South Alabama wide receiver Devin Voisin notes that there’s a saying among Jaguars coaches whenever a freshman enters the game, one they’ve had to modify in regards to running back Fluff Bothwell.

“It’s either ‘oh, crap’ or, ‘oh, awesome, a freshman,’” Voisin said. “But as soon as he came in the game, we’re like ‘oh perfect.’ Defenses, they’ve never seen him. And they’ve never seen what we’ve been seeing all through fall camp.”

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Bothwell was the third running back on the field for the Jaguars in Saturday’s 52-38 loss to North Texas, entering the game after program veterans Braylon McReynolds and Kentrel Bullock had already gotten some reps. He ran for two yards on the final play of the first quarter, then played a major role on a secone-quarter touchdown drive.

On third-and-5 from the North Texas 41, Bothwell made an over-the-shoulder catch on a wheel route down the left sideline to pick up 28 yards. On the next play from the 13, he barreled right through the middle of the Mean Green’s defense and into the end zone, for the first of what is likely to be many touchdowns at the college level.

“It felt great, because coming into the game, I was just a little nervous about it being my first game and then getting used to how different it is from high school,” Bothwell said. “… It’s not as much different as I thought it would be. I mean, it’s a little faster. You’ve got to read blocks and stuff like that a little faster, but I’m getting used to it.”

South Alabama got behind in the second half, so Bothwell didn’t run the ball as much as he otherwise might have. But he still led all Jaguars running backs with 30 yards on six carries, in addition to the 28-yard reception.

It was a modest, yet still impressive, debut for the chiseled 5-foot-10, 219-pound freshman from Oneonta. Moreover, it was likely a sign of things to come.

“He scored, so that’s good. We’ll always take that,” head coach Major Applewhite said. “But I thought he did well and I’ve seen these guys before — whether it’s quarterbacks, guards, DBs, Week 1 to Week 2 that you get more and more comfortable with the calls. You get comfortable with pre-game, your preparation, all those things, and you just start to play freer as the season goes along. So I don’t expect anything different in terms of his process of maturing as a player on game day.”

Bothwell joined the South Alabama team over the summer after a career at Oneonta in which he posted often ludicrous statistics on both sides of the ball. After running for 3,112 yards and 41 touchdowns as a junior in 2022, Bothwell battled through a hip injury to rush for 2,031 yards and 32 more scores as a senior.

One game in particular from his senior year stood out against many incredible performances. In a 62-36 victory over Etowah on Oct. 6, Bothwell carried the ball 24 times for 265 yards and four touchdowns, caught four passes for 122 yards and three touchdowns, threw a 40-yard touchdown pass and piled up 17 tackles and a sack from his linebacker spot on defense.

“Generational,” Oneonta coach Phil Phillips told AL.com last fall. “I’ve been doing this since 1985. I think I’ve had four, maybe five guys, where you are like, ‘I don’t know if I’ll ever have one like this again.’ He is that type guy.”

Da’Marion Bothwell made an impact from the moment he came into the world, earning the nickname “Fluff” from family members because he weighed 11 pounds at birth. He grew up in the same north Alabama town as one of the early stars of South Alabama’s football program, the late Anthony Mostella.

Mostella was a running back on the Jaguars’ first team in 2009, and made the tackle on the opening kickoff of the first game in program history vs. Hargrave Military Academy. Mostella — who was a cousin of Bothwell’s on his father’s side — was killed in a motorcycle accident the following summer, and the program honors him to this day by giving out his No. 5 jersey to a team captain for each game.

“The No. 5 is a big tradition down here and Anthony Mostella was related to me,” Bothwell said. “That was a big part of why I came here.”

Bothwell actually signed with South Alabama in December, but chose to keep things quiet temporarily so he could share in the moment with teammates and friends. Once classes resumed after the holiday break, he announced his decision at a school assembly on the February signing day.

South Alabama offensive coordinator Rob Ezell also grew up in north Alabama, and recruits that area for the Jaguars. He said Bothwell’s early success at the college level was certainly no surprise given his background.

“He really comes from a great family,” Ezell said. “His mom is an awesome lady, his dad works construction — just a hard-working, blue-collar kind of family. He was raised the right way, played for a really good high school program. … You know what you’re going to get when you get a player from Oneonta. They’re going to be tough; they’re going to be easy to coach. He’s a ‘yes sir, no sir,’ kind of guy and a good teammate.

“Obviously, the ability’s there. He’s just got to continue to grow and develop. But we’re glad to have him.”

It wasn’t long after Bothwell arrived on campus at South Alabama in June that he began to turn heads. Voisin compared him to Damean Bivins, a promising Jaguars running back whose career was cut short due to injury.

In South Alabama’s first preseason scrimmage on Aug. 10, Bothwell led all ballcarriers with 68 yards and a touchdown on nine carries. In the second scrimmage a week later, he caught three passes for 50 yards, including an 18-yard touchdown.

“After the scrimmages, coaches were starting to put me in with the ones and twos a lot more,” Bothwell said. “But I still wasn’t sure if I would get in the game or not, with me being a freshman. But I got in and did my best.”

Said Voisin, “Fluff is very, very good and has a lot of potential. He doesn’t look like a freshman.”

South Alabama (0-1) travels to Ohio (0-1) on Saturday. Kickoff is set for 5 p.m., with live-streaming via ESPN+.