JONESBORO, Ark. – Jalen Tolbert caught 10 passes for 252 yards and three scores on Saturday, and the University of South Alabama defense made a late goal-line stand to help the Jaguars to a 38-31 Sun Belt Conference football victory over Arkansas State at Centennial Bank Stadium.

All three of Tolbert's touchdowns came in the second half as South (4-6, 3-4 Sun Belt) recovered from a 10-point deficit.  Desmond Trotter completed 16-of-22 passes for 242 yards and two scores, and when he departed due to injury Tanner McGee came on in relief and recorded 145 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 6-of-8 passing.

Keith Gallmon paced the Jag defense with 11 stops, while Kelvin Johnson and Nick Mobley added nine apiece.

Logan Bonner threw for four touchdowns — two to Jonathan Adams Jr. and two to Brandon Bowling — to lead the Red Wolves (3-7, 1-6 SBC).

South Alabama 38, Arkansas State 35 (game stats)
South Alabama/Arkansas State photo gallery

GAME FACTS
-The Red Wolves scored on their opening possession but a late two-yard Trotter touchdown run tied the score at the end of the first period.
-The Jaguars went ahead early in the second quarter when Trotter found Kawaan Baker for a 25-yard touchdown pass, but A-State scored twice in the final 70 seconds to take a 17-14 lead at the break.
-Adams capped the Red Wolves' first drive of the second half with a 14-yard touchdown pass from Bonner, however South led at the end of three quarters after Tolbert reached the end zone on receptions of 42 and 37 yards.
-Another Bonner-to-Adams touchdown gave A-State its final lead with just over 12 minutes to go, but McGee found Tolbert for a 51-yard score with less than five minutes remaining to put the Jags up for good.
-Both teams threw for over 300 yards (USA 387, A-State 324) while recording just under 500 yards of total offense (A-State 494, USA 486).

NOTES
-This was the Jaguars' first-ever win in Jonesboro.
-South has won three of the last four meetings in the series, including each of the last two years.
-It was the first time that USA has rallied from a double-digit deficit since coming back to defeat Texas State 41-31 on Sept. 15, 2018.
-The Jags' passing total was their best of the season and the second-highest figure in a game in school history.
-Tolbert posted a 100-yard game against the Red Wolves for the second time in as many seasons — and the third of his career — with an effort that was the third-highest total in Sun Belt Conference history.
-Baker tied school records for touchdown catches in a season (eight) and career (16) with his second-quarter reception.
-Trotter became the fourth quarterback in school history to surpass 2,500 passing yards in a career.
-It was Gallmon's third outing this season — and fourth since the start of last year — with a double-digit tackle total.
-Mobley added a career-best two passes broken up, accounting for half the defense's total.
-Jeremiah Littles was credited with a career-best three tackles for loss while Chris Henderson made multiple stops behind the line for the second straight contest.
-Devin Rockette more than doubled his previous career high after recording seven total stops in the game.
-Johnson had seven tackles this year entering play before finishing one shy of matching his previous career high.


THEY SAID IT
South Alabama head coach Steve Campbell
On the game: "It's a lot more fun when you win.  I'm really proud of this group.  We play well at times but when something bad happens, how are you going to respond?  We were down 10 in the second half and our guys did not blink or flinch.  The next man stepped up for us and made a ton of plays to keep us in the game.  I'm proud of Tanner McGee.  I thought Desmond played well [before leaving with an injury] and then Tanner came in and played tremendously.  [Jalen] Tolbert had a record-breaking night for us.  I thought our running backs ran hard for us and made some big plays. I thought the offensive line protected well to give us a chance to throw the ball down the field, and the receivers then went and made plays.  Defensively, we were able to keep them out of the end zone and get that final stop there at the end.  Our ability to hold them to a field goal a couple of times earlier in the game was huge; they are a high-scoring offense.  We weren't at full strength with Riley Cole out, but our guys played extremely hard and I'm really proud of their effort."
On being able to make plays in the fourth quarter: "It means a lot for us to be able to finish and make plays when you need them in the fourth quarter.  It was huge for us to be able to finish strong after being down by 10 in the third quarter.  We were able to put up 24 points in the second half.  I thought coach [Kenny] Edenfield did a great job of calling the stuff to give us a chance and get the ball down the field.  The defense was able to get the ball back to us on a couple of occasions and we were able to score points off those opportunities."
On what this win does for the team: "Obviously, we had high hopes and expectations for this team this season.  We wanted to win our half of the conference and represent our division in the conference championship game.  We were able to beat three of the four teams in our half of the division to put us in second-place by ourselves.  We've made some progress this season.  We were able to get a road victory over a very good Arkansas State team, along with wins over Texas State and ULM.  Now, we need to finish strong and take care of business and go get the 'Belt" back so that we can get a fifth FBS win against a good Troy football team."

Junior S Keith Gallmon
On what getting the win meant to the team: "We're thankful, we came out and worked hard and battled through adversity all night.  Just to come out with a win is uplifting for our team, , and it was big to get a conference win on the road."
On the team's defense at the end of the game: "Everybody was locked in and together, we had to work hard all game to limit their explosive plays.  We knew they had good receivers and a good offense, but we had to shut them down on that last drive when we needed it.  We made plays when it counted."

Redshirt Freshman QB Tanner McGee
On getting the win: "It's been tough for us recently, but coach just keeps telling us that we're close.  We played against a quality team tonight and to be able to get it done was special.  The win will give us a lot of confidence heading into our last conference game with Troy."
On his performance: "This has been the Lord's journey.  I've been sticking with it and the coaches have been supportive, along with all my teammates.  I was able to get out there and make some plays.  Everyone on the sideline was excited so it was really fun for me out there."
On South's wide receivers: "We have a unique group of guys who are really special.  I'm able to trust them and take what's open.  They did a great job of getting open and then giving a lot of feedback to me on the sideline so I can know what's there and what wasn't.  That made it easy on me.  The offensive line also did well tonight."

Junior WR Jalen Tolbert
On how big the win was: "This is a good win, now we have to stack them.  We emphasized all week explosive plays and being able to finish a game, and we came out and did well in both of those areas tonight."
On his success against Arkansas State: "They were the first team in a while who let me be by myself, I was able to take advantage of it and come out with some explosive plays."
On what the win means: "It was absolutely amazing, especially for the team.  We get to go home and finish it off next week and try to get the 'Belt' back.  We have a lot of momentum going into our last home game and hopefully we can make a bowl.  We can now go out and have a good week of practice and finish strong."

Up next: The Jaguars will close out the regular season when Troy visits Hancock Whitney Stadium Saturday at 1 p.m. (CST) in the annual "Battle For The Belt."

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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