South Alabama simply dug itself too big a hole in its Sun Belt Conference opener on Saturday at James Madison.

Jordan McCloud threw touchdown passes of 44, 48 and 66 yards as the unbeaten Dukes held off a late charge by Jaguars, winning 31-23 at Bridgeforth Stadium in Harrisonburg, Va. JMU (5-0, 2-0 Sun Belt Conference) also scored on an interception return, and held the Jaguars (2-3, 0-1) to 27 rushing yards.

It was the second straight loss for the Jaguars and fourth in their last six games. South Alabama lost 44-23 to Western Kentucky in the New Orleans Bowl to end the 2022 season at 10-3, then has dropped games to Tulane (37-17), Central Michigan (34-30) and now James Madison in the first five weeks this year.

Carter Bradley threw for 299 yards and a pair of touchdowns for South Alabama, which rallied back within one score after falling behind 17-0 in the first half and 31-10 early in the fourth quarter. But his fourth-down pass was intercepted near midfield with three seconds left, ending any chance of a Jaguars comeback.

As did it in the loss to Tulane, South Alabama fell into an early hole due to poor defensive execution in the passing game. James Madison quarterback Jordan McCloud hit a wide-open Elijah Sarratt for a 48-yard touchdown on the Dukes’ third offensive play, making it 7-0 at the 12:49 mark of the first quarter.

JMU got its second touchdown one play after stopping South Alabama on fourth down near the 50. McCloud threw to tight end Zach Horton in the right flat, and several missed tackles and a sideline tightrope walk later, he was into the end zone for a 44-yard touchdown and a 14-0 Dukes lead with 8:04 left in the first.

South Alabama got stops on the next two James Madison possessions, but couldn’t muster anything of its own on offense. The Jaguars’ first six possessions ended in five punts and a turnover on downs.

USA finally got something going after falling behind 17-0 on Camden Wise’s 31-yard field goal with 6:10 left in the second. After a short completion followed by a late hit penalty, Bradley found Jamaal Pritchett down the right sideline for a 48-yard touchdown, cutting JMU’s lead to 17-7 with 5:37 to play in the half.

The Jaguars then got a defensive stop, but disaster struck with less than four minutes remaining. JMU’s Mikail Kamara tipped Bradley’s pass at the line, and fellow defensive end Jalen Green snatched it out of the air and ran for a 24-yard pick-6 to make it 24-7 at the break.

James Madison came into the game allowing a little over 40 yards per game rushing, and South Alabama did little to harm that average. The Jaguars netted only 27 yards on 24 carries, with All-Sun Belt running back La’Damian Webb totaling 36 yards and a touchdown on 12 attempts.

The Dukes also had five sacks, adding to their Sun Belt leading total of 18 coming into the game. Jaguars receiver Caullin Lacy was held in check much of the day, but had two big plays late to record his fourth straight 100-yard game with 132 yards on six catches.

The only scoring of the third quarter came on Diego Guajardo’s 40-yard field goal, which cut the JMU lead to 24-10. South Alabama had a chance to get back within one score early in the fourth after Jaden Voisin intercepted McCloud at the 50, but the Jaguars turned the ball over on downs at the JMU 29 after picking up one first down.

James Madison seemingly put the game away as McCloud found Horton again open down the field early in the fourth quarter. The big tight end busted through a tackle from South Alabama safety Jalen Jordan and rumbled 66 yards for a touchdown and a 31-10 lead, part of a three-catch, 116-yard, two-score day.

However, South Alabama scored back-to-back touchdowns on Bradley’s 3-yard touchdown pass to Sefcik with 8:19 left, then Webb’s 1-yard run with 3:56 to play (Guajardo missed one extra point when it hit the right upright). Webb’s touchdown came after a 55-yard pass from Bradley to Lacy, who narrowly missed getting into the end zone.

South Alabama then got a defensive stop and forced a punt, but could not move the ball for the tying score. Bradley was sacked on third down and intercepted deep down the field by JMU’s Francis Meehan with three seconds remaining.

For JMU, McCloud completed 12 of 22 passes for 241 yards and three touchdowns with one interception. The Dukes won despite going just 2-for-13 on third down and totaling 110 yards on 10 penalties.

South Alabama stays on the road in conference next week, traveling to Louisiana-Monroe for a 6 p.m. kickoff next Saturday.