Venom: SU’s Offensive Woes Continue; Lose to Rattlers in Conference play

The Southern Jaguars football team took to the road to play long and bitter rival Florida A&M at Bragg Memorial Stadium. The Jags have not beaten the Rattlers since 2012 when the game was played in Atlanta. The game was high stakes. Southern needed to beat FAMU to reclaim the SWAC West due to Alcorn State’s upset over Prairie View, and to have an easier route to the SWAC championship. To do that, flawless football needed to be played, especially when playing on the road.
The Jags started strong with a great kickoff return by freshman wide receiver Chandler Whitfield. The Jags offense looked alive on the first drive, but once they were in the RedZone they could not capitalize and had to settle for a 23-yard field goal by sophomore kicker Joshua Griffin. Griffin would kick 2 more field goals in the first half with all of them coming near or in the RedZone. In addition, to the lack of execution, the offense would give the ball up on back-to-back drives allowing FAMU to get an easy point to open the lead 9-17 at halftime.
The Dog Day Defense was lackluster all day and just didn’t seem to come to play. The defense made some of the same mistakes that hurt them against Jackson State. It started with undisciplined penalties, such as offsides, giving the Rattlers more opportunities to score. A surprise to many was the Jags inability to tackle and get off the field. Many times, the defense was in great shape forcing many 3rd downs and longs, but they would allow FAMU to pick up the first down with poor tackling or penalties.
Later in the second half, the offense of the Jags finally woke up. Sophomore quarterback Besean McCray ripped off a 35-yard run to make it 16-20. However, the defense seemed to be gassed giving the Rattlers another touchdown, and the offense could never answer back despite many opportunities. The Jags would go on to lose 16-30.
The Jags did outgain the Rattlers 337 to 332, but the touchdowns were the difference. McCray had another terrible performance finishing the game 8-20 with only 88 yards passing. However, he did have 125 yards on the ground with a touchdown. This raises the question of “Should a change at QB happen?”
After the disappointing loss, Dooley shared his thoughts “It was surprising, but there’s nothing you can do about it. They gave us the keys, and we’ve got to drive it. Unfortunately, we didn’t do it.” That’s the message of the game and the players backed what the coach said. Senior transfer defensive tackle Jason Dumas was emotional during his statement, “It was very disappointing. We just didn’t come to play.” This loss hurts the Jags tremendously, but they must focus on their next game against Mississippi Valley State at A.W. Mumford Stadium with a kickoff at 2 PM. In terms of the Jags making the championship, the Jags must win, and Prairie View and Texas Southern must lose a game.