Is this the week for Southern?

Can it finally win a second straight game when it faces Bethune-Cookman at 2 p.m. on Saturday at A.W. Mumford Stadium?

Coach Marshall Faulk and his players were ecstatic after hammering Florida &M 42-14 on the road last week. The last time Southern (4-5, 2-3 SWAC) won a game by 28 points or more against a Southwestern Athletic Conference foe was Oct. 8, 2022, when it beat Prairie View by 32 points.

Faulk saw his group celebrate appropriately with the signature showing, but he and his staff made clear to the players that they had to move on to the next opponents 24 hours after the big win.

“After every win, you know, you're riding high, and after every loss, you're kind of low,” Faulk said. “What I try to make sure that they do is don't get too high and don't get too low, because you're only as good as your next game, and that's it. And we got a game coming up on Saturday. As good as this game felt (last) Saturday to win … we have to show people again who we are, how we play, what our identity is and go out there and impose our will and try to win the football game.”

With that approach, Southern isn’t overlooking Bethune-Cookman (5-4, 3-2), which was most recently blown out 63-21 by Arkansas-Pine Bluff — the same opponent that dominated the Jaguars by 31 points in their last home game.

The Wildcats are the same team that shocked the SWAC football ecosystem with a 24-21 home win over Jackson State. They also beat Alabama State by six points. Southern lost to both of those teams that Bethune-Cookman outlasted, although the Jaguars faced a healthy Alabama State with their starting quarterback, Andrew Body.

The Wildcats lead the SWAC in sacks (24) and interceptions (12). Those strengths may not matter for Southern, which proved it can win games without asking quarterback Christian Johnson to throw it much as he did against FAMU.

“We're a unique team in the sense that I don't know there's many teams in the SWAC that win a game in the fashion that we did by throwing the ball nine times,” Faulk said. “We throw it for nine times, we limit their opportunity to get sacks. That's just it is what it is. So we're not gonna hide behind this. We love running the football, so they'll have to stop the run, and then they'll have a chance to sack the quarterback. But until then, we're gonna run the football effectively, control the game, control the clock.”

Despite the limited usage, Johnson was efficient, especially in the play-action game. He threw for 112 yards and a touchdown, completing all but two passes and committing no turnovers.

Coach Raymond Woodie said Bethune-Cookman expects the Jaguars to lean on their running game, particularly Trey Holly, who leads the SWAC with both 1,033 rushing yards and 199 carries.

“They're gonna run the ball,” the fourth-year coach said. “They got big guys up front. Obviously, one of the best running backs in the conference. I mean this guy can flat-out play. We just got to do the things that we need to do as far as with our technique, fundamentals. We got to improve on that. Definitely got to be able to tackle because he's a special talent.”

Bethune-Cookman ranks ninth in the SWAC in rushing defense during conference play, allowing 198.4 yards per game. Southern ranks eighth, surrendering 195.4 yards per game.

Holly, a redshirt junior, has 37 more attempts than the conference's second-leading ball carrier, Bethune-Cookman’s Rashon Brown. He has 784 rushing yards and is tied for first with Holly with nine rushing touchdowns.

The Wildcats are third in SWAC play in rushing yards at 207.8, which is 5 yards more than fourth-place Southern.

“They're very similar to us,” Faulk said. “If we both have it our way. It'll be a very short game. It'll go by quick, and possessions will be of the utmost. We just got to do a better job of tackling. You know, they're a team, they break a lot of tackles. They get a lot of yards after contact.”

One reason why Bethune-Cookman was outmatched by UAPB was the absence of starting quarterback Tyler Jefferson. The redshirt junior missed his first game of 2026.

The Wildcats played three freshmen, and the inexperience showed as they threw five interceptions, including two that were returned for touchdowns in the first half.

Jefferson is a Florida A&M transfer who spent his first two years collegiately at Central Michigan. He is completing 50.47% of his passes for 609 yards, six touchdowns and three interceptions. He has also run for 302 yards and three touchdowns.

Woodie didn’t say why Jefferson missed last game or whether he will be available against Southern during the SWAC coaches call on Monday.

Faulk was asked whether his defense will prepare as if Jefferson is playing or will it look at the last game without him.

“That's all we can do is prepare for the offense that we've seen,” Faulk said. “We don't know what adjustments that they'll make. We can't prepare for what we don't know of. So based on the film that we have, we're going to prepare for that offense. Unless the offensive coordinator is going to dial up a new offense, if that's the case, then we'll make adjustments after we see the first quarter, and then into the second quarter and definitely in the second half.”

Whoever is in shotgun, the Jaguars will want to use the same formula that worked against FAMU. Southern defensive back Donald Johnson, who had three tackles for loss against the Rattlers, said that “carrying over” the same ferocity it showed last week in Tallahassee, Florida, will be enough to win for the first time in Baton Rouge since Sept. 19 and beyond.

“I feel like if we come out with that same intensity, physicality and focus, we gonna dominate the next two weeks,” he said.