4 reasons South Alabama upset No. 19 San Diego State on Saturday

By Mike Herndon

Here's how South Alabama knocked off No. 19 San Diego State 42-24 at Ladd-Peebles Stadium on Saturday:

Garvin stepped up: With starting quarterback Dallas Davis in a walking boot, Marshall transfer Cole Garvin threw for 242 yards and three touchdowns in his first collegiate game, displaying the steady hand the Jags needed at the helm of their offense. He threw only one interception, a pick in the end zone in the first half; made good checks at the line; and even helped the Jags with his feet on a couple of designed runs.

"There was no panic," Jaguars coach Joey Jones said of Garvin. "He had that look in his eyes like: 'I'm getting ready to get this done.' It told everybody else on our football team and our staff that he was going to go out there and play cool, calm, winning football and that's what he did."

Big plays in bunches: Known for the past few years as a big-play offense under coordinator Bryant Vincent, the Jaguars had three scoring plays of over 20 yards Saturday - a 37-yard flea flicker from Garvin to Kevin Kutchera, a 79-yard strike to a wide-open Gerald Everett and a 20-yard dime to Josh Magee. Add to that an 80-yard fumble return for a score by Devon Earl and four of the Jags' six touchdowns came from outside the 20.

Pumphrey got his, but the defense limited the rest: Donnel Pumphrey, one of the better running backs in the country, ran for 151 yards and a score to fuel San Diego State. But the rest of the Aztecs' offense gained just 165 yards - a number that may be slightly misleading in that it includes a 43-yard loss on a bad punt snap.

Nevertheless, the Jaguar defense limited Pumphrey's damage and held his teammates in check for much of the night, contributing a score of its own in the fourth quarter on Earl's fumble return.

Once again, the Jags played to the level of its competition: A week after overcoming a bushel of turnovers and special-teams miscues to edge FCS Nicholls 41-40 in overtime, the Jaguars played a nearly mistake-free game - Garvin's first-half interception was their only turnover - in upsetting the Aztecs. Their two best performances of the year have come in games in which they were the biggest underdogs - Saturday against No. 19 San Diego State and in the season-opening 21-20 upset of Mississippi State.

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