MOBILE, Ala. – Tra Minter scored twice and the University of South Alabama defense allowed just 219 total yards to help the Jaguars earn a 45-7 non-conference football win over Alabama State at Ladd-Peebles Stadium Saturday in the team's first home game in a month.

Minter opened the scoring with an eight-yard touchdown run late in the opening quarter before running back a punt 75 yards just after halftime, finishing the contest with 231 all-purpose yards as the Jags improved to 2-5 on the season.  He and Deonta Moore combined for 126 yards rushing while Evan Orth and Cephus Johnson threw for 211 to help South's offense average 6.5 yards per play, and Sterrling Fisher and Jeremiah Littles were credited with six and five stops, respectively, to pace the defense.

Darron Johnson led the Hornets (2-4) with a game-high nine total tackles, while KHA'Darris Davis found Tyrek Allen for a 75-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter for the team's only score.

South Alabama 45, Alabama State 7 (final stats)
South Alabama/Alabama State photo gallery

GAME FACTS
-Orth connected with Kawaan Baker on a 51-yard pass to set up Minter's touchdown run which gave the Jaguars a 7-0 edge at the end of the first quarter.
-The Jags were ahead 28-7 at the break after reaching the end zone on all three second-quarter possessions, ending the half with a 302-111 advantage in total offense.
-South added 10 points in the third quarter thanks to special teams play, with Minter running back a punt for a score and Gavin Patterson connecting on a field goal.
-The only points of the fourth quarter came on a 56-yard touchdown pass from Johnson to Jahmmir Taylor.
-The Jaguars controlled the ball for nearly 21 minutes in building their halftime lead.
-South surrendered just 85 yards rushing on 32 attempts.

NOTES
-This was the first meeting between the two programs.
-The Jaguars are now 3-0 all-time against schools from the Southwestern Athletic Conference.
-Minter's 75-yard punt return was the longest in school history, and the first run back for a touchdown since Jeremé Jones' 54-yard effort in the 2010 season opener against Pikeville (Ky.).
-The sophomore running back became just the second individual since the program's inception to record 200 or more all-purpose yards in a contest, as his career-best 231 rank fourth on USA's game record list.
-Kawaan Baker doubled the Jag advantage early in the second quarter with his team-high ninth touchdown of the year, moving the sophomore into a tie for sixth in the school's season record books.
-Orth accounted for 186 yards of total offense overall including a pair of scores late in the second period, highlighted by his first career rushing touchdown that made it a 21-7 game less than four minutes after the Hornets scored their only points of the game on the preceding possession.
-Jordan McCray's touchdown — which closed out the scoring in the first half — was his first since the Jaguars' last home game against Texas State on Sept. 15.
-Patterson's 50-yard field goal in the third quarter was the longest of his career, and just the third of 50 or more yards in school history.
-Taylor's touchdown catch with just under 13 minutes remaining in play was the first completion of Johnson's career.
-Fisher tied a career-high first set at Oklahoma State the second week of the season with his six stops, while it was the first time in his career he has led the Jags in the category.
-Littles more than doubled his previous career high of two tackles; it was also the third time this fall he has made at least one stop behind the line of scrimmage.
-With a pass break up in the second quarter, Darian Mills became the second player in program history to record 20 in a career.
-The 85 yards rushing and 219 total yards were the fewest allowed by South's defense this season.
-The Jags converted a season-best 8-of-12 on third downs.

THEY SAID IT
South Alabama head coach Steve Campbell
Opening statement: "It was a really good win, I'm really proud of the way the guys responded; tonight was a total team victory.  Offensively, I thought we did a lot of good things and we protected the football.  We were able to sustain drives with one of them being a 13-play drive.  Defensively, we played really, really well.  We gave up one play, but other than that our defense played lights out.  We did a lot of good things in special teams; we returned a punt for a touchdown, we forced a couple of errant punts, we hit a 50-yard field goal and we covered kicks well, so there were a lot of good things special teams wise.  All three phases contributed and I can see a lot of progress.  It was good to be back in Mobile.  This was our third home game this season — we haven't been perfect by a long shot — but we've played well here.  I think if we had had a couple more minutes in the LA Tech game, we would've had a chance to win that game.  We played well against a good Texas State team and then we played close to a four-quarter game today.  It's been good to be at home." 
On finally being rewarded with a win: "We needed it.  They sit there and listen to you and try to respond to what you're telling them and they keep trying to do what you're asking them to do.   You want your players who work hard and put a lot into it to be rewarded with a victory.  We've kept telling them at some point, this thing is going to turn around, and they went out today and made it happen.  We had a fourth-and-one during that first drive and through the first six games that I've been here, I would've went for it, but with this one, I decided to punt and pin them deep.  We do that and then we hit the returner.  Our guys were able to force a three-and-out and we got the ball back.  We then made some good things happen.  I'm proud of them for continuing to battle and play the next play."
On the play of the offensive line: "We knew we needed to run the ball well against Alabama State because no one has been able to throw it effectively on them. Roy [Albritton] has been getting better and better each week.  He's worked tremendously hard and been rotating in there, but he had a good game last week against Georgia Southern and we thought he had taken another step so we wanted to give him the start tonight.  Rowan Godwin also rotated in there and I'll be anxious to see how they graded out, but I was proud of the way the offensive line played, they've gotten better.  I know Evan got pressured on one play, but I thought they did a good job of protecting him.  Evan was very efficient going 12-for-15 and anytime you do that, it's pretty good.  We also did well on third-down conversions, so they're getting better."
On Tra Minter returning punts: "Tra is really good when we can get him in space.  He hit the holes hard and had a good kickoff too returning it to around the 50.  We felt like we had a chance to return a punt going into the week, we felt like we had a chance to block a punt and we felt like if we could start putting pressure on them that they would have to stay in there to protect giving Tra a chance to return one.  He did a great job of staying patient and waiting for the right time to take one.  I'm proud of him, he's definitely a weapon for us."
On the locker room after the game: "Anytime you win a college football game, your guys have done a good job.  Our guys were excited and glad to have gotten the 'W' under their belt.  I was pleased with the way that they did it and the fact that we set a tone defensively.  We were able to do a lot of good things offensively and put some points on the board.  On special teams, we had some good returns from Tra, the 50-yard field goal and I thought our kickoff coverage was good; Alabama State had taken one back to the house against Auburn, but they were flagged on it so it took it off the board.  I was concerned to kick off to them, but our guys did a good job covering.  Corliss [Waitman] pinned them at the one.  There were a lot of good things in all three phases and we needed some good things to build off of.  The three-game road swing we had was a tough little stretch.  I wish we would have navigated it better, but we always felt like once we got through that road swing it would flip for us.  We are now home heavy, which is good; we've played well here in Mobile and we need to keep that going."
On the Troy game: "Troy's a great program.  They have a lot of tradition and Neal [Brown] has done an outstanding job there.  They'll be ready to play, but we look forward to it.  It's a great rivalry and there's a lot of mutual respect and familiarity between the two programs.  For us, we can't control anything else except where we're at.  In our part of the conference if we can take care of business one week at a time, then we'll keep ourselves in the race and the longer you can keep yourself in the race, the better."

Senior LB Bull Barge
On the win: "It's just a great team win.  We feel like we executed all three phases as we prepared this week.  As we saw, when we put it all together and play how we're supposed to play then we get the right results.  Just getting the win today and being able to breathe — 1-5 is not pretty to us or where we want to be.  Just getting one more win shows us that we can be that much better, and if we put it all together then our season can turn around just that quick."
On where he feels the team stands right now: "We feel like we still have a lot of work to do.  This 10-day stretch, we're going to really work hard on getting that next win; not just because it's Troy, but it's a conference game that is one more step toward accomplishing our goals.  If we win out, we'll be playing in the conference championship game so this game [Troy] is one we have to win.  We're taking it as we have to handle business.  For us to accomplish the things we set out to do, a win would put us in the place we need to be."

Senior DE Chason Milner
On the Jaguar defense: "I thought we played hard tonight, we build our defense around playing hard.  We really shut their run game down early and forced them to pass the ball, which was great.  The effort on defense was there all-around tonight."

Junior RB Tra Minter
On his punt return for touchdown: "I felt comfortable the whole game.  We knew that he [the ASU punter] was going to kick line drives, and I just caught the ball and made something happen.  We prepped all week and knew he was going to kick a line drive, and I made something happen.  I tried to set my blocks up to the left and shoot it up the middle, and it was there.  I made the kicker miss and touchdown, it felt amazing."

Senior QB Evan Orth
On the win: "It was nice to be back at home.  That three-game road stretch was tough; we played three good teams.  But we're just glad to get the win and gain some confidence going into this next week."
On the offensive line's play: "I felt like I had plenty of time to throw the ball.  We ran the ball extremely well, the offensive line is executing really well right now; we look forward to continuing that.  Everyone is healthy and moving well."

Alabama State head coach Donald Hill-Eley
Opening statement: "We came into tonight knowing that South Alabama had some struggles against some good opponents and we knew we were playing up. It was going to take a gallant effort to defeat a team that has a little more resources than us and are a little more ahead of us.  We got behind and we could never respond from that.  They have a good team and they deserved to win."
On keeping the game close in the first quarter: "I feel that we can play with anybody, but the great thing about it is our guys kept playing hard, they came out, gave good effort for the first quarter.  After that they outflanked us toward the boundary and made some great plays, and from that they were able to control the ground."
On moving forward: "We have to get back to our conference play.  We were able to play a bunch of guys and we found some guys who could help us as we go down the road. I think it'll be good for us as we move forward."

Up next: The Jaguars will play host to Troy in the "Battle For The Belt" on Tuesday, Oct. 23; the contest will start at 7 p.m. (CDT) an be televised live nationally on ESPN2.

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/WeAreSouth_JAGS. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

Join the South Circle, the unrestricted giving option of the University of South Alabama Athletics.  Contributions to South Circle directly support all 17 sports in addition to various support programming. For more information on how you can join visit: http://jaguarathleticfund.com/give

—USA—