South Alabama finds itself in an unfamiliar position this week, at least in recent years.
The Jaguars (0-1) are looking to bounce back after getting throttled 37-17 at Tulane in last weekend’s season-opener. South Alabama’s two regular-season losses in 2022 were by a combined five points, so rebounding from a blowout is unfamiliar territory for Kane Wommack and his team of late.
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“The mood in the locker room right after (the game), everybody was disappointed and shocked,” linebacker James Miller said. “All fall camp, all summer, we’d been feeling like we were going to be the best and working to be the best. And then we got punched in the mouth.
“We just need to look forward. We’re going to take what we learned, take it on the chin, learn from our mistakes and fix it. Don’t let it happen again and just grow from there. I feel like that’s going to build us up for down the road.”
Tulane riddled the South Alabama defense with its deep passing game, with quarterback Michael Pratt completing 14 of 15 passes and throwing four touchdowns — three of them longer than 45 yards. Green Wave receivers were running open in the Jaguars secondary routinely.
Western Kentucky had similar success vs. the Jaguars in last December’s New Orleans Bowl, with Austin Reed passing for 497 yards and four touchdowns in a 44-23 rout. Though there might have been some similarities in the way the game played out, Wommack insisted that the Green Wave attacked the Jaguars in a different fashion than the Hilltoppers did nine months ago.
“Our guys are angry, embarrassed at how simple the mistakes were,” Wommack said. “It’s one thing when you have a scheme error and you realize that somebody had something on you and they used it to take advantage. We worked really hard on some of the things that we exposed ourselves on against Western Kentucky (in preseason camp). Tulane tried two of those concepts, and one of them we knocked out really well. The other one was a simple execution error on the other side that wasn’t anything fancy. We just didn’t play our position.
“… But ultimately, when you look at our issues, it was very frustrating for our players, because they were simply operational things on our end. The positive thing is that they are easily correctable. The disappointing thing is that they are mistakes that you really don’t want to see in the first place.”
Not that the blame was all on the defense. South Alabama’s La’Damian Webb fumbled the ball away on the second snap of the game, giving Tulane the ball on the Jaguars’ side of midfield. The USA offense turned the ball over four times in total, with quarterback Carter Bradley throwing two interceptions and fumbling after a sack. The Jaguars’ offensive line allowed five sacks and committed a number of pre-snap penalties.
“We’ve talked about those situations, where our eyes are, doing your job,” offensive coordinator Major Applewhite said. “I think maybe sometimes you have guys being competitive, wanting to do the right things, but maybe doing a little too much, a little too much communication that confuses another guy.
“It wasn’t from lack of effort; it wasn’t from lack of being physical. Our guys played their tails off. It’s just simple execution. So that’s been the mantra going back to work, do your job and focus on doing your job. Be the best quarterback coach, playcaller you can be, be the best right guard you can be. Own the problems that you had on Saturday and improve on them.”
Tulane wide receiver Lawrence Keys III (6) scores as South Alabama safety Keith Gallmon Jr. (0) attempts to a make a tackle during the second quarter of an NCAA college football game in New Orleans, Saturday, Sept. 2, 2023. (AP Photo/Derick Hingle)AP
Though Southeastern Louisiana (0-1) is an FCS program, the Lions are no pushover. SLU went 9-4 and reached the second round of the FCS playoffs in 2022, and hung with Mississippi State for most of the first half in a 48-7 loss last week in Starkville.
South Alabama has won eight straight games vs. FCS competition, with the lone blemish a 22-21 loss to Southern Utah to begin the 2013 season. The Jaguars have had some close calls, however, including a 28-21 win over Alcorn State in 2021 and a 41-40 overtime nailbiter vs. Nicholls in 2016.
“This is a talented team,” Wommack said of Southeastern Louisiana. “When you look at their frames and you look at some of the skillsets that they have in their skill positions, this is a team that is very similar to the ones we face week-in and week-out (in the Sun Belt Conference).
“… On defense, they are sound and not overly complicated. They do a good job of not allowing big plays over the top and put hats to the ball in the run game really well. And then from an offensive perspective, it’s similar to what we saw last week with Tulane and even similar to some of the things we do offensively. They did a good job early against Mississippi State of attacking the perimeter, not wasting reps and challenging some of the lateral space that opened a couple things up perfectly for them that they just didn’t hit.”
Kickoff for South Alabama-Southeastern Louisiana is set for 4 p.m. Saturday at Hancock Whitney Stadium. The game will stream live via ESPN+.