No. 16 Southeastern continues road swing at South Alabama

Game 2 | No. 16/17 Southeastern (0-1) at South Alabama (0-1)
Sept. 9, 2023 | 4 p.m. | Hancock Whitney Stadium (25,450) | Mobile, Ala.
Series History: First meeting
Last Meeting: n/a
Television: ESPN+
—Announcers; JD Byars, Pat Greenwood
Radio: Kajun 107.1 FM, The Highway 104.7 FM, The Boss 103.7 FM/WFPR 1400 AM
—Announcers; Mark Willoughby, Harris Beall, Allen Waddell and Robbie Rhodes

HAMMOND, La. – The reigning Southland Conference champion Southeastern Louisiana University football team will play its second of three straight road games to open the 2023 season, when it travels to South Alabama for a 4 p.m. contest Saturday in Hancock Whitney Stadium.

The first-ever meeting between the No. 16/17 Lions (0-1) and host Jaguars (0-1) will be seen on ESPN+ and can be heard on the Southeastern Sports Radio Network (Kajun 107.1 FM, The Highway 104.7 FM, The Boss 103.7 FM/WFPR 1400 AM).

Southeastern will be looking to bounce back from a 48-7 loss at Mississippi State in the season opener. In the loss to the Bulldogs, Southeastern trailed 10-7 late in the second quarter. MSU scored the game’s final 38 points, including a 28-0 run in the second half.

Eli Sawyer (11-for-19, 85 yards) and Zachary Clement (5-for-9, 40 yards, 1 TD) split time under center in the season opener. Harlan Dixon (51 rushing yards, 42 receiving yards) was the Lions’ top playmaker in the season opener.

Ian Goodly led the SLU defense with 15 tackles on the way to being named the Southland Conference Defensive Player of the Week. Linebackers Herman Christophe IV and Anthony Britton Jr. added 10 and nine tackles, respectively. Khamron Ford collected a sack in his Southeastern debut.

Austin Dunlap led the Lion special teams, averaging 46.3 yards per punt and downing four of his seven punts inside the 20-yard line.

South Alabama will also be looking for its first win of the season. USA will be looking to bounce back from a 37-17 loss to Tulane in the season opener. The Jaguars return 19 of 22 starters from last season’s 10-3 squad that advanced to the New Orleans Bowl.

USA finished with 301 total yards offensively at Tulane. Quarterback Carter Bradley threw for 190 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions on 23-for-30 passing.

Jamaal Pritchett (five catches, 63 yards) and Caullin Lacy (7-60) were Bradley’s top targets. La’Damian Webb (nine carries, 40 yards) and Kentrel Bullock (12-37) led the South Alabama ground attack.

James Miller and Jamie Sheriff shared the team lead with seven tackles each in the season opener. Miller, Ricky Fletcher and Ke’Shun Brown all were credited with fumble recoveries.

Following the trip to Mobile, SLU will close out its road swing with a 3 p.m. (Central) contest at Eastern Washington Sept. 16 in Cheney, Washington. The Lions-Eagles matchup will be seen on ESPN+ and can be heard on the Southeastern Sports Radio Network (Kajun 107.1 FM, The Highway 104.7 FM, The Boss 103.7 FM/WFPR 1400 AM).

Season and single-game tickets for the 2023 home football season, which includes visits from HCU (Sept. 23), Tarleton State (Sept. 30), Lamar (Oct. 14), McNeese (Nov. 4) and Nicholls (Nov. 18) are available online at https://vivenu.com/event/2023-football-2klkar.

TICKETS
For ticket information, contact the Southeastern Athletics Ticket Office at (985) 549-5466 or visit www.LionSports.net. Southeastern will continue offering mobile ticketing as the primary source for securing tickets for the 2023-24 season. All tickets will be available via e-mail or text message in a PDF format for fans to download on their phone or print at home. Tickets can also be downloaded to Apple Wallet.

SOCIAL MEDIA
For more information on Southeastern Football, follow @LionUpFootball and @Coach_Scelfo on X, like /SLUathletics on Facebook and follow lionupfootball on Instagram.

TOUCHDOWN CLUB/S CLUB

Fans interested in becoming active supporters of the football program are encouraged to join the Touchdown Club. Lion football alums are encouraged to join the exclusive S Club, which is restricted to Southeastern athletic letter winners.

All membership fees and donations to both the Touchdown Club and S Club (football) are available for the exclusive use of the Southeastern football program. Membership information is available by contacting the Lion Athletics Association at laa@southeastern.edu or (985) 549-5091 or visiting www.LionUp.com.

INSIDE SOUTHEASTERN FOOTBALL WITH FRANK SCELFO

The 2023 season of Inside Southeastern Football with Frank Scelfo is airing from its new home – Walk-On’s Sports Bistreaux (305 CM Fagan Dr) in Hammond. Hosted by Scelfo and Allen Waddell, the hour-long radio show will air Mondays throughout the football season on Kajun 107.1 FM, The Highway 104.7 FM and The Boss 103.7 FM/WFPR 1400 AM.

CLEAR BAG POLICY

Southeastern Athletics instituted a clear bag policy for all ticketed events, effective with the start of the 2018 football season. For more information on the clear bag policy, visit www.LionSports.net/clear.