10 things you didn't know: Ohio at South Alabama

South Alabama hosts Ohio at Hancock Whitney Stadium on Saturday night. We already broke down the full matchup in The Really Big Preview, but both programs put out game notes every week — and between the two of them, that's 42 pages of material most people never read. We did. Here are 10 things we found that you might want to know before kickoff.

1. These two teams have only played once.

Ohio beat South Alabama 27-20 in September 2024 in Athens. The Jaguars were down 24-10 going into the fourth quarter, scored 10 straight and got it to a one-score game. Ohio held on. Saturday is the first time these two will play in Mobile — or anywhere in Alabama.

2. Bishop Davenport's very first start as a Jaguar was against this team.

That was the Ohio game in 2024. He completed 23 passes for 226 yards and a touchdown. Now he gets another crack at the Bobcats, and he's coming off the best game of his career — 296 passing yards, two touchdowns and he ran for another 50 at Tulane. He had 346 total yards. Best game of his career.

3. Brendan Jenkins has already passed every receiving number he put up in the entire 2025 season — in two games.

Last year he had nine catches, 117 yards and a touchdown across nine appearances. Through two games this season, he's already blown past all of it — more catches, more yards, more touchdowns. He matched his entire 2025 catch total in one game at Tulane — his first 100-yard game as a Jaguar. He's led the team in receiving both weeks and scored in both.

4. South Alabama leads the entire country in time of possession.

The Jaguars have held the ball for at least 37 minutes in each of their first two games. They set a program record with 40:09 against Southeastern Louisiana, then controlled it for 37:40 at Tulane — including 21:36 in the second half alone. Add it up through two games: South Alabama has had the ball for 77 minutes and 49 seconds. Their opponents have had it for 42 minutes and 11 seconds.

5. South Alabama hasn't turned the ball over once this season.

They've run 158 plays and haven't given it away once. Davenport has thrown 59 passes without an interception. The defense has come up with two interceptions. Damyrion Darby got his first career interception against Southeastern Louisiana, and Jaylen Moson got one of his own.

6. Every week, a South Alabama player wears No. 5 in honor of a teammate who died.

On June 13, 2010, the program lost Anthony Mostella in a traffic accident near his hometown of Oneonta. Mostella was on the first South Alabama football team — a running back, team captain in 2009. He rushed for 180 yards and three touchdowns and made seven tackles on special teams. The game notes describe him as someone whose contributions off the field exceeded what he did on it. Starting in 2010, South Alabama honored Mostella by awarding his No. 5 jersey to a senior each season. After a break from 2018-20, the tradition came back in a new form — now a different player wears it each week. This season, DJ Moore wore No. 5 against Southeastern Louisiana and Brendan Jenkins wore it at Tulane.

7. Ohio's starting running back is from Cologne, Germany.

Duncan Brune played for the Swarco Raiders Tirol before coming to Athens. He played in all 13 games in 2025, scored eight touchdowns and broke 100 yards rushing for the first time against Northern Illinois. He earned Academic All-MAC honors and is one of four team captains this year. Last week against Jacksonville State, he carried it a career-high 18 times.

8. Ohio head coach John Hauser once turned a basketball player into a second-round NFL Draft pick.

When Hauser was the cornerbacks coach at Miami of Ohio, he coached Quinten Rollins — a four-year basketball letterman with 131 games and more than 1,400 career points — to come out for football. Rollins showed up for spring practice, played one season at cornerback, intercepted seven passes, won MAC Defensive Player of the Year and got drafted in the second round by the Green Bay Packers.

9. Keep an eye on Ohio kick returner Darren James-Hamilton.

Last week against Jacksonville State, the Elon transfer from Charlotte took a kickoff 98 yards to the house. He only touched two kicks in that game and still racked up 119 return yards. He's dangerous. South Alabama's special teams will need to know where he is on every kick.

10. Ohio is one of the toughest home teams in the country

Ohio probably wishes it could play all its games at home. Since naming their home field after former head coach Frank Solich in August 2022, the Bobcats are 23-1 at Peden Stadium. Their 14-game home winning streak is the second-longest in college football, behind only Indiana. They've also won seven straight bowl games. But Saturday, none of that matters. They're coming to Hancock Whitney.