5 takeaways from South Alabama’s 27-20 loss to Ohio

South Alabama went down in defeat to a “peer” program once again on Saturday, losing 27-20 at Ohio to fall to 0-2 this season.

Major Applewhite’s Jaguars played without starting quarterback Gio Lopez, who was dealing with a turf toe injury suffered last week vs. North Texas. South Alabama had opportunities to tie the game or take the lead in the second half, but could not cash in.

South Alabama drops to 0-2 after 27-20 loss at Ohio

The Jaguars have a short week before hosting Northwestern State on Thursday. Before that, here are 5 takeaways from the loss to the Bobcats:

1. Jaguars’ offense lacked consistency without Gio Lopez

Bishop Davenport played fairly well in his first extended action for South Alabama, but was nowhere near the dynamic force that Lopez is when healthy. Davenport missed a few open throws, and was late with some others that might have been bigger plays. The Jaguars also didn’t take many shots downfield in the passing game, something they’ve done with regularity the last three years.

2. Fluff Bothwell is the best running back on the team

Starting running back Braylon McReynolds didn’t play due to injury, so Bothwell moved up to No. 2 behind Kentrel Bullock. It’s starting to look like the talented freshman should be No. 1, however. He’s just a different kind of runner than anyone else on the South Alabama roster, and the Jaguars probably wasted some opportunities to use him more early in the game. Once Ohio got up by two scores, the running game went away.

3. Defense was better but still not good enough

The Jaguars weren’t completely helpless against the Bobcats, though they still allowed three killer scoring drives. Ohio took control with a pair of long touchdown marches, one right before the half and one right after. Then they killed most of the fourth quarter with a 13-play field-goal drive. The Jaguars did make a few big plays — including a sack/fumble in the third quarter — but couldn’t get off the field when it mattered most against an offense that wasn’t exactly dynamic.

4. Special teams again have a bad day

Other than placekicker Laith Marjan, South Alabama’s kicking game has been pretty horrid this year. A fumbled punt in the second quarter gifted a touchdown to Ohio after the Jaguars’ defense had made a stop. Kick coverage has also been suspect this year, as were kick returns on Saturday. The Jaguars would have been better off just fair-catching all kickoffs instead of trying for a return and winding up with the ball short of their own 20. Aleksi Pulkkinen made his first appearance at punter and had an up-and-down day in windy conditions.

5. It’s getting difficult to find 6 wins on this schedule

South Alabama is sitting at 0-2 despite being favored in both of its games this season. The Jaguars will almost certainly win Thursday vs. FCS opponent Northwestern State, which lost at home to Prairie View on Saturday. But then come consecutive road games against Sun Belt preseason favorite Appalachian State, SEC power LSU and much-improved Arkansas State. The Jaguars will be hard-pressed to enter the nationally-televised Oct. 12 “Battle for the Belt” with Troy at better than 1-5, and thus will struggle to be bowl-eligible for the third straight year.

NEXT UP: South Alabama hosts Northwestern State at 6:45 p.m. Thursday. That game will be streamed live via ESPN+.