HOUSTON — Every Southern win the past two seasons has been followed by a loss.

The Jaguars have been searching for consistency. With a chance to win consecutive Southwestern Athletic Conference games on Saturday, the Jaguars couldn’t earn back-to-back wins for the first time since 2024.

Southern lost 24-21 to Texas Southern (2-5, 1-3 SWAC) at Reliant Stadium. Tigers kicker Miguel Arana nailed a 46-yard field goal as time expired, thwarting the Jaguars' second-half rally.

“As you guys saw, highly contested game,” Southern coach Marshall Faulk said. "Met (Texas Southern) coach (Cris) Dishman after the game, and just told him how hard his kids played. Kind of games you want to be a part of. And just you'd rather be on the other side of it, and the game came down to just making a few plays, and they made more plays than we did.”

Although Texas Southern quarterback Cam’Ron McCoy, a transfer from Southern, couldn’t get much going through the air with 42 yards on 5-of-8 passing, the Tigers piled up 218 yards and three touchdowns on 43 carries. Athean Renfro led the Tigers with 23 carries for 135 yards and a touchdown.

McCoy was at his best on the ground, rushing 16 times for 71 yards and a score.

“We weren't gap sound today,” Faulk said about his defense on McCoy. “We didn't wait for him to come to us. You know, we had players running around trying to make plays instead of playing the defense. So, when that happens, you find yourself in the position that we are in.”

After trailing 21-7, Southern (3-5, 1-3) tied the game at 21-21 with 4:24 left on a 2-yard run by Trey Holly and an extra point by Chris McKenna. Holly finished with 156 yards rushing and a TD on 35 carries.

“Me personally, I feel like I could have ran harder,” the redshirt junior said. “I could have been more of a leader, keeping everybody just motivated.”

Texas Southern played with the desperation of a team on a five-game losing streak. After allowing Southern to score on its opening drive, the Tigers kept their opponent scoreless for the remainder of the first half, entering halftime with a 14-7 lead.

Dishman assumed defensive play-calling duties for the first time this season, a responsibility he previously had as a defensive coordinator in the XFL and USFL. The change worked as his defense looked invigorated coming off a bye week. Texas Southern pressured the Southern backfield consistently, calling multiple blitzes that forced quarterback Christian Johnson to escape the pocket and rush through his progressions.

“In previous games, their defensive line kind of hovered more around the line of scrimmage,” Faulk said. “Today they kind of got after it a little bit.

“But for the most part, you know, they did the things that we thought that they were going to do. We just did not do our jobs effectively. We didn't stay on blocks long enough. Our quarterback, we didn't throw the ball accurate enough. Receivers, we didn't catch the ball good enough. That’s it.”

The Tigers were sound tackling in the open field. Redshirt freshman safety Darius Sims was active early with a team-high seven tackles in the first half. Their biggest defensive play was a strip-sack by linebacker Donovan Jones with 12:35 left in the third quarter. The fumble was recovered by defensive back Ryan Robinson, a New Orleans native, on the Southern 43-yard line.

Three plays later, McCoy ran 41 yards for a touchdown. He faked a toss to his running back and sprinted with no defender having an angle on the left side of the field.

Texas Southern entered allowing both the third-most points (44.3) and yards (451.3) per game in SWAC play. It had been especially poor on pass plays, allowing the second-most passing yards per game (283.7) in conference play.

The Jaguars appeared to be on their way to a strong offensive showing on their first possession. After a fake handoff, Johnson threw a 40-yard pass to freshman wideout Damien Henderson on the Jaguars’ second pass attempt of the game. Johnson went to Henderson again to finish the drive with a 4-yard touchdown at the 8:17 mark of the first period.

Dishman said his team's adjustment after that Southern touchdown was to tackle better.

“It all comes down to simple facts, simple things,” the former 12-year NFL defensive back said. “Tackle with your head up. Don't put your head down and tackle. Second guy (go) strip the ball. That's the biggest thing is execution.”

Southern began to falter after sophomore kicker Nathan Zimmer had his 37-yard field goal attempt blocked with 2:05 left in the first quarter. On the next possession, Texas Southern marched down the field for a 10-play, 53-yard touchdown drive to tie the game.

The Jaguars’ struggling special teams unit influenced Faulk’s decision on a fourth-and-7 from the opposing 24-yard line. Instead of kicking a 41-yard field goal, they went for it and threw an incompletion to turn the ball over on downs while trailing 14-7 with two minutes left in the first half.

Dishman relied on his ground game. The first scoring drive ended with a 15-yard rush by Renfro. The 5-foot-9 senior had 13 carries for 96 yards at halftime.

Southern defensive end Ckelby Givens returned after missing the last two games because of a head injury. He had six tackles but none for a loss.

Southern plays a third straight road game against Florida A&M (2-6, 1-3) at 2 p.m. Saturday at Bragg Memorial Stadium in Tallahassee, Florida.