South Alabama getting set for marquee matchup with No. 24 Tulane

There are arguably bigger games in Week 1 of the college football season, but none featuring two teams coming off as much success in 2022 as South Alabama at Tulane.

The Jaguars travel to Yulman Stadium in New Orleans to face the 24th-ranked Green Wave at 7 p.m. Saturday, in a game to be televised by ESPNU. South Alabama went 10-3 and reached a bowl game for the first time in six seasons a year ago, while Tulane finished 12-2, won the American Athletic Conference championship and beat USC in the Cotton Bowl.

“Exposure is a huge piece to college football right now, especially at a Group of 5 program — where you get opportunities, when you get opportunities,” South Alabama coach Kane Wommack said. “And on national television with the amount of exposure that this game creates, both for their program and ours, you want to take advantage of it. It’s something that this program has taken time to build the right way, and in its roster, and its resources and the community support.

“We are just now starting to scratch the surface of what we are capable of. To know where your ceiling is means that you have to have opportunities to showcase what you’re all about. I think this first game against Tulane is a very fitting opportunity for our program in terms of where we are right now.”

South Alabama and Tulane have equally high expectations this season, with both among the favorites to win their respective conference titles in 2023. The Green Wave is a 6-point favorite to beat the Jaguars on Saturday, with the game’s winner likely holding the inside track for the Group of 5′s automatic berth in the New Year’s Six Bowls.

The South Alabama-Tulane game is one of only three this weekend featuring a pair of FBS teams that each recorded double-digit victories in 2022, with the others being Boise State at Washington on Saturday and LSU vs. Florida State on Sunday night. The Jaguars and Green Wave combined for 22 wins last season, one more than the Broncos and Huskies (21) and two more than the Tigers and Seminoles (20).

“I’m very excited, thrilled to get the season started back up,” South Alabama safety Yam Banks said. “We get to go back to New Orleans, prove to them what we can do. I feel like we’ve been at it really hard in preparation. … We know that we’re playing a great team, so I’m really thrilled to be playing against them.”

As Banks noted, South Alabama returns to the scene of its most-recent game, a 44-23 loss to Western Kentucky in the New Orleans Bowl at the Superdome Dec. 21. Western Kentucky’s Austin Reed passed for 497 yards and four touchdowns in that game, riddling the Jaguars’ defense with its up-tempo attack.

Tulane returns one of the more-experienced quarterbacks in the country in three-year starter Michael Pratt, who threw for 3,009 yards and 27 touchdowns in 2022. South Alabama defensive coordinator Corey Batoon said he expects the Green Wave to attack the Jaguars in much the same way the Hilltoppers did.

“It’s been something that we’ve been focusing on in spring through fall camp,” Batoon said. “These guys will use tempo. ... They’ll get up there (to the line of scrimmage) and they’ll go fast. Obviously, what we showed the last time we were out there, they’re going to run it. I think we’re ready. I think we have a good plan. I think the kids understand the urgency of getting their eyes to the side, getting the call and being able to operate in that setting.”

South Alabama returns plenty of experience of its own, with 18 starters back from the bowl game. That number doesn’t include two others — linebacker Quentin Wilfawn and safety Keith Gallmon — who missed all or most of the 2022 season due to injury but came back to claim starting jobs in preseason camp.

Quarterback Carter Bradley re-wrote the South Alabama passing record book with 3,343 yards and 28 touchdowns last season, when running back La’Damian Webb became the Jaguars’ second-ever 1,000-yard rusher. Also back are four starting offensive linemen and receivers Caullin Lacy and Devin Voisin, who combined for 128 receptions, 1,677 yards and 11 touchdowns last season.

“I feel like we all have a better understanding of what we need to accomplish going into each week,” Bradley said. “It’s just another year for some guys under (offensive coordinator Major) Applewhite, seeing what they need to see. Also, just game-planning, talking with him, understanding that aspect of things helps, too.”

South Alabama returns to the practice field on Tuesday morning.