Southern head coach Marshall Faulk didn’t mince words after his team’s 41-10 homecoming loss to Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Saturday night.
For Faulk, the problem wasn’t simply that the Jaguars lost. It was how they lost.
“We didn’t compete today,” Faulk said after the game. “We didn’t compete at a level where we gave ourselves a chance to win the game.”
Southern entered homecoming looking to put together a strong performance in front of its home crowd. Instead, the Jaguars were dominated by UAPB, exposing problems Faulk said went beyond execution.
The Jaguars also dealt with a number of absences. Faulk said several healthy scratches, including quarterbacks Christian Johnson and Ashton Strother, were the result of what he described as “conduct detrimental to the team,” while other players like star defensive lineman Ckelby Givens were unavailable because of injuries.
Third-stringer Wyatt McCauley got the start and threw for 141 yards, one touchdown and one interception before being replaced when the game got out of hand by Vashaun Coulon.
But Southern was undone by a defense that allowed 299 yards rushing and could not get off the field, allowing the Golden Lions to convert six third-down opportunities in 10 attempts.
“We just didn’t do a good enough job tonight getting people on the ground,” he said.
At one point, Faulk used an even harsher assessment.
“I feel like we had some players — I can’t say everybody — some players kind of quit,” he said. “They tapped out a little bit, and that’s what it looked like today on the field. And we don’t subscribe to that.”
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Faulk demands players meet expectations
Faulk made clear that players he believes failed to meet the program’s expectations could face consequences.
“Those people, they will not be here. They will not play here,” he said. “We’re not having that.”
Special teams also drew Faulk’s ire. UAPB repeatedly gave itself favorable field position on kickoff returns, something Faulk attributed less to scheme than effort.
“They’re just not playing with the effort,” he said. “We’re going to find the guys who want to play. That’s what we’re going to do.”
Despite the loss, Faulk doesn’t believe Southern needs to “salvage” its season.
“We’re going to show up tomorrow. We’re going to watch film. We’re going to do what we do,” he said. “There’s nobody coming to save us. The guys that we have in there are the guys that we’re going to win with.”
