MOBILE, Ala. – Folks from all over the country visit New Orleans on a regular basis for a vacation getaway, but when the University of South Alabama football team comes in this weekend it will be a standard business trip.

The Jaguars — looking to bounce back from a last-second, 22-21 loss in their season opener to Southern Utah — will take on Tulane Saturday at 2:30 p.m. at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in their first road game of the year.  The Green Wave, who finished 2-10 last fall, opened the campaign with a 34-7 defeat of Jackson State at home.

"The first thing you notice is that they are a lot better football team than they were last year; they went out and soundly beat Jackson State," Jag head coach Joey Jones observed.  "They have made a lot of improvements and recruited well, so it will be a big challenge for us."

Although the Tigers outgained the Green Wave, 356-308, TU forced six turnovers including a pair of fumbles with JSU driving for a score inside the five-yard line.  Darion Monroe paced the unit with nine stops, adding a fumble forced and recovered, Derrick Strozier posted six stops, and both Nico Marley and Parry Nickerson were credited with five.  The Green Wave intercepted four passes, with Lorenzo Doss returning one that ended the initial drive of the contest 24 yards leading to TU's first points.

"That's where they have made the most improvement from last year's team," Jones commented.  "They have a bunch of guys flying around.  They are not very big at linebacker or in the secondary, but they are huge up front and have some really big guys inside.  They are playing a lot better on defense."

Last year the Jaguars turned the ball over 33 times in 13 outings, but had just one miscue in the opener.  Jay Jones led a rushing attack that recorded 187 yards and averaged 5.5 yards per carry with 92 yards on nine attempts, while Brandon Bridge added 56 — including a 40-yard scoring run — and Cris Dinham had 21.  Newcomers accounted for all but 18 of those yards.

Ross Metheny was 12-of-17 passing — a 70.6 completion rate — for 112 yards and two scores, leading the Jags on a pair of second-half touchdown drives as they built a 21-13 advantage early in the fourth quarter.  Jeremé Jones and Shavarez Smith each had five receptions to lead the team, while Danny Woodson II paced USA with 63 yards on three catches.

The Jaguars averaged 5.4 yards per play in the opener while outgaining the Thunderbirds by 18 yards.

Defensively, USA surrendered 317 yards, including allowing 3.3 per rush while giving up only 134 on the ground.  Enrique Williams had a team-high 12 stops, also forcing a fumble on a sack, with Charles Watson chipping in with eight and Maleki Harris adding seven.  The latter was credited with 2½ tackles for loss, and Alex Page had two behind the line as well, as the Jags posted three sacks and broke up five passes.  Clifton Crews, Qudarius Ford and Montell Garner all contributed six stops too.

The Green Wave passing attack featured several big plays, ending their first contest with an average of more than 20 yards per completion led by Ryan Grant, who caught three balls for 82 yards.  Nick Montana completed 6-of-14 attempts for 144 yards and two scores, with Orleans Darkwa and Ron Kelley highlighting the ground game with 50 and 41 yards, respectively.

"They do a good job with their run and pass ratio," explained Jones.  "They are not a team where you just stop the run or stop the pass, they are pretty good at both."

Cairo Santos didn't miss a kick for TU — hitting two field-goal and four extra-point attempts — and Peter Picerelli averaged 42 yards per punt, while the Jaguar return unit averaged 30.5 yards running back kickoffs, which was tops in the Sun Belt Conference on the opening weekend of the season.  T.J. Glover returned the first kickoff of the contest 43 yards to lead that effort.

While there were plenty of positives USA could take from the first game of the year, Jones and his staff know there are areas to improve in as well.

"The bottom line is we want to win a ballgame, that's the overall goal," he said.  "The biggest thing on offense right now is converting points — we dropped a touchdown pass, we dropped another 60-yard pass that could have put the game away.  We have to make plays in those situations, if we make one of those the game is over."

The task won't be an easy one with the contest on the road, but with the Jaguars focused on the game at hand and not everything else New Orleans offers it visitors it is one that is within reach of an improved USA football squad.

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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