– Last Updated on June 8, 2018 7:51 am
2017 Football Preview – Sun Belt – Jaguars
Looking for 2017 South Alabama Jaguars predictions? The Jaguars have been nothing the past few seasons if not wildly exciting and wildly inconsistent. This is a team that has proven to have big-play and big-win abilities; however, it’s also proven it can play down to its competition, which is a problem when playing in the Sun Belt conference.
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- 2017-18 College Football Preview – South Alabama Jaguars
- Head Coach: Joey Jones
- 2016 Record: 6-7
- South Alabama Jaguars Odds to win the 2017 FBS Championship: OFF
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For the Jags to have a successful 2017 season, it’s going to need to play up to its strength against inferior teams.
They blew out their only ranked opponent last season (No. 19 San Diego State, 42-24), yet they managed to go just 2-6 in conference play.
2017 South Alabama Jaguars Predictions: Team Strengths
Quarterback: Quarterback Dallas Davis was extremely productive last season. He was on top of the Sun Belt conference in terms of total offense, compiling 268.3 yards per game.
As long as he returns to full strength after offseason shoulder surgery, Davis should be among the conference’s best quarterbacks. But no wide receiver with at least 10 receptions or 100 receiving yards returns, so
But there are two problems here. For starters, this group’s wide receiving core did Davis no favors. He’ll need them to step up for his production to actually mean anything.
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The other catch is that he’s coming off shoulder surgery during the offseason. The good news, however, is that there’s little reason to believe he’ll take a step in the wrong direction. As long as that remains true into the season, he’ll be one of the best—if not the best—quarterbacks in the conference.
Running Back: Xavier Johnson didn’t have the offensive line he needed to make a true impact last season, but he has the potential to be a big-time player for this team in 2017.
A year ago he compiled 831 yards on the ground as well as 10 touchdowns. Entering 2017, the senior is just 362 yards away from the all-time career record at South Alabama.
This team also has junior college transfer Tywun Walters to add to the mix. This tandem likely won’t earn much national recognition barring an unforeseen great season by the team as a whole, but they’ll be fan favorites around Mobile, Alabama.
2017 South Alabama Jaguars Predictions: Team Weaknesses
Offensive Line: Last year’s offensive line was a big problem. While the quarterback and running back positions were considered a strength, the line made it impossible for the team to find success as a whole—and it even made those positions of strength look weak for large portions of the season.
The good news here is that the O-Line is returning a lot of players and will have more experience under its belt. The bad news is that we’re not sure that’s actually a good thing considering how they were outplayed on a physical level far too often a year ago.
More experience can never hurt…but this team needs more out of that unit.
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Health On Both Lines: Calling last year’s health a weakness on this year’s team is a bit unfair. But it’s also reasonable until we see them prove they can stay healthy.
Who sits throughout the season and how long they’re out will have a big impact on the overall success of this program in 2017.
South Alabama Jaguars Prediction: 7-5
At this point in the process, predicting six wins might be safer. After all, we’ve seen this team blow games we thought they should’ve won over the past couple of seasons.
But here’s the deal: This team should be healthier this season. The quarterback and running back positions have the potential to be the best QB-RB combo in the Sun Belt, and with all of that in mind, we expect a strong showing in conference.
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If the Jags prove us wrong by dropping games they should win (or even dropping games we expect them to play up for), we’ll own it in next season’s preview.
But for now, we’re buying this group as a bit of a sleeper entering 2017.
2017 South Alabama Football Schedule
- 9/2/17 7:30 PM ET @MISS
- 9/8/17 8:00 PM ET OKST
- 9/16/17 7:00 PM ET AAMU
- 9/23/17 TBD IDHO
- 9/30/17 TBD @LT
- 10/11/17 8:00 PM ET @TROY
- 10/21/17 TBD ULM
- 10/26/17 7:30 PM ET @GSU
- 11/4/17 TBD ULL
- 11/11/17 TBD ARST
- 11/18/17 4:00 PM ET @GASO
- 12/2/17 TBD @NMSU
What do you think about our 2017 South Alabama Jaguars predictions? Please leave us a comment below telling us how you think they’ll do in 2017!
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