Texas Southern is the only Southwestern Athletic Conference team without a conference win.
Southern coach Marshall Faulk has experienced that reality after his team dropped its first two SWAC games. He expects the West division rival to be extra motivated to snap its five-game losing streak, and he’s also aware of the tactical change it’ll employ.
When the Jaguars face Texas Southern (1-5, 0-3 SWAC) at 2 p.m. Saturday at Reliant Stadium in Houston, second-year coach Cris Dishman will assume defensive play-calling duties for the first time this season. He’s had that responsibility previously as a defensive coordinator in the XFL and the USFL.
Like Southern (3-4, 1-2), the Tigers are coming off a bye week and have used the extra prep time to adjust how they operate since they’re near the bottom in multiple defensive categories.
In SWAC play, Texas Southern is allowing both the third-most points (44.3) and yards (451.3) per game. It has been especially poor on pass plays, allowing the second-most passing yards per game (283.7) in conference play.
The Tigers have crumbled at inopportune times as well. In their most recent 38-34 loss to Mississippi Valley State, they gave up 24 fourth-quarter points.
Dishman, a former two-time Pro Bowl cornerback, said his group has too often allowed teams to convert on third-and-long situations and that an emphasis on fundamentals was needed.
“We wasn't tackling right,” he said. “So all last week, our defensive backs did tackling circuit. We didn't do (any) backpedaling. We didn't do plant and drive. We didn't do none of that because they know how to do all that. We did tackling circuit. We shouldn't be able to give up a third-and-19. Somebody should be able to get that guy down.”
Dishman is ready for the explosiveness of Southern wide receiver Damien Henderson, who had his breakout performance in Southern’s 28-14 win at Prairie View. The freshman had two catches for 115 yards and two touchdowns.
Faulk is familiar with the Texas Southern coach from their days of facing off in the NFL.
“We’re familiar with each other in the sense of when we played in the league,” Faulk said. “He played on defenses that were aggressive. They got after you. So I'm expecting exactly how it was when he played. They're going to play aggressive. They're going to switch it up a little bit. They're not just going to sit back and allow you to throw the ball versus their zones. I feel like they'll bring some pressure. They'll do some things to try to speed us up and try to get to our quarterback.”
The Southern quarterbacks, primarily starter Christian Johnson, have done a good job of avoiding sacks. The nine sacks allowed are tied for the third-fewest in the conference.
Texas Southern might have an opportunity to improve its defensive standing against Southern, which is averaging the fewest points per game in SWAC play (18.3).
Faulk is not concerned about that average through three games. While more scoring is ideal, he wants Southern to do more of what it did against Prairie View — play its brand of football. The goal is to dominate time of possession, run the ball and get points after long drives.
He’ll depend on his offensive line to win the physicality battle and the usual consistency from running back Trey Holly, who leads the SWAC in rushing yards (673) and is second in carries (139). The redshirt junior said he’s refreshed after the bye week.
Despite the stats, Holly said he respects the Texas Southern defense. He said he expects his opponent to stack the box to try and slow the rushing game. Texas Southern is fifth in rushing yards allowed per game in SWAC play (167.7).
The Tigers offense is led by Cam’Ron McCoy, who started five games and appeared in 10 at Southern last year. The senior is having a better campaign, completing 56.6% of his passes for 1,107 yards, seven touchdowns and three interceptions in six games. He also has run for 141 yards and three touchdowns.
“Skilled guy, he can throw the football, he can run it, he can hurt you,” Faulk said. “True dual-threat guy that could really put points on the board, so we got to try to neutralize what he's doing by not allowing them to have the freedom to run around and do the things that he likes to do. We got to contain him and make him make contested throws.”
The Southern defensive players believe they can contain McCoy after they forced four turnovers against Prairie View, including three interceptions. Southern safety Herman Brister — who had 10 tackles, two interceptions and a pick-six in that game — said a lot of the credit for the takeaways goes to the defensive line. The position group excelled even without starting defensive ends Jordyn Dickerson and Ckelby Givens, who were out because of injuries.
“It just shows how deep we are,” Brister said of the defensive line. “We should be getting Jordyn back and Ckelby back this week. So that's just gonna help.
“Those guys can get breaks, and they don't have to go 67 plays a game and play the whole game.”
The potential return of Givens, who is still second in the SWAC with 9.5 tackles for loss and fifth in sacks with four, should increase Southern’s chances of winning back-to-back games for the first time in two seasons.