One of the best defensive efforts in school history and just enough offense on Saturday put South Alabama in position to go bowling again.

The Jaguars held Arkansas State to minus-19 rushing yards and 158 yards overall in a 31-3 victory on a rainy afternoon in Jonesboro, their most-decisive road win in the program’s 13 years of existence. South Alabama (6-2, 3-1 Sun Belt Conference) is bowl eligible for the first time since 2016 and tied program records with its sixth win overall and third road victory this season.

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South Alabama also bounced back from a disappointing 10-6 loss to Troy on Oct. 20, which knocked the Jaguars out of first place in the Sun Belt West Division. USA is currently tied for second with Southern Miss.

“What an incredible response from our team,” South Alabama coach Kane Wommack said in his post-game interview on SportsTalk 99.5 FM. “You think about where we were 10 days ago after a very tough loss, and to be able to respond in the way that we did, with the physicality that we brought, this was a great answer. We answered the bell tonight. I’m as proud of our team as I’ve ever been.”

La’Damian Webb provided most of the offensive production, rushing for a career-best 162 yards and three touchdowns on 28 carries in the game. He ran 69 yards on South Alabama’s first play of the game to set up an early touchdown, then carried the ball all 11 times on a 53-yard drive that ran down the clock and resulted in another score in the fourth quarter.

Webb, limited the last two weeks to 21 yards on 11 carries due to an oblique injury suffered vs. Louisiana-Monroe on Oct. 1, showed no ill effects Saturday. He ran for touchdowns of 3, 1 and 1 yards, and also had runs of 15 and 10 yards in addition to his 69-yarder in the first quarter.

The victory was South Alabama’s fourth straight over Arkansas State, its longest against any Sun Belt opponent. With four games remaining, any number of postseason possibilities are still in play for the Jaguars.

“It’s a great step forward for sure from a bowl-eligibility standpoint, but I want to make sure our fans, our players, everybody associated with South Alabama football, the expectation has changed here,” Wommack said. “Bowl games are awesome, that’s great, but we’ve got to continue to push the dial forward and play to our standard. We happen to be bowl eligible eight games into the season. That’s great. We’ve got to keep playing to our standard and I think that’s what we are seeing from this team.”

But this night was mostly about the defense, which harassed quarterback James Blackman and the Red Wolves (2-7, 1-4) all day. The Jaguars sacked Blackman four times, hurried him six times, forced two fumbles, broke up four passes and totaled 11 tackles for loss.

Linebacker James Miller and defensive end Jamie Sheriff trapped Blackman in the end zone for a safety in second quarter to put South Alabama up 16-3 at halftime. Lamondre Brooks jarred the ball loose from running back Johnny Lang in the fourth quarter, with Gi’Narious Johnson falling on it at the 47 for the game’s lone turnover.

“We had to come out with it,” Miller said. “Last week when we lost to Troy, I feel like we didn’t play the way we should have, with the aggression and the passion that we usually play with. So when we came out today, we made sure in the locker room that we set the tone that we were going to come out here with passion and emotion, playing as hard as we can play on every play.”

Webb’s big run sparked a 5-play, 84-yard South Alabama drive to start the game, with Webb crashing in from the 3 to make it 7-0 with 12:46 left in the first. After Arkansas State punted two straight times, the Jaguars got into the end zone again at the 4:02 mark of the first when Carter Bradley connected with Jalen Wayne on a 49-yard touchdown pass for a 14-0 USA advantage.

Arkansas State’s lone points came on Dominic Zvada’s 32-yard field goal with 1:24 left in the first, making it 14-3 after one. The safety by Miller and Sheriff accounted for the only points of the second quarter, and South Alabama led 16-3 at the break.

After Arkansas State turned the ball over on downs at the USA 39 early in the third, South Alabama drove 69 yards in 13 plays to take a 24-3 lead at the 5:18 mark. Bradley scrambled for 10 yards on third-and-8, then Webb leapt over the pile for the touchdown on fourth-and-goal from the 1. Bradley then hit tight end DJ Thomas-Jones with a shovel pass for two points and a 21-point advantage.

The only points of the fourth quarter came on Webb’s 3-yard touchdown run with 1:34 to play. South Alabama ran 7:16 off the clock on that 11-play drive, all Webb runs.

Bradley finished 17-for-24 for 179 yards and a touchdown, and also ran for 17 of South Alabama’s 183 rushing yards. Wayne caught three passes for 83 yards and a score, while Thomas-Jones hauled in four for 48 in addition to the 2-point conversion.

Miller had eight tackles, a tackle for loss and a half-sack, while Sheriff had 1.5 sacks and Darrell Luter broke up two passes. Jay’juan Townsend blocked a punt in the first quarter, the Jaguars’ first since Davyn Flenord did so vs. Memphis in 2018.

Blackman finished 22-for-39 for 177 yards passing for Arkansas State, while Jeff Foreman caught six passes for 98 yards. The Red Wolves had just one rushing play longer than six yards, an 11-yarder by Marcel Murray in the third quarter.

The two teams combined for 17 punts, nine by Arkansas State. South Alabama’s Jack Brooks bobbled a snap and was dropped for a 13-yard loss to the USA 33, but the Jaguars held the Red Wolves without points on the drive.

South Alabama stays on the road next week at Georgia Southern for a 3 p.m. kickoff at Paulson Stadium. The Jaguars are 0-4 all-time in Statesboro.