Game 7
South Alabama Jaguars | 4-2, 1-2 Sun Belt
at
ULM Warhawks | 3-3, 1-2 Sun Belt

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Saturday, Oct. 23, 2021 | 6 pm (CDT)
Monroe, La. | Malone Stadium
30,000 capacity | FieldTurf

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Media Information
Television
ESPN3
Mike Hammett (pxp)
David Griffith (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/v/sala/353661
• Live audio available at: https://www.iheart.com/live/sports-talk-995-7117/

The Rankings
South Alabama
Associated Press — n/a
Coaches — n/a
Sagarin — 115th
ULM
Associated Press — n/a
Coaches — n/a
Sagarin — 143rd

Series History
Overall: ULM leads 4-3
In Mobile: USA leads 3-1
In Monroe: ULM leads 3-0
Neutral: n/a
Series Streak: USA — 1 (2020)
First Meeting: ULM, 38-24, on Oct. 27, 2012, in Monroe
Last Meeting: USA, 38-14, on Oct. 24, 2020, in Mobile

The Coaches
South Alabama
Kane Wommack (Southern Mississippi '09)
Record at USA — 4-2 (1st season)
Career record — same
Record vs. ULM — 0-0

ULM
Terry Bowden (West Virginia '78)
Record at ULM — 3-3 (1st season)
Career Record — 178-117-2 (26th season)
Record vs. USA — 0-0

Opening Kick
• The Jaguars play the first of four road games in the next five weeks when they visit the Warhawks.
• With its next victory, USA will record five wins in a season for the first time since the 2016 campaign.
• South is looking to win consecutive Sun Belt Conference contests for the first time since defeating Texas State and ULM on Oct. 17 and 24 a year ago.
• USA is aiming to pick up its first victory on the road in league play in October since Oct. 11, 2017, when it won 19-8 at Troy.
• The Jags' last win in the state of Louisiana was a 41-39 decision at Tulane on Sept. 7, 2013.

South Alabama-ULM Series Notes
• ULM's 38-10 victory in Mobile in 2018 is the only win for the road team in seven all-time match-ups.
• The only time either program has claimed consecutive games in the series came when the Warhawks earned victories in 2018 and '19.
• The winning team has scored at least 30 points in every game of the series thus far.
• In the last three meetings between the two programs, the victorious squad has allowed just 13.7 points per outing while holding the opposition below 20 on each occasion.
• Just one contest — the Warhawks' 42-35 overtime win in Monroe in 2016 — has been decided by a single-digit margin.

Notes From The Last ULM Meeting
• It was the fewest points allowed by South in 2020.
• After recording a season-high rushing total, the Jaguars' completion and pass attempts totals were their lowest of the year.
• Devin Rockette's 95-yard interception return and an 80-yard pass from Desmond Trotter to Kawaan Baker — both resulting in scores — were the Jags' two longest plays of the season.
• Baker would be named the Sun Belt's co-Offensive Player of the Week following his performance.
• Jalen Tolbert went over 1,000 career receiving yards in the opening quarter, ending the contest among the top 10 on the school's all-time list in the category.

Notes On Wommack's Coaching/Playing Career
• Wommack, 34, became the third head coach in program history and youngest at the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision level when he was hired on Dec. 12 last year.
• He was one of five finalists for the Broyles Award, given  to the top NCAA FBS assistant coach in the nation, in 2020 after helping Indiana go 6-2 overall while finishing 12th in the final Associated Press poll.
• In addition to serving as the Hoosiers' defensive coordinator — the youngest in the Power Five — the last two years, Wommack was also defensive coordinator for the Jags in 2016 and '17 as well as at Eastern Illinois for one season prior to his first stint in Mobile.
• The Jaguars allowed over 10 points fewer per outing than the previous campaign his first year on the staff, the fifth-best improvement in the NCAA FBS that fall.
• After beginning his collegiate playing career at Arkansas in 2006, Wommack was a fullback and tight end at Southern Miss for three years — helping the Golden Eagles to a postseason bowl appearance each fall — before receiving his degree from the school in 2009.

#explOsive Effort Against The Eagles
The Jaguar offense posted a season-best 405 yards through the air and 545 yards of total offense in last week's victory over Georgia Southern, figures that rank second and fourth, respectively, on the program's game record lists.  USA scored on five of its first six drives in building a 31-8 lead at the half, the highest point total it has recorded before the break against an NCAA FBS opponent since posting 31 in a Sept. 7, 2013, victory at Tulane.

Defense Does Its Part In Win
South's defensive unit also put in a top-10 performance in the program's record books, as Georgia Southern's 233 yards of offense — the fewest given up by the Jags this year — were the seventh-lowest total recorded by an NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision opponent on the school's all-time list.  The Jaguars were credited with four sacks and six passes broken up, tying the most recorded this fall in the former category while setting a season-high in the latter, as they now rank in the top 20 in the country in pass, pass efficiency, total and scoring defense as well as sacks at the midway point of the season.

Big Night On A Big Stage
In leading the Jaguars to their first-ever victory over Georgia Southern, Jake Bentley set school game records with 389 passing yards and 397 yards of total offense while becoming the first individual in program history to account for five touchdowns in a contest.  In addition to completing 24-of-31 attempts, the senior had touchdown runs of 12 and 6 yards in the opening 15-plus minutes while guiding the offense to scores on five of its first six possessions on the way to a 31-8 halftime advantage.  For his efforts, Bentley was not only named the Sun Belt Conference Offensive Player of the Week on Monday, but was selected an honorable mention National Performer of the Week by the College Football Performance Awards organization, one of eight Stars of the Week by the Manning Award as well as College Sports Madness' SBC Offensive Player of the Week.

Take It To The Bank
For the second week in a row, Yam Banks tied a pair of career-high totals after posting six stops including two tackles for loss in South's victory over the Eagles.  Now the team's leading tackler for the season following the effort, the freshman safety also ranks second on the squad in stops behind the line with his effort in the last two outings.

Making His Mark
In recording the sixth 100-yard outing and 16th touchdown reception of his career, Tolbert tied a pair of school career records following his 11-catch, 174-yard effort in the defeat of the Eagles.  In addition to matching the program's mark for catches in a game — first set by Jamarius Way in a win over Texas State on Sept. 15, 2018 — the junior wide receiver also entered the top 10 all-time in scoring at USA while moving into the top 10 on the Jags' record list for receiving yards in a season.

Wayne Comes Up Big In Win
Tolbert wasn't the only Jaguar to finish with 100-plus receiving yards in the GS win as Jalen Wayne posted seven catches for 117 yards — both career-high totals — last time out.  It was the first time since the 2020 season opener, when the duo accomplished the feat in a win at Southern Mississippi, that the South has had a pair of 100-yard receivers in the same contest.

Taking Advantage Of An Opportunity
Making his first start of the season with A.J. DeShazor Jr. required to sit out the opening half after a targeting call the previous week, ILB Quentin Wilfawn led the Jag defense in tackles for the first time in his career after sharing game-high honors with seven total stops against the Eagles.  In addition to nearly doubling his former career high — he was credited with four tackles on two prior occasions, including USA's previous contest at Texas State — Wilfawn's total was one fewer than the previous three games combined.

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).

Join the South Circle, the unrestricted giving option of the University of South Alabama Athletics.  Contributions to the 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—