Game 4
South Alabama Jaguars (1-2, 0-0 Sun Belt) vs. Texas State Bobcats (1-4, 1-1 Sun Belt)
Saturday, Oct. 17, 2020 • 11 am CDT • Hancock Whitney Stadium • 25,450 capacity/FieldTurf
Mobile, Ala.

Media Information
Television
ESPNU
Clay Matvick (pxp)
Rocky Boiman (analysis)

Radio
USA Football Radio Network
(flagship 96.1 FM/Sports Talk 99.5 FM 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/314241
• Live audio available at: http://www.iheart.com/live/995-the-jag-mobile-7117/

Game/Promotions Information
• Special: Homecoming
• Giveaway: none
• 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: Single game tickets are not on sale for 2020 as Hancock Whitney Stadium is at capacity due to social distancing requirements
• Home and Visitor Player Pass List: Tickets will be at the East ticket booth adjacent to Gate 1
• Shuttles: A free shuttle will provide service from the Gamma parking lot to the stadium; continuous service begins two hours prior to kickoff and will continue until 90 minutes after game
• Parking: Opens three hours prior to kickoff
• Gates: Open 90 minutes prior to kickoff

The Rankings
South Alabama
Associated Press — n/a
Coaches — n/a
Sagarin — 142nd
Texas State
Associated Press — n/a
Coaches — n/a
Sagarin — 113th

Series History
Overall: TXST leads 3-2
In Mobile: USA leads 2-0
In San Marcos: TXST leads 3-0
Neutral: n/a
Series Streak: TXST — 1 (2019)
First Meeting: TXST, 33-31, on Oct. 26, 2013, in San Marcos
Last Meeting: TXST, 30-28, on Nov. 9, 2019, in San Marcos

The Coaches
South Alabama
Steve Campbell (Troy '88)
Record at USA — 6-21 (2nd season)
Career Sun Belt record — 3-13
Career NCAA record — 66-44 (9th season)
Career record — 165-74 (21st season)
Record vs. TXST — 1-1

Texas State
Jake Spavital (Missouri State '08)
Record at TXST — 4-13 (2nd season)
Career Record — same
Record vs. USA — 1-0

Opening Kick
• South opens Sun Belt Conference play Saturday against Texas State.
• This will be the second time in three years that the Jags play host to the Bobcats in their league debut, having earned a 41-31 victory on Sept. 15, 2018 the last time Texas State visited Mobile.
• After the Jaguars' Oct. 3 match-up with Troy was postponed, this will be their first contest in 23 days.
• It's the longest stretch between games for the Jags since taking on Air Force in the NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl on Dec. 30, 2016, nearly four weeks after ending the regular season against New Mexico State on Dec. 3.
• The only time in team history that USA has had 20 or more days between contests in the regular season came in 2009; the Jaguars defeated Hargrave (Va.) Military Academy on Sept. 5 in the program's inaugural outing and then didn't play again until facing Army Prep Sept. 26.

South Alabama-Texas State Series Notes
• The home team has won each of the five meetings in the series.
• Three of those decisions have been by four points or less after the Bobcats won by two in San Marcos last fall.
• The winning team has recorded 30 or more points in four of the first five match-ups between the two programs.
• Jag head coach Steve Campbell picked up a win in his first-ever Sun Belt game when South claimed the last meeting in Mobile in 2018.
• The Jaguars became eligible to compete in a postseason bowl for the first time in school history with a 24-20 victory over the Bobcats on Nov. 15, 2014.

Notes From The Last Texas State Meeting
• The Bobcats recorded opponent season highs in both passing (373) and kickoff return (122) yards.
• The 42 rushing yards allowed were not only the fewest against South's defense in 2019, it was the 10th-lowest total ever allowed in a game by the unit.
• It was the second, and final, occasion last fall that the Jaguars did not turn the ball over.
• In the first start of his career, Desmond Trotter's 76.5 completion percentage was the fifth-highest in a game in school history (minimum 10 attempts).
• After leading the Jaguars in both catches and receiving yards, Kawaan Baker surpassed the 1,000-yard milestone in his career in the latter category.

Notes On Campbell's Coaching/Playing Career
• Campbell's 165-74 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.

Highlighting Homecoming
• This will mark the first time that the Bobcats will be South's opponent on Homecoming weekend.
• The Jaguars won their first nine Homecoming contests, but have dropped the last two.
• It's the earliest USA has played a Homecoming game since defeating Tennessee-Martin on Oct. 15, 2011.
• This marks the seventh year in a row the opponent on Homecoming weekend will be a Sun Belt school.
• The Jags have a 6-1 record in Homecoming games played in October.

Belt Beginnings
• It's the lastest USA will start Sun Belt Conference action since joining the league officially in 2012.
• This marks the fourth time in the last five years that the Jags will begin conference action at home.
• The Jaguars are looking to open league play 1-0 for the second time in three seasons.
• Since joining the Sun Belt, South is 3-5 in its first conference contest of the year.
• USA has scored at least 24 points in each of those wins but has been held under 20 in all but one of the losses.

The Running Man
Sophomore RB Carlos Davis recorded a season-best 105 yards rushing against UAB, marking the second 100-yard game of his career.  He added two receptions for 24 yards as well to also post a career-best all-purpose yardage total for the second game in a row after finishing with 129 in the contest.  Davis' 272 rushing yards are the most gained by a Jaguar running back through the first three outings of a season since Xavier Johnson — the school's all-time leader in the category — totaled 291 at the start of the 2015 campaign.

Cole Comes Up Big Against Blazers
Riley Cole shared the team lead in tackles against the Blazers, the first time he's accomplished the feat since the Jags played Louisiana on Nov. 16 last year, with his total of nine including 1½ stops behind the line of scrimmage.  The senior's initial sack of the season in the third quarter resulted in a fumble that he recovered at the USA-40, which was the first fumble recovery of his career.  After going without a sack in 18 appearances his first three years with the program, Cole has been credited with four over the last 15 games dating back to the start of last season.

Leading Man
Fellow LB Nick Mobley was credited with nine stops in the UAB contest as well, making it the fifth time in seven outings dating back to November 2019 that he has earned or shared team-high honors in the category.  He has now recorded 32 tackles in USA's first three contests this fall, the most the senior has posted in a three-game span since Sept. 21-Oct. 3 a year ago when he made 33 stops in match-ups with UAB, ULM and Georgia Southern.

Making Moves
South's game against the Blazers marked the third time in the last four outings that Kawaan Baker has caught five or more balls, as he topped the Jags with five for 35 yards.  Not only did the senior wideout take over the team lead in the category with the effort, he passed former Jaguar Gerald Everett — now in his fourth year with the Los Angeles Rams — to move into sixth on the program's all-time record list as he now has 91 catches since the start of the 2017 campaign.

Watch This Wideout
Jalen Tolbert led South with 59 receiving yards on just three catches in the UAB game, making it the second time in three contests that the junior has paced the team in the category.  That included hauling in his third touchdown in as many outings with a 38-yard reception to get South on the scoreboard 30 seconds into the second quarter; all three of those scores are among his team-high seven receptions covering 20 or more yards.  Entering this week, Tolbert is one of just two individuals in the Sun Belt who has recorded a double-digit reception total while averaging 20 yards or more per catch thus far this year.

Big Numbers For Littles
DL Jeremiah Littles posted a career-best seven tackles last time out, the second time this season that he has matched or set a new high in the category after opening the campaign by making five stops in South's win at Southern Mississippi.  It was the highest tackle total recorded by a Jaguar defensive lineman since Randy Allen finished with nine against Air Force at the NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl on Dec. 30, 2016.

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. 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—