High Octane Jags Travel to Death Valley This Weekend for Tussle with LSU
It’s safe to say the South Alabama offense is clicking.
Two weeks ago, the Jaguars hung 87 points on hapless Northwestern State out of Natchitoches, Louisiana. Last week, Major Applewhite’s team posted a 48-14 win over Appalachian State, a team that has slayed giants (ahem, Michigan, Texas A&M) in its storied past. This week, South Alabama will look to upend another team from Louisiana, Brian Kelly’s LSU Tigers of the mighty Southeastern Conference (SEC), who are 3-1 and fresh off a home win against UCLA.
If you don’t know much about South Alabama, here’s the 4-1-1. The Jags are averaging 48.2 points and 512.3 total yards per game on offense. Redshirt freshman quarterback Gio Lopez, a Madison, Ala., native, is the piston that ignites the team’s offense. Already on the young season, he ranks eighth in the country with an average of 337.3 yards of total offense per game, has rushed for 171 yards and thrown for another 843, has tossed 9 touchdowns, and has twice found paydirt with his legs. This weekend, he’ll be greedy for even more real estate when the Jags invade Death Valley—a highly-protected space by the LSU defense and one of the more hostile venues in the country.
Next up for the Jags is Fluff Bothwell, a native of Oneonta. His name may be Fluff, but his stats are not: 359 rushing yards and six touchdowns across four games. He leads all NCAA Division I freshmen in rushing yards and is 11th in total touchdowns.
Jamaal Pritchett is yet another weapon on the Jags’ potent offense. The 5’8”, 175-lb. receiver plays big and has scored a touchdown in each of the last five games. He ranks first in the nation in punt return average and punt return touchdowns, while ranking 10th in the nation in receiving touchdowns and 16th nationally in receiving yards on the year.
Defensively, South Alabama is led by safety Jordan Scruggs, who had a 96-yard interception return for a TD against Appalachian State, setting a school record in the process; Blane Myrick, who has 34 total tackles (11 unassisted); and Jaden Voisin, who has 21 total tackles, an interception, and pass breakup on the season.
Maurice Strong Jr. and Jordan Norman lead the team with 2.5 tackles for loss.
This will be the first meeting between the two schools and South Alabama’s eighth encounter all-time versus current SEC programs. The Jags lone victory against such schools occurred back in 2016 when Joey Jones’ team went into Starkville and stole a 21-20 victory in the season-opener against Mississippi State. And if you don’t think the Jaguars can pull off an upset in an away venue, just last season, the team traveled to Stillwater and throttled Oklahoma State at Boone Pickens Stadium by the score of 33-7.
The 135 points scored by USA in the last two games is the most over a two-game span in school history and the most over a two-game span by any Sun Belt Conference school in the league’s history.
Now the great question for the weekend is “Can USA’s offense continue to click against an SEC defense?” But perhaps the more important question is, “Can USA’s defense slow down Garrett Nussmeier and the Tigers’ offense enough to give the Jags a chance?”
Nussmeier has already thrown for 1,247 yards and 13 touchdowns and is completing 70 percent of his passes. He ranks seventh in the country in total passing yards and is tied for second in touchdown completions. Last week against the Bruins, Nussmeier threw for 352 yards and three touchdowns on his way to being named SEC Player of the Week.
The good news for South Alabama is that LSU is dead-last in the SEC with only 415 total yards rushing (103.8 ypg) and does not score a ton of points (at least, compared to Ole Miss and Tennessee). The Tigers will also be without linebacker Harold Perkins Jr., a preseason All-SEC first team selection and potential NFL Draft first-rounder who tore his ACL last week against UCLA and is done for the year.
Can South Alabama pull off the Major upset? Kickoff for USA-LSU is set for 6:45 p.m. on the SEC Network. TG
Photos courtesy South Alabama Athletics
