Jags on wild ride as Wolves await

JONESBORO -- Long after Joey Jones has finished coaching at South Alabama, he knows what will catch his eye when he looks back on the first month of the 2016 season.

But that doesn't do much for Jones and the Jaguars right now.

South Alabama will visit Arkansas State at 6 p.m. on Saturday having put together one of the best Sun Belt Conference nonconference performances in some time. The Jaguars started the season with a 21-20 victory at Mississippi State, its first victory over an SEC team. Then on Oct. 1, they beat then-No. 19 San Diego State 42-24, their first victory over a ranked team.

But the Jaguars find themselves at the bottom of the Sun Belt standings after losses to Georgia Southern and Louisiana-Lafayette. So while the recognition, interview requests and even a vote in this week's coaches poll are nice, they don't mean a whole lot for an 8-year-old program looking to include itself in the Sun Belt title race for the first time.

"I think, probably, 20 years from now we'll look back and say the Mississippi State win and beating someone in the top 20 [were more gratifying]," Jones said Monday. "But as far as our goals go, we want to win a conference championship and go to a bowl game."

ASU Coach Blake Anderson took the same approach Monday, possibly because his team has had roughly the opposite start to the season. The Red Wolves (1-4, 1-0 Sun Belt) lost their first four games before last Wednesday's last-minute victory over Georgia Southern. Despite the struggles of the first month, they enter Saturday's game with a 1½-game lead over the Jaguars (3-2, 0-2) in the Sun Belt.

Anderson said he'll take his team's start over South Alabama's.

"There's no doubt, I want conference wins," he said. "In this league, when you don't play everybody, one loss makes you nervous and two losses puts you in a bind because you don't have control. I want to make sure we work out all the kinks before conference play starts and we play our best football in conference."

South Alabama's up-and-down start caught ASU's attention.

The Jaguars, picked to finish seventh in the Sun Belt, beat Mississippi State when they were a 28-point underdog and were a 19½-point underdog to San Diego State. But they lost to Georgia Southern and Louisiana-Lafayette, and they needed overtime to beat FCS-level Nicholls State.

"They're a lot like us in some ways," Anderson said. "When they've played at their best, they've found a way to get two big wins. It's kind of what team is going to show up? They're probably saying the same thing about us -- which team is going to show up?"

The specifics of South Alabama's look might not be known until later in the week. Quarterback Dallas Davis, who led the victory over Mississippi State, sat out the San Diego State victory with a turf toe injury. Cole Garvin started in Davis' place, completing 16 of 21 passes for 242 yards and 3 touchdowns.

Jones said Davis is expected to practice this week, but he won't decide on a starter until later in the week.

ASU quarterback Justice Hansen was named Sun Belt offensive player of the week after leading a fourth-quarter comeback in Wednesday's victory. But Anderson was critical of Hansen's fourth-quarter interception, which sailed over the head of receiver Kendall Sanders and into the arms of Georgia Southern's Christian Matthew when ASU trailed 26-17 in the fourth quarter.

Linebacker Kyle Wilson received praise and criticism for his performance as well. The junior made 13 tackles, including five for a loss, in his first start. But defensive coordinator Joe Cauthen said Wilson was in the wrong gap during L.A. Ramsby's 61-yard touchdown run.

"We're still not our best football team -- that was the conversation," Anderson said. "I think it's why you see a team that can beat a top-ranked team one week and the next week get beat by somebody they're physically better than. We've got to guard that. We can't afford any letdowns, we're not that football team."

Sports on 10/12/2016