MOBILE, Ala. – A lot will be on the line for both schools when the final Sun Belt Conference football contest of 2013 kicks off Saturday at Ladd-Peebles Stadium.

For the University of South Alabama, there is the opportunity to conclude its first season as a member of the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision with a .500 record and eligible to participate in a postseason bowl.  The Jaguars come into play 5-6 overall and 3-3 in the league after defeating Louisiana-Monroe 36-14 and Georgia State by a 38-17 margin in their last two outings.

They will be playing host to a Louisiana-Lafayette squad that is 8-3 — 5-1 in the Sun Belt — and looking to claim its first-ever outright conference championship, entering the day a half-game ahead of Arkansas State in the standings.  Although the Ragin' Cajuns have already accepted an invitation to play in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl later this month, they saw an eight-game win streak come to an end last weekend when ULM departed Lafayette with a 31-28 victory.

USA will honor 28 seniors in a ceremony that will begin at 6:30 p.m., including 15 who were part of the program's first team to take the field in 2009.  The contest will kick off at 7 p.m. and be broadcast nationally on ESPN3.

"This is the largest senior class we have had and a lot of them were here when we started the program.  It's going to be a little extra-special with those guys," Jag head coach Joey Jones said.  "I'll miss them, I love all of those guys.  They have done a lot to start our program.  They care about our program, they understand what being a Jaguar is all about and they have done things the right way.  They have great academics and great character.

"The foundation that they've built is going to last for a long time because of the way they have acted and how much they care about South Alabama."

In their last two wins, the Jaguars have averaged 473 yards of total offense while limiting the opposition to just 309.5 per outing.  Against the Panthers, Ross Metheny accounted for 330 yards of offense, including 280 through the air while completing 19-of-28 attempts, throwing for one score while rushing for another.  His top target was Shavarez Smith, who was named the Sun Belt's Offensive Player of the Week after catching 10 passes for 194 yards and a touchdown, while Jay Jones paced a rushing attack that gained 242 yards with his first 100-yard outing — he finished with 102 yards on 17 carries, scoring USA's first two touchdowns as the Jags opened up a 14-0 first-quarter advantage.

Qudarius Ford led the defense with eight total stops, Terrell Brigham added six and Jerome McClain was credited with five including one of the unit's four sacks.  Romelle Jones had a career-best 2½ tackles for loss while also forcing a fumble, Enrique Williams also forced a fumble and Montell Garner intercepted a pass as USA recorded multiple takeaways since visiting Tennessee on Sept. 28.

"There's no doubt we have played really good ball the last two weeks," observed Jones.  "I feel like we have played well all year, but for the last two weeks we have played extremely well in all three phases.  We just have to keep that up, we want to finish strong.  Our kids have kept fighting, and I am so proud that they have been able to do that."

Metheny's average of 273.55 yards of total offense per contest leads the league and is 27th nationally; the senior also stands among the top five in the conference in passing yards (third, 222.82 pg) and passing efficiency (fourth, 142.65 rating), and he's the only quarterback in the top 10 in the SBC in rushing with 50.73 yards per game too.  Smith is third in the league and in the top 50 in the country with 81.82 yards receiving per game, entering play with school season records of 47 catches for 900 yards, and Wes Saxton is the lone tight end in the Sun Belt among the top 10 in receptions and receiving yards per contest having caught 45 passes for 547 yards.  Jones ranks sixth in the league in rushing average entering play with 632 yards, the second highest season total in program history.

Williams ranks fifth in the conference with nearly nine tackles a game, entering the finale with 97 total with 6½ of those behind the line, with Ford second on the squad with 72 stops.  Jones is second in the league with 13½ tackles for loss and 7½ sacks, with Alex Page immediately behind him in both categories in the SBC rankings with 13 and 6½, respectively and Pat Moore fifth having accumulated 11½ stops behind the line of scrimmage and 5½ sacks.

As a unit, USA's defense is fourth nationally with 3.18 sacks per contest.

Garner also stands among the top 10 in the league in interceptions, pacing the team with three this fall.

Aleem Sunanon has converted nine straight field-goal attempts, entering play first in the league with 1.36 per game and second scoring 7.18 points per outing.  T.J. Glover is fourth with an average of 24.77 yards per kick return after his lone effort against the Panthers covered 35 yards, and Scott Garber has averaged 43.89 yards per punt in the last two victories.

The Jags will be taking on a Ragin' Cajun offense that leads the Sun Belt with 220.2 yards per game on the ground and 37 points per contest.  Alonzo Harris and Elijah McGuire are third and fourth in the conference in rushing with 808 and 805 yards, respectively, while Jamal Robinson ranks fifth with 49 receptions for 801 yards.  Harris' 13 touchdowns pace the team and are second in the league, McGuire has scored 10 times and Robinson has posted eight touchdowns as well.

"They are really big up front; they are the biggest offensive line we have faced other than Tennessee," Jones surmised.  "They probably have the best two backs — as far as a tandem goes — in the conference.  They have a great scheme in the running and passing game.  One thing I admire about what they do, is they continue to do the same things over and over all year long and just get good at it.  They do a great job as far as run-pass ratio is concerned and keep the defense on its toes."

But, ULL is likely going to be without the services of quarterback Terrance Broadway — he's second in the conference with a 157.04 pass efficiency rating, having completed 154-of-247 attempts for 2,276 yards and 19 scores, and third with 245.18 total yards per game — who was injured in the second half last week against the Warhawks.  Brooks Haack came on in relief and hit 10-of-14 passes for 126 yards and a touchdown.

"In watching the little bit of time that the backup quarterback has played, he is athletic and can throw.  He is tall and very capable, I just don't know that much about him because he hasn't been on film quite as long," commented Jones.  "But I don't know if it will change anything we're doing.  They are going to run the same offense, I think, regardless of the quarterback that is in the game."

Justin Anderson leads the defense — which is in the top three in the league against the run (second, 151.4 ypg) as well as overall (third, 396.8 ypg) and in scoring (second, 26.6 ppg) — with 112 tackles, including nine for a loss, as he's the only individual in the conference averaging better than 10 per outing.  Dominque Tovell's 12 stops behind the line are a team-high total, and he ranks second on the squad with 59 stops.  Trevance Patt has broken up 12 passes, ranking second in the SBC in the category, while Darius Barksdale is the lone Ragin' Cajun defender with multiple interceptions — he has two — on a unit that has 11 this fall.

Darryl Surgent leads the ULL return game, averaging 29.8 yards per kick return and 9.6 per punt return; both figures are third-best in the SBC entering the final weekend of the regular season.  Daniel Cadona averages 40.53 yards per punt, and Stephen Brauche has made 8-of-13 field-goal tries, although none longer than from 38 yards out.

Tickets for as low as $10 are available for the game and can be obtained in two ways.  They can be purchased on-line at www.tickets.southalabama.edu — there is no service charge for tickets ordered via the Internet — or in person by visiting the Mitchell Center Ticket Office on campus, which is open from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday.

The Ladd-Peebles Stadium parking lot's Lott Street entrance will open at 8 a.m. for individuals interested in tailgating, and ticket booths located on both sides of the stadium will open at 10 a.m.  USA's arrival on site, the Jaguar Prowl, is set to begin at 4:40 p.m. and run through the South parking lot, with gates slated to open 20 minutes later.

Round-trip shuttle service is available, with the cost $2.50 per person for a ticket.  Shuttles will begin running from the South parking lot at the Bel Air Mall at 3 p.m., providing continuous service until 90 minutes after the game has ended.

Perhaps this will be the final collegiate game for 28 Jaguars.  But if that is in fact the case, it doesn't mean that they can't help USA accomplish something special as it concludes its first season as an NCAA FBS member.

"One of our goals as a brand new Division I program is to become bowl eligible," Jones stated.  "If we win this ballgame and go to 6-6, I think we would have had a successful year in a lot of ways.  Could it have been a lot better?  Heck yes.  But there's no doubt that doing that in our first year in Division I would be a great accomplishment."

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).

—USA—