South Alabama grinded out a 21-14 victory over Arkansas State on an overcast, misty day at Hancock Whitney Stadium, evening their record for the season and pulling within one win of bowl-eligibility.

La’Damian Webb ran for 150 yards and Carter Bradley threw two touchdown passes to Jamaal Pritchett in his return from a knee injury for the Jaguars, who are now 5-5 overall and 3-3 in Sun Belt Conference play. South Alabama’s defense totaled 11 tackles for loss and held the Red Wolves (5-5, 3-3) to just 3-for-16 on third and fourth downs.

South Alabama now needs one win in its final two games (at home vs. Marshall, at Texas State) to become bowl-eligible for the second straight year. The Jaguars went 10-3 last season and played in the New Orleans Bowl.

“I’m very, very proud of the responsiveness of our team tonight,” Wommack said. “We’ve been talking about doing hard things in hard times and certainly tonight was that. The last couple of games here, it’s been really hard. This season, we’ve had to grind for everything that we’ve gotten. We’ve earned wins and earned losses.”

On Saturday, South Alabama was content to play a ball-control, field-position game. With Bradley working on a gimpy left knee, the Jaguars passed downfield only when absolutely necessary.

Bradley — who sat out a 28-10 loss to Troy on Nov. 2 — finished 19-for-25, but threw for only 145 yards. Many of them were dump-offs to Webb and Caullin Lacy, who combined for 11 receptions for 82 yards.

“If that (Troy) game was on a Saturday, I was playing,” Bradley said. “… But just watching it, not being a part of it, definitely fueled the fire because I’m always ready to go. I definitely had to get back this week and make sure I was ready to go.

“This Arkansas State team, there’s a lot less explosive plays in the pass game than in the run game. We were just taking what they were giving us, which is the goal every week.”

South Alabama’s defense harassed Arkansas State quarterback Jaylen Raynor all day, sacking him four times and hurrying him on four other occasions. The freshman passed for 186 yards and a touchdown, but was picked off by South Alabama’s Jaden Voisin in the third quarter and netted just nine yards rushing.

Linebacker Quinten Wilfawn had his third straight massive game for the South Alabama defense, totaling nine tackles, four quarterback hurries, two tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks and a pass breakup. Jamie Sheriff and Trey Kiser also had sacks, while Jordan Norman combined with Wilfawn on another.

“(Raynor is) a really good athlete,” Wilfawn said, ” and getting pressure to him, getting in his head the whole night, that was one of our keys. And I think we executed really well.”

After Arkansas State took a 3-0 lead on Dominic Zvada’s 36-yard field goal at the 9:18 mark of the first quarter, South Alabama answered immediately with a four-play touchdown drive.

Webb ran 60 yards to the ASU 12 on the second play, then ran into the end zone from 13 yards out two plays later to put the Jaguars up 7-3. The touchdown was Webb’s 15th of the year, extending his school record.

“My line did a good job of kicking out the outside zone and I just saw the hole,” Webb said of his 60-yard run. “It was so wide, I couldn’t miss. So give them their props. They’re doing a heck of a job.”

Zvada missed a field goal with 5:51 left in the second quarter, and South Alabama drove for a huge touchdown just before the half. Upback Todd Justice ran 19 yards for a first down with a fake punt, then Bradley hit Webb for 9 yards on third down at the 29.

On the next play, Bradley hit a leaping Pritchett for a 20-yard touchdown with 7 seconds left in the half. South Alabama led 14-3 at the break.

“In that moment, you’re a little more aggressive, because you’ve got to find a way,” Wommack said of the fake punt. “We have won every quarter this season in terms of points, except the second. We talked about that in our coordinator meeting this week. We’ve got to find ways to create one more explosive play, get a stop on defense or do something on special teams. I said ‘hey, we may even fake a punt, and sure enough, that one hit.

“… Obviously, that set up a score right before the half, which ended up being the difference in the game.”

Arkansas State cut the lead to 14-6 on Zvada’s 43-yard field goal, but South Alabama again answered with a touchdown drive. The Jaguars converted a third down and a fourth down on the drive, which ended in Bradley’s 24-yard touchdown pass to Pritchett and a 21-6 score with 8:07 left in the third.

The remainder of the game was mainly a battle of attrition, as South Alabama did not score again but managed to run much of the clock out nonetheless. The Jaguars got a pair of fourth-down stops, but could not get a third as the Red Wolves pulled within seven.

Raynor hit a leaping Jeff Foreman for a 46-yard touchdown with 3:39 left, then ran for two points to make it 21-14. The Red Wolves’ drive began after Webb fumbled at the ASU 20 at the end of a 22-yard run with 5:51 to play.

South Alabama appeared set to punt the ball away with 2:44 left, but Arkansas State ran into Jack Martin and gave the Jaguars a first down. USA then ran out the clock for the victory.

“This win is everything to us,” Voisin said. “We’re fighting everything for this season, and getting one game away (from bowl-eligibility), that’s just closer to our goal.”

In addition to Bradley, South Alabama also welcomed back running back Braylon McReynolds, who had been out since Week 1 with a broken collarbone. The sophomore from Mobile ran for just two yards on three attempts, but caught four passes for 20 yards.

South Alabama is home again next Saturday, hosting Marshall at 4 p.m. That game will stream live via ESPN+.