RAPID REACTION: What we learned from the Tulane game

For most of Saturday’s 60 minutes, the Jaguars looked like, if not the better team, the team that was playing best. They jumped out to a 10-0 lead, reclaimed it 17-14 after halftime and again in the fourth quarter when they moved ahead 24-21. It was not to be, however, as Tulane’s final drive saw them score with 1:17 remaining to secure the win.

Despite the disappointing result, this game revealed or confirmed much about the 2026 South Alabama Jaguars. Here are the things that stood out the most.

The Good and Bad of the Todd Orlando Defense

The new defensive scheme of Todd Orlando had some really good moments. It produced four tackles for a loss, including a sack, and at one point had the Tulane offensive line so spooked that it received back-to-back flags for early movement. However, what my preseason article Jaguar Defense Getting Aggressive Under Todd Orlando said about the vulnerabilities of the strategy proved very true:

Orlando’s defenses have frequently traded aggression for vulnerability to big plays. His South Florida defenses averaged 114th nationally in fourthandshort.com’s explosiveness ranking, a metric that measures the amount of additional points predicted to be given up on a successful offensive play. The raw explosiveness figure also increased from 1.51 in 2023 to 1.33 in 2025. An improvement, but still a significant weakness relative to his earlier stops. South Alabama’s more prevent-style mentality last season gave them an edge here as they ranked 77th nationally with a raw number of 1.27.

That tradeoff is part of Orlando’s defensive personality. He wants to pressure quarterbacks, disguise coverages and attack rather than simply sit back. At its best, that produces sacks, tackles for loss and turnovers. At its worst, it creates opportunities for opponents to hit explosive plays when the pressure doesn’t get home.

Indiana transfer Jaylin Lucas popped multiple 30-yard or more runs that completely changed the course of Tulane’s fate in this game. Nevertheless, I saw enough, especially in the form of effective halftime adjustments, to believe that Todd Orlando is the kind of defensive coordinator South Alabama needs to get back to winning seasons and his defense will do an excellent job in most games where the Jags aren’t facing a running back with 4.3 speed.

Committed to the Run, Willing to Throw

Unlike in the opener against Southeastern Louisiana, the Jaguars opened up the passing game against the Green Wave. The run-to-pass ratio was a more balanced 40-32 and it was probably closer to 50/50 when the number of called passing plays turned into scrambles by quarterback Bishop Davenport. Especially heartening was the willingness to throw deep in the second half after Tulane adjusted their defense to take away the shorter throws that victimized them in the first part of the game. PJ Martin continued to show that he is a different running back this year after finally getting over back issues that plagued him earlier in his career as he rushed 15 times for 73 yards and caught four passes for 32 yards. He combined with Keenan Phillips, Trae’von Dunbar and Davenport to rack up 182 yards.

When Davenport is Good, He’s Very Good

Through two games this year, Bishop Davenport has shown the poise and familiarity with the offense that one expects from their returning senior+ starter. He doesn’t have a rocket launcher attached to his right shoulder, but he is an accurate and efficient passer that makes defenses have to respect the passing game. His running ability is the key to his success, however. When the threat of running and passing are both there for the defense to contend with, Davenport has shown he is a real challenge to contain, but when the game situation makes passing the only viable option and the defense can key on covering receivers, he is less effective than a pure pocket passer would be.

Having seen Davenport “on” much more than “off” in the early going this season, I suspect he will be leading the Jaguars to more than a few wins before the year is out.

Special Teams are So Close to Being Special

The addition of Tommy Perry as the special teams coach should not go unnoticed by Jaguar fans. Through two games this year, despite facing some talented return specialists, USA is giving up an average of 14.88 yards per kick return and minus-1 yard on the only punt return that dared be fielded with ill-intent. There’s a lot of season left to affect these averages, but compared to last year’s 22.92 and 9.47 yards, not to mention the eye test, kick coverages are a strength in 2026. Aleksi Pulkkinen is off to a great start in his fourth year with a 49.67 average on his three punts and Dylan Freebury’s high kickoffs are a big reason why opponent return average is so pedestrian. The one factor, and it’s a big one, that remains to be proven to a point of comfortability, is field goal kicking. Davis Little, who has had back issues himself, won the job in preseason and opened the year by hitting four straight attempts, albeit with a couple sneaking inside the upright, but his fifth attempt against Tulane was a familiar-looking shank. If that final try proves to be an anomaly, this could be one of the best special team seasons in recent memory, and Tommy Perry will deserve most of the credit.

The Jaguars’ next game is 6 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 19, against the Ohio Bobcats in Hancock Whitney Stadium where they will have a chance to guarantee no worse than a .500 out-of-conference record for the season.