South Alabama pulled off arguably its biggest win of the season on Saturday night, holding on for a 24-22 victory at first-place Louisiana.

The Jaguars (5-5 overall, 4-2 Sun Belt Conference) led 24-3 at halftime, which was just large enough to last after a wild second-half comeback by the Ragin’ Cajuns (8-1, 5-1). South Alabama needed a stop on a two-point attempt with 1:16 left to close out the win. South Alabama is now one win away from qualifying for a third straight bowl trip, with two games remaining in the regular season. Before that, here are three takeaways from the Jaguars’ 2-point win in Lafayette:

1. South Alabama finally wins a close game

The Jaguars had not won a game by fewer than 15 points before Saturday, and had lost three times by a touchdown or less. Though South Alabama nearly blew a fourth-quarter lead for the third time this season, the Jaguars ultimately closed out a one-score win for the first time under Major Applewhite. There are still execution and mental focus errors that still need to be ironed out, but those are much easier to do after a win than after a loss. Winning this game in the fashion that it did will no doubt build confidence for a South Alabama team that is loaded with youth, especially on the defensive side of the ball.

2. Jaguars in very good shape for bowl-eligibility

South Alabama had played in only two bowl games in its history before 2022, but now is on the verge of a third straight postseason berth. The Jaguars will almost certainly be a heavy favorite next Saturday at last-place Southern Miss, which it has beaten four consecutive years. If South Alabama can lock up a bowl trip next week, it could secure an even more desirable destination by beating Texas State in the regular-season finale in Mobile on Nov. 29. After the devastating loss to Georgia Southern two weeks ago, the Jaguars looked destined to be sitting home in December. Now after knocking off the first-place Ragin’ Cajuns, there is once against postseason life in Mobile.

3. Earlier losses really painful for USA now

Of course, South Alabama could have been in the driver’s seat to host the Sun Belt Conference championship game if it could have finished off either Arkansas State or Georgia Southern earlier this year. The Jaguars led the Red Wolves by one in the final two minutes before allowing a game-winning field goal to lose 18-16, and blew a 16-point fourth-quarter lead vs. the Eagles before falling 34-30. The Jaguars are still mathematically alive for the conference championship, but need Louisiana to lose to either Troy or Louisiana-Monroe for that to happen. South Alabama would win a three-way tiebreaker with the Ragin’ Cajuns and Arkansas State, however.

NEXT UP: South Alabama travels to Southern Miss (1-9, 0-6) at 2 p.m. next Saturday. That game will stream live via ESPN+.

South Alabama didn’t let this one get away, and is still alive for a Sun Belt championship.

The Jaguars held on for a 24-22 victory over first-place Louisiana on Saturday night at Cajun Field in Lafayette, winning despite failing to score in the second half. South Alabama (5-5, 4-2 Sun Belt Conference) still has a chance to earn a spot in the Sun Belt championship game if it wins its final two contests and gets some help.

“The first half was really beautiful. In the second half we made our mistakes,” South Alabama coach Major Applewhite said. “We had a special teams error that resulted in a field goal. We had a bust on the defensive call that ended up in a big touchdown, bringing it within eight, but we also did some good things. After the issue on the punt, we held them to a field goal. We did move the ball a little bit, obviously we need to sustain drives better in the second half; put points up on the board, but when it mattered, we got some first downs and took some time off the clock.”

On Saturday, South Alabama built a 24-3 halftime lead before Louisiana stormed back to get within two points with 1:16 to play. However, Jaguars nose tackle Wy’Kevious Thomas stopped Ragin’ Cajuns quarterback Chandler Fields short of the goal line on a 2-point attempt to preserve the lead.

Louisiana (8-2, 5-1) then tried an onside kick, but the ball went out of bounds and to South Alabama. The Jaguars then knelt on the ball three times for the victory, its second straight thriller in Lafayette after a 20-17 win on a last-second field goal in 2022.

For most of the night Saturday, it looked like no such dramatics would be necessary. The Jaguars — who blew fourth-quarter leads in losses to Arkansas State and Georgia Southern this season — scored touchdowns the first three times they had the ball on two short runs by Lopez and a third by Kentrel Bullock, then got Laith Marjan’s 35-yard field goal on the final play of the half to lead by 21 at the break.

“We were just executing the offense,” Lopez said. “We weren’t trying to do too much. If the hole was open, we took it. We game-planned for two weeks and we just executed it.”

Louisiana rallied, however, even after starting quarterback Ben Wooldridge was knocked from the game with a shoulder injury early in the third quarter. The Ragin’ Cajuns got a pair of short Kenneth Almandares field goals to cut the lead to 24-9 early in the fourth quarter.

Meanwhile, South Alabama could not muster much of anything offensively in the second half. After a punt with 9:30 remaining, Louisiana scored quickly on Fields’ 66-yard touchdown pass to Dre’Lyn Washington, which made it 24-16 at the 8:28 mark.

South Alabama tried to run out the clock, but Lopez was intercepted on a deep ball by safety Kody Jackson with 5:30 to play. Louisiana then drove 85 yards for a touchdown, taking advantage of an offsides penalty and a pass interference flag before Fields powered in from the 2 with 76 seconds remaining to pull the Ragin’ Cajuns within the fateful two points.

South Alabama can clinch bowl-eligibility for the third straight year by beating last-place Southern Miss next Saturday. To win the West, the Jaguars would need to beat both the Golden Eagles and Texas State on Nov. 29 and have Arkansas State (which holds the head-to-head tiebreaker) and Louisiana lose at least once each in their final two games.

Fields finished 14-for-17 for 185 yards and a touchdown for the Ragin’ Cajuns, in addition to the rushing score. Louisiana outgained South Alabama 413 yards to 353, 253-58 in the second half.

Lopez finished 24-for-34 for 285 yards passing with one interception, and also rushed for 34 yards and a score. Jamaal Pritchett caught 11 passes for 170 yards, but the Jaguars ran for just 68 yards as a team.

The South Alabama defense had its share of big moments before Thomas’ stop on the 2-point attempt, including a fourth-down stand on Louisiana’s opening possession, an interception by Jaden Voisin and a fumble recovery by Wesley Miller. Voisin’s interception was his fourth of the season and 10th of his career, a South Alabama program record.

South Alabama also allowed just one touchdown on four trips into the red zone by Louisiana, with three of those possessions ending on Almandares field goals of 35, 25 and 22 yards. The Ragin’ Cajuns were 4-for-13 on third down, though they did go 3-for-4 on fourth.

Kickoff for South Alabama at Southern Miss is set for 2 p.m. next Saturday, with live streaming on ESPN+.