JACKSONVILLE – The Gamecocks practiced for more than two and one-half hours to get ready for Saturday’s Ohio Valley Conference showdown with Eastern Kentucky with the winner getting the early lead in the OVC Championship race.

With both teams entering the game with identical 1-3 overall records and 1-0 in the Ohio Valley Conference, the winner will become the first 2-0 team in the league.

“Nobody has a better tradition of winning conference championships and national championships and playing for national championships than Eastern Kentucky,” Crowe said. “We’ve had two very exciting games with them.

“We were fortunate enough to pull it out in the fourth quarter last year at their place,” added Crowe. “We are requiring and expecting that it’s going to take the best game that we’ve played this year at home. We really do need our fans to be part of this challenge that we have.”

Jacksonville State scored with 31 seconds to play last year to claim a 30-23 come-from-behind win and to secure the Gamecocks second straight OVC Championship. The Colonels have finished runner-up in the league each of the last two years to JSU.

Kick-off is set for 6 p.m. at Paul Snow Stadium.