LAFAYETTE, La. | After Louisiana had rallied back to tie the game with under a minute to play,
Diego Guajardo drilled a 43-yard field goal as time expired to give South Alabama football a 20-17 victory over in its Sun Belt Conference opener at Cajun Field Saturday evening.
With the win, South Alabama moves to 4-1 on the year and 1-0 in league play. The 4-1 start is the first for the program since moving to Division I in 2012 and the best start to a season since opening the 2010 campaign 5-0.
The Jaguars held a 10-point lead with less than 13 minutes to go in the fourth quarter, but Louisiana (2-3, 0-2 SBC) rallied back and tied the game up at 17-17 with 42 seconds remaining on Ben Woolridge's one-yard touchdown pass to Pearse Migl.
South began the game-winning drive at its own 25-yard line and had a pair of huge third-down conversions. The first came on a 21-yard scamper by
La'Damian Webb, and then facing another third-and-10 at their own 46-yard line,
Carter Bradley connected with
Jalen Wayne for a 17-yard reception with four seconds remaining to set up the Jags and Guajardo at the UL 28-yard line.
Guajardo was perfect on his two field goal attempts and his lone extra-point attempt.
Caullin Lacy led the offense with 112 yards receiving on five receptions, which included a pair of 40-plus yard receptions. Webb paced the ground game with 75 yards on 22 carries and scored for the fifth-straight game.
On the defensive side of the ball, linebacker
James Miller recorded a team-high eight tackles – four solo – was credited with a quarterback hurry and a ½ tackle for loss, while
Trey Kiser had seven tackles – four solo – two tackles for loss and a sack.
Jaden Voisin registered five tackles of his own, had an interception, forced and recovered a fumble.
Postgame Notes
• Captains: (5)
Desmond Trotter – QB, (92);
Jack Brooks – P; (99)
Wy'Kevious Thomas – DL
• Attendance: 20,761
• Start Time: 4:02 p.m. | Time of Game: 3:34
• With the win, South Alabama snaps Louisiana's six-game series win streak and picks up its first series road victory
• Since officially joining the league in 2012, South Alabama now holds a 4-7 record in SBC openers and league road openers
• The win was the first win in a SBC opener since defeating Texas State, 30-20 in Mobile (10/17/20) and the first SBC road opener since defeating Troy, 19-8 (10/11/17)
• Saturday marked the first time that South hasn't scored 30 or more points in a game this season
• UL's Eric Garrror's punt return for a touchdown – the third of his career – marked the first allowed by a South Alabama special teams unit since Nebraska's JD Speilman returned a 76-yarder for a score (8/31/19) in Lincoln
• South was held scoreless during the first 15 minutes of play for the first time this fall. The Jags had outscored their opponents 54-13 in the opening quarter coming into the game
• Louisiana rushed for 73 yards in first quarter and finished with 161 yards on the ground. Jags came into the game allowing just 85.3 yards per game on the ground
• With his second-quarter touchdown, Webb has scored a touchdown in all five games (four rushing and one receiving) this fall, becoming the first player to do so since Gerald Everett (7 – 9/19 – 11/12/15)
• Webb is just the sixth player in program history to do so in five games as he has six rushing scores on the year and one receiving for a total of seven
• Prior to their first touchdown drive, South Alabama had rushed for just 11 yards on its first five drives, but registered for 44 yards on the 68-yard scoring drive
• Saturday marked the first time this fall that the Jaguars had not led at the half
• With his 38-yard field goal with eight minutes, 29 seconds remaining in the third, Guajardo (180) moved into third-place on South Alabama's scoring list
• Guajardo has also now hit a field goal in eight-straight games, moving him into a tie for third-longest stretch and the second time he has done so
• The game-winning kick is the second of Guajardo's career as he hit a 44-yarder to give South a road win over Bowling Green last fall
• Over the last two games, the Jag defense has intercepted six passes and forced fumbles in each game
• The interception by J. Voisin was the first of his collegiate career
• The 112 yards receiving were a new career best for Lacy, eclipsing his previous high of 97 yards at Central Michigan earlier this fall
• Jags started the game 1-for-6 in third-down conversions, but finished the game 12-of-21 in the category, while the Ragin' Cajuns were 6-of-16 on third-down
• Both Wayne (20) and Lacy (17) extended their streaks of games with a catch in the win
Gallery: (10-1-2022) USA Football vs Louisiana
How It Happened
First Quarter
• 0-7 (7:53) – UL – Garror 69-yard punt return for touchdown
Second Quarter
• 7-7 (2:54) – USA – Webb 1-yard touchdown run (11 plays, 68 yards, 4:46)
Third Quarter
• 10-7 (8:29) – USA – Guajardo 38-yard field goal (7 plays, 44 yards, 2:52)
Fourth Quarter
• 17-7 (12:53) – USA – Bradley 3-yard touchdown run (11 plays, 51 yards, 4:46)
• 17-10 (7:43) – UL – Kenneth Almendares 51-yard field goal (12 plays, 41 yards, 5:10)
• 17-17 (00:42) – UL – Woolridge 1-yard touchdown pass to Migl (17 plays, 82 yards, 6:17)
• 20-17 (00:00) – USA – Guajardo 43-yard field goal (8 plays, 49 yards, 00:42)
Up Next
Following a bye week South Alabama will return home for the first of two-straight home games when it welcomes ULM to Hancock Whitney Stadium. Kickoff versus the Warhawks is set for 4 p.m. on Saturday, October 15.
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