Canadian QB Gibbon leads South Alabama to big win

Myles GIbbon threw for 112 yards and one touchdown to lead the Jaguars past Pikeville (Ky.).

MOBILE, Ala. – Brandon Ross ran for multiple touchdowns. Courtney Smith caught another pass for a score. And the defense surrendered only 88 yards while keeping yet another opponent off the scoreboard.

It might be a new year for the University of South Alabama football team, but the results were similar to the program’s inaugural season as the Jaguars opened the 2010 campaign Saturday with a 56-0 victory over Pikeville (Ky.) in front of 22,376 fans at Ladd-Peebles Stadium.

“First of all, I’m obviously pleased with the game. I thought we came out and executed pretty well and did some good things,” USA head coach Joey Jones commented. “We were a little slow running the ball early in the contest, but we picked that up as the game went along. We threw the ball really well. Defensively, we played extremely well and didn’t panic. Early in the game they (Pikeville) hit a couple of pass plays, but I thought the coaching staff did a good job of calming our guys down. We just stuck to our guns, played base defense and played really sound football.”

In their second straight contest against a four-year institution, the Jags held the Bears to an opponent-low yardage total while recording back-to-back shutouts — USA ended 2009 with a 35-0 win over Huntingdon (Ala.). Ken Barefield and Enrique Williams each posted a team-leading six stop, and Bryson James and Jarred Williams were both credited four stops. James’ 22-yard interception return for a score was part of a 20-point second quarter, and Williams shared team-high honors with 1½ sacks.

“One thing we harp on is shutouts,” Barefield observed. “If we don’t get a shutout, we feel like we didn’t do our job.”

USA only led by seven after the opening 15 minutes, but Ross doubled the Jaguar advantage by capping a nine-play, 63-yard drive with a three-yard scoring run with just over 11 minutes remaining prior to the break. Leading his first-ever drive at the collegiate level, C.J. Bennett completed his initial attempt for a gain of 20 yards to Corey Waldon to move USA inside the Bear five-yard line.

On the ensuing PC possession, James intercepted a pass three plays later, running it back 22 yards for a 20-0 lead. “I just did my assignment, watched the quarterback’s eyes and followed the ball,” he explained. “Taking that interception for a touchdown was a great feeling.”
Myles Gibbon drove the Jaguars 83 yards in nine snaps late in the period, finding Smith from six yards out with a minute left for a 27-0 advantage. The quarterback’s 27-yard rush gave the Jags their initial first down of the possession, and he hit Waldon for 35 yards on third-and-10 to keep the drive alive.

Gibbon would finish 7-of-8 passing for 112 yards, and Bennett completed 4-of-6 attempts for another 93 in leading the Jags to 462 total yards, which included a total of 220 through the air.

“I was really glad we were able to open up the passing game a little bit more this year,” Gibbon stated. “Everybody knows we have dominant running backs, so it was good to get on the field and show that we could throw the ball too. Once we realized where we could exploit their coverage, we were good to go. We knew what they were going to come at us with, so we tried to pinpoint certain attack points.”

While the Jaguars drove into field-goal range on their opening possession of the season, it wasn’t until Ross scored on a one-yard run with three-and-a-half minutes left in the first quarter that USA took a 7-0 lead. The key play of the drive came on the second on four plays, when Gibbon hit Bryant Lavender for a 53-yard gain after a key block from Waldon. Lavender paced the USA receiving corps with four catches for 67 yards, while Waldon finished with three receptions for 57 yards.

“I think that everyone did a great job today, especially the offensive line making it happen in the trenches,” Ross said. “It was a team effort and everyone put in a lot of work today.”
Bennett recorded his first career touchdown pass on the opening drive of the third quarter, connecting with T.J. Glover — who would end up with 28 yards rushing and 34 receiving — across the middle before the running back found the left pylon for a 31-yard score to put the Jags up 34-0 just a minute-and-a-half after the intermission.

Following a Michel Chapuseaux 22-yard field goal, the Jags tacked on three touchdowns over the final 15 minutes. Ellis Hill broke a 56-yard run up the middle for a 43-0 lead, and two minutes later Jeremé Jones returned a punt 54 yards for a touchdown. Johnny Lockett reached the end zone in his collegiate debut with five-and-a-half minutes to go, finishing off a six-play, 47-yard drive.

Twelve individuals helped combine for 242 yards on the ground as the Jaguars averaged better than six yards per attempt. Hill had 55 on two carries, while Gibbon, Ray Cotton, Santuan McGee, Kendall Houston, Glover and Ryan Scott all finished with between 26 and 33 rushing yards.

Anson Cunningham’s eight tackles led the Bears, who got six stops from Tramayel Jones and five each from Rodney Dantes, Frank Snead and Mark Sweet.

Trevor Hoskins was 11-of-25 passing for 85 yards, with Bobby Owens pacing PC with four catches for 30 yards. Tavares Pinckney had 11 yards on two carries.

After a week off — the Jags’ only open date of the season — USA will play host to Nicholls State at Ladd-Peebles Stadium on Saturday, Sept, 18, with kickoff scheduled for 4 p.m..

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

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