It’s unfathomable to even think that a game between two teams with 19 combined losses could come close to representing an actual bowl game.

But for the South Alabama Jaguars, Saturday night’s visit to Aloha Stadium felt exactly like one, regardless of the outcome.

USA completed its two-year transition to the Football Bowl Subdivision against Hawaii, losing 23-7 to wrap up the fourth season the school has fielded a football team.

The Jaguars finished their first full year in the Sun Belt Conference 1-7 in league play and 2-10 overall.

The trip to the islands was the farthest South Alabama has traveled to play a game.

Coach Joey Jones, who has overseen the entire process from Day 1, had plenty to say about the team’s performance on the field.

But he was also well aware of what he’s trying to build long term.

"For us, where we are in our program, we can’t make mistakes like that and beat a team like Hawaii," said Jones, whose team arrived on Wednesday. "We’ve been in almost every game — and we’ve got to get better — but we’re close and I think that’s what our kids have learned."

Jones, now 25-15 at USA, will finally have a full senior class at his disposal next season.

But for the group that played its final game on Saturday — including senior safety B.J. Scott — the trip to Hawaii had a postseason-like feeling to it, even if it wasn’t an actual bowl game.

"We’re not bowl eligible this year, but this gave us a bowl-type atmosphere and it gave us a great opportunity to know what’s ahead," said Scott, who totaled a game-high 12 tackles and an interception. "We got a chance to travel … and (the guys returning) got a good experience out of it and have a lot to look forward to."

The Jaguars drove inside the UH 15 on their first drive, but quarterback Ross Metheny tossed up one of his two interceptions to UH junior Mike Edwards in the corner of the end zone.

USA punted on its next five drives and went to the locker room down by 16.

"We didn’t do much offensively during the second quarter," Jones said. "Defense played better the second half … and I don’t know how many dropped passes we had, maybe eight or 10."

By the time backup quarterback C.J. Bennett threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to Wes Saxton to avoid South Alabama’s first shutout of the season, UH had built a 23-0 lead with less than seven minutes to play.

"We pretty much stayed fighting all game and it started coming together a little bit better in the second half," Scott said. "We fought back, but we kind of dug ourselves a hole in the beginning and it was too much."

Metheny was held to his lowest passing total in his last eight starts before giving way to Bennett, who started the Jaguars’ first three games of the season.

Bennett was 3-for-5 for 37 yards on the scoring drive.

"You’re talking about a guy who during practice didn’t get many reps at all and he jumped in there and knew where to go with the ball," Jones said.