Southern is glad to have a game in Baton Rouge, coming off its longest road trip of the season in Tallahassee, Florida,

When Southern (4-5, 2-3 SWAC) faces Bethune-Cookman (5-4, 3-2) at 2 p.m. Saturday at A.W. Mumford Stadium, it will play its first home game since Oct. 3. Over the last four weeks, it played at Florida A&M, Texas Southern and Prairie View and had a bye week.

“We definitely look forward to coming out and putting a show on at A.W. Mumford,” defensive back Michael Williams said at Tuesday’s media availability. “ We haven't been there in a ‘lil minute. Been a long October, but we are definitely excited to get back in the stadium.”

Coach Marshall Faulk is also eager for Southern to play in front of its home crowd again. However, he acknowledged that winning in the more familiar environment can at times be more challenging than playing away from home.

“Home games, kids are comfortable, and they're not on the road together,” he said. “There's a lot of things pulling you away. A lot of our kids, they're homegrown. When you're homegrown, your distractions are in front of you. When you go on the road, it's just you and your teammates. You don't have those distractions.”

Faulk said that players don’t have to preoccupy their minds with ensuring tickets go to family members and friends for the penultimate home game of the season. He even mentioned that another difference is that players have to meet the team on time Saturday. That concern doesn’t exist for away games.

“On the road, we all get there at the same time, so it takes away a lot of the added distractions,” Faulk said.

The Jaguars' last home game was a 41-10 defeat to Arkansas-Pine Bluff on homecoming. However, they’ve had more bright moments in their stadium, possessing a 2-1 record.

“You have to learn how to be disciplined and win at home,” Faulk said. “The same disciplines that we implement on the road, you have to then implement for yourself at home. By being diligent to your studies, not just in school, but also in the stuff that we're doing on the football field.”

Defensive back Donald Johnson, who had three tackles for loss in last week’s 28-point win, explained how his group will remain focused at home.

“Just blocking out the noise,” he said. “Just staying focused, not letting the moment get too big, which we don't. You know, we just go out there and just play ball.

Tight end Aiden Valdez, who made a one-handed 10-yard touchdown catch last week, agreed with his teammate and said the players will remain close-knit.

“Instead of worrying about the outside noise or distractions, we kind of lean in on each other and hang out with each other,” he said.

Williams said that his team can’t look too far ahead, regardless of what they have planned for Saturday’s home game. The result in its matchup against Bethune-Cookman will be decided by the successful days of practicing leading up to it.

“I think the most important thing is just taking it one day at a time,” Williams said. “Being the best team that we can be on Saturday just comes with the preparation … The preparation that you put in and the way that you prepared throughout the week is going to allow you to be focused and (face) head-on the obstacle.”