One of the marquee games on South Alabama’s 2024 football schedule this season is a Sept. 28 trip to LSU, the Jaguars’ first-ever visit to Baton Rouge.

South Alabama was scheduled to play at LSU in 2016, but that game was cancelled after Hurricane Mathew forced the Tigers to re-schedule a game against Florida into the slot where they were originally set to face the Jaguars (South Alabama ended up playing Presbyterian, which was originally set to face the Gators on that day). The 2024 South Alabama-LSU game was scheduled six years ago, well before current coach Brian Kelly arrived in Baton Rouge.

Nevertheless, Kelly said he’s looking for a serious test from the Jaguars. Major Applewhite is a Baton Rouge native entering his first season as South Alabama head coach after replacing Kane Wommack, who is now defensive coordinator at Alabama.

“They’re a challenging football team,” Kelly said during SEC Media Days in Dallas on Monday, in response a question from Mobile radio reporter Corey LaBounty. “Major, obviously, I have a great deal of respect for what he’s accomplished. He’s innovative on the offensive side of the ball. He’s an accomplished head coach. He’ll have his football team ready. That will be one of those games where, after you’ve scheduled, you might [say] ‘could we have done something different here?’

“It’s going to be a challenging game, where we’ll have to be very well-prepared to go against an innovative offensive structure. And they’ve recruited well with the defensive head coach (Wommack) that was there. They’ve had some really good defensive lines.”

South Alabama went 7-6 in 2024, with its biggest win a 33-7 throttling of Oklahoma State in Stillwater. The Jaguars are 1-6 all-time vs. the SEC, the lone victory a 21-20 upset of Mississippi State in Starkville in the 2016 season-opener.

The South Alabama-LSU game Sept. 28 kicks off at 6:45 p.m. on the SEC Network. Applewhite makes his debut as Jaguars head coach on Aug. 31 at home vs. North Texas.