Jags Power Past ULM in 52-35 Homecoming Victory

ULM ULM 0-5 , 0-1

South Alabama USA 3-2 , 1-0

ULM ULM

0-5 , 0-1

Final

Oct. 03, 2026

South Alabama USA

3-2 , 1-0

Score By Quarters
Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	F
ULM ULM	7	7	14	7	35
USA South Alabama	21	10	14	7	52

Game Recap: Football | 10/3/2026 11:46:00 PM

Game Book

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at Arkansas State

10/8/2026 | 6:30 p.m. CT

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Oct. 08 (Thu) / 6:30 p.m. CT

at Arkansas State

History

Roster

MOBILE – South Alabama (3-2, 1-0 SBC) remains undefeated at Hancock Whitney Stadium this season after a 52-35 win over ULM (0-5, 0-1 SBC) on a rainy Saturday night.

The Jags have their best start at home under Major Applewhite and have their best home start overall since the 2022 season. The win also moved South Alabama to 11-4 in Homecoming games.

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— South Alabama Football ?? (@SouthAlabamaFB) October 4, 2026

Key Moments

On the second play of the game for the Jags, Jared Hollins found Brendan Jenkins for a 72-yard touchdown pass to put South Alabama up 7-0.
Less than a minute later, Damyrion Darby forced a ULM fumble that landed in the hands of Mase Lewis. Lewis took it to the house to put the Jags up 14-0.
The Jags answered a Warhawk score with back-to-back rushing touchdowns to extend the lead to 28-7. Keenan Phillips scored the first one, punching in a one-yard score with 5:24 left in the first quarter. PJ Martin then also ran in for a one-yard score with 9:27 left in the second quarter.
Davis Little booted a 37-yard field goal with six seconds left in the first half that extended the Jags' lead to 31-14 going into halftime.
Hollins and fellow Mobile native Anthony Eager connected on a pair of touchdown passes in the second half, with the first one being a 35-yard pitch and catch to make it 38-14. Hollins then aired out a 69-yard touchdown pass to Eager with 6:54 left in the third quarter to extend the lead to 45-21.
Trae'Von Dunbar iced the game for the Jags after he broke off a 32-yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter to put South Alabama up 52-28.

Postgame Notes

South Alabama scored a touchdown on its opening possession for the third straight game at home. Jared Hollins connected with Brendan Jenkins for a 72-yard touchdown just 52 seconds into the game. It was the longest pass by a Jaguar quarterback since Bishop Davenport found Jeremy Scott for a 74-yard reception at Georgia State in 2025
On ULM's first possession, Mase Lewis picked up his first career fumble recovery and returned it for a touchdown. It marked South Alabama's first fumble return for a touchdown since its 2016 matchup against San Diego State.
South Alabama scored a season-high 21 first quarter points, topping the 19 points previously scored against Southeastern Louisiana. Additionally, the Jags scored the most points in a first half all season with 31 versus Southeastern.
South Alabama set a new season-high for points scored. It marked the Jaguars first 50-point performance since their 87-10 victory over Northwestern State in 2024.
Jared Hollins became the first quarterback to throw for over 300 in a game since Gio Lopez tossed for 423 against North Texas in 2024.
Anthony Eager established a new career high receiving yards, surpassing his previous best of 91 yards at LSU in 2024. He also became the first Jaguar with at least 150 receiving yards in a game since Devin Voisin reached the mark against Tulane in 2025.
The win moved South Alabama to 4-5 at home in Sun Belt Conference openers.
South Alabama has now won 11 Homecoming games and is 11-4 overall after beating ULM. It was the first Homecoming win since the 2024 season, which was a 46-17 win over ULM on Oct. 26, 2024.
South Alabama is off to its first 3-0 start since the 2022 season. It's also the best start under head coach Major Applewhite.
South Alabama has won five-straight games against ULM and moved the series to 8-5 in favor of the Jags.

Quotable

Head Coach Major Applewhite
Opening statement…
"I'm very, very pleased with the win. Obviously, you know, when you get into Sun Belt play, there's always scary moments. These games seem to be close in all forms and fashion. And I just talked to the team just a few minutes ago, and I know I speak for our staff. I'm just very grateful for our team, the way these guys go to work, and just very truly blessed. And you know, blessed to be a head coach here. I'm blessed to have a great, healthy family. You know, there's only 138 of these jobs, and I'm just very grateful to be here, to be 3-0 at home. The Lord's blessed us with a lot of great young men in that locker room, and it wasn't all pretty, but at the same time, you know, we found a way to win. We played better in the second half than we have at times, but we still got room to improve on. But I'm just extremely blessed on this homecoming weekend to be 3-0 at home and 1-0 in conference. And now it's a short week, and we'll have to get ready for Arkansas State.

On quarterback Jared Hollins…
"He did well. He did really well. Those plays, whoever that guy was calling plays, they were wide open, man. He did extremely well. There were some plays that weren't so well called, and there was some ad lib that went on, and he made great decisions with the football. You know, we had a situation late in the ball game that you know we just continued to learn and grow and stay humble as a play caller and as quarterback, and you know all those things are things that I can be better at in terms of our quarterback play. But I thought he did an outstanding job. Our wide receivers did a great job, the offensive line did a great job. Some of those balls, most of those balls, if not all those balls, don't get completed. There's not great protection. So pleased with his level of play and just continue to stay humble and go develop."

On wide receiver Anthony Eager…
"Yeah, it was great to see Anthony get underneath some of those balls. I think there were maybe three or four that were real deep shots. Did a great job on a third down and coming across on the shallow and extending it, getting us down to the one-yard line, and set up another score. I thought he played really well. Had one drop in the red area, but I think Anthony continues to find his way in this offense after you know having guys like Jamaal Pritchett, Jeremiah Webb, and Caulin Lacy and some of those guys. He's starting to find his groove in our system and really benefiting.

Quarterback Jared Hollins
On his performance…
"First of all, I want to thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, for having the opportunity to play this game. I'm nothing without Him. I've had a long time coming of preparation, and I don't take that for granted. I'm just thankful to have the opportunity to play, and most importantly to win. I'm going to give credit to the wide outs. Just get open, and then we could find you with the ball. ?If you don't get open, I can't throw [any] balls. The guy that just walked in – he got open a lot."

On the offense's evolution this season…
"I think our strain up front has become a lot better as a unit. Those guys have played lights out from game one to now, but it just continues to gel and continues to get better. And obviously hitting our shots is a big thing. And I think something that we haven't been as [good] at in the past is capitalizing on those opportunities, and we just have to continue to get better and we can't get complacent in what we've done so far."

On playing in his hometown…
"It's fun to come out here and play at home and have your family in the stands. Sometimes you play off like last week in Kentucky – I [didn't] have [anybody] come to the game. But every time I'm here, my family can be in the stands and that means a lot to me."

Wide Receiver Anthony Eager
Eager on his game…
"[My numbers] wouldn't be there if it wasn't for the [offensive] line and the quarterback. Just like Jared said earlier, we've been having to struggle with deep shots, but tonight we were on fire with all of them."

On having success after waiting for his turn…
"It's a blessing, for real. We had guys come in, you know, Jamaal Pritchett, Jalen Wayne. You had all [those] guys that had to wait, but I was learning from them, picking it up, and showing them I belong here too."

On dealing with his injury…
"Spring and then into fall camp, it was just annoying. I kept dealing with more injuries. My wrists sucked. I'm going to have arthritis – ?I already can tell now. The injuries are just annoying. ?It wasn't a setback, but I learned from them. It's so much better. I feel like I can go out there and do anything — you see how I played tonight. It was outstanding. The more and more I get touches, the more I felt comfortable out there."

Defensive Lineman Mase Lewis
On his fumble recovery for a score…
"I was just doing my job. It was a great play that Coach Orlando drew up, and I was able to just do my assignment. Shout out to Damryion Darby. He made that play possible, pressured the quarterback, and I just did the easy part of catching the ball."

On how it felt being in the end zone…
"I almost blacked out. Like, it was just my body moving on its own, and I got nervous. ?I didn't even know what to do. I didn't know what my celebration was. I just kept running, just kept running, and it was an amazing feeling just to be here and feel the love of the fans and my teammates. ?It was just amazing."

On the defense's energy…
"It is amazing. ?We love playing with each other. We love playing together, and you can feel it. If we mess up, we'll let each other know, and we'll fix it. [There is] no bittering, [and there is] no fussing back at each other. We know what we need to fix, and the next day we're going to get straight to work at it."

Print Friendly Version

Next Game:

at Arkansas State

10/8/2026 | 6:30 p.m. CT

ESPN or ESPN2

Jags Radio Network | Varsity Network App

Next Game

Full Schedule

Oct. 08 (Thu) / 6:30 p.m. CT

at Arkansas State

History

Roster

Team Statistics

Team Statistics
Game Stats	ULM	USA
Total Yards	442	570
Pass Yards	355	321
Rushing Yards	87	249
Penalty Yards	4-22	3-25
1st Downs	21	20
3rd Downs	3-13	6-13
4th Downs	3-3	2-3
TOP	28:58	31:02

Scoring Summary
Scoring Play	Visiting Team Score	Home Team Score
1st Quarter
14:08 - USA - Jenkins,Brendan 72 yd pass from Hollins,Jared (Little,Davis kick) 2 plays, 75 yards, TOP 00:52	0	7
13:13 - USA - Lewis,Masey 21 yd fumble recovery (Little,Davis kick)	0	14
09:22 - ULM - Palmer-Smith,Zach 31 yd run (Murray,Abram kick), 8 plays, 75 yards, TOP 03:51	7	14
05:24 - USA - Phillips,Keenan 1 yd run (Little,Davis kick), 8 plays, 75 yards, TOP 03:58	7	21
2nd Quarter
09:27 - USA - Martin,PJ 1 yd run (Little,Davis kick), 18 plays, 86 yards, TOP 08:44	7	28
00:06 - USA - Little,Davis 37 yd field goal 7 plays, 32 yards, TOP 01:00	14	31
3rd Quarter
11:42 - USA - Eager,Anthony 35 yd pass from Hollins,Jared (Little,Davis kick) 4 plays, 49 yards, TOP 01:54	14	38
08:21 - ULM - Anderson,Bryce 2 yd pass from Armenta,Aidan (Murray,Abram kick) 7 plays, 75 yards, TOP 03:21	21	38
06:54 - USA - Eager,Anthony 69 yd pass from Hollins,Jared (Little,Davis kick) 3 plays, 88 yards, TOP 01:20	21	45
02:53 - ULM - Armenta,Aidan 1 yd run (Murray,Abram kick), 12 plays, 65 yards, TOP 04:01	28	45
4th Quarter
02:31 - USA - Dunbar,Trae'von 32 yd run (Little,Davis kick), 6 plays, 80 yards, TOP 03:37	28	52
00:53 - ULM - Gilliam,Darrion 9 yd pass from Armenta,Aidan (Murray,Abram kick) 7 plays, 75 yards, TOP 01:38	35	52