LAFAYETTE, La. – The South Alabama offense gave the defense a 24-3 cushion going into the second half, and the defense stopped a two-point conversion attempt at the end of the game to secure a 24-22 victory over Louisiana Saturday night at Cajun Field.
 
With the victory, the Jaguars improved to 5-5 on the season with a 4-2 record in Sun Belt Conference play. Louisiana fell to 8-2 on the year in defeat, and suffered its first conference loss of the year.
 
"Obviously coming off of a loss and sitting on it for an off-week was miserable so it was good to see everyone play their best and put it together," said head coach Major Applewhite. "When I say 'play their best' I'm talking about offense, defense, and special teams. The first half was really beautiful. In the second half we made our mistakes. We had a special teams error that resulted in a field goal. We had a bust on the defensive call that ended up in a big touchdown, bringing it within eight, but we also did some good things. After the issue on the punt, we held them to a field goal. We did move the ball a little bit, obviously we need to sustain drives better in the second half; put points up on the board, but when it mattered, we got some first downs and took some time off the clock."
 
South Alabama was clicking from the opening kickoff, scoring three touchdowns on its first-three drives to jump out to a 21-3 lead. Then, once the offense started to slow down, the defense stepped up big at the end of the first half by forcing two turnovers. Those turnovers allowed the Jags to tack on a field goal before halftime courtesy of Laith Marjan, and take a 21-point lead into the locker room.
 
The victory rested on the defense's shoulder in the second half with the offense sputtering and Louisiana threatening to come back. The Ragin' Cajuns gradually chipped away at the deficit until they scored a touchdown to pull within two with 1:16 remaining on the clock. Louisiana called a quarterback run to try and tie the game and force overtime, but Wy'Kevious Thomas stuffed the attempt to preserve the lead for the Jags. Louisiana then sent the onside kick attempt out of bounds, and the Jags took a knee to kill the clock and secure the victory.
 
Quarterback Gio Lopez and wide receiver Jamaal Pritchett paced the offense attack all night for the Jaguars as the duo connected 11 times for 170 yards. Their longest play of the night was a 67-yard bomb on the final play of the first quarter that set up USA's third touchdown of the opening half. Lopez was also efficient in the run game on the night, carrying the ball eight times for 34 yards and a pair of touchdowns. It was the first multi-rushing touchdown game of his career.
 
Jaden Voisin was the story of the night for South as the senior safety had his best game of the season. Voisin recorded 10 tackles, one tackle for loss and one interception that set up a field goal as time expired in the first half. Voisin's interception was the 10th of his career, making him the all-time leader in the category at the University of South Alabama. The Jags also got big games out of a pair of true freshmen on defense with linebacker Parker Shattuck making his first-career sack, and cornerback Amarion Fortenberry forcing a fumble which was recovered by Wesley Miller.
 
South's victory keeps the Jags alive in the Sun Belt West Division race with a trip to Southern Miss pending. USA will visit Hattiesburg on Saturday, Nov. 23 with kickoff slated for 2 p.m. CT. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ as the Jags challenge the Golden Eagles for bowl eligibility.
 
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