South Alabama ended its regular season at the .500 mark with a 52-44 loss at Texas State on Saturday, a game that saw the Jaguars fall behind 24-0 in the first quarter and 31-6 in the second.

The Jaguars (6-6 overall, 4-4 Sun Belt Conference) rallied to make it a one-score game twice in the second half despite playing without starting running back La’Damian Webb (injured toe) and losing quarterback Carter Bradley to injury in the third quarter. Desmond Trotter threw four touchdown pass in relief of Bradley, while tight end DJ Thomas-Jones caught three and reserves Javon Ivory and Braylon McReynolds also had career days.

South Alabama has still never won at Texas State, which finished the regular season 7-5 overall, 4-4 in the Sun Belt. TJ Finley threw for 368 yards and three touchdowns for the Bobcats, who also scored a touchdown on special teams and on defense.

“We just made too many errors in all three phases — offense, defense, special teams,” South Alabama coach Kane Wommack said. “Our offense was better in the second half, but our defense never gave us a chance to get back in the game enough. We had to find a way to get one more stop and we didn’t do that.

“That’s kind of been the tale of our season — we have not been responsive enough in tough games. That’s something we’ve got to get better at.”

Both teams will await bowl selections, which will be announced on Dec. 3. The Jaguars and Bobcats are among 12 bowl-eligible teams in the Sun Belt.

Trotter, a sixth-year senior who had played only sparingly this season, completed 19 of 22 passes for 220 yards with four touchdowns. Bradley completed 18 of 24 passes for 183 yards and two scores prior to the injury.

Freshman Gio Lopez started the Nov. 1 game vs. Troy at quarterback when Bradley was injured previously, but had already played in four games this season prior to Saturday. He would no longer be eligible for a redshirt season if he plays in another game.

“I’m so proud of Desmond Trotter,” Wommack said. “He answered the ball and made play after play. He’s worked so hard every single day. He’s been the guy ready at a moment’s notice. He was selfless when we put Gio in vs. Troy. I didn’t want to burn Gio’s redshirt, but we wanted to give Dez a shot and what a tremendous job he did. We would have loved to be able to execute better so he had a chance to win it at the end.”

Thomas-Jones caught nine passes for 56 yards and the three scores, plus a two-point conversion. McReynolds ran 19 times for 79 and also caught six passes for 70 yards.

Ivory caught four passes for 81 yards and a touchdown, while Caullin Lacy caught 11 passes for 94 yards and a score. Back-up tight end Jacob Trotter caught the Jaguars’ final touchdown pass.

After South Alabama trailed 31-17 at halftime, Bradley was knocked out of the game on the first possession of the third quarter, reaggravating his left knee injury while taking a hard hit. Trotter replaced him and threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to Thomas-Jones with 6:41 left in the third, pulling the Jaguars within 31-24.

Texas State went back up by two scores at 38-24 on Finley’s 10-yard touchdown pass to Donerio Davenport with 3:35 left in the third. South Alabama answered with Trotter’s 12-yard touchdown pass to Lacy to make it 38-30 early in the fourth, but the Jaguars inexplicably went for 2 and did not get it.

Finley then hit Kole Wilson on a 24-yard score with 11:31 left to make it 45-30, but the Jaguars again answered with Trotter’s 3-yard pass to Thomas-Jones on fourth down with 4:04 to play. Forced to go for 2, South Alabama was again unsuccessful and was down by 9.

Texas State put the game away moments later, when Ismail Mahdi punched in a 1-yard touchdown. The score — which made it 52-36 with 3:04 remaining — came a play after Finley found Konner Fox for 41 yards to the 1.

South Alabama scored the game’s final touchdown on Trotter’s 5-yard pass to Hopper with 1:02 remaining. The Jaguars then tried an onside kick, but could not convert and the Bobcats ran out the clock.

South Alabama trailed 24-0 after the first quarter and 31-6 in the second, but clawed back to within 31-17 at halftime. Texas State scored a pair of non-offensive touchdowns — Kaleb Culp’s 40-yard fumble return and Wilson’s 100-yard kickoff return — in building its lead.

The Jaguars fought back with 17 points in the second quarter, Bradley touchdown passes of 39 yards to Ivory and 18 yards to Thomas-Jones and a 52-yard field goal by Diego Guajardo. The Thomas-Jones touchdown catch came on fourth down with 8 seconds left in the half, cutting the Bobcats’ lead to two scores at the break.

Texas State also scored on Finley’s 48-yard pass to Ashtyn Hawkins, Jahmyl Jeter’s 1-yard run and Mason Shipley’s 28-yard field goal. The Shipley field goal came after the Bobcats successfully converted an onside kick and gave them a 24-0 lead.

Wilson had 226 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns for Texas State, 102 on six receptions and 128 on kickoff returns. Hawkins added five catches for 131 yards and a touchdown.

Texas State’s defense sacked Bradley and Trotter a combined five times. Linebacker Brian Holloway had a huge game individually, finishing with 15 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss and a sack.