MOBILE, Ala. – Fans of the University of South Alabama football program worried that the Jaguars will lack intensity when facing South Carolina Saturday after earning their sixth win of the season last weekend — thus making the team eligible for a postseason bowl berth for the second year in a row — need only hear the thoughts of senior linebacker Maleki Harris to ease their concerns.

"Everyone was happy and excited about it in the locker room after the game," he explained of the atmosphere following the Jags' 24-20 victory over Texas State.  "But we knew we had to get locked in and get it done.  Once you achieve one of the goals you have set at the beginning of the season, you can look back and say we accomplished what we set out to do.

"But the season is not over.  We're not happy with just six wins.  We're going to be ready to go at practice tomorrow."

"It was joyful to know that we could be the first [South Alabama] team to go to a bowl game.  When we come back 20 years from now, we'll always be able to say we were the first team to do it," added running back Terrance Timmons.  "But that's over.  We have a big game this week, we have to move on to South Carolina."

USA (6-4, 5-3 Sun Belt Conference) will look to add to its win total with a pair of non-conference contests prior to the announcement of this year's bowl lineup, first taking on the Gamecocks in its final road game.  Game time is set for 11 a.m. (CST) at Williams-Brice Stadium, with the match-up scheduled to be broadcast regionally on FOX Sports South.

USC (5-5, 3-5 Southeastern Conference) enters play coming off a victory as well, having defeated Florida on the road, 23-20, in overtime on Saturday.  It will be Senior Day for the Gamecocks, who need one more win over either the Jaguars or rival Clemson in the next two weeks to gain bowl eligibility for the 10th straight season as well.

This will mark the third consecutive fall that the Jags will face an SEC opponent on the road, having played at Mississippi State in 2012 and Tennessee a year ago.  USA also played host to the Bulldogs in its season opener on Sept. 13, making this the first time in program history that it will take on two schools from the league in the same year.

"To be honest with you — and I said this after the game — but I didn't think about South Carolina until Saturday night," Jaguar head coach Joey Jones stated.  "Normally you look ahead at times, but the enormity of this past week with Texas State was so big that we threw everything we had into that game to achieve our goal.  The hype for this game might not be as big as in the past for our games at Mississippi State and Tennessee, but now that it's here it's obviously exciting for our players, we're looking forward to it."

Despite having faced over 80 snaps in each of the last two outings, the Jaguar defense paces the Sun Belt in scoring average (23.10 ppg) and is also third in both total defense (380.20 ypg) and pass efficiency rating (123.02).  USA has been able to get pressure on the opposing quarterback, averaging nearly two-and-a-half sacks per outing, with Jesse Kelley recording a pair last time out against the Bobcats and Theo Rich among the league leaders with seven this fall, a figure that is one shy of setting a new school season record in the category.

The Jags also defend the pass — Montell Garner leads the league with 10 total passes defended in 10 outings, and Terrell Brigham and Harris also rank in the top 10 in the Sun Belt — and have surrendered less than 120 yards per game in their wins this fall.  Brigham leads the unit with 83 total stops, which is tied for the fifth highest season total in program history, with Davin Hawkins adding 63 tackles and Harris 59.

USA will be tested by a Gamecock offense that averages more than 285 yards through the air and 460 overall, with Dylan Thompson completing better than 60 percent (217-of-361) of his attempts for 2,794 yards and 22 scores.  Pharoh Davis has caught 55 passes for 826 yards and eight touchdowns — topping the team in each category — with Nick Jones (35-433) and Shaq Roland (23-330) each reaching the end zone four times as well.  Not only does Mike Davis pace USC with 875 yards and nine touchdowns rushing, he has added 24 receptions for another 280.

"I don't know that it's what they do that concerns me as much as who they are doing it with," observed Jones.  "They've got a great running back — in my opinion Mike Davis is going to be picked very high in the NFL Draft — who will be the best running back we've faced by far this year.  They have great receivers, and real big, athletic linemen.

"We do what we do, we're not going to change; [defensive coordinator] Coach [Travis] Pearson has drilled that into their heads, we believe we can play good defense," he added.  "When you start playing against better athletes, you have to be a little sharper because one misstep can cost you; against these guys, you better fill your gap, if you leave the gap open that running back is gone.  We have to be sharp about what we do, but that's what we preach anyway, it's not any different than what we've always done."

One week after being held to a season-low 201 total yards, the Jaguars posted 384 against Texas State including 210 passing.  Hunter Vaughn, making his first start for USA, completed 20-of-28 passes for 182 yards while also scoring the Jaguars' first points on a 28-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter.  Either he or Brandon Bridge (119-231, 1,457 yds, 10 TDs) will be throwing to Shavarez Smith, who ranks among the top 10 in the Sun Belt in receiving yards per contest while topping the squad with 39 catches for 552 yards and six scores.  Jeremé Jones has added 24 receptions for 231 yards, while Danny Woodson II caught his third touchdown of the season last time out and Braedon Bowman led the team with 81 yards on four catches.

The tandem of Terrance Timmons (11 carries, 74 yds, 1 score) and Kendall Houston (10 for 68) combined to account for 142 of the Jags' 174 rushing yards in the win, with the former entering this game with a team-high 518 yards on 96 attempts.

USC is giving up 222.90 yards per game rushing and 219.40 per outing through the air, allowing almost 6.4 yards per play and the opposition to convert on better than 41 percent of its third downs.

T.J. Gurley and Skai Moore share the team lead with 63 stops apiece, with Gurley breaking up a pair of passes also, and Jonathan Walton — a product of Bayside Academy in Daphne, Ala. — supplying 46 tackles.  Gerald Dixon and Sharrod Golightly pace the Gamecocks with five and 4½ stops behind the line of scrimmage, respectively, with Brison Williams topping the team with five passes broken up and two interceptions.

"What a great win that was for our football program, that's a game I will remember for the rest of my life," Jones said regarding USA's victory last weekend.  "First because it was just a great football game, and second because it was a game that we won with our backs up against the wall when we had to win it.  Our guys will remember that, knowing that it was do or die, and they came through and won; that's something that you want to do as a man to gain respect.

"But South Carolina is a very talented football team — it will be a great challenge for us to go to Columbia, one that our kids look forward to," Jones continued.  "It's a typical SEC team, they've lost a lot of close games and could very easily be a lot better from a record standpoint.  I always look at players and teams rather than records, and their team certainly has a bunch of talent and they are very well coached."

If USA's players lost sight of the upcoming competition, their head coach hasn't.  Jaguar supporters can rest assured their team isn't entering a match-up with an SEC opponent happy to have its six wins.

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—