It’s easy to overestimate the importance of a victory, but South Alabama wins 24-22 against Louisiana Saturday completely changed the outlook for the Jaguars’ season.

South Alabama (5-5, 4-2 Sun Belt Conference) is now one win away from bowl eligibility for the third straight year and is still alive for the conference championship. The Jaguars travel Saturday to face last-place Southern Miss (1-9, 0-6), a team that already fired its coach and has been outscored 95-3 over the past two weeks.

“It was good to see us at a critical time get there,” defensive tackle Maurice Strong said. “I’m going to go ahead and take this momentum and try to get to a bowl game and have a chance to play for the Sun Belt championship. … But day to day, we can’t really look to the future. Taking care of Southern Miss is really the main focus right now. Let the chips fall where they may.

Louisiana’s victory put South Alabama back in the thick of the conference title race, although it will need a little help to make the Sun Belt championship game. The Jaguars not only have to win against Southern Miss on Saturday and Texas State on November 29, but also have Louisiana (8-1, 5-1) lose one of its last two games against Troy or at Louisiana-Monroe.

South Alabama is in good shape if there is a three-way tie for first place with Louisiana and Arkansas State, which is also 4-2 in conference play and beat the Jaguars 18- 16 in Jonesboro on October 5. after a head-to-head matchup, which would not apply in a three-way tie) is the division record, and South Alabama would be 5-1 against the West (up from 4- 2 for the Ragin’ Cajuns and Red Wolves) if all three finish 6-2 in league play.

“Two weeks ago, we came here irritated, frustrated, whatever adjective you want to use, after (the loss to) Georgia Southern, and we said, ‘Hey, there’s still a lot of stuff to play,’” the South Alabama coach said. » said Major Applewhite. “I don’t know, I can speculate, but I imagine there were guys sitting in that room saying, ‘I don’t know.’

“Well, two weeks later, it’s all back. … If you’ve coached long enough, if you’ve been around long enough in November, you understand what three and four games mean when you’re in a conference game and all those things are still possible.

But even if South Alabama doesn’t win the division and play for a conference title, the Jaguars showed they can win a close game when they need to play down the stretch. The United States was 0-3 this season in one-score games, and 1-5 in the last two seasons before Saturday.

South Alabama took a 24-3 lead into halftime, before Louisiana scored 19 unanswered points to pull within two with 1:16 to play. However, the Jaguars stuffed the Ragin’ Cajuns on a two-point attempt to tie the game, with nose tackle Wy’Kevious Thomas stopping quarterback Chandler Fields just short of the goal line.

“We’ve talked before about how college football games normally come down to 3-5 plays, and you have to be on the right side (to win),” defensive coordinator Will Windham said. “Three weeks ago, that wasn’t the case. We gave up those two touchdowns late against Georgia Southern. That was kind of the preaching point as we got close at the end (against Louisiana).

“We were very good in the red zone all day. We limited them to a few baskets and that was the difference in the game. We talked about being our best on the play. We picked up all the goal line plays they showed on Tuesday and Wednesday. When that play happened Thursday in practice, (Thomas) made the play. And then it shows when the game is on the line.”

South Alabama is a three-touchdown favorite against Southern Miss, which has lost eight straight games since its only win of the season against FCS opponent Southeastern Louisiana on September 7. The Jaguars are 4-0 all-time against the Golden Eagles, including a 55-3 win in Mobile last season.

Southern Miss is last in the Sun Belt Conference in offense (14.9 points per game) and defense (36.6), as well as total offense, rushing attack and rushing defense. The Golden Eagles allowed 38 sacks and converted just 23.4 percent of their third downs.

“The record doesn’t really match (the talent),” Applewhite said. “Then you see the effort they play with. Then you look at the games, whether it’s a two-score game with Arkansas State in the fourth quarter or a one-score game with (Louisiana) at home in the fourth quarter. There are a lot of close matches.

“So what comes to your mind as a coach is, ‘I hope our players see that. I hope our players understand that. So talk to them and help them understand, explain to them, “Do you all feel like you’re all a 5-5 team? » “No, coach, we think we are better.” “OK, well, that’s probably how they feel too.” On senior day, they’re going to play with someone who has emotion.

Kickoff for South Alabama-Southern Miss on Saturday is set for 2 p.m. at MM Roberts Stadium in Hattiesburg. The game will be streamed live via ESPN+.