South Alabama Defensive Coordinator Will Windham roaming down the sidelines. Windham was a high school assistant coach for St. Stanislaus in Bay St. Louis, MS from 2009-2010 before stopping in multiple colleges as an assistant or graduate assistant. Hunter Dawkins/The Gazebo Gazette via AP.

by Jeff Clark, Staff Writer

MOBILE (GG) — The South Alabama Jaguars (1-0) jumped off to a quick start Saturday night in their 38-21 season-opening game against Morgan State. It was all Jaguars all night at Hanock Whitney Stadium in Mobile.

South Mississippi native Kentrell Bullock capped off the Jag’s opening 80-yard drive by launching a touchdown from the one-yard line. South Alabama set the pace for the rest of the night after the Bears led 7-0 after their first drive. Morgan State would not score until the third quarter.

The big story that wasn’t Bullock was starting quarterback Bishop Davenport, who was named the game’s starter by second-year head coach Major Applewhite. Bishop finished the night by completing 13-15 passes with two passing touchdowns and passing for 166 yards.

Applewhite said he was proud of the way Davenport played, but he is looking to see more out of the young quarterback as the season progresses.

“We came into the game knowing we were breaking in a new quarterback and some new wideouts, and we wanted to be deliberate in what we were calling,” Applewhite said. “Because they scored on the first drive, and then we scored, and then we started sputtering. We need to take more shots down the field and test them vertically.”

Bullock led the Jaguars in rushing with 127 yards on 23 carries and two rushing touchdowns. P.J. Martin had 40 yards on eight carries with one touchdown, Keenan Phillips had 30 yards on five carries, and Trae’von Dollar carried the ball twice for a total of seven yards.

Devon Voisin was the leading receiver with 69 yards on six carries with one touchdown, a 31-yard pass in the fourth quarter. The USA had 38 first downs on the night compared to 21 for Morgan State.

Ty Goodwill led the Jaguars defensively with 11 tackles and two tackles-for-loss.

The Jaguars will face a 1-0 Tulane team on Sept. 6 in Mobile. Tulane is coming off a huge 23-3 win over Northwestern in New Orleans. Applewhite said his team will have to step up against Coach Jon Sumrall’s Green Wave.

“We played a good team tonight, and we are very proud of this win,” Applewhite said. “But Jon Sumrall and his defense are really good wherever they go. We are going to have to clean a lot of things up.”

NOTES:

  • Kentrel Bullock registered the fifth 100-yard rushing game of his career with 127 total yards
  • Wesley Miller’s from South Mississippi’s interception in the second quarter was the fifth of his career
  • Defensive Lineman E’Mauri Smiley’s strip stack in the first quarter occurred in his very first collegiate game. It led to the first fumble recovery of Biloxi’s RJ Moss’ career
  • South Alabama secured its first, season-opening victory since the 2022 campaign

South Alabama will host Tulane on Saturday, Sept. 6 at Hancock Whitney Stadium. The Green Wave opened the 2025 season by defeating Northwestern, 23-3.