Game 12
South Alabama Jaguars (4-7, 3-4 Sun Belt)
at New Mexico State Aggies (5-6, 3-4 Sun Belt)

Saturday, Dec. 2, 2017 • 3:30 pm CST
Aggie Memorial Stadium (30,343 capacity/FieldTurf)
Las Cruces, N.M.

Media Information
Television
ESPN3
Adam Young (pxp)
Danny Knee (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/v/sala/180489
• 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 — 52-49 (9th season)
Career record — 55-56 (10th season)
Career Sun Belt record — 18-28
Record vs. NMSU — 1-0

New Mexico State
Doug Martin (Kentucky '85)
Record at NMSU — 15-44 (5th season)
Career Record — 44-96 (11th season)
Record vs. USA — 0-1

The Rankings
South Alabama
Associated Press — n/a
Coaches — n/a
Sagarin — 154th

New Mexico State
Associated Press — n/a
Coaches — n/a
Sagarin — 127th

Series History
Overall: USA leads 1-0
In Mobile: USA leads 1-0
In Las Cruces: n/a
Neutral: n/a
Series Streak: USA — 1
First Meeting: USA, 35-28, on Dec. 3, 2016, in Mobile
Last Meeting: USA, 35-28, on Dec. 3, 2016, in Mobile

Opening Kick
• The Jaguars close the regular season for the second straight year against the Aggies, this time on the road.
• With a win in this contest South will finish at or above .500 in Sun Belt Conference play for the first time since the 2014 campaign.
• The Jaguars are also looking to pick up multiple road wins in Sun Belt action for first time since 2014.
• This is just the second time in program history the Jags will close the regular season on the road, with the first a 23-7 loss at Hawai'i on Dec. 1, 2012.
• USA is 4-4 all-time in the last contest of the regular season after last year's defeat of NMSU.
• Although South is 2-4 all-time in December, both of those wins — against just one loss — have come in league play.

Notes From The Last New Mexico State Meeting
• Both teams averaged more than six yards per play while racking up 984 yards of total offense.
• The Jaguars finished with 521 yards, the fourth-highest total in program history against an NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision school and the most they gained in 2016.
• Xavier Johnson ran for a then career-high 154 yards and three touchdowns to lead South's offense, tying the school game record in the latter category.
• USA's Josh Magee set a school season record with his third 100-yard receiving game of the year after leading all players with 135 yards on four catches.
• Randy Allen paced the Jaguar defense with four tackles for loss including three sacks, falling ½ shy of matching the school game record in each category.

Coaching Change Coming
Jag head coach Joey Jones announced on Monday, Nov. 20, that he submitted his resignation effective at the end of his current employment contract, concluding his 10-year tenure leading the program.  In addition to putting together a 52-49 overall mark in nearly nine full seasons of competition, Jones' achievements as the only head coach in school history also include:
• 2013 Sun Belt Conference Coach of Year
• First two postseason bowl berths (2014, '16)
• First win over SEC opponent (at MSU on 9/3/16)
• First win over top-25 team (vs. SDSU on 10/1/16)
• First NFL draft pick (Gerald Everett, 2017)
• 24 players sign professional contracts
• 43 all-conference selections
• 146 Sun Belt academic honorees

Shutout Streak Ends
When South dropped a 52-0 decision at Georgia Southern last time out, it marked the first time in 101 all-time games that the Jaguars have been kept off the scoreboard.  The Jags made one trip into the red zone against the Eagles, but trailing 28-0 midway through the second quarter went for it but failed on fourth-and-eight from the GS-13.  USA had one other possession in the contest inside the Eagle 35-yard line; on the first play following a 28-yard punt in the third quarter an interception in the end zone ended the threat.

Off The Clock
The Eagles had a nearly two-to-one advantage in time of possession after controlling the ball for 39 minutes and 11 seconds, the second-highest figure ever recorded by a USA opponent.  Half of the Jags' 14 possessions lasted three or fewer plays with 11 of those drives taking less than two minutes off the clock.

Yard Marks
The GS game marked the second time this fall that the Jaguars have been held to less than 200 yards of total offense, equalling the number of games they had been limited below that figure in the program's first eight seasons of competition.  Conversely,  the Eagles' 583 yards of total offense were three shy of matching the most ever given up by South on Sept. 26, 2015, against North Carolina State and two less than the highest total recorded by a Sun Belt opponent against the Jaguars by Troy on Oct. 20 a year ago.

Count On Corliss
Junior P Corliss Waitman kicked a career-high nine times at Georgia Southern, averaging 45.7 yards per effort including a career-long 66 yard punt in the opening quarter.  The Eagles were not able to record a punt return yard in the contest due to Waitman's efforts, with three kicks ending up inside the GS-20 as well.  It was the seventh time in 11 outings in 2017 that Waitman has averaged better than 45 yards per punt, as well as the eighth occasion he has finished with multiple kicks inside the opposition's 20-yard line.

Right With Reaves
Senior safety Jeremy Reaves led all players in the GS contest with a career-high-tying 13 total stops, the fifth time this year that he has ended up with 10-plus tackles; it's the first time since the 2014 campaign — when Terrell Brigham accomplished the feat — that a Jaguar has posted five games with 10 or more stops in a season.  Reaves also became the first member of the program to ever be credited with 10 or more tackles in four games in a row with the performance, as well as the eighth to surpass 20 career stops behind the line of scrimmage after a third-quarter tackle for a loss of two yards.

Another Double-Double
Darrell Songy recorded 10 stops as well for the second straight game for the Jag defense against the Eagles, the sixth time in the last season-plus he has reached a double-digit total in the category.  It was the first occasion that South has had two or more defenders with 10-plus tackles in back-to-back outings since Brigham and Maleki Harris turned the trick in both the 2014 regular-season finale versus Navy and at the Raycom Media Camellia Bowl against Bowling Green.

Catching On
Sophomore WR David Gardner became the sixth individual to lead the Jaguars in receptions this fall by hauling in a game-high four passes for 28 yards last time out, accomplishing the feat after entering play with one career catch.  Tra Minter also finished with multiple receptions for the third consecutive outing — it was the sixth time in the last seven games he has accomplished the feat — as his 19 catches out of the backfield are the most ever recorded by a South running back; Jay Jones set the previous standard at the position with 18 during the 2012 campaign.

Gipson III Getting Better
For the second time in three outings, senior DE Jimmie Gipson III posted a season-high tackle total after finishing with six — including an assist on the Jags' only sack of the contest — against the Eagles.  After missing each of the last two seasons due to injury, Gipson collected five stops in USA's first eight games this fall but was credited with 13 total tackles in November.

Moss Making Plays
Sophomore Tobias Moss didn't finish with a tackle in South's last game, but he did break up a pair of passes to move into the top five on the school season record list with eight in his first year at the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision level.  It was the third time this fall that the cornerback has posted two pass break ups, while it was the second week in a row that Moss defended multiple passes after recording one with his first career interception in the Jaguars' Nov. 11 win over Arkansas State.