Game 9
South Alabama Jaguars (2-6, 1-3 Sun Belt)
at Arkansas State Red Wolves (4-4, 1-3 Sun Belt)

Saturday, Nov. 3, 2018 • 2 pm CDT
Centennial Bank Stadium (30,382 capacity/FieldTurf)
Jonesboro, Ark.

Media Information
Television
ESPN+
Roger Twibell (pxp)
Pete Cordelli (analysis)
Rich Zvosec (sidelines)
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:
@WeAreSouth_FB
• Live stats available at:
http://statb.us/v/sala/229695
• Live audio available at:
http://www.iheart.com/live/995-the-jag-mobile-7117/

The Rankings
South Alabama
Associated Press — n/a
Coaches — n/a
Sagarin — 156th
Arkansas State
Associated Press — n/a
Coaches — n/a
Sagarin — 101st

Series History
Overall: A-State leads 5-1
In Mobile: A-State leads 2-1
In Jonesboro: A-State leads 3-0
Neutral: n/a
Series Streak: USA — 1
First Meeting: A-State, 36-29, on Oct. 13, 2012 in Jonesboro
Last Meeting: USA, 24-19, on Nov. 11, 2017, in Mobile

The Coaches
South Alabama
Steve Campbell (Troy '88)
Record at USA — 2-6 (1st season)
Career record — 161-59 (20th season)
Career NCAA record — 62-29 (8th season)
Career Sun Belt record — 1-3
Record vs. A-State — 1-0
Arkansas State
Blake Anderson (Sam Houston State '92)
Record at A-State — 35-24 (5th season)
Career Record — same
Record vs. USA — 3-1

Opening Kick
• South visits Arkansas State looking for the program's first win in Jonesboro in four tries.
• Coming off a 10-day break since falling to Troy in the "Battle For The Belt," it begins a stretch that will see the Jags close out the regular season with contests on each of the four weekends of November.
• It's the first of three straight Sun Belt Conference matchups with fellow West Division foes for the Jaguars.
• A-State is one of two opponents on South's 2018 schedule that first-year head coach Steve Campbell faced during his time at Central Arkansas, as he led the Bears to a 28-23 victory in Jonesboro on Sept. 24, 2016.
• On the UCA staff with Campbell that day were also current Jaguar assistant coaches Pete Bennett, Harland Bower, Josh Jones, Matt Kitchens, Greg Stewart and Larry Warner.
• Another USA assistant has ties with A-State; Larry Hart was a graduate assistant for the Red Wolves during the 2014-15 seasons.
• South has a 6-13 record in league play in the month, with last year's defeat of the Red Wolves the Jaguars' first conference win in November since claiming a 32-25 decision over Louisiana on Nov. 12, 2015.
• The Jags haven't won a Sun Belt game on the road in the month since earning a 38-17 victory at Georgia State on Nov. 30, 2013.

South Alabama-Arkansas State Series Notes
• Prior to last fall's meeting, the Red Wolves had won three straight contests in the series by a double-digit margin.
• Since scoring 29 points in the first-ever matchup of the two programs, South has totalled 17 points combined in its last two visits to Jonesboro.
• The winning team has posted at least 24 points in five of the first six games in the series, surpassing 30 points in three of those contests.
• The Red Wolves won the 2015 meeting in Mobile with 29 points in the fourth quarter; since then neither squad has scored more than 24 in the game in the series.
• Last year's game was the first since 2013 that didn't see the Red Wolves score a defensive touchdown.

Notes From The Last Arkansas State Meeting
• The Jaguars' win was their first ever in the series with the Red Wolves.
• It was the first matchup between the schools to be decided by a single-digit margin since the 2013 campaign.
• South recorded a season-best 343 yards passing offensively while getting four sacks and six takeaways from the defense.
• The Jags' four interceptions and takeaway total were both the most recorded against an NCAA Division I opponent since the program's inception in 2009.
• With minus-three rushing yards, it marked the first time in school history USA ever finished with a negative total on the ground.

Notes On Campbell's Coaching/Playing Career
• Campbell's 161-59 mark as a head coach includes going 33-15 over the last four years at Central Arkansas, where he guided the Bears to back-to-back NCAA Football Championship Subdivision playoff appearances.
• He has led two programs to national championships — Delta (Miss.) State in 2000 at the NCAA Division II level and Mississippi Gulf Coast C.C. to the 2007 National Junior College Athletic Association crown.
• In 19 seasons no team coached by Campbell has finished below .500.
• Campbell has coached on the staffs of Pat Dye (Auburn graduate assistant, 1988-89) and Jackie Sherrill (Mississippi State assistant, 2003).
• Campbell and Jaguar coordinators Kenny Edenfield and Greg Stewart were teammates on Troy's 1987 NCAA Division II national championship squad.

Tra Bien
Junior Tra Minter carried the ball 23 times — the most by a Jag since Xavier Johnson had 23 attempts in a Nov. 12, 2015, win over Louisiana — to finish the Troy contest with a career-high 99 yards rushing, adding 49 yards on two receptions highlighted by a season-best 38-yard catch in the opening quarter.  With 174 all-purpose yards in the contest, the running back became the third individual in program history to record 1,000 or more in a season (Johnson and T.J. Glover are the others) while also climbing into the top five in the category on the school career record list as he now has 1,794 over the last season-plus.

Bull On Parade
LB Bull Barge paced the Jaguar defense against the Trojans with a season-high-tying 11 total stops, the second time this fall that he has finished with a double-digit tackle total after accomplishing the feat twice his first three years with the program.  It was the third occasion this fall that the senior has led the team in the category — with all those performances coming in Sun Belt play — as he is averaging 5.6 stops per outing on the year, with that figure climbing to 7.8 per contest against league opponents.

On The Way Up
Jamarius Way posted his first touchdown reception since the Jaguars played at Memphis on Sept. 22 in the "Battle For The Belt" with a 31-yard score three-and-a-half minutes before the break, tying him for the team lead with three this year.  After finishing the contest with 80 yards on six catches — the sixth time in eight outings this fall he has had the most receptions on the squad — the senior wide receiver both entered the top 10 in South's season record books with 45 receptions and moved up to third on the school's all-time list for receiving yards as he now has 1,381 in 20 appearances.

The Fisher King
Making his first career start, Sterrling Fisher recorded his first interception at the collegiate level late in the second quarter, and he was also credited with an assisted stop for loss.  It was the second straight outing that the junior safety has made a tackle behind the line of scrimmage, leaving him tied for second on the team in the category as he now has five on the season.  The interception was the team's 10th this fall after posting just eight a year ago, as South is tied for second in the conference entering the final month of the regular season.

McCray Makes It Back TO the End Zone
Jordan McCray has now posted touchdowns in back-to-back outings for the first time in his career with a 16-yard scoring catch for the Jags' opening points of the night in the "Battle For The Belt," as the junior finished the contest with three receptions for a season-best 60 yards.  In addition to being tied for the team lead with three scoring receptions this fall, McCray also now ranks among the top 10 in the program's career record books with four touchdown catches, with all of those coming in the Jaguars' last nine contests dating back to the 2017 finale.

Back In the Opponent's Backfield
Tyree Turner was credited with his first tackle behind the line against the Trojans since USA's game at Appalachian State on Sept. 29, and with six this fall he is now one shy of matching his season career high recorded in 2016; in fact, the redshirt junior needs only one assist for loss to enter the top 10 on USA's all-time list in the category.  Turner made three stops last time out, giving him 30 for the year as he surpassed his 2017 total of 28 recorded in 12 contests.

Safeties With Six
Junior safeties DJ Daniels and Tobias Moss both posted six total tackles in the Troy contest to match their previous career highs in the category; Moss was credited with a half dozen stops in each of the Jags' first three games this fall, with Daniels matching that total in the first two outings of the year.  Not only has Moss already recorded more stops this season (32) than he did in 12 appearances his first year with the program (28), he was credited with the first tackle for loss of his career against the Trojans.

Orth On Track To Set Season Standards
Evan Orth was 18-of-29 passing 275 yards and two scores last time out, recording 200-plus yards through the air for the first time since the App State game and multiple touchdowns for the first occasion since the previous week's trip to Memphis.  In his first year as South's starter, the senior is on pace to set school career records for both completion percentage — he is currently the only individual in program history with at least 200 attempts and a rate above 60 percent — and pass efficiency rating.

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—