MOBILE, Ala. – Dallas Davis threw three touchdown passes and Sam Harris recorded career highs in multiple receiving categories, but the highlight of the night in the University of South Alabama's 33-23 Sun Belt Conference football victory over ULM at Ladd-Peebles Stadium Saturday was provided by Xavier Johnson.

Johnson ran for 33 yards on his second carry, finishing the contest with 99 yards on 11 attempts to become the Jaguars' all-time leading rusher.  Davis completed 20-of-33 passes for 317 yards, finding Harris eight times for 141 yards as the Jaguars (3-4, 2-1 Sun Belt) recorded a season-best 549 yards of total offense.

The trio of Bull Barge, Nigel Lawrence and Jeremy Reaves posted eight stops apiece as USA limited the Warhawks (3-4, 3-2 SBC) to only 174 yards and three points in the second half.

South Alabama 33, ULM 23
South Alabama/ULM photo gallery

GAME FACTS
-The Jaguars scored on their first two possessions to build a 14-0 advantage less than seven minutes into the contest.
-ULM took its only lead, 20-17 with six minutes remaining in the opening half, on Ben Luckett's second touchdown run of the game.
-South regained the lead for good when Davis connected with Harris for a five-yard scoring pass four seconds before intermission, capping an 80-yard drive that used just 91 seconds of clock.
-The Jags held a 549-486 advantage in total offense, while their 26 first downs and 7-of-12 performance on third-down conversions were both the best figures they've recorded this fall.
-USA entered the fourth quarter ahead 30-23, then held the ball for just under 11 minutes to seal the win.
-The Warhawks scored on 3-of-6 possessions that reached the red zone.

NOTES
-This marked the fourth time in as many meetings in the series with ULM that the home team has won.
-It was the first time South has won back-to-back Sun Belt Conference contests since Nov. 7-12, 2015.
-USA has now claimed all nine Homecoming games in the program's history.
-The Jaguars have an all-time mark of 15-2 in October home games.
-Johnson broke the school rushing record set by Kendall Houston, who gained 2,587 yards on the ground from 2010-14.
-Not only did Harris post career highs in receptions and receiving yards, his second-quarter touchdown catch was the first of his career.
-Harris also recorded the first 100-yard receiving game by a Jaguar this season.
-Harris' 141 yards receiving tied the sixth-highest total on the school's game record list, while the eight catches are tied for fourth-most by a Jaguar in one contest.
-Davis — who recorded his first 300-yard game since USA visited Idaho on Nov. 26 last season — finished with a career high in touchdown passes.
-Reaves is now the sole leader on South's career interception list with a pick in the fourth quarter that was his seventh since the start of the 2014 campaign, while the 92-yard return of a fumble he picked up in the end zone that ended the Warhawks' opening drive was the longest in school history.
-Tra Minter opened the scoring with a 38-yard touchdown catch on the Jags' initial possession, the first score of his career.
-It was the second time in as many weeks that Tobias Moss has finished with a career-best tackle total after making six stops, and he also matched a career high set in his USA debut at Ole Miss with two passes broken up.

THEY SAID IT
South Alabama head coach Joey Jones
Opening statement: "This was a great win for our program tonight.  ULM is a class program and a very well-coached team.  They have a great offensive football team and they're a tough defense.  Our kids came out and played well tonight, we really grew up as a football team.  Our offense was able to put up over 500 yards and was 7-of-12 on third downs, so there were a lot of improvements.  Our kids played their guts out, I'm excited about the way they played.  I've known we had a good football team this whole time.  We're looking forward to our next ball game."
On what he said after ULM missed their field goal early in the fourth quarter: "I got them in the huddle and told them 'We could win the game right here' and our offensive line took the game over.  That's where we grew up.  Those guys took it on themselves to drive the football down the field.  If those guys are able to block, we have great running backs who can find the holes and run the clock down to win the game.  We won the fourth quarter tonight; that's something we've been striving to do, and we got it done tonight."
On what Xavier Johnson has meant to the program: "I love Xavier Johnson as a person first and to see how much he's grown.  As a player, he's dynamic and if we aren't giving him the ball much, then we're not very smart because he's going to make plays.  He's the kind of person and player that we want to have on our football team."
On Jeremy Reaves' performance on defense: "He's dynamic on defense and he's able to come up with those important plays.  He has a confidence about him.  One thing about Jeremy is that he's a great athlete who can run, jump and do all of those other things, and he's a very instinctive player, so we know that he's going to make those types of plays for us.  He's a four-year starter for us and that experience shows out there for us.  We sure are going to miss him."
On Sam Harris' performance: "I don't believe anyone offered him a scholarship out of high school.  He's probably the most competitive young man I've ever coached.  He doesn't say a lot but when the lights are on, he's going to play and compete.  That's why he's a great player.  We felt like the inside receiver was going to have a good game this week according to the coverage we had seen ULM use on film.  We felt like those guys would come through and he did."
On Dallas Davis: "I thought Dallas grew up a bunch as well tonight.  He pulled [the ball] and ran it several key times and those things kept drives going for us.  He didn't make many bad throws and had a good completion percentage.  He's just a leader and the guys feel comfortable and calm with him out there."
On the confidence these two back-to-back wins can provide: "We played a tough schedule early and I knew we had a good football team.  We've won the last two and our guys want to win a conference championship, and the only way you can do that is win them one game at a time.  We can't look ahead.  We're not a dominant type of team where we are going to beat everyone 55-0, but we are going to have to play good, solid football and win the fourth quarter; that's what we've got done the last couple of weeks."

Dallas Davis
On competing for the starting job when he and Cole Garvin were healthy: "Since last year we were always competing with each other for the job.  Each and every day we bring that competiveness to practice, and it's made both of us and the team better."
On how big this win was: "This was a big win.  We know the Idaho loss was a tough one for everyone and we should have won it.  Overcoming that loss by beating Troy last week and moving forward with another win gives us confidence going into the next one against Georgia State."
On the career games and chemistry he and Harris have together: "I met him my first day on campus during orientation and we hit it off right away.  We both put in extra work every day after practice.  It paid for him, it paid off for the team and we just have that connection.  He's a smart player and finds holes in the defense.  We have been together for four years.  I know how he plays and I just have to give the ball to him."

Sam Harris
On how big the win was tonight: "I thought this was a defining moment in our season.  I can't remember the last time we won two in a row. Hopefully we continue with this going into Georgia State."

Xavier Johnson
On becoming the program's all-time leading rusher: "It feels great. But I have to give it up to God, without the opportunity he gave me on and off the field to become a better person. And I have to give it up for my (offensive) linemen, because without them blocking I wouldn't have gotten the rushing record."
On his goal of breaking the rushing record: "My number-one goal when I came here was to break the rushing record. I just had to be patient, wait on my turn and just learn the plays."
On moving forward in the game once he broke the rushing record: "My focus was on the game, it really wasn't too much on the record. When I broke it I was excited, but we had to finish the game."

Jeremy Reaves
On his fumble recovery and interception: "Down in the red zone, I knew it was a possibility — they showed on film they are loose with the ball.  I folded over the top reading the split zone, and I saw the ball laying on the ground.  I just instinctively made a play and tried to put my team in a situation to help us out.  On the interception, he [ULM quarterback] scrambled looking for a throw down field.  In that situation, they are down 10 points so I understand that he is trying to go for the big play.  He's a very versatile guy.  One of their guys ended up going free, and once he scrambled I saw the quarterback's vision toward his guy and I just put everything I had into that sprint and laid out for it.  It was a great feeling, because I knew I helped my team win that game."
On the ULM offense: "They give you a lot of different looks.  Their offensive coordinator has a great scheme for them.  They have a lot of big-play guys; they have dependable receivers and running backs.  They just do a lot of different things to get your eyes going one way, and the quarterback is so elusive — he makes plays on his own.  Last year they killed us with the scramble just off of him making plays.  I have to give credit to ULM.  They have a great system and great players, and they're very effective in what they do."

ULM head coach Matt Viator
On the game: "I think it was a mixture of things.  We just didn't execute on a couple of things a few of the times. We missed a ball that would have got it.  It was just an accumulation of things.  It was definitely the difference.  We had it, counting the fumble at the beginning of the game, going in to score that's four times.  We got it inside the 15 and came away with three points.  That's hard to do." 
On how the team felt at the half: "I felt great.  Plus we were getting the kickoff.  It felt good really to battle back, and I wish we could have done something with the drive before the first half so they never got it back.  That's another thing.  It still felt pretty good going into the half.  We were right in there.  We were right in there really until the end until they took it down and scored again.  I thought our kids battled.  They have a good football team.  They have some good speed, good speed guys that made some plays on both sides of the ball.  It's disappointing to me because I thought we had a chance to win it.  We just couldn't get over the hump." 
On ULM moving forward: "I like our team.  I think we can compete with these teams that we're playing.  We just have to make a couple plays and help them out in situations as coaches.  It's an accumulation of several things and we had chances today.  Give South Alabama credit.  They have a good football team, and they have some good players.  Xavier Johnson is really good.  I love Sam Harris.  He made plays on us last year.  I think the quarterback played good.  Defensively they have a lot of good players." 

Up next: The Jags face Georgia State on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. (CDT) in a matchup that will be broadcast nationally on ESPNU.

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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