MOBILE, Ala. – After watching tape of the University of South Alabama football team's season-opening win, Jaguar head coach Joey Jones saw things he liked on both sides of the ball.
Offensively the Jags averaged more than seven yards per play while racking up 408 total yards in a 33-23 defeat of Gardner-Webb at Ladd-Peebles Stadium Saturday; that included three plays of 50-plus yards, the first time the unit has done that since the middle of the 2013 campaign. Meanwhile, the USA defense surrendered 309 yards despite being on the field for nearly 39 minutes of game action.
"On offense I was real proud that we made several big plays in the game, which you have to have to win," Jones explained. "Defensively, we scrapped and adjusted well. They came out and did things totally different from what they had been doing, and our coaches did a good job of adjusting to that."
If the Jaguars want to move to 2-0 this year, they will have to accomplish all that and likely more. USA returns to action Saturday at 7 p.m. (CDT) with a visit to Nebraska, which is coming off a 33-28 loss at home to Brigham Young that saw the Cougars score on the final play of the game.
The contest will be broadcast nationally on the Big Ten Network, and will also be available for free via the iHeartRadio platform.
Blake Dees accounted for 13 stops in his Jaguar debut, leading a group that allowed only 3.3 yards per carry and a total of 132 yards through the air, with fellow linebacker Kalen Jackson supplying nine tackles in his first appearance in a year; he was injured in his second outing at UAB last fall and missed the rest of the season. Dees also forced a pair of fumbles, the second of which led to an Aleem Sunanon 28-yard field goal and a double-digit advantage for USA.
Three other Jags made nine stops, including Roman Buchanan and defensive linemen Tre Alford and DeMarion Harper, while Devon Earl recorded eight tackles and Jeremy Reaves had five. Buchanan and Reaves picked off passes as well, helping the unit collect three takeaways.
Xavier Johnson opened his sophomore season with a career night against the Runnin' Bulldogs, rushing for 121 yards and posting 177 overall. After the Jaguars fell behind for the first time just over four minutes into the second half, Johnson promptly gave USA the lead for good with a 56-yard touchdown catch; he then put the game away midway through the fourth quarter by scoring on a 92-yard run, the longest in school history.
Tyreis Thomas chipped in with 56 yards on nine attempts, and Terrance Timmons opened the scoring with a career-long 49-yard touchdown run to help the Jags rush for 224 yards. In the passing game, Gerald Everett and D.J. Vinson caught four balls apiece with the latter posting 75 yards highlighted by a 50-yard touchdown reception on his first touch for the program. Cody Clements completed 14-of-25 attempts in his first game as a Jaguar while directing the unit.
Sunanon — who made a pair of field goals and converted all three extra-point attempts — was named the initial Sun Belt Conference Special Teams Student-Athlete of the Week, while Claude Garrett averaged 36 yards on a pair of kickoff returns.
The Cornhusker offense also surpassed 400 yards in their season debut, collecting a total of 445 with 319 of those coming via the pass. Tommy Armstrong Jr. was 24-of-41 overall with three touchdowns including a nine-yard strike to Trey Foster that gave NU a 28-24 lead with five-and-a-half minutes left against the Cougars. Jordan Westerkamp led all players with seven receptions while recording 107 yards, and Brandon Reilly finished with 70 yards on five catches. Terrell Newby paced the rushing attack with 43 yards on 10 carries.
But, the Blackshirts allowed 511 yards to BYU including 379 passing as Cougar quarterbacks combined to complete 28-of-46 attempts. Joshua Kalu posted nine total tackles to pace the Husker defense, with two of those behind the line of scrimmage, and he also broke up a pass. Dedrick Young recorded seven stops, while the trio of Josh Banderas, Nate Gerry and Aaron Williams posted six tackles apiece.
Sam Foltz averaged 46.0 yards per punt for the Cornhuskers, although he was injured early in the third quarter — Tyson Broekemeier had an average of 40.5 yards on two fourth-quarter kicks — but Drew Brown missed both field-goal attempts while NU had 24 combined yards in the return game.
"They are pretty big and very talented as you might imagine, and they are very well-coached. [NU head] Coach [Mike] Riley did a great job at Oregon State," Jones observed. "Our hands are full, but our kids are really looking forward to the opportunity. They realize it's a game that is going to be on national television, you want to do well when you are on a stage like that. It's an exciting week for us."
This will be the first time the Jaguars will meet an opponent from the Big Ten Conference, but not their first trip into the environment expected to greet them. USA played in front of more than 87,000 fans at Tennessee during the 2013 season, and has also made trips to South Carolina, North Carolina State and Mississippi State where the attendance has been over 50,000.
"The thing about games like this is that the guys understand we are playing a very good football team," stated Jones. "But my focus is not on any opponent, it's on us; I know that's said a lot by coaches, but it's the truth. We have to work and get better, and if we do that we will be able to block, tackle and execute in the game.
"We've done pretty well against teams like this, but this is a new one and we have to get ready."
If the Jaguars can translate preparation into performance like they did the opening week of the season, Jones will be sure to enjoy watching film this weekend.
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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