Alabama
South Alabama turns in dominant road win at Appalachian State, 48-14
South Alabama treated the Sun Belt Conference preseason favorite like just another also-ran on Thursday night.
The Jaguars pounded Appalachian State 48-14 at sold-out Kidd Brewer Stadium in Boone, N.C., in perhaps the most significant conference road win in program history. South Alabama (2-2 overall, 1-0 Sun Belt) rolled up 320 rushing yards and played mostly lockdown defense to beat the Mountaineers (2-2, 0-1) for the first time since 2014.
“I think everybody on our team knew they were capable of this, but to be able to come do it on the road against a quality opponent — a traditional really good program, kind of the standard bearer for our conference along with a couple of other schools — there’s a lot of excitement in our locker room,” first-year South Alabama head coach Major Applewhite said. “There is a lot of time left in the season, but it’s great that we all came tonight and had this type of win.”
Gio Lopez accounted for 259 yards and three touchdowns for South Alabama, rushing for 105 yards and a TD and throwing for 154 and two scores on 16-for-24 passing. Freshman running back Fluff Bothwell added 116 yards and two scores on 14 carries for the Jaguars, while Kentrel Bullock and Iverson Celestine also ran for touchdowns and DJ Thomas-Jones and Jamaal Pritchett both caught scoring passes.
South Alabama’s defense held App State and Preseason Sun Belt Player of the Year Joey Aguilar down for much of the night and forced a pair of turnovers in the red zone. The Mountaineers’ twos touchdowns came on a Hail Mary on the final play of the first half, and against the Jaguars’ second-team defense with 52 seconds left in the game.
It was the second straight blowout Thursday-night victory for South Alabama, which set a Sun Belt Conference scoring record in an 87-10 victory over Northwestern State on Sept. 12. The Jaguars’ 135 points the last two weeks are a conference record over a two-game span.
“It means a lot, going to somebody else’s house and not just winning, but executing all game,” Lopez said. “It was a good team win for our first road win of the season.”
South Alabama — a seven-point betting underdog coming into the night — led 28-7 after a nearly perfect first half. The Jaguars drove 75 yards to the end zone on their first possession, ending with a 10-yard pass from Lopez to Thomas-Jones and a 7-0 lead at the 11:59 mark of the first quarter.
South Alabama scored again after forcing an App State punt, this time on a 22-yard touchdown run by Bothwell to make it 14-0 with 7:10 left in the first. The Jaguars drove 95 yards in 13 plays for their third score, a 31-yard run by Lopez with 5:30 remaining in the first half.
South Alabama turned away App State at the goal line late in the half, as Jordan Scruggs intercepted Aguilar at the 1 and returned the ball to the Mountaineers’ 5. Two plays later, Bullock scored on a 2-yard run and it was 28-0.
“We were in a zone, where I have to play in between the No. 1 and No. 2 receiver,” Scruggs said of his interception and 96-yard return. “I just read the quarterback’s eyes and made a play. I tried to score, but I got too tired and he caught me.”
App State got on the board in dramatic fashion on the final play of the half. Aguilar threw deep and Dalton Stroman came down amid two South Alabama defensive backs for a 47-yard touchdown and a 28-7 halftime score.
South Alabama’s defense forced App State into a turnover on downs to start the second half and turned it into immediate points for a 34-7 lead. Lopez hit Pritchett, who dove into the end zone for an 18-yard score with 11:08 left in the third (Laith Marjan’s extra point hit the upright).
After an App State punt, South Alabama scored another touchdown. Lopez hit Jeremiah Webb for 22 yards on third-and-11 and Bothwell burst into the end zone from 14 yards out to put the Jaguars up 41-7.
Bothwell has rushed for 359 yards and six touchdowns on 37 carries this season, an average of 9.7 yards per attempt. He credited the Jaguars’ offensive line of tackles Jordan Davis and Malachi Carney, guards Kenton Jerido and Reed Buys and center Malachi Preciado for blowing big holes in the App State defensive front all night.
“Every week, the offensive line, they create a lot of gaps for our running backs,” Bothwell said. “So I give them props, every time we get inside the (end) zone, just let them know that they did what they were supposed to do.”
South Alabama pulled most of its offensive starters with 10:15 to play, but still got into the end zone again. Celestine scored on a 6-yard run with 4:15 remaining for the Jaguars’ final points.
App State scored the game’s final points with 52 seconds left when Marquel Haywood ran in from 2 yards out. The touchdown came only after South Alabama was called for pass interference on fourth-and-goal.
Aguilar finished the night 21-for-40 for 266 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Blayne Myrick led the Jaguars’ defense with nine tackles, while Courtney McBride had a sack, Aakil Washington and Carlos Johnson had two quarterback hurries each and Darius McKenzie had a fumble recovery.
South Alabama stays on the road next week, playing at LSU on Sept. 28. That game kicks offs at 6:45 p.m., with television coverage on SEC Network.
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The No. 13 Alabama Crimson Tide host the Texas Longhorns Saturday at 8 p.m. ET. The Crimson Tide have four losses this season, all have come against teams ranked inside the top 11.
Texas vs. Alabama will air on ESPN, and streams live on DIRECTV (free trial).
What: Men’s college basketball regular season
Who: Texas Longhorns vs. No. 13 Alabama Crimson Tide
When: Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026
Where: Coleman Coliseum, Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Time: 8 p.m. ET
TV: ESPN
Live stream: DIRECTV (free trial), fuboTV (free trial)
Texas is 3-4 in its past seven games, and doesn’t have a win over any currently ranked teams. A road win over Alabama would help its cause in the national ranking and the SEC standings. Alabama hasn’t lost to an unranked team this season, and a second straight would hurt their hopes for a top seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Here’s a recent college basketball story via the Associated Press:
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tyler Tanner scored 23 of his career-high 29 points in the second half and No. 11 Vanderbilt remained undefeated by beating 13th-ranked Alabama 96-90 on Wednesday night.
The Commodores (15-0, 2-0 Southeastern Conference) extended their best start since winning 16 straight games to open the 2007-08 season. This is only the second time in the program’s 124-year history that Vanderbilt has won its first 15.
Vanderbilt hadn’t played a ranked opponent until this game, also the first here between two top-15 teams since Jan. 5, 1974. Then-No. 10 Vanderbilt beat the 14th-ranked Crimson Tide in that game on its way to splitting the SEC championship with Alabama.
Vanderbilt also beat Alabama for the first time at Memorial Gym since 2018, ending a five-game skid against the Tide.
Duke Miles had 19 points and five steals before fouling out, and four other Commodores finished with at least four fouls. Tyler Nickel scored 12 points while Devin McGlockton and AK Okereke, who also fouled out, each had 10.
Tanner, a sophomore guard, added seven assists and four steals. He was 12 of 15 at the free-throw line — all in the second half.
Alabama (11-4, 1-1) had its four-game winning streak snapped in a game featuring 63 combined fouls, with two technicals on the Crimson Tide.
Amari Allen led Alabama with a season-high 25 points. Leading scorer Labaron Philon Jr. added 18 but checked out with 16:06 to go and never returned. Aden Holloway had 22 points and Latrell Wrightsell Jr. scored 13.
Fouls called left and right turned the first 10 minutes of the second half into ugly ball, and Alabama never led by more than four. Allen hit two free throws that pulled the Tide to 59-58 with 12:14 left.
Vanderbilt went on a 16-4 spurt that included a technical foul on Alabama coach Nate Oats with 8:39 to go. Tanner hit both free throws off the technical, then Mike James knocked down a 3-pointer for a 74-63 lead. The Tide made it interesting but got no closer than 94-90.
Up next
Alabama hosts Texas on Saturday.
Vanderbilt hosts LSU on Saturday.
Can I bet on the game?
Yes, you can bet on the game from your phone in New York State, and we’ve compiled some of the best introductory offers to help navigate your first bets from BetMGM, FanDuel, DraftKings, Bet365 and more.
The Alabama Crimson Tide are coming off a tough loss to Vanderbilt, but at 11-4 overall, they’re still in a great spot this season. On Saturday, they’ll host the Texas Longhorns, who are still seeking their first SEC win of the 2025-26 college basketball campaign.
Texas lost to Mississippi State in overtime and then lost by 14 points to Tennessee this past week. The oddsmakers now have them set as significant underdogs in this game, meaning a 0-3 start in conference play is likely. Let’s dive into it.
Odds via FanDuel Sportsbook
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Dailyn Swain is leading Texas in points (15.6), rebounds (7.1), assists (3.5), and steals (1.8) per game. You’d be hard-pressed to find another team in college basketball where the same player leads the team in all four of those statistics. Alabama will have to shut him down to win and cover in this game.
The key factor in any Alabama game is how its opponent defends the perimeter. The Crimson Tide is primarily a three-point shooting team, which means the ability for their opponent to defend the three-ball plays a big role in how the game turns out.
Unfortunately, the Longhorns rank 223rd in the country in opponent three-point field goal percentage. They allow teams to shoot 34.4% from beyond the arc, which means Alabama, especially with the Crimson Tide being on their home court, has a chance to shoot the lights out on Saturday.
I’m going to lay the points on Alabama as a big favorite.
Pick: Alabama -13.5 (-110) via FanDuel
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Named after a famous 1940s Bullock County moonshiner who eventually served an 18-month federal prison sentence at Maxwell Air Force Base for producing illegal liquor, the Clyde May’s whiskey company was founded in Union Springs in 2001 by the bootlegger’s son, Kenny May.
Though the whiskey it produced was actually distilled in Kentucky, it was supposedly made using Conecuh Ridge spring water that was trucked there from Alabama.
In 2004, the Democrat-controlled Legislature approved a resolution naming the company’s “Conecuh Ridge Alabama Fine Whiskey” as the “Official State Spirit” of Alabama.
Gov. Bob Riley, a teetotaler who did not think the state should have an “official whiskey,” vetoed the resolution, but Democrat lawmakers quickly overrode his veto and allowed the resolution to take effect.
Shortly thereafter, in December of 2004, state liquor agents arrested Kenny May for selling liquor without a license, possessing excessive quantities of liquor in a dry county, and selling alcohol to a minor. He pled guilty to the charges.
Alabama’s Alcoholic Beverage Control Board immediately moved to revoke Conecuh Ridge’s distribution license, meaning that once stores sold out of their existing stock, the state’s official spirit could no longer be sold in Alabama.
May’s stock was held in trust pending the outcome of his trial. Attorney Alva Lambert assumed interim leadership of the company.
After May entered his guilty plea, the Alabama House of Representatives moved to repeal the declaration of Conecuh Ridge as Alabama’s “Official State Spirit,” but the reversal legislation never passed the Alabama Senate. It remains the “Official State Spirit” today.
Kenny May passed away in 2016.
Owned and operated by a company based in New York today, Clyde May’s whiskey and bourbon is sold nationwide.
It’s flagship bottle is marketed as “Alabama-style” whiskey, and dried apples are added to the liquor as it ages in barrels, which imparts an apple/cinnamon flavor to the finished product.
Some like it, and some hate it, but all can agree the whiskey carries a fascinating political pedigree.
This story originally appeared in The Art of Alabama Politics, an outlet dedicated to the the wild, weird, and wonderful history of Alabama politics.
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