Game 4
South Alabama Jaguars (1-2, 1-0 Sun Belt)
at Memphis Tigers (2-1, 0-1 American)

Saturday, Sept. 22, 2018 • 7 pm CDT
Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium (58,325 capacity/AstroTurf)
Memphis, Tenn.

Media Information
Television
ESPN3
Pete Pranica (pxp)
Greg Gaston (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:
@WeAreSouth_JAGS
• Live stats available at:
http://statb.us/v/sala/229620
• 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 — 145th

Memphis
Associated Press — n/a
Coaches — n/a
Sagarin — 29th

Series History
Overall: first meeting
In Mobile: n/a
In Memphis: n/a
Neutral: n/a
Series Streak: n/a
First Meeting: n/a
Last Meeting: n/a

The Coaches
South Alabama
Steve Campbell (Troy '88)
Record at USA — 1-2 (1st season)
Career record — 160-55 (20th season)
Career NCAA record — 61-25 (8th season)
Career Sun Belt record — 1-0
Record vs. UofM — 0-0
Memphis
Mike Norvell (Central Arkansas '05)
Record at UofM — 20-9 (3rd season)
Career Record — same
Record vs. USA — 0-0

Opening Kick
• The Jaguars begin a stretch of three road games in three weeks with this trip to Memphis.
• It's the first matchup between the two schools, with the Tigers set to visit Mobile on Sept. 14 next fall to complete the home-and-home agreement.
• South has played three consecutive contests away from home just once since the program's inception, visiting North Carolina State, Kent State and Texas-San Antonio over a four-week span from Sept. 17-Oct. 8, 2011.
• This will be the Jags' final non-conference road game of the regular season.
• It's the first time South will take on a current member of the American Athletic Conference — Tulane was a member of Conference USA when the Jaguars won in New Orleans on Sept. 7, 2013, while Navy was independent while defeating USA during the 2013 and '14 seasons.
• First-year Jaguar assistant coach Mike Bangtson was a graduate assistant on the Memphis staff during the 2015 season when the Tigers went 9-4 after competing in the Birmingham Bowl.
• Current Tigers associate head coach Will Hall made his collegiate head coaching debut when West Alabama fell to South, 20-0, on Sept. 1, 2011, in Mobile.

Notes On Campbell's Coaching/Playing Career
• Campbell's 160-55 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.
• During the 2003 season Campbell was the offensive line coach at Mississippi State, serving on a staff that helped lead the Bulldogs to a 35-27 defeat of Memphis in Starkville on Oct. 11 that fall.

On The Comeback Trail
In earning not only their initial victory of the season but their first under Campbell, the Jaguars recorded the third-largest deficit overcome in a win in the program's first nine-plus seasons of competition by coming back from 15 points down after Texas State scored on its first possession of the second half.  It was the first time South has won a game when trailing after three quarters since Oct. 29, 2016, when they recovered from a 10-3 deficit to earn a 13-10 victory over Georgia State, while the last time the Jags came back when trailing by double digits was on Sept. 3 that year in a season-opening 21-20 win at Mississippi State.

Disruptive Defense
In addition to recording three takeaways for the third time in as many outings this year, the Jag defense was credited with 10 stops behind the line of scrimmage and six passes broken up in the win over the Bobcats.  It's the first time USA has had 10 or more tackles for loss in back-to-back contests since posting 10 in both a win over New Mexico State in the regular-season finale and against Air Force in the NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl in December 2016.  The Jaguars enter play among the top 20 nationally in turnovers gained (fifth), sacks (14th with 3.33 per contest) and tackles for loss (16th with 7.67 per game), leading the Sun Belt in the first two categories.

Way To Go
Jamarius Way caught 11 passes for 173 yards — both totals are the most recorded by anyone in the Sun Belt Conference thus far this season — and a touchdown to help South defeat Texas State in the league opener for both schools, and for the effort he was named the conference's Offensive Player of the Week on Monday.  The senior set a school game record for receptions while his yardage total was the second-highest posted in a contest in program history as he finished with 100-plus yards for the third time since joining the team last fall.  With the performance — which also included a 54-yard catch to set up the Jags' first touchdown of the contest, a 63-yarder that led to their next score and an 18-yard reception for the final points of the night — Way became the ninth Jaguar ever to accumulate 1,000 receiving yards in a career, and he also moved into eighth place on the school's all-time list as he now has 65 catches in just 15 outings.

Minter Makes The Honor Roll
Tra Minter recorded a career-high 171 all-purpose yards in last weekend's win, accounting for the Jags' first two touchdowns in the second quarter — the first time the junior has scored more than once in the same game since joining the program last fall — to be selected for inclusion Monday on the Paul Hornung Award Honor Roll.  In addition to finishing with a season-best 61 yards on just nine carries, the running back 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. Minter already has moved into the top 10 on the school's season record list with 314 kickoff return yards this fall.

Thompson Shines Against Texas State
Jalen Thompson intercepted two passes in the Texas State victory, returning the first 55 yards for a touchdown to spark the Jaguars' rally as they scored the final 25 points of the contest.  Not only did he set a school game record with 84 yards in returns — the second run back left the Jags needing just four yards for the game-clinching score with 33 seconds to go — but Thompson also broke up three passes to fall one shy of matching the program record in that category while adding three tackles.  With the effort, the junior tied USA's all-time mark with eight career interceptions while becoming 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 — as well as the first to pick off two passes in a contest on more than one occasion.

Milner Makes His Mark
Senior Chason Milner had a career-best three tackles for loss for the Jags in their win last time out, with that total including tying a career high — first set against Air Force in the 2016 NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl — with two sacks.  The defensive end finished the night with a career-high three stops behind the line of scrimmage and six total tackles — matching a personal best first set at ULM on Nov. 5, 2016 — after being credited with two tackles in USA's first two games this season combined.

McCray Makes The Play
WR Jordan McCray provided the game-winning points against the Bobcats with his 23-yard touchdown catch with just two minutes and two seconds remaining in play, his first since the 2017 finale at New Mexico State.  The junior, who had five receptions in the first two outings this fall, finished the contest with a career-high-tying four catches.

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—