Game 8
South Alabama Jaguars (3-4, 2-1 Sun Belt)
at Georgia State Panthers (3-3, 2-1 Sun Belt)

Thursday, Oct. 26, 2017 • 6:30 pm CDT
"Pete" Petit Field at Georgia State Stadium (25,000 capacity/FieldTurf)
Atlanta, Ga.

Media Information
Television
ESPNU
Mark Neely (pxp)
Ray Bentley (analysis)
Radio
USA Football Radio Network
(flagship 96.1 FM/99.5 FM The Jag in Mobile)
J.D. Byars (pxp)
Pat Greenwood (analysis)
Tommy Hicks (sidelines)
On the web
• Live Twitter updates available at:
@USAJaguarSports
• Live stats available at:
http://statb.us/b/185990
• Live audio available at:
http://www.iheart.com/live/995-the-jag-mobile-7117/

The Coaches
South Alabama
Joey Jones (Alabama '89)
Record at USA — 51-46 (9th season)
Career record — 54-53 (10th season)
Career Sun Belt record — 17-25
Record vs. GSU — 4-2

Georgia State
Shawn Elliott (Appalachian State, 1996)
Record at GSU — 3-3 (1st season)
Career Record — 4-8 (2nd season)
Record vs. USA — 0-0

The Rankings
South Alabama
Associated Press — n/a
Coaches — n/a
Sagarin — 111th

Georgia State
Associated Press — n/a
Coaches — n/a
Sagarin — 141st

Series History
Overall: USA leads 4-2
In Mobile: USA leads 3-0
In Atlanta: GSU leads 2-1
Neutral: n/a
Series Streak: USA — 1
First Meeting: USA, 39-34, on Oct. 30, 2010, in Mobile
Last Meeting: USA, 13-10, on Oct. 29, 2016, in Mobile

Opening Kick
• South defeated ULM 33-23 last weekend in its only home game of October, winning back-to-back Sun Belt Conference contests for the first time since Nov. 7-12, 2015.  The Jaguars have twice put together win streaks of three or more games in league action since beginning SBC play in 2012, last accomplishing the feat with four consecutive victories from Sept. 27-Oct. 24, 2014.
• The Jags close out the month with a visit to Georgia State on Thursday night, although this will be the first time the two meet outside of the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.
• No one has appeared more frequently on South's schedule than the Panthers, as this will be the seventh meeting in the all-time series.
• The Jaguars' only previous win at GSU — a 38-17 decision on Nov. 30, 2013 — was the first of a school-record three straight Sun Belt Conference road victories (the streak continued through Oct. 4 the following fall).
• The last matchup with the Panthers, won by USA 13-10 in Mobile a year ago, was the lowest scoring in the series.
• It was the fourth time in six previous meetings that the margin of victory was a touchdown or less.

Notes From The Last Georgia State Meeting
• It was the third, and final, time last fall that the Jags won a game when trailing at the end of three quarters after scoring 10 points in the final six minutes and 11 seconds.
• It's also the most recent USA victory in which South scored the decisive points in the final minute of regulation; the contest was decided on Gavin Patterson's 30-yard field goal with two seconds to go.
• GSU's 127 yards rushing were the fewest allowed by the Jaguar defense in 2016, while the Panthers' 240 total yards were the least gained by an NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision opponent.
• The Jag defense matched a season high with four sacks in the contest.
• Jaguar P Brandon McKee was named the Sun Belt Special Teams Player of the Week after all four of his kicks were downed inside the GSU-20.

All-Time Rushing Record Set
Xavier Johnson ran for 33 yards on his second carry of the day in the win over ULM, finishing the contest with a game-high 99 yards on 11 attempts to become the Jaguars' all-time leading rusher.  The senior broke the old mark set by Kendall Houston, who gained 2,587 yards on the ground from 2010-14. Johnson added 61 yards on kick returns, ending the game as the first individual in program history with more than 4,000 all-purpose yards in a career (he has 4,031 coming into play) as he is one of four running backs among the top 10 in the SBC in both rushing and all-purpose yards per outing.

Harris Has Career Night
Junior WR Sam Harris led all players in the ULM game with eight catches for 141 yards; not only did he post career highs in both categories, his five-yard touchdown catch with four seconds left in the second-quarter — which gave USA the lead for good, 24-20 — was the first of his career.  In addition to recording the first 100-yard receiving game by a Jaguar this season, Harris' performance placed him among the top 10 on the school's record lists for both catches (tied for fourth) and receiving yards (tied for sixth) in a game.

Safety Steals The Show
Jeremy Reaves shared team-high honors with eight total stops in the victory over the Warhawks, and he had a hand in both USA takeaways that ended their first and last possessions of the contest to be named co-SBC Defensive Player of the Week on Monday.  ULM advanced to the USA-1 on its opening drive and was poised to tie the game when Reaves picked up a fumble and returned it 92 yards, setting up a touchdown and 14-0 lead instead on the Jags' ensuing snap.  Then, with South up 10 points in the fourth quarter, the senior picked off a pass at the USA-33, allowing the Jaguars to run out the final six minutes of play and clinch the win. Reaves is now the sole leader on South's career interception list — the pick was his seventh since the start of the 2014 campaign — while the fumble return was the longest in school history.

Davis Drives USA Offense
QB Dallas Davis completed 20-of-33 passes for 317 yards last time out with a career-high three touchdown passes, posting a season-best 341 yards of total offense in the process. It was the junior's first 300-yard passing game since USA visited Idaho on Nov. 26 last season and the fourth of his career — which is twice as many as any other player in program history — and it also moved him into second on the school's career record list as he now has 3,971 total offense yards.

Special teams Standout
Junior Deonta Moore was credited with three of the Jaguars' four special teams tackles in their win over ULM, and his efforts on the punt coverage unit forced fair catches on both of USA's kicks in the contest.  The junior's stops helped hold Marcus Green, the league leader with an average of 31.4 yards per kick return coming into the contest, nearly 10 yards below that figure.  Moore has been credited with 13 tackles thus far this fall, which is more than two starters on the Jag defense.

Moss Making An Impact
Junior-college transfer Tobias Moss has finished with a career-best tackle total in each of the last two weeks after making six stops in the defeat of the Warhawks, and he also matched a career high set in his USA debut at Ole Miss with two passes broken up.  After making 12 stops in the Jaguars' five outings the opening month of the season, Moss has been credited with 11 to go along with three pass break ups in the last two victories.

Offensive Keys To Win Over Warhawks
The Jags held a 549-486 advantage in total offense over the Warhawks, with the figure the third-highest in program history; in fact, it was the eighth occasion that South has gained 500 or more yards against an NCAA Division I opponent.  The unit also finished with 26 first downs and was 7-of-12 on third-down conversions — both the best figures the Jaguars have recorded this fall — while USA protected a seven-point advantage entering the fourth quarter by holding the ball for just under 11 minutes.

Getting Right In The Red Zone
The Warhawks scored on 3-of-6 possessions that reached the red zone, marking the second straight outing that the Jaguar defense allowed the opposition to score on 50 percent or fewer of its opportunities inside the USA-20.  Two years after ranking 126th of 127 NCAA FBS schools in the category USA stands 10th nationally, limiting its foes to a 68.8 percent success rate this fall.

Taking Care Of The Ball
The Jaguars have won the turnover battle in five of seven outings this year — including recording a plus-four margin in the last two victories — to enter the GSU contest tied for first in the conference and 25th in the nation with a plus-.71 figure in 2017.  After ranking second in the league and 31st in the country after the 2013 campaign with a plus-.42 turnover margin, South has posted a negative figure in the category each of the last three seasons.

Busting Out With Big Plays
That's what USA did in the ULM victory, with 14 plays of 20 or more yards coming in all three facets of the game.  The Jags recorded 10 gains of at least 20 yards in the opening half against the Warhawks — matching their total from the previous three games combined — as the final figure was the most in program history; it surpassed the previous mark of 12 set on Sept. 4 in the 2010 opener against Pikeville (Ky.), and was the first time South reached double digits in the category since recording 11 in a defeat of New Mexico State in last fall's regular-season finale.