Jacksonville State’s coaching staff told their players before Saturday that they had to come into their matchup with Southern Miss hungry.
In one of the most dominant performances for Jax State as an FBS program, head coach Rich Rodriguez and company will head home more than satisfied.
The Gamecocks earned its first win of the season with a dominant 44-7 home win over Southern Miss on Saturday, closing out the team’s nonconference slate with a win.
“I thought we were better than what we had played. But until you play, you don’t really know,” Rodriguez said. “It was good, we got some turnovers. Defensively, we got some stops. Offensively, we ran the ball a little bit, got some explosive plays, and that’s a solid Group of Five program.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do, still; our guys know that, but to get a good win at home at homecoming, great crowd, great weather.”
It was domination from the start for Jax State, with an interception from Antonio Carter turning into a three-play, 65-yard drive capped off by a 32-yard rushing touchdown by Tre Stewart.
The Gamecocks went on to roll up 509 yards of offense in the win. Tyler Huff led the way, completing 14 of his 16 passes for 236 yards, a touchdown and an interception while running for 77 yards and a score.
Stewart finished with a team-high 96 yards and two touchdowns, while Anwar Lewis racked up 65 yards and two touchdowns, along with a 48-yard reception; Brock Rechsteiner had the Gamecocks’ lone receiving touchdown with an 85-yard score.
“Tyler’s a tough runner, he’s a physical runner,” Rodriguez said. “Tre Stewart’s a hard guy to bring down, he runs hard, and it was good to see Q Lewis; he’s a smaller guy. Andrew Paul was out, so we were ready to play Mike Franklin as well.
“The biggest difference for us was getting some movement up front. We needed to do a better job of that in short yardage, and we did today.”
Stewart said he and Huff had talked before the game about making the most of third-down opportunities, with Saturday’s performance on third down marking the total from the last three games.
The Gamecocks finished 6-for-11 on third down attempts.
“All practice, all week, we’ve just been working on the little details and the kinks,” Stewart said. “Today, they finally came together.”
Southern Miss starting quarterback Tate Rodemaker was pulled after two drives, both ending in interceptions. With freshman John White closing the game, the Gamecocks totaled four more turnovers.
The Gamecocks’ defense had four interceptions from four different players in the win, with Carter, Gemiere Latimer, Ky’Won McCray and Jabari Mack each logging one apiece; J-Rock Swain and Cam Vaughn each forced a fumble.
After opponents converted on third down over 50% of the time in the first three games, Jax State also held Southern Miss 1-for-10 on third-down attempts, with the Golden Eagles averaging just 4.1 yards per play.
“We know we could do better as a team,” Carter said. “The start to the season wasn’t what we expected, it wasn’t what we wanted. We know we still can flip this here, and so we wanted to get out here today, have a great game and come together as a team.
“Coach wanted us to be hungry this week, and that’s what we were. I think it showed on the field.”
Jax State (1-3) will have a bye week before opening Conference USA play at Kennesaw State on Friday, Oct. 4. The game will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network.
