HATTIESBURG, Miss. – The University of South Alabama football team had two individuals record over 100 yards receiving and three who finished with 10-plus tackles, with that combination helping lead the Jaguars to a 32-21 non-conference victory Thursday over Southern Mississippi in the season opener for both programs at M.M. Roberts Stadium.

Jalen Tolbert posted 169 yards and two scores while Jalen Wayne supplied 101 yards — each caught six balls — as the Jaguars ended up with 526 yards of total offense.  Desmond Trotter threw for 299 yards and two scores while Carlos Davis rushed for 85 on 15 carries as well.

Nick Mobley paced all players with 15 stops, with Keith Gallmon and Riley Cole adding 12 apiece as South limited the the Golden Eagles to just 95 yards rushing.

Jack Abraham paced USM, going 22-of-32 passing for 314 yards, while Tim Jones hauled in six balls for 139 yards.  Malik Shorts was credited with 11 stops and Swayze Bozeman  had 10 to lead the Golden Eagle defense.

South Alabama 32, Southern Mississippi 21 (final stats)
South Alabama/Southern Mississippi photo gallery

GAME FACTS
-South outgained the Golden Eagles 188-30 in the opening quarter, with the Jag defense limiting USM to minus-10 yards on the ground in the period.
-The Golden Eagles responded with 157 yards of total offense in the second quarter, putting together a pair of scoring drives to cut the deficit to 13-10 at the break.
-Tolbert's second touchdown of the night and a 21-yard Diego Guajardo field goal helped push the USA lead to 23-13 at the end of three quarters.
-Kawaan Baker caught a 52-yard touchdown pass from Chance Lovertich to make the score 29-13, with the Jaguars sealing the win after Guajardo connected on a field goal from 34 yards out with less than two minutes remaining.
-The Jags finished 7-of-12 on third-down conversions and were successful on both tries facing fourth down.
-Four of USA's six scoring drives covered 75 or more yards.

NOTES
-This was the first-ever meeting between the two programs.
-The Jaguars opened the season with a victory for the first time since 2016, when they defeated Mississippi State 21-20 in Starkville — that game also took place on Sept. 3.
-It was the first time since the program's inception in 2009 that the Jags did not have to punt once in a contest.
-USA's second scoring drive — which made the score 13-0 with a minute-and-a-half remaining in the opening period — was the first 99-yard march since the fourth quarter the win at MSU.
-Tolbert became the first player in school history to post back-to-back games with multiple touchdown catches; he had a school-record four in the 2019 season finale against Arkansas State.
-The junior wide receiver was also the first Jaguar to record consecutive 100-yard receiving games since Jamarius Way accomplished the feat on Sept. 15 and 22, 2018 as he finished the evening with a career-high total.
-Mobley reached double digits in tackles for the first time since South visited Texas State on Nov. 9 a year ago.
-In finishing with a career high as well, Wayne gave the Jags two individuals with 100-plus receiving yards in the same game for the first time in school history.
-Cole finished with a double-digit tackle total for the first time since last fall's "Battle For The Belt" against Troy.
-Gallmon posted a career-high total in the category also, making it the first occasion since he, Mobley and DJ Daniels turned the trick against Georgia Southern on Oct. 3 last season that three Jaguars have been credited 10 or more stops in the same outing.
-With his effort passing, Trotter became the first South quarterback to throw for 200 or more yards in three straight outings since Evan Orth did so from Sept. 15-29, 2018; his 340 yards of total offense were a career best as well.
-Jeremiah Littles recorded a pair of tackles for loss for the first time in his career, as both he and Gi'Narious Johnson were credited with the only sacks in the contest.

THEY SAID IT
South Alabama head coach Steve Campbell
Opening statement: "Tonight was a great win for us. It was a great way to start the season.  After all that these young men have been through, we were able to go on the road and get a road win. I love the way the guys played tonight.  We won the game, but we left some stuff out there that we can definitely improve on and get better at.  Southern Miss, Arkansas State and our next opponent Tulane were all bowl teams a year ago, so we need keep taking things on building block at a time.  We're glad to get the 'W', but we now have to turn our focus to Tulane."
On getting this win here tonight after spending so much of his career in the state of Mississippi: "It meant a lot just from the fact that I believe I've spent 25 years of my career coaching in Mississippi.  I've got three children and my youngest was born here in Hattiesburg at the Wesley Center which I believe is about three miles from here. That with being at [Mississippi] Gulf Coast for 10 years added a little something special to it. Southern Miss is also an hour-and-a-half from us, so to me it's a natural rival along with Tulane, UAB and Troy. The tradition of Southern Miss is also something special. They have a proud tradition. We've only been playing football for 11 years, so to come here and beat Southern Miss at their place was a big win for us."
On his feeling on his team coming into tonight: "You never know how your team is going to come out in week one, but I really felt like this group was going to play well and they did. There's such great character on this team. We've got great senior and wouldn't have been able to play this game without their leadership. Guys tonight also stepped up and made plays.  [Jalen] Tolbert and KB [Kawaan Baker] made big-time plays. Defensively we made some big-time plays and that's what it takes."
On what his team did well tonight: "Defensively, I thought we stopped the run for the most part, especially early. Southern Miss is good on defense. [Southern Miss head coach] Jay [Hopson] does a really good job with them. They've been ranked among the top 30 or so in defense. I thought we were able to run the ball well enough to give the passing game a chance to be effective. Jalen made big-time plays along with KB. We've got some really good players and they were able to go out and make plays. I thought Desmond did a great job getting them the football. We need to work on protecting the ball. I think the turnovers kept them in the ball game, but I was pleased with the way we were able to throw and catch. We had some great runs after the catch. I thought the o-line held up and protected well. There were a lot of positives." 

Senior LB Riley Cole
On the performance of the defense against Southern Miss' run game: "That credit goes to our defensive line. They were playing lights out tonight and when they do that, it makes it so much easier for everybody else."
On what it took for the team to get the road win tonight: "We were just all on the same page. That's all it took. Everybody was hitting on all cylinders."
On building off this win heading into the Tulane game: "We need to just take this momentum and run with it."

Junior LB Nick Mobley
On how big the win was: "The biggest thing about this game was that it shows you how to persevere, if you give up early you never get the results that you reap and sow.  We worked hard and we were consistent, and that's what happens when you do that.  You win."
On shutting down the USM run game: "It was the basics we took care of in practice.  They were running push, split zones and counters, we just played our game to the best of our ability and were able to make that happen."
On what the past few months have been like: "It's been a whirlwind because you don't know if you're going to play or not, you watch the news and see that another Black man or Black woman was shot so there are a lot of things running through your head.  It was nice to get on the field and play well so I can speak my mind and hopefully make other people's live better."

Junior WR Jalen Tolbert
On what it means to come out and get the win tonight: "It's exciting and gives us something to look forward to. We start the season out 1-0. I don't remember the last time we did that, so everybody's excited and ready to come out and continue to make plays."
On how he was able to get open: "During fall camp, we've stressed being able to make plays and doing what we need to do to win our one-on-one matchups. Both quarterbacks, Dez (Desmond Trotter) and Chance (Lovertich) came in and gave us a chance to do that with the way they threw the ball. They gave us an opportunity to catch it and make a play and we continued to do what we've done in camp. It paid off for us."
On what Southern Miss' defense was giving them: "We had worked blocking a certain way that they liked to do, but when we were able to come out early and throw the ball, we knew we were going to be able to make adjustments and start throwing the ball down field."

Sophomore QB Desmond Trotter
On what was working for him tonight: "The offensive line was really protecting well tonight. I don't think we had one sack the whole game. It started with the protection. The receivers are our strength and just getting them the ball and allowing them to make plays I feel was the game changer."
On what he was seeing against Southern Miss' defense: "I was seeing a lot of quick passes. I kept telling myself to just take the easy ball. I felt I forced one of the interceptions, but I came back and was able to make up for it. I was reading one guy on the field, and doing that, I was able to get the ball to our playmakers who were able to score. Our game plan was to throw the ball down the field and that's what we did."
On what this win means: "It means a lot. Coming off the Arkansas State win at the end of last season gave us a confidence boost coming into this game. To be able to get this road win boost our confidence even more as we get ready for next week."

Up next: South will return home and take on Tulane in the first-ever game at the new Hancock Whitney Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 12, with kickoff on ESPN2 set for 6:30 p.m. (CDT).

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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