GAME 10
South Alabama Jaguars | 5-4, 2-4 Sun Belt
at
Appalachian State Mountaineers | 7-2, 4-1 Sun Belt

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Saturday, Nov. 13, 2021 | 1:30 pm (CST)
Boone, N.C. | Kidd-Brewer Stadium
30,000 capacity | FieldTurf

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Media Information
Television
ESPN+
David Jackson (pxp)
Avery Hall (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/352436
• 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 — 126th
Appalachian State
Associated Press — RV (32nd)
Coaches — RV (32nd)
Sagarin — 43rd

Series History
Overall: APP leads 3-1
In Mobile: APP leads 2-0
In Boone: Series tied 1-1
Neutral: n/a
Series Streak: APP — 3 (2015-19)
First Meeting: USA, 47-21, on Oct. 4, 2014, in Boone
Last Meeting: APP, 30-3, on Oct. 26, 2019, in Mobile

The Coaches
South Alabama
Kane Wommack (Southern Mississippi '09)
Record at USA — 5-4 (1st season)
Career record — same
Record vs. APP — 0-0

Appalachian State
Shawn Clark (Appalachian State '98)
Record at APP — 17-5 (2nd season)
Career Record — same
Record vs. USA — 0-0

Opening Kick
• The Jags make their first visit to Boone since the 2018 season.
• South plays its final road game in Sun Belt Conference action this year.
• The Jaguars' victory in last season's SBC road finale at Arkansas State is their only win away from home in league play over the last three-plus years.
• USA has a 1-3 mark all-time in games in North Carolina, having split a pair of contests with the Mountaineers while falling twice at North Carolina State.
• It's just the third time in the last six seasons that the Jags will play back-to-back games in the Eastern time zone with a trip to Tennessee scheduled next week.

South Alabama-Appalachian State Series Notes
• The Mountaineers have won the three most recent match-ups in the series, the last two by a double-digit margin.
• App State has averaged 34.3 points per contest against the Jaguars while limiting South to just 10 points combined in the last two meetings.
• The 52 points the Mountaineers scored in the last contest in Boone are tied for the most allowed by USA in a Sun Belt game.
• The Jaguars scored 47 points in their lone victory in the series in 2014, their highest total ever on the road in league play.
• South handed App State a loss in its first-ever SBC home game that night, which was the last time the Jags have had a player rush and pass for more than 100 yards in a contest after Brandon Bridge accomplished the feat.

Notes From The Last Appalachian State Meeting
• App State's rushing total was the highest recorded against the Jags that fall.
• USA was held to season-low figures in passing and total offense yards — as a result, it was the last time the Jaguars were forced to punt 10 times in a game — with the latter number the second-lowest in program history.
• Just four starters from that day — A.J. DeShazor Jr., Keith Gallmon Jr., Jalen Tolbert and Jalen Wayne — are currently on South's roster.
• Gallmon Jr. paced the Jag defense in tackles after reaching double figures in the category for the first time in his career.
• Shawn Jennings made his Jaguar debut in the contest, posting five stops including a pair of assists for loss.

Notes On Wommack's Coaching/Playing Career
• Kane 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.

Another Thousand-Yard Season
With a 27-yard catch on South's opening possession last time out at Troy, Tolbert went over 1,000 yards receiving for the second consecutive year; in fact, entering this week's contest he's currently the lone individual in the country at the NCAA FBS level to accomplish the feat each of the last two years.  Already the owner of the school's all-time marks for receiving yards and touchdown catches, the junior needs just four receptions to overtake Jeremé Jones (2010-14) and move into sole possession of first place on that list as well.

Trotter's Time At Troy
Desmond Trotter entered the game at Troy following an injury to Jake Bentley and promptly reached the end zone on a four-yard run on his initial snap of the afternoon, going on to post 43 rushing yards — the most he has gained since recording 58 in a season-ending victory over Arkansas State on Nov. 29, 2019 — as well as 138 through the air on 20-of-32 passing.  In addition to accounting for three touchdowns after hitting Terrion Avery for scores twice later in the contest, the sophomore became the fourth individual in program history to surpass 3,000 yards of total offense in a career.

Tré Bien
S Tré Young is now tied for the team lead with three interceptions after recording the Jags' only takeaway in the contest in the third quarter last weekend, which led to the team's final touchdown drive of the game.  The senior also posted a career-best seven stops, giving him an average of 5.5 per outing over the last month.

More Work From Wilfawn
Junior Quentin Wilfawn has now led USA or shared team-high honors in tackles in three of the last four outings after coming up one shy of reaching double figures in the category for the second week in a row against the Trojans. In his first 12 appearances with the program dating back to the start of the 2020 campaign Wilfawn never posted more than four stops, however, the inside linebacker has been credited with at least five tackles in every contest during the recent four-game stretch.

Running Wild
Avery has now paced the Jaguars in rushing three straight contests, the longest streak by an individual on the team this fall, after posting a game-best 75 yards on a career-high 23 carries in the match-up with Troy.  But it was the senior's performance catching passes out of the backfield that was noteworthy as he became the first running back in school history to record multiple touchdown catches in an outing after reaching the end zone from 11 and three yards out on passes from Trotter.  Avery has recorded over 100 all-purpose yards in each of the last three weeks, leading the squad with 106 against the Trojans.

Tight End Shines In Troy
Both of Lincoln Sefcik's totals of nine catches for 55 receiving yards at Troy were the highest of his career in his first year at South, with the former figure leading all players as well.  The junior-college transfer has caught 14 balls the last two outings after posting 12 receptions in his first seven games this fall to become the Jaguars' first tight end with more than 25 catches in a season since current Seattle Seahawk Gerald Everett finished the 2016 campaign with a team-high-tying 49.

Another Big Day For Brooks
Jack Brooks posted better than 50 yards per punt for the second time in the last three weeks after finishing the day at Troy with a career-best 53 average on three kicks, marking the first occasion since the program's inception that a Jag punter has accomplished the feat multiple times in the same season.  It was the first contest that Brooks has had multiple efforts end up inside the opposition's 20-yard line since the Jaguars' Sun Belt opener Oct. 2 against Louisiana, moving him into the top 10 on USA's season record list in the category as well.

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

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