South Alabama
1-1Sun Belt · Major Applewhite, year 3 (12-15) · Hancock Whitney Stadium · 25,450 · 15,087 avg in 2026
LastL 24–28 at Tulane · Sat Sep 12 · Bishop Davenport 296 pass yds, 2 TD, 50 rush yds
Nextvs Ohio · Sat Sep 19 · 7 pm ET · Hancock Whitney Stadium · South Alabama by 4.5 · series 0-1 · Game preview
Updated Tue Sep 15 · through week 2
All 85 stats
FBS rankings · 2026 season · all stats vs 136 FBS programs
| Player | # | G | Cmp/Att | Pct | Yds | Y/A | TD | INT | Rate | ZPR | QBR | Adj ANY/A | Sack% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| +0.38 EPA/play | 4 | 2 | 40 / 59 | 67.8 | 450 #58 FBS | 7.6 | 3 #60 FBS | 0 | 148.6 | 52 | 79.8 | 8.1 | 3.3 | |
Yards by week → | ||||||||||||||
| Player | # | G | Car | Yds | Avg | TD | Long | Stuff% | 10+% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| -0.01 EPA/play | — | 2 | 33 | 142 | 4.3 | 2 #43 FBS | 18 | — | — | |
Yards by week → | ||||||||||
| -0.10 EPA/play | 3 | 2 | 25 | 110 | 4.4 | 0 | 16 | — | — | |
Yards by week → | ||||||||||
| Player | # | G | Rec | Yds | Avg | TD | Long | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Possession Receiver · +0.71 EPA/play | 12 | 2 | 14 | 197 #30 FBS | 14.1 | 2 #24 FBS | 26 | |
Yards by week → Possession ReceiverReliable target who converts on critical downs. Not flashy; consistently productive. The most common profile in its group this season — 37 of 58 classified this way. Played in 2 of 3 games this season · senior View Brendan Jenkins's full player page | ||||||||
| +0.40 EPA/play | 2 | 2 | 7 | 71 | 10.1 | 0 | 24 | |
Yards by week → | ||||||||
| +0.20 EPA/play | 6 | 2 | 5 | 45 | 9 | 0 | 13 | |
Yards by week → | ||||||||
| Player | # | G | Tot | Solo | TFL | Sack | Hur |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18 | 2 | 7 | 4 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 | |
| 56 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| 52 | — | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Player | # | G | Tot | Solo | Ast | TFL | Sack | PD | INT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | 2 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 48 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 25 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Player | # | G | Tot | PD | INT | TFL | Sack |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 | 2 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 2.5 | 0 | |
| 3 | — | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0.5 | 0 | |
| 8 | 2 | 8 | 2 #43 FBS | 0 | 0.5 | 0 | |
| 1 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 12 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 1 #22 FBS | 0 | 0 | |
| 2 | 2 | 5 | 2 #43 FBS | 0 | 0.5 | 0 |
| Player | # | G | FG M/A | FG% | XP M/A | Pts | Long |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 35 | 2 | 4/5 | 80 | 7/7 | 19 | 40 | |
| 94 | — | 1/1 | 100 | 8/8 | 11 | 51 |
| Player | # | G | No | Yds | Avg | TD | Long |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| -0.10 EPA/play | 3 | 2 | 5 | 117 | 23.4 | 0 | 42 |
2026 stat leaders · South Alabama
through 2 games
2026 stat leaders · South AlabamaBrendan Jenkins leads South Alabama with 197 receiving yards through 2 games.
How They Play · 2025South Alabama fields a capable run-heavy, methodical, ball-control offense behind a porous defense.
Percentile vs all FBS, based on this season's per-game production. Bar = where this team ranks — right is better.
South Alabama reads strongest in rushing epa (top 33%) and success rate (top 51%); the crux lives in rushing epa allowed, where South Alabama sits at the 13th percentile.
offense · strengths lead
defense · higher bar = harder to play against
hidden math · special situations
Home-field advantage · South Alabama · 2018–present · FBS opponents
South Alabama is worth +3.2 points more at home than on the road.
Middle of FBS, 33rd percentile of 133 programs
44% at home, 33% away against FBS opponents since 2018 (18–23 home, 16–33 away). Interval ±4.1.
Our model gives every stadium the same flat 2.3-point home edge — per-team modelling was tested and did not survive scrutiny (why) — and the books use about 3. Against the closing line, South Alabama has beaten the number by −1.7 more at home than away over 75 games — inside the ±7.3 that many games can resolve. Results here cannot tell the flat number apart from the building, and that is the honest reading of nearly every FBS stadium.
Hancock Whitney Stadium seats 25,450 and has averaged 67% full (16,925, 23 games reported). Visitors cover a median 292 miles to get here since 2018 — 32nd-shortest of 135 FBS venues, inside the ordinary range. For the home side it is genuinely home ground: 26% of the 2026 roster (41 of 157 located players) grew up inside 100 miles of the stadium.
Edge = half the gap between average home margin and average road margin, FBS opponents only, non-neutral games since 2018; the interval is 95%. Market line: closing spread, seasons with lines on file. Trip length is straight-line miles from the visiting team's campus to the venue, measured across all 49 home games since 2018.
More in this tab
Scheme claims
Fourth-quarter reliability, corrected
South Alabama's 4th-quarter offense, before and after garbage time
Raw Q4 EPA/play ranks 78th percentile in FBS. Strip out snaps taken with a blowout margin and it drops to the 63rd — the correction is the finding, not a footnote.
Standard downs vs. passing downs
Does South Alabama hold up once the down-and-distance turns against them?
50th percentile success on standard downs, 73rd on passing downs — a 23-point gap between the two.
View all FBS teams as a table
| Team | Standard-downs percentile | Passing-downs percentile |
|---|---|---|
| App State | 44th | 90th |
| Arizona | 92nd | 86th |
| Arkansas | 60th | 80th |
| Auburn | 75th | 55th |
| Ball State | 12th | 24th |
| Baylor | 40th | 96th |
| Boise State | 58th | 46th |
| Boston College | 27th | 56th |
| Buffalo | 7th | 14th |
| California | 9th | 25th |
| Central Michigan | 16th | 6th |
| Charlotte | 73rd | 83rd |
| Clemson | 1st | 19th |
| Coastal Carolina | 61st | 52nd |
| Colorado | 35th | 77th |
| Colorado State | 82nd | 91st |
| Delaware | 70th | 31st |
| Duke | 20th | 29th |
| Eastern Michigan | 52nd | 10th |
| Florida Atlantic | 43rd | 87th |
| Florida International | 46th | 43rd |
| Florida State | 28th | 65th |
| Georgia Southern | 24th | 45th |
| Georgia Tech | 58th | 44th |
| Hawai'i | 18th | 41st |
| Iowa State | 4th | 23rd |
| Jacksonville State | 65th | 82nd |
| Kansas | 70th | 35th |
| LSU | 33rd | 98th |
| Liberty | 14th | 59th |
| Louisiana | 19th | 92nd |
| Louisville | 96th | 70th |
| Memphis | 69th | 65th |
| Michigan | 2nd | 62nd |
| Michigan State | 62nd | 29th |
| Middle Tennessee | 87th | 68th |
| Missouri | 36th | 85th |
| Navy | 98th | 59th |
| Nevada | 77th | 52nd |
| New Mexico State | 45th | 75th |
| Norfolk State | 16th | 9th |
| North Dakota State | 86th | 27th |
| North Texas | 49th | 68th |
| Ohio | 38th | 17th |
| Ohio State | 90th | 40th |
| Oklahoma State | 41st | 49th |
| Ole Miss | 94th | 50th |
| Oregon | 35th | 33rd |
| Oregon State | 10th | 38th |
| Pittsburgh | 30th | 76th |
| Purdue | 83rd | 88th |
| Rutgers | 30th | 71st |
| Sacramento State | 23rd | 14th |
| Sam Houston | 78th | 61st |
| San Diego State | 4th | 40th |
| San José State | 54th | 22nd |
| South Alabama | 50th | 73rd |
| South Florida | 91st | 52nd |
| Stanford | 76th | 15th |
| Syracuse | 48th | 64th |
| TCU | 93rd | 8th |
| Tennessee | 65th | 78th |
| Texas | 72nd | 94th |
| Texas A&M | 85th | 72nd |
| Texas Tech | 88th | 48th |
| Troy | 22nd | 59th |
| Tulane | 31st | 2nd |
| Tulsa | 56th | 1st |
| UAB | 65th | 81st |
| UNLV | 51st | 7th |
| USC | 97th | 99th |
| UTSA | 99th | 29th |
| Utah State | 4th | 93rd |
| Vanderbilt | 80th | 12th |
| Wake Forest | 56th | 97th |
| Washington | 81st | 4th |
| Washington State | 8th | 3rd |
| Western Kentucky | 25th | 34th |
| Western Michigan | 39th | 20th |
| Wisconsin | 13th | 18th |
| Wyoming | 65th | 36th |
Halftime identity
South Alabama by half
1st-half offense ranks 23rd percentile in FBS; 2nd-half, 96th — competitive snaps only, garbage time excluded from both halves.
Ratings
Comparable teams
Most similar programs · South Alabama
Most similar programs · South AlabamaReads like
Matched on how the programs are built — tier, prestige band, kind of fanbase, conference, voice and roster size — not on this season's stats. A calibration, not a prediction.
Historical echo
Historical echo
South Alabama’s breakout has happened before — and 3 of the 4 closest programs couldn’t hold it.
Programs whose stature climbed in the same shape. The grey line is their run; the color is what came next for them.
An analogy on the shape of a program’s Zeitgeist stature arc — not a prediction. Interim calibration, medium confidence; matched among current FBS programs at a comparable level.
Conditions
74°F average kickoff temp; 11% of games had measurable precipitation; 6 mph average wind.
Based on 73 home games with weather data.