A South Alabama program that fielded one of the top 20 defenses in college football last season was sent scrambling by North Texas in its 2024 season-opener.
The Jaguars allowed 550 total yards — including 446 passing — to the Mean Green, which won 52-38 at Hancock Whitney Stadium on Saturday. North Texas scored 31 offensive points in the second half, and went 8-for-12 on third down in the game.
RELATED: 5 takeaways from South Alabama’s 52-38 loss to North Texas
South Alabama (0-1) had just one tackle for loss and one quarterback hurry all day, allowing Mean Green quarterback Chandler Morris all the time he needed to pick the Jaguars apart. Heading into Week 2 at Ohio (0-1), defensive coordinator Will Windham said his team’s issues mainly came down to “discipline.”
“There was a span of about 10 plays there in the third quarter where we had bad eyes,” defensive coordinator Will Windham said. “There are a couple of things we’ve got to get cleaned up, but the good part is that they are fixable things. … It’s discipline, eye discipline on the back end. We’re just going to continue to harp on that. When you have guys that have to step into certain roles, they have to take some ownership of those roles. We’ve got to get those things fixed, and we will.”
South Alabama had eight first-time defensive starters on Saturday, with only nose guard Wy’Kevious Thomas and free safety Devin Voisin back in the same roles from last year’s team. Senior defensive tackle Maurice Strong returned to the starting lineup for the first time in more than two years, while cornerback Ricky Fletcher — another returning starter — sat out with a bad back.
The remainder of the lineup was all new, whether transfers such as cornerback Lardarius Webb, safety Jordan Scruggs or outside linebacker Aakil Washington; or inexperienced returning players such as inside linebackers Blayne Myrick (a sophomore) and Gavin Forsha, defensive end Jordan Norman (a redshirt freshman), cornerback Reggie Neely or safety Christopher Wallace (a former walk-on).
“I think we just need to continue to communicate and we’ll be on the same page,” said Myrick, who led the team with 12 tackles vs. North Texas. “Obviously, that was an issue on Saturday. We kind of let a couple of plays get to us, in our heads.”
South Alabama had a massive defensive stop at the 1-yard line to end the first half, preserving a 19-14 lead heading into the locker room. But North Texas outscored the Jaguars 28-7 in the third quarter, turning a 5-point USA lead into a 16-point deficit.
Though it scored 38 points and totaled 582 yards in the game, the Jaguars’ offense did its part to contribute to the way the game flipped. South Alabama went three-and-out on back-to-back possessions to start the half, while North Texas scored on all three of its third-quarter series, and also converted a botched Jaguars punt into another touchdown.
“I had a conversation with (players) this morning, in terms of what our expectations are as a program and what we need to get better at: the discipline, the response that we need in the third quarter,” head coach Major Applewhite said. “That was the telling moment of the game. You’re up five at half, you’re getting the ball, but we come out and do nothing on offense. … We have a situation with the punt that made it a two-possession game. That was the turning point in the game for us, the third quarter.
“That was the crux of the football game and those are the things that we talked about this morning as a team, in terms of fixing. So, the mindset is: let’s identify the problems or issues or concerns — whatever word you want to use. And let’s attack those this week and let’s be a different team in Week 2 than we were in Week 1.”
Ohio is a different type of team than North Texas, which operates at one of the faster tempos of any offense in college football. The Bobcats prefer to run the ball, and totaled 255 yards on the ground — including 203 from Northwestern transfer Anthony Tyus — in a 38-22 loss to Syracuse last week.
And yet, the Jaguars don’t want the lessons of the North Texas game to be forgotten. As desirable as it might be to flush that loss and move on, Windham said corrections need to be made first.
“It’s like driving a car,” Windham said. “There’s a big windshield and a little rearview mirror. I want to know what’s back there; I’ve got to know what’s back there. There’s got to be some scar tissue that reminds me of what that was and how I don’t want to go back there.
“But there’s also this big windshield we’ve got to look forward to. Part of that is correcting the explosive (plays) and things like that, things that will show up again because offenses are just copycats and they run the same plays. But it’s also knowing that once we do get them fixed, the future is still everything we want it to be.”
Kickoff Saturday is set for 5 p.m. at Ohio’s Peden Stadium. The game will stream live via ESPN+.
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Publish date : 2024-09-02 19:30:00
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