After another disappointing loss to the North Carolina Central Eagles, the 2-2 Jags are looking to turn the season around.

“Even after 8 turnovers, we still had a chance to come back and win,” said Gerard Landry, junior wide receiver. 

Next week the Jags face the 2-2 Alabama State University Hornets.  For those who don’t know the history, Southern beat the Hornets in the 2003 SWAC championship game.  Then in 2004 Alabama State beat Southern in the SWAC championship.  Southern hasn’t beaten the Eagles since 2003.

 “This is going to be a tough game.  Whether the teams are doing good or bad, it doesn’t matter because you have one the best teams from East playing against one of the best teams in the West. This game is going down until the end,” commented Nick Benjamin, junior wide receiver

With a 149.0 passing efficiency quarterback, Alex Engram commands his offense.  Out of the team’s 347.7 yard average in total offense, 145.3 of those yards per game belong to running back Jay Peck. After last week’s performance of 31 carries for 196 yards and 2 touchdowns, he was the offensive player of the week in the SWAC.  Accompanying him are wide receivers James Earl Cray and Brandon Horace are averaging 14.4 and 11.1 yards per catch.

So far this season, the Jags have only allowed 292 in total yards on defense. Ranking number one in the SWAC, 93.0 of those yards are passing yards allowed.  John Malveaux and Kindrick Bailey are leading the way with 3.5 and 5.0 tackles per game.

“We need to capitalize on every opportunity we get on offense.  We need to cut down on simple mistakes,” was the remark of wide receiver Juamorris Stwart.  “We are still a young team on defense and we are improving every week.”

This season quarterback J.C. Lewis has averaged 61 passing yards per game.  Last week’s performance was his worst in his collegiate career. After his 5 interceptions, he was benched in the fourth quarter and was replaced by C.J. Byrd.  Byrd led the Jags with 6 carriers for 48 yards and earned his first collegiate touchdown.  Running backs Darren Coates and Kendall Addison are trying to reestablish Southern’s ground attack.  Gerard Landry leads the team with 17.3 yards per catch.

“We expect them to attack us in a cover two or man defense.  They are a very physical team and we expect them to challenge us.”

The Hornets Chris Dupuy and Leland Jones are leading the way on defense. Jones is one of the top leaders in the SWAC’s top defense.  Last week’s special team Desmond Foster returned a 98 yard kickoff for a touchdown. The Hornets are also in first place with on 215.3 total yards allowed against them on defense.

Jags Speak to the Fans

Don’t leave and turn your back on us. It hurts to go out on the field and see the seats empty. Give us a chance. We are still young and we are going to turn it around. To the Jag Journal, please stop talking down on the team. Even when we were two and zero, they still had something to criticize us about. Fans come out and support us still even if when we fall. We are still the Jags. We are still one of the flagship teams of the SWAC.     

Contact Gabriel at GPatton@b-now.com