South Alabama is getting ready to play its first game in 11 days — and just its second in 21 days, but the schedule has been the only thing to slow the Jaguars down of late.

South Alabama (4-3 overall, 2-1 Sun Belt Conference) hosts Louisiana (4-3, 1-2) at Hancock Whitney Stadium on Saturday, a key game for both teams in the Sun Belt West Division race. The Jaguars are coming off arguably their two most-dominant efforts of the Kane Wommack era, a 55-7 rout of Louisiana-Monroe on Oct. 8 and a 55-3 whipping of Southern Miss on Oct. 17.

“We were able to give our guys the whole weekend off, which I think is the first weekend they’ve had off since before fall camp,” Wommack said. “Breaks are really great, and bye weeks are important, if they’re utilized properly. We’ve talked to our guys about how to take advantage of the time you’ve been given off, by how you are more prepared moving forward. And I think our guys are ready.”

Louisiana sits a game back in the Sun Belt West standings, with South Alabama, Troy and Texas State all tied for first. The Bobcats host the Trojans on Saturday in another game with huge implications in the division.

Michael Desormeaux’s Ragin’ Cajuns come in not nearly as rested as the Jaguars, having lost 20-17 to Georgia State in Lafayette this past Saturday. Louisiana beat Texas State the week before and had many chances to win vs. the Panthers, including when quarterback Zeon Chriss was intercepted in the end zone in the final minute.

“Obviously, they’re a great program — they expect to win,” South Alabama offensive coordinator Major Applewhite said. “They’ve got a really good defense this year. And they’re better on offense. The quarterback’s allowing them to be more successful in some of the things they’re doing. They’ve got a lot of experience, though maybe not as much as in years past. They were so senior-laden in 2021 and even last year. But there are still a lot of guys that, maybe if they weren’t the starter, they were playing 30 plays a game.”

South Alabama and Louisiana boast two of the top scoring offenses in the Sun Belt, with the Jaguars (35.4 points per game) second behind Texas State and the Ragin’ Cajuns (32.9) third. Louisiana leads the conference in rushing offense (215.6 yards per game), while the Jaguars allow an average of just 114.3.

The Ragin’ Cajuns lead the all-time series 8-3 vs. the Jaguars, though South Alabama won 20-17 in Lafayette in 2022 on a last-season field goal by Diego Guajardo. The last two meetings have been decided by a total of five points, and only one of the last nine (a 38-10 Louisiana victory in 2020) has been a blowout.

“They’re a talented group; I’ve felt that way for the last couple of years,” said Desormeaux, who has been on the Louisiana staff as an assistant or head coach since 2016. “In our division, they’ve got — if not the best — it’s one of the best rosters. And it’s been that way for a while now. They’ve got good players and they’re playing with a whole of confidence these last couple of weeks. You can see — they’re flying around, they’re playing physical, hard-nosed football.”

Though South Alabama has posted back-to-back dominant outings, it must be noted those two games came against arguably the two worst teams in the Sun Belt Conference (Southern Miss and ULM are a combined 0-8 in league play this year). The schedule takes a turn toward the more difficult now, with four of the Jaguars’ final five regular-season games against teams that currently have winning records.

Three of those five are at home, including Saturday’s game vs. Louisiana. After one of the largest crowds in program history watched the Jaguars pummel Southern Miss last Tuesday, Wommack said he is hoping for another festive atmosphere vs. the Ragin’ Cajuns on a day the school will induct program founder Joey Jones into the South Alabama Athletic Hall of Fame.

“It’s very fitting that he is the first ever Hall of Fame inductee for football,” said Wommack, who was Jones’ defensive coordinator in 2016-17. “I’m looking forward to being able to spend some time and visit with him. … You think about Joey Jones, for 10 years, I’m not sure any of us truly know — outside of his wife — the amount of time energy that he put into building this football program. And now we’re getting to kind of walk upon the foundation that Joey Jones laid for South Alabama football.

“So it will be a special moment, and certainly, for him and his family, a well-deserved moment. I want our fans to pack that stadium out, so that when he walks out there, he gets to see the fruits of his labor, years down the road. And I think that would be a really special thing for him and his family.”

Kickoff Saturday is set for 4:30 p.m. at Hancock Whitney Stadium. The game will stream live via ESPN+.