MOBILE, Ala. – Sparked by a 55-yard Jalen Thompson interception return for a touchdown, the University of South Alabama football team scored the final 25 points Saturday to earn a 41-31 Sun Belt Conference victory Saturday over Texas State at Ladd-Peebles Stadium.

Thompson's score — the second of his career — cut the Jaguar deficit to 31-23 with just over six minutes left in the third quarter.  Gavin Patterson followed with a field goal early in the fourth quarter, with South (1-2, 1-0 Sun Belt) clinching the win on a pair of Evan Orth touchdown passes in the final two minutes.

Orth threw for 266 yards while completing 24-of-33 attempts, with Jamarius Way hauling in 11 receptions for 173 yards including the score that sealed the victory with 33 seconds to go.  Thompson intercepted a second pass to set up the Way touchdown, while Bull Barge and Nigel Lawrence recorded 11 stops apiece to lead South's defense.

Willie Jones III accounted for 263 yards of total offense for the Bobcats (1-2, 0-1 Sun Belt), throwing for two scores and rushing for another.  Bryan London II paced Texas State with 10 stops.

South Alabama 41, Texas State 31 (final stats)
South Alabama/Texas State photo gallery

GAME FACTS
-The Jaguars outgained the opposition for the first time this fall with a 382-372 advantage in total offense.
-Texas State had seven more first downs than the Jags, and as a result held the ball for 36 minutes and eight seconds.
-The Bobcats scored twice in a two-minute, four-second span in the first quarter to build a 17-3 advantage.
-Five of the six scoring drives the two teams put together in the first half  required less than 90 seconds.
-Both teams combined to turn the ball over six times, with those miscues resulting in 27 points on the other end of the field.
-In addition to recording three takeaways, the Jag defense was credited with 10 stops behind the line of scrimmage and six passes broken up.

NOTES
-The win was the first for the Jags under first-year head coach Steve Campbell.
-This was the first meeting between the two schools since the 2015 season.
-The home team has now won all four matchups in the series.
-Trailing by 15 points after the Bobcats scored on their first possession of the second half, it marked the third-largest deficit the Jags have overcome in a win in the program's first nine-plus seasons of competition.
-Prior to the contest, the last time the Jaguars won a game when trailing after three quarters was on Oct. 29, 2016 when they overcame a 10-3 deficit to earn a 13-10 victory over Georgia State.
-Thompson became the first player in school history with multiple interception returns for a touchdown in a career — his first came on Nov. 19, 2016 against Presbyterian — while it was the second time he has picked off two passes in a contest.
-Way set a school game record for catches and had the second-highest receiving yardage total with his first 100-yard game since finishing with 118 at Georgia State on Oct. 26 a year ago; it was the third time in his career he has recorded triple digits in the latter category.
-Patterson hit his first field goal of the year in the opening quarter, while his second make of the contest that was part of the Jaguar rally was from 47 yards out, matching a career-long effort first recorded in last year's win at Troy.
-Chason Milner had a career-best three tackles for loss for the Jags, with that total including tying a career high — first set against Air Force in the 2016 NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl — with two sacks.
-Tra Minter scored his first touchdown of the season on the second play of the second quarter, and when he reached the end zone again later in the period it marked the first time the junior has scored more than once in the same game since joining the program at the start of the 2017 campaign.
-The junior also added 115 yards on kickoff returns, the second straight game he has accumulated 100-plus yards in the category; it's the first time a Jag has ever accomplished the feat in consecutive outings, while it was the first instance that an individual in the program has had two games with 100 or more yards running backs kicks in the same season since Xavier Johnson in 2015.
-It's the first time in his career that Darian Mills has broken up multiple passes in back-to-back outings after the senior recorded two on the night.
-South was flagged for 15 penalties, one shy of the school game record, while its 143 yards on infractions was one more than the previous standard set against Troy on Sept. 29, 2012.

THEY SAID IT
South Alabama head coach Steve Campbell
Opening statement: "I'm very, very proud of the way the guys fought.  There were a lot of things that went against us tonight, a lot of them were from our own doing. Give Texas State a lot of credit as well; they're a good football team and they have some guys who can make some plays.  One way or the other though, we put ourselves in some bad positions and had a lot going against us, and the guys could have packed it in, but they just kept fighting; we kept imploring them to keep fighting and play one play at a time. We just wanted them to keep battling and something good was going to happen. Sure enough, we got the pick six and the other turnovers, we were able to hit the deep ball.  Our guys went out and made plays, they believed and made a lot of good things happen; good enough to win the football game.  Our goal coming into this game was to finish it and be 1-0 [in conference play]; let's not be looking up at anybody in the league. We control our own destiny.  It's one game, but that's all we could play tonight.  We were down big late and came back and won by 10. Those guys showed a lot of heart; I'd rather have that than anything else. I'm very proud of the guys for finding a way to do that, they fought their tails off and they had a lot of different opportunities to give in, but they kept fighting."
On the team huddle on the field at halftime before going into the locker room: "We talked about that we had muffed punts, their coach had gone for it on fourth and one with us backed up and didn't get it, we'd fumbled, given up deep balls, had an extra-point blocked; done just about anything bad that could have happened to us and it was still just an eight-point ball game. We needed to get focused and go win the game. There wasn't a whole lot more that could've happened to us in the first half, or so I thought until we started the second half.  In the second half, we came out and got some things going and had the little set where we were running the sweeps, but then we had the turnover. [Our players] could have put their heads down then, but didn't.  [Texas State] then went and scored to make it a 15-point game, and they could have quit there, but they kept battling.  They just kept playing one play at a time until something good happened."
On Evan Orth's play: "I'm very proud of the way Evan played; this was the first time that he had played four full quarters [in college]. I thought he did a great job in the passing game.  [Over the first two weeks] we'd been running a bunch of triple option and the way Texas State's defense plays really wasn't geared for us to run that against as it is some others. Evan did a great job of protecting the football and made some big-time throws.  He hit [Jamarius] Way on a go ball and Jordan McCray at the end on a go ball.  He hit some big-time passes tonight.  He had been doing some good things with his feet [in the first two games], but tonight he made some throws.  We were down with three minutes to go and he took us on a drive in the drop-back stuff, which our young [offensive] line sat in there and protected.  There were a lot of positives to take out of tonight."
On what he had seen that made him think South could hit the go-ball routes: "Watching film, we had seen that [Texas State] was playing off [receivers] and giving the short stuff, so we went into the game looking to do that.  We threw a bubble [screen] out there early that they blew up; that was the game-plan going in. We were going to throw those little hitches and use our quick game so we could get some easy completions, but after the first one, they came down and started pressing us.  They were going to make us show that we could throw the ball down the field and we were able to do that."
On challenging Jamarius Way at halftime: "At halftime, I challenged him to play the next play and not get frustrated. I wanted him to step up. Texas State was going to play up in your face and now it's time for you to go down the field and make some plays for us. The team needed him.  He stepped up big time for us. I'm proud of him for the demeanor he had when we were down 15. Jamarius and the wide receivers kept battling and their demeanors were tremendous. They all went out and made plays. They are a very unselfish group. All they were worried about was laying it on the line for each other and finding a way to win the game."
On Jalen Thompson: "He made some big-time plays tonight as well. I kept telling him to just picture [performing well].  That's the kind of player he is, if you throw it over in his vicinity, he has a chance to break on it and a chance for it to be a big play going the other way. We needed that tonight and right when we needed it, Jalen stepped up and did it. I'm very proud of him. He's a really good young man and he's overcome a lot of obstacles to put himself in this position."
On the blocked field goal: "I had been noticing that some of the earlier kicks had been low and coming off [the kicker's] foot low. We told our guys to get push [up the middle] and to make sure that they got their hands up. We were able to get the block and I think that was a huge momentum shift."

Senior DE Sean Grayer
On defensive adjustments: "Our coaches kept telling us to keep going. In the first half, we were getting really close to sacking the quarterback and we just kept playing hard. At the end, we finally got there."
On the win: "We've been struggling in the first half, and to finally come back and finish is a great feeling."
On the blocked field goal: "It was big time, it kind of changed the momentum. After that, the defense really stepped up. But it was really big."

Junior WR Jordan McCray
On his touchdown: "It was a great throw by Evan (Orth), great protection and we had a great call. I can't really take credit for anything; it's a team game."
On the win: "A team win like this is huge. We have ups and downs, but we have to stay together in games like this. Down 15 [points], we're not going to press because we know we have a lot of playmakers on our team and a great coaching staff."

Senior DE Chason Milner
On defensive adjustments: "I think our secondary stepped up in the second half and helped us out. That's why we were able to get so much pressure on the quarterback. I can't give it up enough to those guys for helping us out."
On the win: "This was huge win for us. It was obviously a team win, everybody played their part. We've struggled with adversity like this for the four or five years that I've been here, and it's great to finally be in a game like this and come out on top."

Junior RB Tra Minter
On how he was able to find holes: "First of all, I'd like to tell the o-line that they blocked their tails off tonight. Coach called my number and I just made a play. I got open and broke tackles."

Senior QB Evan Orth
On getting the win: "It's awesome to get an opportunity to start and play in front of our home crowd. Thank you to Coach [Steve] Campbell and Coach [Kenny] Edenfield for believing in me. It looked like it was going downhill, but I told the guys to keep persevering and be steadfast; that's what we did."
On connecting with Jamarius Way: "He was running good routes and getting open. It was really good play calling for a lot of the times when they were playing off; we were throwing hitches or quick outs. When they came up, we let it ride deep. He made plays all night. We blocked well up front and gave me time. We connected, and I felt like that's how we were going to be able to come back and win. We started letting it loose and it happened."
On Coach Campbell after the game: "He was fired up. He was enjoying himself. First win for him; I'm so happy for him and this team. It's an awesome feeling."

Junior CB Jalen Thompson
On his touchdown: "On the last drive and the previous drive before that, they kept running a slide out on third and five. Coach told me to be a ballplayer. I saw the quarterback looking and I jumped it."
On adjustments made in the fourth quarter: "We knew adversity was coming in the second half. They had a great quarterback that was making plays in the air and on the ground. The guys just kept going. We said the fourth quarter was our quarter. We knew if we shut them out, our offense was going to win it."
On Coach Campbell after the game: "He's a rowdy guy, everybody knows that. You can just tell how passionate he is about football. If you have a leader like that, all of us have to get motivated. He's our motivator, he's our front-runner. He kept say to keep going. If you have the head guy believing in you, you can believe in yourself. After the game, he was pretty happy. I was happy for him too. This is his first win; I know he's going to enjoy it."

Senior WR Jamarius Way
On his performance: "Early on in the week, I was challenged to step up by a couple of my teammates and be the playmaker that they know I am. I took on that challenge, and my quarterback was just throwing me open."
On the win: "We were bickering to the coaches and telling them what we saw. As a receiving unit, we felt like we had to put the ball in the air to open up our running game and the coaches had faith in us."

Texas State head coach Everett Withers
On the team's performance: "We didn't win. We did some good things; we did some bad things. We have to keep doing better. Hopefully we learn from this one and get better during the season."Up next: USA begins a stretch of three straight games on the road with a trip to Memphis, with kickoff slated for 7 p.m. (CDT) on Saturday.

Up next: The Jaguars play the first of three straight games on the road when they visit Memphis, with kickoff slated for 7 p.m. (CDT) Saturday

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).

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