news-engine

South Alabama Jags open 2026 season with 39-14 win over Southeastern Louisiana MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) - Head coach Major Applewhite said the Jags planned to be more aggressive on offense. And it paid off as the jags moved the ball downfield in five plays on their first drive which they capped off with a 25-yard touchdown from bishop davenport to Brendan Jenkins. South Alabama would ride the ground game for the rest of the quarter jumping out to an early 19-point lead. “Very pleased with the way the guys came out and attacked and stayed in that attack mode. Sometimes, I don’t put it on the guys I’ll put it on me we were a little aggressive on some midfield 4th downs,” said Major Applewhite. “Wish I had one back, but that’s the way we’re going to need to play.” Southeastern Louisiana ended the run with a 4 play 76-yard drive in what was one of the few defensive miscues all night. Overall, it was a strong night from the defense which held Southeastern to just 45 rushing yards and came up with two interceptions while holding the lions without a 3rd down conversion. “Obviously I’ve worked with Todd before so there’s things that you expect and that’s what I expected to see,” said Coach Applewhite. “I know what he brings and the confidence he instills in his players. That kind of savage violent mentality of going after it over and over again.” “I really like the way we played aggressive and took our shot even when we missed and just covered each other up,” said South Alabama safety Cole Blaylock. For the Jags offense it was all about the running game. South ran the ball 59 times for 241 yards with Bishop Davenport, Trae’von Dunbar and PJ Martin all finding the endzone. South Alabama held the ball for 40 minutes to dominate time of possession and racked up 395 total yards to win 39-14 in their season opener. “That was something that we emphasized,” said wide receiver Brendan Jenkins. “We didn’t want to be one dimensional this year so defenses actually had to gameplan for us so I feel like we did that tonight and we’re ready to do it again next week.” South Alabama starts the season 1-0 and will travel to Tulane next week. Copyright 2026 WALA. All rights reserved.