Appalachian State Mountaineers vs South Alabama Jaguars Preview
Sometimes you just want to will a team over the final step that it needs. The Appalachian State Mountaineers are a team like that. They are young, and with Taylor Lamb at quarterback they are only younger. They keeping trying to get the old App formula to work, and it just hasn’t happened yet. Still, they were close at Southern Miss, and they will eventually breakthrough.
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Enter South Alabama. The Jaguars were the preseason pick for number 3 in the League, but they have not lit the Sun Belt Conference afire either. Could this be App’s big chance to get off the snide? Will Taylor Lamb want to show up the team he committed to in 2012?
Date: October 4
Time: 6:00 PM
TV: ESPN3
Venue: Kidd-Brewer Stadium
Last Time: There Was No Last Time
South Alabama has existed as a football program for only six years, three of them in FBS.
Sep 13, 2014; Mobile, AL, USA; South Alabama Jaguars head coach Joey Jones watches the action against the Mississippi State Bulldogs in the fourth quarter at Ladd-Peebles Stadium. Mississippi State defeated South Alabama, 35-3. Mandatory Credit: Glenn Andrews-USA TODAY Sports
Opponent: South Alabama Jaguars (2-2)
South Alabama has some endearing qualities to the casual football fan. First off its initials are USA, which will cause a pause by people who are not paying attention. To capitalize on this fact, the Jaguars are not yellow but white to match the colors of the flag. I guess South Alabama Snow Leopards would not have made much sense just to get the colors right.
The Jaguars have beaten Kent State (since dominated by Virginia) and Idaho while losing to Mississippi State and Georgia Southern decisively. In other words, no one knows who the Jaguars are at this point. They are probably slightly easier to predict than the Mountaineers, but that is not saying much in the Sun Belt.
Sep 13, 2014; Mobile, AL, USA; South Alabama Jaguars quarterback Brandon Bridge (7) runs past Mississippi State Bulldogs defensive lineman Kaleb Eulls (92) in the third quarter at Ladd-Peebles Stadium. Mississippi State defeated South Alabama, 35-3. Mandatory Credit: Glenn Andrews-USA TODAY Sports
On offense, the Jaguars are led by quarterback Brandon Bridge and running back Jay Jones. Bridge, a senior, is literally a bridge to the next guy for the Jaguars. Jones has rushed for 100 yards in the two wins and not much at all in the two losses. That will be a key for the Mountaineers, stopping the run. Bridge also runs a little bit, so watch for him too.
The offensive line is full of veterans, so getting into the backfield will be a challenge for the Mountaineers.
On defense, the Jaguars have had a bunch of turnover. This is particularly true in the front seven, so that the App State rushing attack of Cox and Upshaw needs to produce and take advantage of that. The secondary of South Alabama is more veteran laden, and less likely to be exposed.
Prediction:
In really close scenarios, you have to go with the home team. Maybe this is more heart than head talking, since I talked myself into something similar in the Southern Miss game. I think that Lamb, Cox, and Upshaw will produce enough ground game to just get by the Jaguars. This game will tell me a lot more about the Sun Belt this year, though.