Paulson Stadium in Statesboro, Ga., has been an unkind venue to South Alabama over the years, but never more so than on Nov. 18, 2017.

A Jaguars team that still harbored bowl hopes visited and had just beaten first-place Arkansas State took on a winless Georgia Southern team that had fired its coach earlier that season. No one saw it coming, but somehow the Eagles dominated throughout and won 52-0.

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Kane Wommack, now in his second season as South Alabama’s head coach, was the Jaguars’ defensive coordinator under then-head coach Joey Jones in 2017. His defense allowed 593 total yards and fell into a 21-0 hold after the first quarter in what remains the worst loss in program history.

“That was a rough day,” Wommack said. “That was at the end of Joey’s tenure and it was hard when you have so much respect for Joey and the opportunity he gave me. That was really a must-win scenario and we went over there and played like that. You want to do well for your coaches and your team, and that was hard for me personally.

“We didn’t execute nearly well enough from a schematic standpoint, didn’t have the answers we needed in that game. A lot of reflection came after that, and we adjusted some things on our defense. Some of the woes we had in that game plan are things I’ve utilized in the last five years, not just against Georgia Southern, but other teams as well.

“But it was not fun in the moment.”

The loss not only eliminated South Alabama from bowl contention, but resulted in Jones’ resignation two days later. Jones started the Jaguars’ program from scratch in 2007, but coached the entire 2017 season on the last year of his contract.

Only two players from South Alabama’s team remain on the 2022 roster, linebacker A.J. DeShazor and wide receiver Jalen Wayne. DeShazor was a freshman being redshirted that year and didn’t play vs. the Eagles, but Wayne did.

“That was a weird day,” Wayne said. “I feel like the guys that were here weren’t really locked in all the way. We weren’t anywhere near the type of team we have now, but it just speaks volumes about how fast this program has grown since that point.”

South Alabama (6-2, 3-1 Sun Belt Conference) heads back to Statesboro on Saturday to take on Georgia Southern (5-3, 2-2). The Jaguars remain winless in four trips to Paulson Stadium, but lost only 24-17 their last visit two years ago, and beat the Eagles for the first time in 2021, winning 41-14 at Hancock Whitney Stadium in Mobile.

• South Alabama linebacker Trey Kiser will wear the honorary No. 5 jersey for Saturday’s game, Wommack announced this week.

Kiser, a junior from Sulphur, Okla., is the Jaguars’ third-leading tackler this season with 40 stops, along with five tackles for loss and two sacks. He has stepped in as the starter at Stinger (weak inside) linebacker after Quentin Wilfawn was lost for the season with a neck injury that will require surgery.

“Trey, he plays the game so hard, and he plays with such passion,” Wommack said. “His understanding of what we’re doing and the reasons why, I think he’s taken a huge step forward from where he was a year ago.

“Before the game against Arkansas State, (Red Wolves coach) Butch Jones singled him out, specifically. He said, ‘Coach, that seems like the embodiment of your program.’ And I thought that was a great testament to a guy like Trey. It’s a great compliment to him. But also, when you think about the way we want to operate as a program, the physicality we bring, the preparedness, the effort that’s given every single day. It’s hard to argue that Trey Kiser’s not the epitome of what this program culture’s supposed to look like.”

The No. 5 jersey is given each week to a different South Alabama player in honor of Anthony Mostella, a former Jaguars running back who died in a 2010 motorcycle accident. Previous honorees this season were safety Keith Gallmon (Nicholls), cornerback Darrell Luter (Central Michigan), center James Jackson (UCLA), wide receiver Jalen Wayne (Louisiana Tech), quarterback Desmond Trotter (Louisiana), safety Yam Banks (Louisiana-Monroe), quarterback Carter Bradley (Troy) and punter Jack Brooks (Arkansas State).

• Tight end DJ Thomas-Jones had one of his better games with the Jaguars against Arkansas State, catching four passes for 48 yards, plus a two-point conversion.

The big performance came just four weeks after Thomas-Jones collapsed on the sideline during a game at Louisiana on Oct. 1 and was rushed to a hospital. He spoke to the media for the first time since that incident on Monday, but declined to go into details about his condition or his recovery.

“I don’t really want to get into it, but I will say it means a lot to have a program behind you and trust you after everything that’s going on,” Thomas-Jones said. “It felt good to be back. It shows me that the coaches and the guys really trust me to go out there and do what I can at a fast pace. It helps me and pushes me to be better every day.”

In seven games this season, Thomas-Jones has caught 12 passes for 132 yards and a touchdown. A former Saraland High Schools standout, he transferred to South Alabama from Ole Miss prior to spring practice.