South Alabama’s 18-16 loss at Arkansas State on Saturday night had many causes, including a boatload of penalties and two huge failures in the red zone.
The Jaguars (2-4 overall, 1-1 Sun Belt Conference) were penalized 11 times for 100 yards, repeatedly short-circuiting drives and moving them out of scoring position. Gio Lopez threw an interception inside the 10 in the second quarter, and USA was also stopped short on fourth-and-2 from the 20.
It all added up to a frustrating loss for South Alabama, which missed a chance to stay tied for first place in the Sun Belt West Division. It was also the first win over the Jaguars since 2018 for Arkansas State, which is now 3-2, 1-0.
“It was a difficult one to lose,” South Alabama coach Major Applewhite said in his post-game interview on SportsTalk 99.5 FM. “There were so many opportunities early — turnovers in the red area, tons of penalties on offense. It finally got us and I’m just really disappointed from that standpoint.”
Despite all the mistakes, South Alabama took the lead in spectacular fashion with 1:49 to play. After a false start and a holding penalty resulted in third-and-25 from the 26, Jamaal Pritchett hauled in Lopez’s off-balance lob in the end zone to put the Jaguars on top 16-15.
A 2-point pass attempt from Lopez failed to connect with Jeremiah Webb, giving Arkansas State an opening. The Red Wolves calmly and quickly drove to the South Alabama 16-yard line with 10 seconds remaining, with Clune Van Andel drilling a 34-yard field goal to put ASU up by two with 10 seconds.
Lopez’s last-second pass was batted down at the Arkansas State 27, giving Red Wolves coach Butch Jones arguably the most-satisfying win of his four-year tenure. ASU had lost five straight to South Alabama, the Jaguars’ longest such streak over any opponent.
“This has been a long time coming,” Jones said in his post-game comments on ESPN+. “This is a football program that we struggled with in the past from physicality to everything. … It was the will to win. We’ve been doing it, a two-minute drill, every Thursday against our defense. When (South Alabama) scored again, there was no blink. We expected to go down and win on a big kick by Clune.”
Raynor ended up 30-for-39 for 345 yards and a touchdown, a 5-yarder to tight end Tyler Little to put the Red Wolves up 15-10 with 5:58 left. Arkansas State’s other scoring all came on the leg of Van Andel, who was good from 20 and 21 yards in the first quarter and 25 in the third.
After blowing two scoring chances in the second quarter, South Alabama finally got on the board when Laith Marjan kicked a 42-yard field goal on the final play of the half to pull the Jaguars within 6-3. Van Andel’s 25-yarder made it 9-3 late in the third.
South Alabama nearly immediately took the lead, however, as Lopez connected with a wide-open Pritchett on a 75-yard touchdown strike to make it 10-9 with 1:09 left in the third. A week after leaving a loss to LSU with a concussion, Pritchett caught seven passes for 137 yards and two scores.
Lopez completed 21 of 35 passes for 292 yards and two touchdowns with an interception, which was his first of the year. The redshirt freshman quarterback added 54 rushing yards on 10 carries, with Kentrel Bullock leading the Jaguars with 66 yards on 13 carries and Fluff Bothwell picking up 32 yards on nine attempts.
Blayne Myrick led the South Alabama defense with 13 tackles, and had three of the Jaguars’ 10 tackles for loss. USA limited Arkansas State to just 66 rushing yards, but did not force a turnover, and sacked Raynor only once.
“I’m very proud of our defense the way they played the entire ball game,” Applewhite said. “I know we gave up the field goal to lose the football game, but they kept us in the ball game. … I’m proud of the way we’re improving on that side of the ball.”
South Alabama now has 10 days to regroup before hosting Troy in the annual “Battle for the Belt” on Tuesday, Oct. 15. The Jaguars have lost six straight to the Trojans, who are 1-5 this season, 0-2 in the Sun Belt.
Kickoff for South Alabama-Troy is set for 6:30 p.m. on ESPN2.
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