NEW ORLEANS – Following a season-opening win over Southern Mississippi, a pair of University of South Alabama football players have received Sun Belt Conference Player-of-the-Week honors. The announcement was made by the league office on Monday.
Jalen Tolbert was voted the Offensive Player of the Week while Nick Mobley earned Defensive Player-of-the-Week accolades after the pair helped the Jaguars to a 32-21 victory over the Golden Eagles Thursday night in Hattiesburg.
Tolbert — a junior wide receiver from Mobile — recorded six receptions for 169 yards with two touchdowns to contribute to an offensive performance that saw the Jags finish with 526 yards of total offense. He gave South the lead for good when he took the third play of the game 73 yards for a touchdown, scoring again with a 31-yard reception to cap the Jags' opening possession of the second half before adding a 31-yard catch on fourth down to keep a drive alive later in the quarter that resulted in a field goal and a 23-13 advantage. With the effort, Tolbert became the first individual in school history to post back-to-back games with multiple touchdown catches as well as the first Jag to record consecutive 100-yard receiving games since Jamarius Way accomplished the feat on Sept. 15 and 22, 2018.
Mobley led all players with a career-high-tying 14 stops in the win over USM, with half of those — plus a quarterback hurry — coming after the Golden Eagle offense had reached the USA-20. In addition to recording a third-down tackle to end Southern Miss' first possession of the night, the junior posted three stops in the red zone on drives that resulted in a field goal and a missed field-goal attempt. It was the first time Mobley has reached double digits in tackles since South visited Texas State on Nov. 9 a year ago.
It's the first time since Nov. 13, 2017, that the Jaguars have had both the conference offensive and defensive player of the week.
South returns to action Saturday when it plays host to Tulane in the first-ever game at the new Hancock Whitney Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. (CDT) with the contest slated to air live nationally on ESPN2.
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
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