Turnovers and penalties plagued South Alabama all throughout the season opener as the Jaguars fell to Tulane 37-17 Saturday night at Yulman Stadium.
The Jaguars fell to 0-1 for the year with the setback while Tulane improved to 1-0.
"I'm very disappointed in just the lack of execution of the things we say we wanted to do to win," said head coach Kane Wommack. "The first thing, you've got to take care of the football. We turned the ball over five times. That's not winning football, that's not the way we have won here in the past. We said defensively we wanted to limit explosive plays, and we've got a very experienced secondary that put their eyes in the wrong place. Whether they were trying to make too many plays up front or the intermediate game. Credit them, they had a good plan, but it's a hard pill to swallow when you just don't execute."
The Jaguars lost three fumbles on the night and threw two additional interceptions. South's defense did a good job of getting the offense the ball back, though, as it hopped on three fumbles of its own. Jamie Sheriff, Khalil Jacobs and Yam Banks all forced fumbles while James Miller, Ricky Fletcher and Ke'Shun Brown came up with the recoveries. Miller and Sheriff also led the tackling efforts on the night with seven apiece.
Offensively, quarterback Carter Bradley threw the ball 30 times, completing 23 of those passes for 190 yards and a touchdown. Bradley also produced South Alabama's other touchdown on the night with his legs as he scrambled from four yards out for the first score of 2023.
Bradley's top targets on the night were Jamaal Pritchett and Caullin Lacy. Pritchett hauled in five receptions for 63 yards while Lacy caught seven balls for 60 yards. Devin Voisin was on the other end of the lone passing touchdown of the night as he and Bradley connected for a seven-yard touchdown on South's first drive of the third quarter.
After falling behind 24-7 in the first half, the Jags kicked a field goal to make the score 24-10 heading into the locker room. Tulane received the ball to start the second half, but Banks laid a big hit on a Tulane rusher to get South Alabama the ball back. That turnover led to Voisin's touchdown a few plays later, but it would prove to be the final points of the night for USA as Tulane ran away with the ball game.
UP NEXT
The Jags will look to rebound on Saturday, Sept. 9 when they take on Southeastern Louisiana in their home opener. Kickoff at Hancock Whitney Stadium will be at 4 p.m. CT.