First Glance: South Alabama

Coming off a loss to the top-ranked team in the county, Tennessee returns to Shields-Watkins Field for two winnable football games to end the regular season. With seven wins in sight, the Vols need only one more victory to become bowl eligible under first-year head coach Josh Heupel.

The next test? South Alabama at home, under the lights for a 7:30 kick.

“It’s an opportunity for us this week against South Alabama – a football team that we’ve got to get prepared for,” Josh Heupel said during his weekly Monday press conference. “We’ve got to continue to get better, continue to fight and compete. I believe our team will do that.

“I love going to battle with these guys every week. Looking forward to the opportunity here this Saturday.”

The Jaguars are currently 5-5 on the season under first-year head coach Kane Wommack but boast just a 2-5 record inside the Sun Belt Conference. The team is 1-3 in their last four outings and haven’t won on the road since a week two’s 22-19 victory at Bowling Green.

Offensively, South Alabama scores 26 points on 377 yards of total offense on average each game. It’s fairly balanced with 250 yards passing and 127 yards rushing an outing while generating 71 plays on average.

USA possesses the football for over 32 minutes a game, converting third downs at 34 percent. The offense is aggressive under coordinator Major Applewhite, going for it on fourth down 33 times this season. The Jags have converted on 21 of them.

There’s limitations for the spread attack as Wommack’s bunch scores redzone touchdowns at just a 67 percent clip. The offense has turned it over 17 times and given up 21 sacks in 10 games. Some of the issues lately has stemmed from losing former South Carolina starting quarterback Jake Bentley two weeks ago in the first series of the Troy loss.

The journeyman, Bentley, suffered a torn MCL and missed last week’s loss at Appalachian State entirely. It’s unclear whether or not Bentley’s season is over, but it’s questionable at best. Prior to the injury, Bentley threw for 2,122 yards with 19 total touchdowns to just five interceptions. The former Gamecock was completing passes at 70 percent on the season.

Stepping in for the injured sixth-year quarterback has been Desmond Trotter. The sophomore accounted for three touchdowns while coming on in relief of Bentley in the Troy game, but threw two interceptions against the Mountaineers Saturday.

Tailback Terrion Avery is a constant in the offense, rushing for 498 yards with four total touchdowns on the season. Sophomore Bryan Hill is second in line with three touchdowns on 308 yards rushing, while bigger backs AJ Phillips and Kareem Walker combine for six touchdowns in short yardage situations.

Jalen Tolbert is South Alabama’s best player on offense, reeling in 65 catches for 1,140 yards and six touchdowns on the season. The junior is averaging over 17 yards a reception. Jalen Wayne is second on the team with 42 receptions for 464 yards and two touchdowns while freshman Caullin Lacy has 36 receptions.

Tight end Lincoln Sefcik stands in at 6-foot-3, 235 pounds. The bigger-framed pass catcher has three touchdowns on the campaign with 27 catches for 200 yards.

“We talk about us every week and that’s true this week. Control the controllables and control your preparation,” Heupel said. “Be really consistent in who you are no matter what the stadium looks or sounds like. Our competitive nature has to be the same and consistent.

“I think that’s one of the way our football team has continued to grow is in our preparation. I do know we have grown in that. This Saturday, our next opponent, is the only one we get to play this week. We need to be ready to go play.”

Defensively, South Alabama plays a lot of guys in the multiple scheme that’s produced 22 takeaways on the year.

The Jags surrender 23 points a game and lead the league with 321 yards of total defense while giving up just 16 first downs a game. South Alabama has been sharp on third down defense, holding opposing squads to just 32 percent in the opportunities. It’s managed 24 sacks and 58 stops behind the line of scrimmage.

USA also leads the Sun Belt in rush defense, surrendering only an average of 120 yards on the ground each week.

Inside linebackers A.J. DeShazor Jr. and Quentin Wilfawn lead the way with 46 and 45 tackles, respectfully. The former has played just seven games this season while the latter has also managed a sack, forced fumble, fumble recovery and two tackles for loss in nine games.

Senior Jamal Brooks also gets a lot of playing time inside, adding 5.5 tackles for loss and an interception to the stat sheet. Trey Kisner can also be seen taking reps at the position for a unit that boasts five players with over 40 stops on the season.

The Jaguars like bigger, athletic linebackers on the outside in the often-used odd fronts.

Chris Henderson and Shawn Jennings each weigh 230 pounds. The two also employ a similar stat line of three tackles for loss and two sacks. 240-pound Christian Bell has totaled four TFLs with 2.5 sacks while C.J. Rias is tied for the team-lead with three sacks.

Defensive lineman Charles Coleman III also has three sacks from the interior while redshirt freshman Wy’Kevious Thomas leads the squad with five TFLs. Brock Higdon, Gi’Narious Johnson and Jamal Hickbottom have also started games for the Jags this season on the line.

In the backend, cornerback Darrell Luter Jr. leads an aggressive secondary with four interceptions. Devin Rockette and Davyn Flenord have also combined for three picks at the cornerback position. Free safety Keith Gallmon Jr. is third on the team with 44 tackles, strong safety Yam Banks has forced a pair of fumbles and Shawn Steele II has a pick in reserve time.

Senior Tre Young lines up at nickel the majority of the time and has three interceptions to go along with 43 tackles on the season.

“We’ve got to take these last two games just like regular games,” wide receiver Ramel Keyton said Monday. “We still have to come and play and we still have to win the games. We can go to a bowl game that way. And win out, we can go into next year with a lot of momentum. We are ready to keep going.”

With South Alabama and Vanderbilt left in the regular season, plus injury concerns to the current roster, it could be a chance to see some younger guys in the rotation. Tiyon Evans didn’t play last weekend while JaVonta Payton and Aaron Beasley left with injuries.

Heupel said Monday that their availability for Saturday will depend on how the week ‘unfolds.’ Still, players like Keyton, Aaron Willis and others could be on the radar.

“You just stay prayed up,” Keyton said of getting an opportunity. “Like Ced [Cedric Tillman], he wasn’t as active last year. Well, now he is. We just have to keep working. That inspires someone like me and should inspire anyone in any phase of the game to stay down, keep working and be ready for when your time comes.”