South Alabama learned some hard lessons on Saturday night at Hancock Whitney Stadium, but once again did so without having to lose the football game.
The Jaguars turned the ball over four times and had periodic lapses on offense, defense and in the kicking game in a 28-21 victory over Alcorn State. Kareem Walker rushed for 150 yards and three touchdowns, and Tré Young had a key interception late as South Alabama moved to 3-0 this season.
Just as with a 22-19 victory at Bowling Green on Sept. 11, the Jaguars won on Saturday despite not playing particularly well.
“We won, and that’s the most important thing,” South Alabama quarterback Jake Bentley said. “Last week, we had an exciting win, but it’s now two weeks that I thought we would have an opportunity to play better. I hate to sound negative, because we did some good things … but there’s so many things that we can clean up.”
RELATED: Quarter-by-quarter look at South Alabama’s 28-21 win over Alcorn State
The game was delayed for 90 minutes just after the opening kickoff, when the four east side light towers failed to re-illuminate following the pre-game player entry. Three of the four towers came back on just after 8:10 p.m., with the game resumed at 8:30 and stretching until almost midnight.
Fittingly, South Alabama sleep-walked through most of the first half, and trailed 14-7 at the break. The Jaguars then scored on three straight third-quarter possessions to go up 28-14, before another turnover and various other breakdowns had them clinging to a seven-point league against an FCS team that wasn’t able to conduct a full week of practice due to COVID issues.
“When you just do your job, and you have an urgency to do your job, good things happen,” South Alabama coach Kane Wommack said. “We ran the same runs in the second half that we had run in the first half, but we executed better and we operated better. Somehow, we’ve got to come out and do our job and start executing at a high level early.
“On top of that, when you put the ball on the ground four times, you’re going to give yourself a very difficult hole to crawl out of. We were fortunate enough to do that tonight.”
Walker ran for a career-best 150 yards on 23 carries, scoring on runs of 1, 13 and 35 yards. His 13-yarder tied the game early in the third quarter, and his 35-yarder — which came one play after the Jaguars forced a three-and out and a short punt by the Braves — put the Jaguars up by seven with 10:27 to play in the third.
South Alabama’s defense then forced another punt at the 8:33 mark, and the Jaguars marched 71 yards to the end zone. Bryan Hill’s 11-yard touchdown run gave USA a 28-14 lead — and control of the game, seemingly — with 3:37 to play in the third.
However, special teams sloppiness gave Alcorn State (1-2) another chance. Cade Sutherland muffed a punt at the South Alabama 34, and the Braves punched in Felix Harper’s 2-yard touchdown pass to Juan Anthony, making the score 28-21 with 14:19 to play.
Harper, the SWAC Player of the Year in 2019, was a constant passing threat for Alcorn State. The left-hander completed 20 of 33 passes for 265 yards, continually getting free on the perimeter.
“One of our biggest things was to disrupt the quarterback,” South Alabama nose tackle Gi’Narious Johnson said. “We knew he was fast, twitchy — we respected him. We knew he would get out there and do his thing, he had a motor. We had to put pressure on him, pin him, keep him contained, make him stay in the pocket and throw the ball.”
South Alabama then drove to the Alcorn State 37, but could not put the game away when Hill was stopped for no gain on fourth-and-1. The Braves moved to the South Alabama 17 before turning the ball over on downs when Devin Rockette stopped Anthony at the 7 on 4th-and-14 with 5:36 to play.
The Jaguars then went three-and-out at the worst possible time, compounding the poor offensive series when Alcorn State’s Manny Jones returned the ensuing punt to the USA 29 with 4:08 left. The Braves got one quick first down before Young snared Harper’s pass in the end zone, then nearly brought the ball out before kneeling for a touchback at the 1:55 mark.
Replay review confirmed Young stayed in the end zone, and the Jaguars could finally breathe easy. One first-down run by Walker led to Bentley taking a knee twice to kill the clock.
“Coach made a good call and I read the quarterback,” Young said. “He got me the first time, but I baited him (on the interception). I watched him the whole time, watched him release and did my job. … I was shaking over there during the replay. My foot was out, but the ball was still in the end zone, so that gave me a little relief.”
South Alabama ran for 236 yards in the game, with Hill — a walk-on who played last season at Tuskegee — chipping 51 yards on nine carries to Walker’s 150 on 23 attempts. Bentley completed 14 of 25 passes for 158 yards, hitting on just two passes for 54 yards to star receiver Jalen Tolbert.
South Alabama played without starting right tackle Antawn Lewis, who was unavailable due to illness. Making their first starts of the season were Anterrious Gray at right guard and Josh McCulloch at right tackle, with Kent Foster shifting from right guard to left in place of regular starter Hadon Merchant.
“I just want to say thanks to my offensive line and tight ends,” said Walker, a Mississippi State transfer. “Without them, what I saw out there wouldn’t be possible. All credit goes to them big guys up front.”
South Alabama sacked Harper four times and hurried him six other times, but managed just the one turnover. The Jaguars limited the Braves to 32 yards rushing on 31 attempts, with a long run of eight yards.
South Alabama outgained Alcorn State 394 yards to 297, and held the Braves to 3-for-15 on third down. It was the turnovers — and likely the turnovers alone — that kept Alcorn State in the game.
“We didn’t play to the standard that we’re capable of from beginning to end,” South Alabama linebacker A.J. DeShazor said. “We let Alcorn hang around. … We’ve got to learn to finish teams off. Things may not add up with the weather — we had the (lighting) delay, or whatever. We’ve got to learn to handle adversity better.”
Alcorn State led by seven at halftime thanks to three South Alabama fumbles in a span of less than six minutes of clock time in the second quarter. The Braves tied the game 7-7 with 9:23 remaining in the half when South Alabama’s Caullin Lacy muffed a punt and long-snapper Jason Longcor recovered it in the end zone for a touchdown.
Bentley fumbled the ball away on South Alabama’s next possession, and the Braves drove 62 yards for the go-ahead score. Harper hit CJ Bolar for 38 yards and LeCharles Pringle for 20, setting up Javonta Leatherwood’s 1-yard run, which put Alcorn on top 14-7.
South Alabama took a 7-0 lead with 2:11 left in the first quarter, with Walker strolling into the end zone on fourth-and-goal from the 1. The Jaguars kept it a seven-point game after one, when Chris Henderson blocked Christopher Thompson’s 27-yard field goal attempt.
South Alabama has an open date next week, then opens Sun Belt Conference play Oct. 4 at home vs. Louisiana.
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