Game 1
South Alabama Jaguars (0-0, 0-0 Sun Belt) at Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles    (0-0, 0-0 Conference USA)
Thursday, Sept. 3, 2020 • 8 pm CDT • M.M. Roberts Stadium • 36,000 capacity/Matrix
Hattiesburg, Miss.

Media Information
Television
CBS Sports Network
Carter Blackburn (pxp)
Aaron Taylor (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: https://southernmiss.com/sidearmstats/football/summary
• 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 — 158th
Southern Mississippi
Associated Press — n/a
Coaches — n/a
Sagarin — 99th

Series History
Overall: first meeting
In Mobile: n/a
In Hattiesburg: 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 — 5-19 (2nd season)
Career Sun Belt record — 3-13
Career NCAA record — 65-42 (9th season)
Career record — 164-72 (21st season)
Record vs. Southern Mississippi — 0-0

Southern Mississippi
Jay Hopson (Ole Miss '92)
Record at USM — 28-22 (5th season)
Career Record — 60-39 (8th season)
Record vs. USA — 0-0

Opening Kick
• The Jaguars and Golden Eagles meet in the first match-up of a home-and-home series that will see the two teams play in Mobile Sept. 4 next year.
• This marks the fourth time in the last five seasons that South will open on the road.
• The Jags are making their first trip to the Magnolia State since opening the 2017 campaign with a 47-27 loss at Ole Miss.
• It's just the fourth time since the program's inception in 2009 that USA is playing in the state, having also split a pair of contests at Mississippi State; the 23rd-ranked Bulldogs earned a 30-10 victory on Sept. 22, 2012, but the Jaguars claimed a 21-20 win on Sept. 3, 2016.
• South's complete roster includes 25 individuals who hail from Mississippi, more than any state other than Alabama.

Notes On Campbell's Coaching/Playing Career
• Campbell's 164-72 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.

Season Opener Notes
• South is 2-2 when beginning the year on the road while posting a 6-5 mark in its opening contest of the season.
• The Jaguars have recorded a 4-6 mark in their first road contest of the campaign (all seven games in the inaugural 2009 season were at home).
• The last time the Jags opened the season with a victory was in the defeat of MSU in Starkville in 2016.
• USA's last three openers on the road all featured visits to Power Five programs after it began last fall at Nebraska.
• South has averaged 28.1 points per game in its season debuts, including never posting less than 20.

Baker The History Maker
Senior WR Kawaan Baker enters the year among the top 10 in school history in 10 different statistical categories, with five of those — rushing, receiving and total touchdowns, touchdowns accounted for and total points — scoring marks.  The only individual in program history to be included on both the rushing and receiving touchdown lists, Baker is coming off a season in which he led the Jags in catches and receiving yards for the first time.  He had six outings with three or more receptions and five contests in which he recorded 50-plus yards, including accomplishing both feats in the last two outings of 2019.

Full Season, Fine Results
Only twice over the last four years has senior Riley Cole been able to play in all 12 games, but when he has the linebacker has finished among the top five on the squad in tackles after accomplishing the feat with 59 stops a season ago.  That included ranking second on the team with nine tackles for loss after recording 2½ stops behind the line the previous three seasons combined.

Trotter's Time
Desmond Trotter threw just nine passes while seeing action in four of South's first eight contests last season, but after taking over as the starter he averaged 242.5 yards per game of total offense and completed 60.2 percent (53-of-88) of his pass attempts the final month of the campaign.  The sophomore quarterback threw for eight scores (against just two interceptions), with six of those touchdowns coming the final two weeks of the year highlighted by a school-record-tying four in the Jags' season-ending win over Arkansas State.

Manning The Middle
LB Nick Mobley paced South's defense with 91 stops a year ago, as he is one of five individuals who ranked among the top 10 in the Sun Belt Conference in tackles per game last fall returning in 2020.  In addition to aiming to become the first Jaguar to lead the team in stops in consecutive seasons since Jake Johnson accomplished the feat in 2011 and '12, the junior needs 15 tackles to enter the top 10 all-time at USA in the category.

Tolbert Taking Off
In each of the Jaguars' last two outings last year Jalen Tolbert recorded a career-high receiving total, posting 74 yards at Georgia State on just two catches before ended the season with a performance that included five receptions for 144 yards and a school game record four touchdowns.  Coming into 2019 the junior had not caught more than one pass in a contest, a feat he was able to manage on eight occasions last fall.

Closing In On The Century Mark
After recording 61 tackles — the third-highest total on the squad — last year, LB A.J. DeShazor needs just four more to post 100 in his time at South.  Not only was the junior credited with five or more stops eight times during the 2019 season, achieving the feat in both of the last two outings of the fall, but he has had a hand in four takeaways during his career with three of those (one interception, two fumble recoveries) coming last year.

Experience On The Line
Two of the three individuals who started all 12 games for the Jag offense a season ago and are returning this fall are members of the line, with Brian Ankerson and Jacob Shoemaker headlining a group that accounts for four of six starters coming back on that side of the ball.  Ankerson — who has recorded the team's highest overall and assignment grades the last two seasons — has the longest active streak on the team having started the last 24 contests, while Hadon Merchant (who had 10 starts in '19) and Shoemaker were credited with 68 and 63 knockdown blocks, respectively, the highest totals on the team last fall.

Littles Big On Losses
Over the last two years, DL Jeremiah Littles has posted 8½ tackles for loss among his 32 total tackles, with his 4½ a season ago most among the team's returning defensive linemen.  The senior is one of three individuals up front who saw action in all 12 games and posted a double-figure stop total in 2019, with Maurice Strong Jr. adding 15 tackles and Gi'Narious Johnson 13; both were credited with 1½ stops behind the line of scrimmage.

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—