MOBILE, Ala. – Looking for one more win to be eligible for postseason play for the third year in a row, the University of South Alabama football team will need to defeat an opponent who has already reached such status this fall.

The Jaguars' first opportunity will come on Saturday with their final road game of the regular season, when USA (5-5, 3-3 Sun Belt) visits Georgia Southern (7-3, 5-1 SBC).  The two teams will kick off at 1 p.m. (CST) at Allen E. Paulson Stadium, with coverage of the contest free worldwide via the iHeartRadio app as well as on ESPN3.

Both teams saw a two-game win streak come to an end on Saturday, as the Jags dropped a league contest, 24-20, at Georgia State in the afternoon before the Eagles fell in overtime at Georgia that night, 23-17.  Only once this fall has USA been defeated in back-to-back outings.

"We are all in this thing together, we are a team," Jaguar head coach Joey Jones stated.  "We're going to win together and lose together, and one thing I am not going to put up with is anything to the contrary.  When you have a loss that's tough and everyone wants to point fingers and blame everybody for everything, we are going to stick together.  We still can get into a bowl game by winning one of these ball games; we have a great opportunity ahead of us, we have to look at it that way."

GS is third in the conference in scoring with 35.4 points per game, leading the league — and the country — in rushing with 364.3 yards per contest.  The Eagles are the only school in the league with more than one individual in the top 10 individually in the category, with Matt Breida (159-1,308, 14 TDs) and Kevin Ellison (81-559, 6 TDs) second and 10th, respectively.  In addition, L.A. Ramsby has rushed for 622 yards and 10 scores, Wesley Fields has contributed 557 yards and six touchdowns, and Favian Upshaw has recorded 356 yards, with all five averaging at least five yards per attempt.

"It's different, it's the triple option out of the [shot]gun.  They are real fast at the running back position and their quarterbacks are athletic," explained Jones.  "They know what they are doing and have run the ball on just about everybody, Georgia is probably the only one who has slowed them down for the most part.  They're fast, and they will sneak up on you because they will run, run, run and then all of a sudden they play action and a guy is running behind your safety.  We have to be smart, play with our eyes and be real disciplined on defense.

"The triple option is something we have to take care of, we have to focus on what we do because our kids don't see this offense much.  [Assistant] Coach [Travis] Pearson was saying today that we need to stay in our gaps; if you start chasing something you see over there, all of a sudden that guy winds back and is going through the gap you were supposed to be in.  You have to be disciplined against this offense, you can't chase ghosts."

The Eagle defense is also one of the best in the Sun Belt, entering play ranked second in both total yards (340.8 pg) and points (22.8 pg) allowed per outing.  Antwione Williams leads the unit with 82 stops, eight tackles for loss and four forced fumbles, with Ironhead Gallon supplying 71 stops.  Antonio Glover has intercepted a league-best six passes to go along with 50 tackles, Caleb Williams has three interceptions and Riyahd Jones has recovered a pair of fumbles to help GS rank second in the conference with 22 takeaways, while Bernard Dawson has collected four sacks with Jamal Johnson adding three.

The Jaguar defense is among the top five in the SBC surrendering 186.2 yards per game rushing and 398.6 overall, having held each of its last two opponents below 100 yards on the ground.  Blake Dees paced the squad for the fifth time this season with nine stops at GSU, raising his total for the year to 97; the senior linebacker is third in the league in tackles per game.  Jeremy Reaves and Kalen Jackson were credited with seven tackles apiece last time out — they rank second and third on the team with 79 and 60 stops, respectively — with the former adding a pass defensed, his sixth of the season, as he paces USA in that catagory as well.  Roman Buchanan has also recorded 58 stops with Devon Earl adding 54.

Xavier Johnson has provided the Jags with more than 100 all-purpose yards in three straight contests, entering play fifth in all-purpose yards per game (126.1) and ninth in rushing (81.5 ypg).  Tyreis Thomas has gained 466 yards as well, including 43 on just six attempts with his first touchdown of the year last weekend, while Terrance Timmons has added 244 more.  Gerald Everett tops the squad with 36 receptions, 517 yards receiving and eight touchdown catches, although D.J. Vinson (21-172) and Danny Woodson II (15-176, 1 TD) shared the team lead against the Panthers with four receptions each.  Cody Clements ranks third in the conference in passing and sixth in total offense, having completed 155-of-294 attempts for 2,113 yards and 13 scores.

USA is averaging 218.1 yards per game through the air and 382.3 overall, and had recorded at least 400 yards of total offense in three straight contests prior to facing GSU.

"Obviously after watching last week's game with Georgia they look really good, they have a lot of great athletes; they have the look of an SEC team," Jones said of the Eagles.  "And they played toe-to-toe with Georgia, they are a tough team that is well-coached and physical.  They have the benefit of having a lot of tradition there — they've won national championships, have a great stadium and average about 25,000 per game — so they have a good thing going."

The task will be tough on Saturday in Statesboro, but if the Jaguars are up to the challenge the reward — once again being eligible for a postseason bowl — will be great.

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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