3 takeaways from South Alabama’s 48-14 win over Appalachian State

It's hard to imagine two more decisive performances in back-to-back weeks for South Alabama than what we have seen the last two Thursday nights.

The Jaguars throttled Sun Belt Conference preseason favorite Appalachian State 48-14 on the road Thursday, a week after routing Northwestern State 87-10 in Mobile. The 135 points in a two-game span are the most for any Sun Belt program in the conference's history.

READ: South Alabama turns in dominant road win at Appalachian State

South Alabama is now 2-2 overall, but an all-important 1-0 in conference play. The Jaguars get a 10-day break before perhaps their biggest challenge of the season, a Sept. 28 trip to LSU.

Before that, here are 3 takeaways from South Alabama's nationally-televised win over App State:

It was easy to write off the 87-10 win over Northwestern State as the result of facing an historically-bad opponent (and the Demons are terrible to be sure), but that performance looks a little less fluky now after coordinator Rob Ezell's offense torched the Mountaineers. In the three games quarterback Gio Lopez has played this season (he missed Week 2 at Ohio with turf toe), South Alabama is averaging 57.8 points and 558.7 yards of total offense. The running game carried the day with 320 yards on Thursday, with both Lopez and freshman phenom Fluff Bothwell topping 100. Jamaal Pritchett had another all-around big game with 68 receiving yards and 67 punt-return yards, while Jeremiah Webb and DJ Thomas-Jones also had significant moments in the passing game. Credit also goes to the offensive line of tackles Jordan Davis and Malachi Carney, guards Kenton Jerido and Reed Buys and center Malachi Preciado, both for creating holes in the running game and for keeping the pressure off Lopez in the passing game.

South Alabama's young defense has grown up the last two weeks after looking helpless vs. North Texas in the season-opener and being unable to get off the field when it counted in Week 2 vs. Ohio. The Jaguars gave up nearly 400 yards on Thursday, but never let App State quarterback Joey Aguilar take control of the game. The Mountaineers' two touchdowns came on a last-play Hail Mary in the first half and against the second-team defense with 52 seconds left in the game (and that drive was only kept alive by a pass-interference call on fourth down). South Alabama has played the entire season without No. 1 cornerback Ricky Fletcher, but freshman Amarion Fortenberry has improved each week. Junior-college transfer Jordan Scruggs has taken over the all-important Husky (nickel) position, and made the game's defensive biggest play on Thursday with a goal-line interception. Linebackers Blayne Myrick, Gavin Forsha and Aakil Washington also continue to get better. If Will Windham's defense can just be average and not a liability, this team's chances of contending for the conference championship improve dramatically.

The Jaguars looked hopeless just two weeks ago, with a path to bowl-eligibility difficult to see for even the most-optimistic observers. But after Thursday's win over the preseason Sun Belt favorite, there's no reason to believe the Jaguars can't contend not only for the postseason, but even the conference crown. Even if next week's trip to LSU results in little more than a paycheck, South Alabama will enter October with all its goals still attainable. After an Oct. 5 trip to Arkansas State closes out the season's first half, the schedule gets remarkably less-challenging down the stretch. The Jaguars should be favored at home against Troy (Oct. 15), Louisiana-Monroe (Oct. 26) and Georgia Southern (Nov. 2), then face road trips to Louisiana (Nov. 16) and Southern Miss (Nov. 23) before closing out the regular season on Black Friday Nov. 29 vs. West Division favorite Texas State. Consistency has been an issue for the Jaguars in the past, as one need look no further than 2023. South Alabama dismantled Oklahoma State 33-7 on the road in Week 3, then came home the following Saturday and lost to Central Michigan. But if they can play to the level they have the last two weeks (and especially vs. App State), an 8- or 9-win season is possible.