Houston added to the Jaguar lead with a one-yard touchdown run with just over a minute to go in the third period, which made the score 38-10.

USA ran for more than 200 yards for the second week in a row, posting 242 yards on 54 attempts.  Terrance Timmons supplied 36 yards on seven carries, Houston posted 26 yards and Julien Valentin rushed for 19 more.

A 62-yard Albert Wilson punt return — after the referees picked up a flag deep in GSU territory — led to a 33-yard field goal from Wil Lutz that got the Panthers on the board a minute-and-a-half into the second quarter, making the score 14-3.  Another big play, this time an 80-yard completion from Ronnie Bell to Robert Davis led to a one-yard Bell touchdown run two plays later that helped GSU close to 31-10 midway through the third quarter, and Sean Jeppesen closed out the scoring with a one-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-goal with three minutes left in the game.

The latter score was set up by a 40-yard completion from Bell to Danny Williams on fourth-and-15 from the USA-42.

Bell would complete 17-of-34 attempts for 321 yards, with both Davis (four receptions for 110 yards) and Wilson (six for 101) finishing with more than 100 yards receiving.  But, Parris Lee was the team's leading rusher with just 13 yards on six carries.

Tarris Batiste and Joseph Peterson reach recorded a double-digit tackle total with 13 and 11 stops, respectively, with the former collecting 1½ behind the line of scrimmage.

"I thought our kids prepared really well this week," Joey Jones observed.  "Georgia State had been playing really well — my hat's off to them the way they have gotten better this year — but our guys just came out and played really well today.  They prepared and came out with some emotion and had a good game."

"It obviously gives us some momentum," Smith said of the victory.  "We looked at this as a business trip, and we came in here and took care of business.  We're not going to get too high off of this win at all, we're just going to go back to work tomorrow."

"This [upcoming] game is going to give guys something more to play for — something you can dig deep down inside and pull out when you have that much riding on a game.  It's going to be a big one next week," observed Romelle Jones.

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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