MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama football team snapped a seven-game losing streak last weekend when it held on in the final minutes to defeat Tulane.  The boost in morale as a result of that performance couldn't have come at a better time for the Jaguars, as they turn around this week and face Western Kentucky in the Sun Belt Conference opener for both schools.

The Jags and Hilltoppers — long-time league rivals in other sports — will meet for the first time in football Saturday at 6:30 p.m. at Ladd-Peebles Stadium, with the game broadcast live nationally on ESPN3.

"A couple of our goals are to win a conference championship and get to a bowl game.  This will be the first step toward that," USA head coach Joey Jones observed.  "But it's not that we need to be focused so much on Western Kentucky as we need to be focused on ourselves.  Last week we approached practice in a physical and mental way to where we were really concentrating on what we were doing, and we got better.

"Our goal is to get better this week and go into the game with a prepared team."

Offensively against the Green Wave, the Jaguars posted 465 yards of total offense — including 245 in the opening quarter — en route to a 41-39 victory.  Ross Metheny was named the Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Week on Monday after recording school game records with 365 yards of total offense and four touchdowns accounted for; the senior threw for 290 yards while completing 19-of-30 attempts and also ran for 75 more on 11 carries to lead all players on the ground in the contest.

After making one catch in the Jags' season opener, tight end Wes Saxton led the squad with seven receptions for 92 yards, tying career highs in both categories.  Jeremé Jones added four catches — he tops the team with nine in two outings — and Danny Woodson II had three as he paces USA with 113 receiving yards, while Shavarez Smith and Davin Hawkins caught the first touchdowns of their Jaguar careers in the first period.  

Jay Jones, who finished with 64 yards on 11 attempts last time out, leads USA and ranks fourth in the league with 78 rushing yards per contest.

Qudarius Ford had a team-high eight stops in the victory, giving him 14 through two games to tie for second on the team in the category;  he broke up two passes as well, while it was his blocked punt that Terrance Timmons recovered in the end zone for a touchdown that put the Jags in the lead for good.

Seniors Clifton Crews and Romelle Jones recorded two tackles for loss each last weekend — the latter finished with a career-best seven total stops — and Alex Page was credited with a sack for the second week in a row.  Enrique Williams tops the USA defense, which limited the Green Wave to just 45 yards on 27 carries and now ranks 20th in the country surrendering 89.5 yards per contest, with 15 tackles and Maleki Harris has nine including 2½ behind the line of scrimmage.

In the TU win, Aleem Sunanon converted the first two field goals of his collegiate career, with the second from 23 yards out with just over six minutes remaining in the game providing the final margin of victory.  Senior Scott Garber averaged 42.2 yards per punt, and T.J. Glover ran back four punts for 41 yards and now leads the conference with an average of 7.33 per return.

"I felt like every phase of the team contributed, from special teams, offense, defense, coaching staff, players; it was a great team win," stated Smith.  "It wasn't just one side of the ball that stood out; everybody made plays and made an impact on the game, whether it was a blocked punt, a peel-back block, a big run, big catch or interception.  Everybody got a chance to be involved in it and I feel like it's great for our confidence moving forward."

The Hilltoppers are also 1-1 on the season, opening the year with a 35-26 neutral-site win over Kentucky before falling at Tennessee last weekend, 52-20.  In their second contest, the Toppers outgained the Volunteers by 11 yards (393-382) and had one more first down (21-20) but were crippled by five turnovers in a six-play stretch during the opening quarter.

Antonio Andrews enters the game second on the NCAA's career list among active players with 4,581 all-purpose yards; he's second in the league in the category with 200.5 per outing, and is the only back in the Sun Belt averaging better than 100 yards per contest rushing (105 ypg).  Leon Allen has chipped in with 144 yards on just 23 attempts, as WKU has an average of more than five yards per carry.

Brandon Doughty has completed 64.7 percent of his passes thus far, hitting 44-of-68 attempts, for 493 yards and two scores.  Five Topper receivers have at least five catches in the first two games led by Willie McNeal with nine for 100 yards.

Andrew Jackson was named the SBC preseason Defensive Player of the Year, and has recorded 14 tackles to date, but it is fellow linebacker Xavius Boyd who tops the squad — and the league — with five stops for loss and three sacks among his 23 total tackles.  His brother Bar'ee paces the defensive line with a pair of stops behind the line, with Jonathan Dowling recording 14 tackles and Cam Thomas breaking up three passes while intercepting another to highlight the secondary.

WKU's special teams units feature placekicker Garrett Schwettman, who hasn't missed a kick — he's 2-of-2 on field goals and hit all seven points-after-touchdown — for a team-best 13 points, and punter Hendrix Brakefield, whose 42.4 average stands third in the league.

"When you look at them on film, they are a tremendous football team.  I've kind of peeked at all of the teams in the league, and they probably have the most talent of anybody in the conference," explained Jones.  "They have great coaches who do a great job.  They're big and physical, so it's a good benchmark for us to play this team early.  We'll know where we stand in the league by playing a team like Western Kentucky, because they know what they are doing and they do a good job.  It's a great challenge for us."

"Western Kentucky is going to be a great opponent," added Romelle Jones.  "They're a very physical team; they have some great players out there.  We've been watching them since last year even though we didn't get to play them, so we've been anticipating the game for a good while, knowing they're one of the top teams in our conference.  A win against them would be huge; it would do huge things for the program."

Tickets for as low as $10 can be purchased either on-line, on campus during the week or at the stadium on the day of the game. Single-game tickets can be printed for free with no additional service charge on the web at www.tickets.southalabama.edu or obtained in person at the Mitchell Center Ticket Office from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. the next three days.  On Saturday, ticket windows will open at the stadium at 3:30 p.m.

The parking lot opens at 8 a.m. (Lott Street entrance) for individuals interested in tailgating prior to kickoff, and shuttles with round trip-service from the South parking lot at the Bel Air Mall to the stadium — at a cost of $2.50 per person to ride both ways — start running at 2:30 p.m.  The team will arrive on site for the Jaguar Prowl, the team's traditional entrance to the stadium, at 4:10 p.m. with gates slated to open at 4:30 p.m.  Shuttle service will run continuously until 90 minutes after the game has ended.

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—