Article by: Robbie Kan, Contributing Writer, Photos by Joseph Andrews

South Alabama Football opened the season with a 39-14 win over FCS team Southeastern Louisiana. Despite the blowout, the performance left plenty of room for improvement. The Jaguars secured a convincing victory on paper, but several stretches of the game raised concerns for the rest of the season. 

South Alabama started the game off strong with a quick drive down the field, ending with a touchdown pass from Bishop Davenport to Brendan Jenkins. After a couple more scores, South was up 19-0 before the first quarter was even over.

However, after that fast start, South Alabama struggled for most of the second and third quarters. The defense started to struggle and allowed Southeastern Louisiana to move down the field. The offense started to stall as well, as they had several instances where they had to settle for a field goal or a failed fourth-down conversion. After the initial solid start, South’s lead was cut to 22-14 after allowing a score at the beginning of the 3rd quarter. While doubt and uneasiness started to set in, South quickly responded with a scoring drive to extend the lead to 25-14. The defense responded as well with an impressive interception from Jaylen Moson to set up another score and make the game 32-14. South eventually added the final touchdown later in the 4th quarter to put the game out of reach and add the final touches to the 39-14 victory.

While South did win the game, the performance does not fully answer the questions surrounding the team’s season. Coach Major Applewhite could have intentionally played conservatively with tougher non-conference play coming in the next few weeks. Also, it’s worth noting that every team will have kinks to sort out in the first game. One game is not enough to determine what this team is capable of, but the Jaguars will need to show improvement as the competition becomes more challenging.