Two-thirds of the way into 2022, South Alabama has assured that its season will extend past the requisite 12 games.

The Jaguars throttled Arkansas State 31-3 in rainy Jonesboro on Saturday, perhaps the most decisive road victory in the program’s 13-year history. South Alabama is now bowl-eligible at 6-2 overall and remains tied for second place in the Sun Belt Conference West Division with a 3-1 in league mark.

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Instant analysis: South Alabama cruises past Arkansas State, 31-3

The final four regular-season games will determine whether this is a special season for the Jaguars or merely a successful one. Before that, here are 5 things we learned from South Alabama’s dominant win over the Red Wolves:

1. Bowl-eligibility is not the end game for this team

South Alabama has played in a bowl game just twice in its history and not at all since 2016, so getting to six wins is a big accomplishment for this team. However, there is plenty more on the table for the Jaguars, including a winning final record, a school record for victories and even division and conference championships if everything breaks right. South Alabama’s two losses this season have come by a total of five points, so this team has shown it can play with anyone. How the Jaguars play against Georgia Southern, Texas State, Southern Miss and Old Dominion the next four weeks will show if they can close as strong as they’ve begun.

2. South Alabama continues to own Arkansas State

Even when it was struggling, South Alabama could handle Arkansas State. Saturday’s victory was the fourth straight for the Jaguars over the Red Wolves, its longest streak against any Sun Belt opponent. Saturday’s performance was its most dominant in the series, however, and showed how wide the gap has grown between the two programs, both of which have second-year head coaches. South Alabama did just enough offensively to pull away early, and was so overpowering on defense that they could likely have played another two quarters and Arkansas State would not have scored a touchdown. It wasn’t a perfect game by any means, but it didn’t have to be considering the talent and depth advantage Kane Wommack’s Jaguars have over Butch Jones’ Red Wolves.

3. Jaguars play best when they start fast

South Alabama scored just five plays into Saturday’s game and led 14-3 after a quarter, more than enough of an advantage against hapless Arkansas State. For the sixth time in eight games, the Jaguars led after the first quarter. They are not 6-0 in those games, but in the two games they did not lead early they have totaled only 26 points. The running game returned with a return to health by La’Damian Webb, who ran 69 yards on the first play of the day and totaled a career-best 162 yards and three touchdowns. A 49-yard touchdown pass from Carter Bradley to Jalen Wayne was another big play that helped extend the Jaguars’ first-quarter lead.

4. South Alabama’s road ‘block’ is a thing of the past

The Jaguars are 3-1 on the road this season, with victories at Central Michigan, Louisiana and Arkansas State and a one-point loss at UCLA. It wasn’t that long ago South Alabama lost 15 straight road games and went more than two years without winning away from Mobile. Even last year’s team went 1-5 on the road, the lone victory on a last-second field goal at Bowling Green. Things have certainly changed, as the Jaguars dominated both the Chippewas and Red Wolves and were able to win for the first time in program history in Lafayette. South Alabama has games remaining at Georgia Southern and Southern Miss, the former in a place they are 0-4 all-time and the latter for a game that might help determine the West Division title.

5. Jaguars’ ‘Swarm D’ is on a roll right now

After several coverage busts led to big passing plays for Louisiana-Monroe on Oct. 8, South Alabama has absolutely smothered its last two opponents on defense. The Jaguars allowed just 266 yards and 10 points in a loss to Troy Oct. 20, then 153 yards and three points vs. Arkansas State on Saturday — including a program record-low minus-19 yards rushing. South Alabama ranks in the Top 20 nationally in numerous defensive categories, and is among the very best in rushing defense, third-down defense and turnover margin. That gives the Jaguars a chance to beat everyone on their schedule.

Next up: South Alabama plays at Georgia Southern at 3 p.m. Saturday. The game will stream live via ESPN+.