TROY, Ala. – Despite solid play from true freshman quarterback Gio Lopes in his first-career start, South Alabama could not generate enough offense or get enough stops to defeat Troy as the Jags fell, 28-10, Thursday night in the Battle for the Belt.
The loss dropped South to 4-5 overall on the season with a 2-3 record in Sun Belt Conference Play.
"I think when you look at the game, obviously missed execution is really the thing that they did a better job than we did," said head coach
Kane Wommack. "Situationally, we can't let them bleed us for two massive drives at very critical moments in the game. Didn't get off the field some on third down defensively at critical moments, and obviously didn't finish well enough in the red zone."
Lopez threw for 155 yards while completing 17-of-27 passes in his first-collegiate start, and also chipped in 39 yards rushing.
Caullin Lacy was his primary receiving target on the night as the duo connected nine times for 89 yards. Those 89 yards gave him 1,046 on the season, making him the leading receiver in all of college football for the year and just the second Jaguar to ever record a 1,000-yard receiving season.
In addition to Lopez's 39 yards,
La'Damian Webb rushed for 53 yards and a touchdown on the night. That gave Webb his 14th rushing touchdown on the season, the most in college football this year. It was also Webb's eighth-consecutive game with a rushing score this year.
Quentin Wilfawn recorded his second-straight, double-digit tackle game with 11 takedowns on the night. He also recorded two tackles for loss, one sack and one forced fumble.
Jaden Voisin and
Trey Kiser each contributed nine tackles apiece, and Kiser's total included two sacks.
The Jags scored the first touchdown of the night after recovering a Trojan fumble and going 44 yards for a score. Troy responded by scoring the final-two touchdowns of the house to take a 14-7 lead into halftime. South scored the first points of the second half on a
Diego Guajardo field goal in the fourth quarter, but Troy responded with two more touchdowns to put the game out of reach late.
UP NEXT
USA will return to Hancock Whitney Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 11 to play host to Arkansas State. Kickoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. CT.
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