Game StatsPostseason QuotesPhoto GalleryMOBILE, Ala. – For 45 minutes on Thursday, the University of South Alabama football team was in front of Louisiana-Lafayette — including holding a pair of double-digit leads — but Savion Brown changed that changed that in a matter of seconds with an 85-yard interception return for a touchdown that put the Ragin' Cajuns up one midway through the final quarter.
The Jaguars, however, turned their lone takeaway of the night, an E.J. May interception four minutes later, into a score when Xavier Johnson recorded a 16-yard touchdown run with three-and-a-half minutes to go to lead USA to a 32-25 Sun Belt Conference win over ULL at Ladd-Peebles Stadium.
"I was just reading. I knew they were going to run an inside route, and I just sat on it and waited for the quarterback to throw it," May said after the contest. "We knew we had to make a stop. The defense just had to come up and make a big play."
After getting a stop on fourth down, Gerald Everett went over the offensive line on fourth-and-inches to clinch the victory for the Jags (5-4, 3-2 Sun Belt), who held a 495-313 advantage in total offense including outgaining the Cajuns (4-5, 3-2 SBC) by a 207-43 margin on the ground.
"Everybody could drop their head, but we didn't," USA head coach Joey Jones said of the situation following the interception. "You have to respond to those situations. That's the way life is."
"I just told the guys to trust the defense; you know they've got us," Jaguar quarterback Cody Clements added. "They're going to make a play, and we're going to get the ball back and make a play to score and win the game. You have to have that faith throughout all 60 minutes of the game. That's the big reason why you have seen the outcome in these last two games. We're really trusting each other. We have confidence in the guy next to us."
USA built its yardage total on the strength of three touchdown drives of more than 80 yards in the middle two periods. The first, which covered 81 yards keyed by a 55-yard completion from Clements to Braedon Bowman, resulted in a 25-yard Aleem Sunanon field goal with nearly six-and-a-half minutes to go before the intermission.
A 13-play, 89-yard drive, that took a little more than three minutes off the clock ended with a 10-yard touchdown pass from Clements to Everett 20 seconds before the break, giving USA its first double-digit lead at the half this fall. Three times with the Jags facing third down, Clements hit Marvin Shinn for 10 or more yards, and the senior receiver aided in a fourth first down when he drew a pass interference call that gave USA the ball at the ULL-10 the play prior to the score. The Ragin' Cajuns closed the gap to 17-13 on their opening possession of the second half, but the Jaguars began the fourth quarter with an 85-yard march that saw Clements connect with Josh Magee for a pickup of 59 yards down the right sideline to move USA into the red zone before — on second-and-seven — Everett took a toss from Dami Ayoola only to hit Clements in the back corner of the end zone.
The senior quarterback ended the contest 17-of-28 passing for a career-high 281 yards, posting 298 yards of total offense — also a career-best figure. Johnson recorded his second straight game — and fourth of the season — with more than 100 yards rushing after gaining 118 and scoring twice on 23 attempts, also scoring the Jags' first points with eight minutes to go in the first quarter on a nine-yard. Terrance Timmons supplied 62 yards on the ground, with Everett and Danny Woodson II catching four passes each for 59 and 34 yards, respectively. Bowman finished with 69 yards and Magee chipped in with 67 as both recorded a pair of receptions.
After the Jags went ahead 24-13, ULL answered in less than two minutes when Brooks Haack hit Jamal Robinson three differrent times. Following completions of 19 and 26 yards Haack was sacked by Antonio Carter for a loss of nine, but on the next snap he and Robinson connected again, this time over a defender for a 46-yard score; when Jeremy Reaves broke up the two-point conversion try the Jags led by five with just under 11 minutes to go in regulation.
Robinson posted career highs with 10 catches for 188 yards, pacing all players in both categories. Al Riles had five receptions for 57 yards as well as Haack was 21-of-34 passing for 270 yards, but the Ragin' Cajuns finished with just 43 yards on 24 carries as the Jaguars held preseason league player of the year Elijah McGuire — who entered play ranked fifth in the Sun Belt in rushing — to just 21 on 11 attempts.
"Elijah McGuire, the [conference] player of the year last year, is very talented," explained Jone. "I was real worried about him before the game — worried that he could run it and catch passes out of the backfield. But I thought we really contained him well. I felt good about the way we stopped the run tonight. We gave up a couple of long passes, but other than that I thought we played really well defensively."
Reaves led USA defensively, recording nine tackles — including one for loss — a forced fumble, two passes broken up; he also blocked ULL's first extra-point attempt. Kalen Jackson supplied seven stops, Carter had six and Blake Dees winished with five as well.
"Coming into this week, we knew that Elijah was a great back and that he was the player of the year [in the conference] last year," Reaves observed. "Our emphasis was to stop him and not let him get going. I give all the credit to our big boys up front."
Otha Peters led all players with 13 stops while Taboris Lee was credited with 10 including three behind the line of scrimmage for the Ragin Cajun defense, which was on the field for 83 snaps, 25 more than the Jaguars.
The ULL ofense scored a touchdown on its first possession of each half. After forcing a three-and-out and a 25-yard punt, the Ragin' Cajuns only had to drive 44 yards for their opening score. Facing third-and-two, Jalen Nixon gained seven yards on a rush, and after a pair of Torrey Pierce carries Nixon reached the end zone from 18 yards out; ULL led 6-0 with just over 11 minutes left in the first period after Reaves blocked the extra-point try. McGuire scored from three yards out to cap the opening drive of the second half, drawing the Cajuns within four, 17-13, less than five minutes into the third period. It capped a nine-play, 76-yard drive that saw Haack find Robinson for a 22-yard gain on the first play of the possession while also completing an 11-yard pass to Riles for another first down.
"The way our team battled back, took the lead and kept coming up with plays shows the type of kids we've got," stated Ragin' Cajun head coach Mark Hudspeth. "The wins will come. I thought our defense — minus one play — played a great game tonight, even scored. We've got to find ways to get on the board more."
It marked the fourth time in as many meetings that the home team has won, but it was the first time that the two schools played a game decided by a touchdown or less.
The Jaguars will next face Georgia State in the first of two straight games in the Peach State, with the contest against the Panthers set for a 1 p.m. (CST) kickoff at the Georgia Dome on Saturday, Nov. 21.
"We're obviously one step closer to a bowl [game], and that's one of our goals," Jones said. "Our guys are looking forward to the next ballgame, but we're going to enjoy this one tonight. I'm just so proud of them and how we've come through in the last couple of games. We've put ourselves in position to get into a bowl now — it's up to us, our future is in our hands. We have to handle our business, and if we do that then we have a chance to move on and achieve some of our dreams that we set out early in the year to get.
"We're just a better football team. You get better by practice and experience in games, and I can honestly say we are a much better football team now than we were three or four weeks ago."
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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