Game 8
South Alabama Jaguars (1-6, 0-3 Sun Belt) vs. #21 Appalachian State Mountaineers (6-0, 3-0 Sun Belt)

Saturday, Oct. 26, 2019 • 11 am CDT • Ladd-Peebles Stadium • 33,471 capacity/ Field/Turf
Mobile, Ala.

Media Information
Television
ESPNU
Kevin Brown (pxp)
Andre Ware (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_FB
• Live stats available at: http://statb.us/b/272183
• Live audio available at: http://www.iheart.com/live/995-the-jag-mobile-7117/

Game/Promotions Information
• Special: Homecoming presented by Holiday Inn Express & Suites/University Area and CFB 150 Celebration
• Giveaway: 5000 shakers courtesy of Raising Cane's
• Water Policy: No bottles of water or soft-sided coolers will be allowed into the stadium
• Clear Bag Policy: Click usajaguars.com/clearbag for all information
• Tickets: $25 sideline, $20 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) at 8 am; $2.50 round trip; continuous service until 90 minutes after game
• Student Shuttles: Free shuttle service for students begins 4 hours prior to kickoff from the dining hall on campus
• Parking: Opens at 8 am
• FanFest: Begins at 9 am; located in JagCity near the southeast corner of Ladd-Peebles Stadium; onsite fan entertainment and live music provided by iHeart Media; free food/beverage samples from vendors including Raising Cane's, Sonny's BBQ and Texas Roadhouse; interactive games provided by Academy Sports and LazerZone, plus mascot appearances
• Jag Prowl: Begins at 8:30 am from the Southeast corner of the Ladd-Peebles Stadium parking lot
• Gates: Open two hours prior to kickoff

The Rankings
South Alabama
Associated Press — n/a
Coaches — n/a
Sagarin — 174th
Appalachian State
Associated Press — 21st
Coaches — 22nd
Sagarin — 30th

Series History
Overall: APP leads 2-1
In Mobile: APP leads 1-0
In Boone: Tied 1-1
Neutral: n/a
Series Streak: APP — 2
First Meeting: USA, 47-21, on Oct. 4, 2014, in Boone
Last Meeting: APP, 52-7, on Sept. 29, 2018, in Boone

The Coaches
South Alabama
Steve Campbell (Troy '88)
Record at USA — 4-15 (2nd season)
Career Sun Belt record — 2-9
Career NCAA record — 64-38 (9th season)
Career record — 163-68 (21st season)
Record vs. APP — 0-1

Appalachian State
Eliah Drinkwitz (Arkansas Tech '04)
Record at APP — 6-0 (1st season)
Career Record — same
Record vs. USA — 0-0

Opening Kick
• The Jags play host to the Mountaineers on the school's annual Homecoming weekend.
• It's the first time in program history South will face two nationally-ranked opponents in the same season.
• This will mark the third occasion in the last four years that a top-25 foe will come to Ladd-Peebles Stadium; the Jaguars defeated No. 19 San Diego State, 42-24, on Oct. 1, 2016, but fell to 10th-ranked Oklahoma State by a 44-7 margin on Sept. 8 the following fall.
• The Mountaineers are the third opponent on USA's schedule this fall that has already won six games to become eligible to participate in a postseason bowl.
• App State head coach Eliah Drinkwitz was co-offensive coordinator at Arkansas State in 2013, helping the Red Wolves earn a 17-16 victory over the Jaguars that fall.

South Alabama-Appalachian State Series Notes
• The first meeting between the two schools was App State's first-ever home game in the Sun Belt Conference.
• That was also the Jaguars' only win in the series to date.
• The Mountaineers became the first team to win at home in the series after claiming the most recent match-up between the two programs last September.
• The winning team has recorded an average of 44.3 points per contest in the first three series meetings.
• When the Jaguars won the first-ever match-up in 2014, it marked the only time in program history that South has won back-to-back league games on the road.

Notes From The Last Appalachian State Meeting
• The Mountaineers had three scoring drives take less than a minute off the clock, including two in a three-minute span immediately after the Jaguars tied the game 7-7 in the opening quarter.
• The seven points were the fewest USA scored in 2018.
• App State's 348 yards in the ground were the most posted by an opponent last fall.
• Kawaan Baker finished with a then career-high 89 receiving yards while scoring his eighth touchdown in the opening month of the season.
• DL Tyree Turner was credited with the lone tackle for loss by the Jag defense, marking the fifth game in a row he had at least one stop behind the line to open the year.

Notes On Campbell's Coaching/Playing Career
• Campbell's 163-68 mark as a head coach includes going 33-15 over four years at Central Arkansas from 2014-17, where he guided the Bears to back-to-back NCAA Football Championship Subdivision playoff appearances before taking over at South Alabama.
• 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 20 seasons no team coached by Campbell finished below .500 prior to the 2018 campaign.
• 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.

Homecoming Housekeeping
• The Jags have a 9-1 mark in Homecoming games since the program's inception in 2009.
• Last year's loss to ULM was the first-ever for South on Homecoming weekend.
• The Jaguars are 5-1 in Homecoming contests against Sun Belt opponents.
• USA has averaged 34.7 points per outing on Homecoming weekend, surpassing the 30-point plateau on eight occasions.
• The Jaguars' 37-34 double-overtime Homecoming victory over Florida Atlantic on Oct. 20, 2012, was the program's first-ever conference win.

Right With Reed
Senior Travis Reed became the first individual in the program with two or more interceptions in a game since Jalen Thompson picked off two passes in a win over Texas State on Sept. 15 last fall after he accomplished the feat last time out against Troy in the annual "Battle For The Belt."  The cornerback also broke up a pass in the second quarter, giving him six passes defensed in the last three outings after posting just two in nine appearances a year ago.

Cole Play
LB Riley Cole tied his previous career high — first set at Ole Miss in the 2017 opener — with his eighth stop on the opening play of the second quarter against the Trojans, going on to lead the team in the category for the first time since that night with a game-high 11 tackles.  After posting no more than three stops in any of the Jaguars' first five outings this season while recording 17 total tackles during that span, the junior has been credited with 17 in the last two contests.

Minter Does It All
With 86 yards on the ground, 36 through the air and another 78 running back kickoffs, Tra Minter recorded 200-plus all-purpose yards the second time this fall in the game at Troy.  With the effort, the senior running back became the third individual in program history to post 3,500 all-purpose yards in a career as well as just the second Jaguar ever with 1,000 or more all-purpose yards in multiple seasons (Xavier Johnson turned the trick in both 2015 and '16).  Minter's performance against the Trojans also included a career-best six receptions and a season-high total in kickoff return yards — he went over 1,000 yards in his career in that category as well with the effort, becoming the third player in school history to do so — with his 45-yard run back in the third quarter the longest by a Jag this year.

Big Month For Baker
After leading the team with nine rushing touchdowns last season, Baker's three-yard run that tied the score in the second quarter last time out was his first of the year; it was the 10th of his career, making him sixth player in school history to reach double figures in the category.  The junior recorded a career-best five receptions as well against the Trojans, giving him nine in two games this month after he had a total of eight in South's four contests in September; with the performance, he entered the top 10 on USA's all-time record list as he now has made 61 catches since the start of the 2017 campaign.

Stops With Starts
With 10 stops in the "Battle For The Belt" — which matched his career high set in the Jags' previous contest against Georgia Southern — Kelvin Johnson became the first South defender to finish with 10 or more tackles in consecutive outings since Bull Barge accomplished the feat in three straight games from Oct. 23-Nov. 10 last fall. The junior-college transfer made 19 stops coming off the bench in the team's first five outings of the fall but has collected 20 since being inserted into the starting lineup prior to South facing GS the opening week of the month.

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—