Game 4
South Alabama Jaguars (1-2, 0-0 Sun Belt)
vs. Idaho Vandals (1-2, 0-0 Sun Belt)

Saturday, Sept. 23, 2017 • 1 pm CDT
Ladd-Peebles Stadium (33,471 capacity/FieldTurf)
Mobile, Ala.

Media Information
Television
ESPN3
Drew Fellios (pxp)
Forrest Conoly (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/186985
• Live audio available at:
http://www.iheart.com/live/995-the-jag-mobile-7117/

Game/Promotions Information
• Special: September 16-23 marks the third annual Extra Yard for Teachers Week supported by the College Football Playoff Foundation. Extra Yard for Teachers is the primary platform of the College Football Playoff Foundation whose mission is to elevate the teaching profession by inspiring and empowering teachers.  Visit the College Football Playoff Foundation website at www.cfp-foundation.org to learn more about Extra Yard for Teachers Week and follow the hashtag #ExtraYardWeek.
• Clear Bag/Water Policy: Click http://jaguarathleticfund.com/clear for all information
• Tickets: $15 sideline, $10 end zone ticket price; available online at www.usajaguars.com or by phone by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872)
• Shuttles: The Wave shuttle service starts from Shoppes at Bel Air (pick up from JCPenney/Target parking area) 4 hours prior to kick; $2.50 round trip; continuous service until 90 minutes after game
• Parking: Opens at 8 am
• FanFest: Begins at 10 am; live music and free food samples from vendors including Raising Cane's, Sonny's BBQ and Moes Southwest Grill; come by the iHeartRadio tent and register to win a 3 day stay from Laura's Vacation Rentals; pick up free hand mister fans from Hansen's Heating & Air; join JT Crabtree during the pre-game radio show at the Tuff Shed Tailgate Party
• Jag Prowl: Begins at 10:40 am from the Southwest corner of the Ladd-Peebles Stadium parking lot
• Gates: Open two hours prior to kickoff

The Coaches
South Alabama
Joey Jones (Alabama '89)
Record at USA — 49-44 (9th season)
Career record — 52-51 (10th season)
Career Sun Belt record — 15-24
Record vs. Idaho — 2-1
Record vs. current SBC members — 14-22
• 1-1 vs. Appalachian State
• 0-5 vs. Arkansas State
• 0-3 vs. Georgia Southern
• 4-2 vs. Georgia State
• 2-1 vs. Idaho
• 2-3 vs. Louisiana-Lafayette
• 1-2 vs. Louisiana-Monroe
• 1-0 vs. New Mexico State
• 1-2 vs. Texas State
• 2-3 vs. Troy

Idaho
Paul Petrino (Carroll [Mont.] '89)
Record at Idaho — 16-35 (5th season)
Career Record — same
Record vs. USA — 1-2

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

Idaho
Associated Press — n/a
Coaches — n/a
Sagarin — 140th

Series History
Overall: USA leads 2-1
In Mobile: USA leads 1-0
In Moscow: Tied 1-1
Neutral: n/a
Series Streak: Idaho — 1
First Meeting: USA, 34-10, on Sept. 27, 2014, in Moscow
Last Meeting: Idaho, 38-31, on Nov. 26, 2016, in Moscow

Opening Kick
• USA will begin Sun Belt Conference play with its first afternoon kickoff of the 2017 season when Idaho visits Ladd-Peebles Stadium.
• It marks the fifth time in six years of league competition that the Jaguars will open SBC action at home.
• This contest concludes the Jags' first three-game homestand since Oct. 30-Nov. 11, 2010 (the last three outings of the campaign).
• The start is the earliest for a Jaguar football home game in the opening month of the season since a 1 p.m. kickoff on Sept. 1, 2012, when South began the year against Texas-San Antonio.
• It will be the first time since the initial series meeting with Idaho that the two will face off in September.
• The winner of each of the first three contests in the series has scored 30-plus points, with the 97 the two teams combined for in the last match-up in Mobile the most in a game in USA's history.
• That outing — a 52-45 Jaguar win on Nov. 7, 2015 — also featured the biggest comeback in South's record books after the Jags recovered from a 24-0 second-quarter deficit.

Notes From The Last Idaho Meeting
• Maasieah Francis — playing due to an injury suffered by Gerald Everett the previous week — led all individuals with seven catches, 146 yards receiving and two touchdown receptions; the yards were the most posted by a Jaguar in the regular season.
• QB Dallas Davis recorded a career high with 374 yards of total offense, the second straight contest he set a school game record in the category.
• Xavier Johnson surpassed a pair of milestones in the contest, ending the day with more than 2,000 yards rushing and 3,000 all-purpose yards in his career.
• Not only did Jeremy Reaves equal a season high with nine stops, he tied USA's all-time mark with his sixth career forced fumble on a second-quarter takeaway.
• That effort helped the Jaguar defense force a season-best three turnovers.

Fast Start In First Win
After recording 10 first-half points in the opening two outings of the season, the Jaguars held a 24-0 advantage at the end of the first period last time out in defeating Alabama A&M.  USA broke open the contest late in the quarter by scoring three touchdowns in a span of less than three minutes, the most points the Jags have posted in the first 15 minutes of a game since recording 29 in a 64-0 victory over Edward Waters (Fla.) on Sept, 15, 2010; the effort helped the program improve to 35-5 all-time when up at the half.

Triple Threat
Those three touchdowns scored by South in the final six-plus minutes of the first quarter last time out came from each unit as Jaguar special teams began the spurt by returning a blocked field goal, followed by a Johnson run and a fumble recovery in the end zone.  It was the first time since the Nov. 7, 2015, meeting with Idaho mentioned above that USA has scored a touchdown on offense, defense and special teams in the same game.

Nave Named Player of the Week
The spark to the Jaguars' 21-point outburst against the Bulldogs was freshman Gus Nave, who picked up a 22-yard field-goal attempt that was blocked by Sean Grayer and returned it 83 yards for a 10-0 lead with just over six minutes to go in the first period.  Nave — who made his first start at the collegiate level — would go on to add three tackles and an interception to be chosen the Sun Belt Special Teams Player of the Week, but after suffering an injury following the pick he is not expected to play against the Vandals.

Dynamite Defensive Effort
The shutout of Alabama A&M last weekend was the first recorded by USA since earning a 26-0 win at Lamar on Oct. 16, 2010, while the margin of victory was the largest ever posted by the Jags against an NCAA Division I opponent, surpassing the previous standard of 32 set in a Nov. 3, 2011, defeat of Mississippi Valley State at Ladd-Peebles Stadium.  After finishing the contest with a 413-172 edge in total offense, it marked the seventh time in school history that South's defense has surrendered 200 or fewer total yards, and the first occasion the unit has accomplished the feat since allowing 118 in a win over Nicholls on Sept. 8, 2012.

Turnover Tales
The Jaguars recorded two takeaways in the AAMU win — beside Nave's interception Rocel McWilliams recovered a fumble forced by Nigel Lawrence in the end zone to cap South's first-quarter scoring outburst — marking the first time they have forced multiple turnovers since beating New Mexico State in the regular-season finale a year ago.  With the Jag offense not turning the ball over against the Bulldogs, USA is one of two SBC schools to have a positive turnover margin (Arkansas State is the other) while also ranking among top 15 in the nation in fewest turnovers lost with just two in three games.

Numbers of Note
With its defense effort against Alabama A&M, South improved to 26-2 all-time when giving up 300 or fewer total yards while the Jaguars are now 42-10 since the program's inception in 2009 when outgaining the opposition.

He's The one
Johnson became the program's all-time leader in all-purpose yards after running back the opening kickoff 45 yards, finishing the night with 3,585 in his career.  The only individual in school history with more than 1,000 yards both rushing and returning kicks, he added two touchdowns on the ground to mark the sixth time since coming to USA that the senior has rushed for multiple scores.

Davis Gets Job Done In First Start
Davis completed 9-of-12 attempts for 255 yards and two scores is USA's 45-0 win over Alabama A&M, guiding the Jaguar offense to a season-best 413 yards of total offense.  Making his first start of the year, the junior recorded the fourth-highest completion percentage in the program's record books against an NCAA Division I opponent (minimum 10 attempts) and with the effort he became the third individual in school history to surpass 3,000 yards passing in a career.

End of the Line
In his first extensive action of the season, DE Chason Milner tied for the team lead with five tackles — including a sack for a loss of 10 yards — and had his first career pass defensed to help USA to a 45-0 win over Alabama A&M.  Since recording a career-best six stops at Louisiana-Monroe on Nov. 5 a year ago, the senior had been credited with five tackles combined in his last five appearances.

Buggs In The Backfield
Malcolm Buggs posted two tackles for loss in last weekend's victory, the first of his career, to match the number of stops the entire USA defensive unit was credited with behind the line of scrimmage the previous outing against nationally-ranked Oklahoma State; in fact, he equaled Reaves — who had two at Ole Miss in the season opener — for the most by a Jaguar this fall.  South finished the AAMU contest with seven tackles behind the line, two more than it recorded the first two weeks of the year combined.

Where There's A Will...
...there's a way, in this instance WR Jamarius Way.  Both of the junior-college transfer's receptions against the Bulldogs covered 30-plus yards as he would lead all players on the night with a career-high 85; that's the most by a Jag this year.  Last season two Jaguars — Gerald Everett, now with the National Football League's Los Angeles Rams, and Josh Magee — paced the squad in the category in consecutive contests, with the latter doing so twice.