WHAT: Georgia Southern (5-3, 3-1 Sun Belt) at South Alabama (4-4, 3-1)

WHEN: 6:30 p.m., Saturday

WHERE: Hancock Whitney Stadium, Mobile

SERIES: Georgia Southern leads 7-2

TV: ESPNU

LINE: South Alabama by 6

THIS GAME WILL DETERMINE IF: South Alabama can get over the .500 mark for the first time all season and stay in the Sun Belt West championship race

South Alabama running game back on track behind Kentrel Bullock

THREE THINGS TO LOOK FOR

1. Will South Alabama end its bizarre up-and-down streak?

Dating to the end of the 2022 regular season, South Alabama has not won or lost more than two consecutive games at any stretch. The Jaguars began this season with two losses, followed by two wins, two more losses and then two wins. A victory over the Eagles would give South Alabama its first three-game winning streak in more than two years. The Jaguars would also stay in the hunt in the Sun Belt West, where they are one of three teams (along with ULM and Arkansas State) a game back of first-place Louisiana.

2. Can the Jaguars’ running game shine once again?

South Alabama ran all over Louisiana-Monroe to the tune of 355 yards, the most in program history against an FBS opponent. Georgia Southern is better against the run than the past, but it’s still likely the Jaguars will keep it on the ground at least in the beginning in order to keep the Eagles’ explosive passing game on the sideline. Look for a steady dose of Kentrel Bullock, Fluff Bothwell and maybe even Braylon McReynolds in the first half on Saturday.

3. Which Georgia Southern team will show up this week?

The Eagles have been even more Jekyll-and-Hyde than the Jaguars this season, looking dominant against the likes of Georgia State and James Madison, but needing a second-half miracle to beat Marshall before getting throttled by Old Dominion last time out. Georgia Southern doesn’t air it out quite as much under new offensive coordinator Ryan Aplin as it did in previous years, the Eagles have a tendency to turn the ball over (13 times in 8 games).

KEY MATCHUP

South Alabama QB Gio Lopez vs. Georgia Southern secondary

The Eagles have allowed a Sun Belt-worst 2,180 yards and 15 touchdowns through the air, but do have seven interceptions this season. Lopez has thrown just one pick all year, and could test the Georgia Southern secondary early and often with both his arms and legs.

BY THE NUMBERS

+10 — South Alabama’s turnover margin this season, second-best in the Sun Belt and tied for ninth among 133 FBS teams nationally.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) – The Alabama Forestry Commission has issued a fire danger advisory for all counties in Alabama.

The advisory will remain in effect until we receive enough rain to improve the drought conditions.

Shelby County forester Dave Holley said this isn’t a burn ban, but a recommendation to not burn during this time because of the dry conditions we’re experiencing.

Foresters say during this time, think twice before starting a fire.

“You want to make sure leaves are raked up or mowed. If you have leaves on your roof or pine straw in your gutters things that can bring the fire from the forest to your house,” Holley said.

Holley says certain fuels can cause a wild fire to spark up and spread easily.

“We’ve had a lot of beetle kill this year, pine beetles have infested a lot so there is a lot of dead timber but really the most significant is the leaf fall this year,” Holley said.

And open fires or fires left unattended are discouraged during this time. “A BBQ grill or a contained fire in a barrel or something perhaps, but still that’s not something you want to leave unattended with the dry conditions,” Holley said.

Holley says just in the last 30 days, 246 wildfires have burned nearly 3,000 acres.

Fire safety tips can be found here.

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Copyright 2024 WBRC. All rights reserved.

No. 14 Alabama’s bye week comes at a crucial moment for the Crimson Tide’s College Football Playoff aspirations. Following this week of rest, Alabama will travel to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to face off against No. 16 LSU in a make-or-break game for both teams.

As Alabama players heal up from a physical first nine weeks of play, the bye week also comes at a festive time for Crimson Tide players to enjoy a different season—a spooky season. A few Tide players shared their Halloween favorites, including candy, costumes and memories.

Alabama offensive lineman Tyler Booker has been touted as one of the top offensive line prospects eligible for the 2025 NFL Draft. In the same way that the 2023 All-SEC first-teamer is slated to be one of the more popular names among NFL general managers next April, Booker shares the same favorite Halloween candy as most of America: Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.

Booker plans to enjoy the rest of his midseason break by returning to his hometown of New Haven, Connecticut but said one of his favorite Halloween memories occurred recently in Tuscaloosa. He and his partner took photos together in a couple’s costume, which Booker said didn’t want to spoil before posting the Halloween photos in a grand reveal on social media.

“My favorite Halloween memory was probably the other night,” Booker said. “I’m going home for Halloween, so my girlfriend and I took pictures in our costumes, and they’ll be dropping later, so be ready for those.”

Booker is a big part of Alabama’s offensive line, but the unit couldn’t be complete without multiple pieces. The same can be said for center Parker Brailsford’s favorite candy.

“Halloween is one of my favorite holidays, besides Christmas,” Brailsford said… “My favorite candy is probably Kit Kat.”

In the same way that Billy Loomis and Stu Matcher wreaked havoc as a partnership in the 1996 horror film “Scream,” the high school and now Alabama defensive duo of Qua Russaw and Que Robinson struck fear into the Missouri sideline when Robinson pressured Tigers quarterback Drew Pyne, leading to Qua Russaw’s first career interception in Week 9.

Russaw may just have a kick for the haunting side of the holiday. His favorite Halloween memory is when he and his brother used to run around their neighborhood while living in Troy, scaring people as children.

Not to be outdone, Robinson has his own Halloween favorites. The linebacker, one of the oldest players on Alabama’s roster as a redshirt senior, says he is a fan of some classics in both the candy and costume department.

“I might be showing my age a little bit, but I’m in love with the Twizlers and Swedish Fish,” Robinson said. “My favorite costume would probably be when I was Optimus Prime when I was younger.”

Once the bye week and Halloween warps up, Alabama’s players will go from spooky season to working to avoid another scare on the road. The Tide will face LSU inside Tiger Stadium in Week 11. The game will kick off at 6:30 p.m. CT and be broadcast on ABC.