Jags Jungle panel picks: Louisiana Tech at South Alabama

The inaugural trip to Huntington, West Virginia by the South Alabama football program will not create a desire to return anytime soon. A rowdy crowd and a talented, if heretofore underperforming, Thundering Herd defense combined to contribute to the worst showing by the Jaguar offense in the 20-13 loss.

After two consecutive weeknight games and the unusual schedule that comes with it being the story for the majority of October, South Alabama finishes the month with a Halloween matchup against Sun Belt West leader Louisiana Tech. The 5-2 (3-0) Bulldogs are looking to make the Sun Belt championship game in their first SBC season while the Jaguars have title ambitions of their own. There's a lot on the line for the Jags Junglers to look at this week.

Doug Konkel

That game at Marshall has given me a lot of pause. As hoped, the defense emerged from the break a more effective unit, turning in their best showing of the season. However, the offense was unable to establish the usually-dominating running game until later in the game and the passing game had far too few good moments as they struggled their way to 13 points.

Now comes Louisiana Tech with a defense that operates at a different level than Marshall's as they are coming off back-to-back shutouts over ULM and ODU. LT only surrenders 21 points per game and scores at a 32.3-point pace. Their run defense is outstanding as they give up only 125.4 yards per game and 3.4 yards per rush, and throwing at them can be a dangerous proposition as they lead the league with 10 interceptions in seven games. They have a solid pass rush that gets over 2.5 sacks per outing. On offense, they aren't a great running team, but they make a lot of hay throwing the ball. Quarterback Blake Baker has completed 72.2% of his passes for 1,160 yards and 10 touchdowns in six games.

If you're looking for reasons to believe in the Jags this weekend, I'll point you towards a couple of facts. First, the Bulldogs have given up a fair amount of sacks themselves with 10 in seven games, so USA can probably cause a little havoc with their blitz-heavy defense. Secondly, and this is going to surprise quite a few Jaguar fans, is that South Alabama has the advantage at kicker. LT has only hit 5 of 13 field goal attempts and 23 of 25 extra points, compared to USA's 9 of 12 and 29 of 30.

Now, how do I think this game will go? You have to respect what the Bulldogs have done this season. They are solid on both sides of the ball and seem to be getting better as the season goes on. HOWEVER! I believe in this South Alabama offense, despite what happened in the last game, and the defensive performance restored my faith in what Todd Orlando's scheme can do. This is my most faith-based pick of the season, but I'm willing to make it. Give me the Jags in a 31-28 win.

Tres Harrison

I won't beat around the bush. The Jaguar offense last week was embarrassing. It hurt to watch, and I really can't figure out what the problem was beyond just choosing not to take care of business. Hopefully, with a return to Mobile this Saturday, we can get our heads on right.

The Jags' defense was on point, and I need to see more of it. However, they can do only so much when they're always on the field. The defense, aside from the lack of a forced turnover, performed exceptionally compared to what we've seen thus far. If the defense can ride their momentum and hold onto that mentality and performance, I think we'll have a great game. This will really hinge on whether or not the offense can keep them fresh with some time off the field, and if we can prepare for an offense that looks, by the numbers, to mirror ours pretty darn well.

The offense will have its work cut out for it in several areas, but the war I'd be concerned about is the front. The Bulldogs certainly have an impressive defense. They like to get to the backfield and force errors. If we are to win this game, three things need to happen on offense:

We need to set our feet and hit our blocks.

We have GOT to complete some passes. The drops and off-target throws need to be left behind us.

We need to calm down and stay relaxed. If we panic, we're going to turn the ball over a lot. Can't have that.

Now for the prediction… I am usually an optimist, if you can't tell by my past predictions. This week is different. LA Tech is a tough squad with a lot of talent and some good wins under their belt. So I'm going to have to say something kinda difficult for me to say. I do not think the Jags are going to win… by 600 points. They'll win but it'll be closer than that. I foresee a tough game played well by both teams with the Jags overcoming a tough conference opponent to win 41-31. Go Jags!

Caleb Seaver

To say last Tuesday's game at Marshall was a complete and utter disaster for the Jags would be an understatement. Unless you were talking about the defense. South Alabama came into the game with tons of momentum, an offense clicking in every way, looking like a serious threat to not only win the division but the conference. Then in the game against Marshall, nothing clicked, at all. South Alabama's run game was stagnant, and they could not complete a pass to save their lives. Literally. Hollins was an abysmal 12-33 for 148 yards and an interception. The one bright spot was the defense, which only allowed 34 yards to Marshall running backs and 181 passing yards. The problem was they could not stop the quarterback run — 113 yards for two Marshall quarterbacks. The other problem was this was supposed to be a bad Marshall defense against the run and a very lethargic offense. Now, the good news: it was a cross-division game, you have had 10 days to turn the page and move on. The question now is whether this game was a fluke or there are some glaring issues with the South Alabama offense.

This question will be answered one way or the other, as the Jags will now host the No. 1 team in the Sun Belt West, Louisiana Tech, somehow. The Bulldogs come into this one after back-to-back dominant shutout wins over Old Dominion and ULM. They also have two very good wins against Army and UL-Lafayette. Their two losses: No. 8 LSU (who they only trailed by three at the half) and Baylor. This team is good. Their defense has really come into form over the last few weeks and has completely shut down the rushing attacks of all three conference opponents. Their offense does leave some things to be desired, relying heavily on the pass game and quarterback Blake Baker. Their running game is spearheaded by Andrew Burnette, who has simply just been OK. They will rely on their defense and hope to stop the South Alabama run game.

Putting everything together, this is not a good matchup for South Alabama, who will have to depend on the passing game to find success, something that they do not do often. However, last week was a good matchup that went poorly for the Jags. Many underdogs won in a week full of upsets, and if the defense can play like they did against Marshall, they will keep the Jags in it. This being said, I do not like South Alabama's chances in this one. Give me Louisiana Tech 23-10.

South Alabama and Louisiana Tech will kick off from Hancock Whitney Stadium at 2 p.m. CT on Saturday. You can catch the neutral television broadcast led by Pat Greenwood on ESPN+ or hear the South Alabama broadcast on the Jags Radio Network with JT Crabtree and Company.

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