Lost Lettermen is counting down and ranking all 124 FBS college football teams from best to worst by comparing each to a well-known song. We will examine one team per day through the summer and into the fall. Today’s team: The South Alabama Jaguars.
Overview:
2011 Record: 6-4
Head Coach: Joey Jones
Returning Starters: 14 (5 offense, 9 defense)
Key Players: QB C.J. Bennett, LB Jake Johnson
Schedule:
8/30: vs. Texas-San Antonio
9/8: vs. Nicholls St.
9/15: @ NC State
9/22: @ Mississippi St.
9/29: vs. Troy
10/13: @ Arkansas St.
10/20: vs. Florida Atlantic
10/27: @ La.-Monroe
11/3: vs. F.I.U.
11/10: @ North Texas
11/17: vs. Middle Tennessee St.
11/24: @ at La.-Lafayette
12/1: @ Hawaii
Skinny:
South Alabama will begin just the fourth season in program history and its first playing a slate in the Sun Belt Conference as an FBS member. So the Jaguars will not be used to opponents like NC State, Mississippi State and, yes, even Arkansas State – and those are three games in a four-game stretch that straddles late September and early October. Oh, by the way, they are all on the road. The program does have a strong foundation from its time at the FCS level. Coach Joey Jones led it to a 23-4 record during the first three years of existence. Needless to say, it won’t be that easy at the next level, where the Jags will have to answer questions about a leaky offensive line, poor secondary and a starting QB race that includes competition for the returning C.J. Bennett.
That’s why the Southern anthem “Cotton Eye Joe” plays in our heads as we try to handicap South Alabama’s season. You know, the song that has inspired country line dancing and had become a favorite between innings at ballparks like Yankee Stadium. The reason? FBS teams will want to cut a rug when they see the rookie Jaguars on the schedule and ask both “Where did you come from, where did you go?” before and after the game.
FBS 124 Countdown
