MOBILE, Ala. – Ohio could not overcome a pair of costly first-half turnovers, falling 41-36 to South Alabama on Saturday night at Hancock Whitney Stadium.

Matt Vezza, playing for injured starter Nick Poulos, threw an interception early in the second quarter that led to a field goal for the Jaguars, and the Bobcats gave away a near certain touchdown with a fumble at the 1-yard line on the next possession.

That helped Jacksonville State take a 24-7 halftime lead, and it held on despite allowing a pair of late touchdowns orchestrated by third-string quarterback Levi Davis.

"We didn't play complimentary football," Ohio coach John Hauser said. "I liked how we came out in the second half and competed. We just dug ourselves too big of a hole in the first half, and we (have) got to figure out how to start better."

The Bobcats (1-2) had a flurry of points in the first three minutes of the second half to get back in it, and they scored twice in the final 5:20, but it turned out to be too little.

Vezza’s 5-yard touchdown pass to Riley Neer on Ohio’s first possession answered Keenan Phillips 6-yard touchdown run. However, the rest of the first half belonged to South Alabama.

Also playing its backup quarterback because of an injury, the Jaguars (2-1) went ahead for good on Jared Hollins’ 34-yard touchdown pass to Rod Gibbs on a fourth-and-2 play.

Then, taking advantage of a short field following a quick punt and a penalty against Ohio, South Alabama went up two touchdowns on a 32-yard run by Trae’von Dunbar early in the second quarter.

The Bobcats appeared to have the answer. A 24-yard completion from Vezza to Preston Bowman made it first-and-goal at the 3. Victor Rosa, getting almost all of the running back carries because of Duncan Brune’s injury suffered last week, picked up 1 yard each on two carries to the 1.

On the next play, the snap went off of Vezza’s knee and forward into the end zone. Rosa tried to dive on the ball in the end zone but failed to cover it up, and Christian Ross came up with the ball instead for a turnover. That set up a Davis Little 32-yard field goal that made it a 17-point game with less than a minute remaining in the half.

Somehow, Ohio needed less than three minutes in the second half to get back to within three. Darren James-Hamilton had a huge kick return for the second straight week, picking up 56 yards, and on the second play after, Rosa broke away for a 33-yard touchdown run.

A good special teams tackle and a holding call on the ensuing kickoff pinned the Jaguars back at their own 6-yard line, and the Bobcats forced a quick short punt with an illegal formation penalty tacked on, giving possession at the 25. Again, just two plays later, Ohio scored on Vezza’s 9-yard touchdown pass to Neer, making it 24-21.

It was not the huge momentum shift it seemed like it could be. South Alabama answered with a PJ Martin 1-yard touchdown run. With 8:21 left in the fourth quarter, Dunbar scored on a 5-yard run, and the margin was back to 17 at 38-21.

Davis entered and made things happen. He threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to AJ Miller and then a two-point conversion pass to Miller with 5:20 left to make it a nine-point game.

After recovering an onside kick, South Alabama was forced to punt, but Ohio turned the ball over on downs at its own 10-yard line with just 2:47 to go. The Bobcats forced held the Jaguars to a Little 21-yard field goal with 1:10 remaining, making it 41-29.

A 41-yard completion from Davis to Riley Palmeter led to a 21-yard touchdown pass to Dom Dorwart with eight seconds to go. A facemask penalty on the play allowed the Bobcats to kick off at midfield, but their onside attempt failed, allowing the Jaguars to hold on.

In his three quick drives, Davis was 9-of-15 passing for 121 yards and two touchdowns and rushed four times for 27 yards. Vezza went 12-of-16 passing for 113 yards and rushed nine times for 46 yards but turned it over twice.

Rosa rushed 13 times for 78 yards and a touchdown, while both Dorwart (five catches) and Neer (six catches) had 61 yards receiving.

Hollins was 13-of-20 passing for 192 yards and a touchdown, completing six of those passes to Jeremiah Jones-Thomas for 74 yards. Phillips rushed 18 times for 116 yards and Martin 21 times for 80 yards. Dunbar added six carries for 52 yards.

On the defensive side, Michael Molnar had 16 tackles for Ohio. DJ Walker made nine tackles, including three for loss.

The Bobcats wrap up nonleague play by hosting Stonehill at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Peden Stadium.