University of South Alabama (Summer) Game Preview
#JagsWantGameDay
That’s the montra coming out of Mobile, AL and the University of South Alabama in preparation for the Week 3 matchup against Mississippi State University. With a fairly weak national schedule that weekend, South Alabama fans believe that they have a fairly good shot at getting the College Gameday crew down to Mobile for possibly the biggest game on the South Alabama schedule. Mississippi State will most likely be 2-0 going into this game and will try to avoid the trap of looking past USA and onto the trip down to Baton Rouge the next week.
In 2012, in the only matchup between the two teams in Dan Mullen’s career here, Mississippi State came away with a 30-10 victory against the Jaguars. Although, the game wasn’t what Mullen had desired besides the fact that the Bulldogs came away with a 20-point victory. Tyler Russell went a measly 13-27 for 171 yards to lead the passing stats for the Bulldogs. LaDarius Perkins led the team with a poor 69 yards, most of which came from a 44-yard touchdown run in the second quarter to lead off the scoring for the game.
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On offense, the Jaguars run a Spread offense that is more geared towards running than passing, but they can pass the ball quite effectively. They lose their starting QB who produced over 3200 yards with his arm and legs, 2622 and 604 respectively. Getting the reins of the offense will be the Junior from Ontario, Brandon Bridge, who in scrub work had a passing record of 29 for 66 for 398 yards and 1 TD. He also had 37 carries for 170 yards and 1 TD last season. Rushing-wise, they bring back their leading rusher in Junior running back Jay Jones. Last season, Jones rushed for 737 yards on 143 carries averaging 5.2 yards per carry and bringing in 5 TDs.
Defensively, South Alabama finished up for the 53rd best defensive squad in the nation as far as points allowed are concerned. They gave up only an average of 25.2 PPG, compare that to the Bulldogs defense which only gave up an average of 23 PPG and was good enough for 33rd in the nation. They also gave up 399.9 yards per game but had a -0.1 turnover ratio which is most definitely what you don’t want to see from your offense or defense.
This game should be a hard-fought game and has the potential to be a trap game for Mississippi State as we follow up this game with a trip to LSU to face off against the Bayou Bengals. Kickoff is at 3:00 PM CT and depending on whether or not College Gameday decides to show up, you may or may not be able to get tickets at the gate. My advice is this, if it is looking like College Gameday is coming to Mobile for our Week 3 matchup against the Jaguars, grab the tickets early. South Alabama’s Ladd-Peoples Stadium has a full capacity of 50,000 seats, however, and looks like there almost isn’t a bad seat in the stadium with only a one-level stadium.