BATON ROUGE — In their homecoming loss to Arkansas Pine Bluff, the Southern Jaguars were without over a dozen players who were not injured. Head coach Marshall Faulk told the media those players, including starting quarterback Christian Johnson, were sidelined due to "conduct detrimental to the team."

As a result of the absences on the field, the Jags had to rely on younger players to step up to the plate in a conference game.

"I liked that they went out there on short notice and competed for the most part. I wish that they would have made more plays. I wish that they would have, you know, maybe had a better experience their first time out. You know, you want that, but that wasn't the case. And what I really love is how they've rebounded," Faulk said.

Southern may have to rely on those same young players again this week when they take on Prairie View. Faulk did not comment on whether his benched players will be available, so more opportunities may present themselves for young Jaguars.

"When you're not playing, you want to play, and then you get a chance to play. It's like, 'oh man.' So they're getting an opportunity, and this is what you want. You know, this is a lot of careers start off where the guys are injured or they're not playing well, and you get that opportunity. And we've had guys that have risen up to the opportunity, and they play well at times, not well enough. But it's to be expected when you're young, and you haven't had a lot of collegiate starts," Faulk said.

Southern is 2-4 on the season and 0-2 in SWAC play. They will kick off against the defending SWAC champions, Prairie View A&M, at 2 p.m. on Saturday at Panther Stadium.