Know Your Enemy: South Alabama Jaguars
By Zach Ragan
Sep 7, 2013; New Orleans, LA, USA; Tulane Green Wave quarterback Nick Montana (11) and South Alabama Jaguars defensive lineman Montavious Williams (92) following a failed two point conversion that would have tied the game during the fourth quarter of a game against the South Alabama Jaguars at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. South Alabama defeated Tulane 41-39. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
Who: South Alabama Jaguars — Mobile, AL
Distance From Knoxville: 509 miles
Head coach: Joey Jones (fifth season at South Alabama)
Conference: Sun Belt
2013 Record: 2-1 (1-0)
Ranking: Unranked
All time series: 0-0
Last meeting: This is the first ever meeting between the two teams.
South Alabama’s football program is only in it’s fifth year of existence and it’s second season as a full-fledged FBS program.
The Jaguars are led by head coach Joey Jones.
Jones, a former wide receiver for the Alabama Crimson Tide, has been the Jaguars head coach since the inception of the football program.
South Alabama is a fast paced team that features two quarterbacks — Ross Metheny and Brandon Bridge. Both quarterbacks are very capable of running the ball and could present problems for a Volunteer defense that had trouble containing Oregon’s Marcus Mariota and Florida’s Tyler Murphy.
Obviously there’s a huge discrepancy in speed between the Vols’ previous two opponents and South Alabama, but the Jaguars certainly shouldn’t be discounted as a “cupcake” opponent.
South Alabama started their season off with a loss against Southern Utah, but rebounded with wins over Tulane and Western Kentucky.
The Jaguars are averaging 31 points a game and are giving up 28.3 points a game.