JACKSONVILLE - A trio of sophomores will serve as game captains this week as Jacksonville State opens Southland Conference play at Nicholls State on Saturday.

Linebacker Jonathan Crutcher (Huntsville) will represent the defense, quarterback Anthony Mayo (Attalla) will represent the offense and the special teams will by led by punter Richie Rhodes (Alexander City).

"Jonathan, Anthony and Richie were tops on the bonus points board against Mississippi State," JSU head coach Jack Crowe said. "I thought Jonathan was the best football player on the field last week.

"I thought Richie Rhodes did an excellent job for us and Anthony made plays to keep us going," added Crowe.

Crowe said the Gamecocks will have to play better this week in order to beat a "very good" Nicholls State team, who is coming off an impressive 45-17 win at Samford.

"They've got experienced players at every position," said Crowe. "They're playing at home. If we don't play better than we've been playing, then we'll be very disappointed in our trip. We've got to start playing good football.

"With the way we played last week, we wouldn't beat Nicholls," said Crowe.

The Gamecocks are 4-1 in SLC openers, with three of those wins against Nicholls State. JSU's last trip to Thibodaux resulted in a 10-3 win over the Colonels and gave Crowe his first win as head coach at Jacksonville State on Sept. 9, 2000.

Kick-off is set for 3:30 p.m.