CHARLESTON, Ill. – Ryan Perrilloux scored three touchdowns and passed for 281 yards to lead Jacksonville State to a 23-10 road win over No. 20 Eastern Illinois in the Gamecocks' Ohio Valley Conference opener on Saturday afternoon.

Perrilloux completed 20-of-25 passes for a career-high 281 yards and a touchdown while rushing for 19 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 10 attempts. The JSU offense rushed for 201 yards on the ground and had 281 yards passing for 482 totals yards on the afternoon.

Jacksonville State won its third-straight game and snapped an eight-game losing skid against ranked opponents while improving to 3-1 overall and 1-0 in the OVC. Eastern Illinois had a two-game winning streak come to an end, falling to 2-3 overall and 0-1 in league play.

“This was a really big win for our football team,” JSU head coach Jack Crowe said. “Eastern Illinois is a very good team and I don't know if we will have a game that will be bigger, from an emotional standpoint, for us this season.”

The Gamecock defense had one of its most dominating efforts against the run, allowing just 20 rushing yards, the smallest output by an opponent in the school's Division I history. JSU allowed just 226 total yards, and the 20 yards rushing was the fewest by an OVC opponent since Tennessee Tech rushed for 35 yards in 2007.

Jacksonville State took its second drive of the game and went 90 yards in just three plays to take an early lead. Alphonso Freeney's career-long 45-yard run and a 28 yard pass from Perrilloux to Deonte Carter set up the game's first touchdown. Perrilloux connected with James Wilkerson on a 17-yard pass that gave JSU a 7-0 lead with 3:27 left in the first quarter.

The Gamecocks then marched 99 yards on their next possession to extend the lead, a drive that was highlighted by a 66-yard pass from Perrilloux to Maurice Dupree to put JSU in scoring position. Two plays later, Perrilloux broke away from a would-be sack by EIU's Pierre Walters and scampered 16 yards for a touchdown. Gavin Hallford's extra point gave JSU a 14-0 lead with 11:19 to go in the second quarter.

Eastern Illinois continued to make JSU put together long drives, punting the ball down to the Gamecock 12 yard line, but the Gamecocks used 14 plays to drive the 88 yards while converting on two third down conversions en route to the end zone.

On third and eight from the EIU 16 yard line, Perrilloux hit Jeffery Cameron for 15 yards down to the EIU one yard line. Perrilloux then dove in for a one-yard score to give the Gamecocks a 21-0 halftime lead.

Special teams provided the next points for JSU when the snap sailed over EIU punter Kevin Cook's head. Cook picked the ball up and ran out of the back of the end zone for the safety, giving the Gamecocks a 23-0 advantage. The safety was the first for JSU since the first quarter of its game at Southeast Missouri State on November 17, 2007.

After a JSU interception, EIU drove down the Gamecock six yard line and got on the board after Tyler Wilke kicked a 35-yard field goal to cut the lead to 23-3.

The Panthers special teams provided their only touchdown on the afternoon when Kenny Kinchen blocked a Zach Walden punt and Adrian Arrington returned it 16 yards to the end zone for the final margin.

Jax State finished with 201 yards on the ground, led by Daniel Jackson and Freeney's 68 yards apiece, while Tremayne Coger added 35 yards on nine carries. Dupree led the receivers with 84 yards on four catches, while Wilkerson and Carter each had 55 yards receiving.

The Gamecocks return to action next week against Southeast Missouri State. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. at Paul Snow Stadium.

POST GAME NOTES
- Captains for the Gamecocks: Keith Gergel and Kenny Walker
- Jacksonville State won the toss and deferred until the second half.
- Jacksonville State wore red pants for the first time since the 1955 season, when the Gamecocks defeated Rhode Island, 12-10, in the Refrigerator Bowl on Dec. 4, 1955.
- The Gamecock defense held EIU to 20 rushing yards. The fewest by an OVC opponent prior to Saturday was 35 yards by Tennessee Tech in 2007.  It marks the 23rd time JSU has held an opponent to less than 100 yards on the ground since the 2003 season.
- Carnell Clark recorded his second fumble recovery of the season with 9:31 left in the first quarter. It was his third career fumble recovery.
- Zach Walden had a 51-yard punt on his first attempt of the day, which was his longest of the season
- Ryan Perrilloux marched the Gamecocks 90 yards in three plays on JSU's second series of the game and then 98 yards later in teh first half. It was Perrilloux' two longest scoring drives and JSU's second and third 90-plus yard scoring drives of the season.
- Alphonso Freeney recorded a career-long rush of 45 yards late in the first quarter. Freeney entered the game with just 41 rushing yards on the season.
- Ryan Perrilloux tossed a 66-yard pass to Maurice Dupree midway through the second quarter. It was the longest pass completion in Perrilloux's career and the second longest reception by Maurice Dupree.
- Ryan Perrilloux continued to be impressive in the second quarter, going 8-for-11 for 139 yards and had two carries for 19 yards and two touchdowns.
- Ryan Perrilloux finished the game with a career-high 281 passing yards, which marks the fourth straight game the La Place, La., native has topped the century mark in passing yards. It was his third career 200-yard passing game and the most for him in a Gamecock uniform.
- The Gamecocks now have 67 games with at least 300 yards of total offesne under Crowe
- JSU head coach Jack Crowe now has 66 career wins in his 13th season
- The last time JSU had a 3-1 record was the 1987 season.
- Jacksonville State evens the series at 3-3 vs EIU and snaps a three-game losing streak to the Panthers.
- The Jax State defense forced a safety with 10:03 left in the third quarter and it was the first safety for the Gamecocks this season and the first since the first quarter vs Southeast Missouri State on Nov. 17, 2007.
- Jack Crowe finishes 3-1 for the Month of September, which ties his perfect 3-0 mark in 2004 for most wins during the ninth month of the year.
- JSU is now 9-3 in conference openers since 1995.
- Jack Crowe is now 7-2 in conference openers at Jacksonville State.
- JSU is 40-10 under Crowe when leading after the first quarter.
- JSU is 43-10 under Crowe when leading at the half.
- JSU is 41-14 under Crowe when rushing for more than 200 yards
- EIU's Kenny Kinchen blocked a JSU punt in the fourth quarter that marked the first time JSU had a punt blocked since second quarter of the Tennessee Tech game on October 20, 2007.
- Kenny Walker's fourth quarter interception was JSU's sixth interception in the last two games, and it was Walker's first interception of the season and the second of his career.

JSU BY THE NUMBERS
0 - Passing touchdowns allowed by the Jacksonville State defense this season.

14 - Consecutive trips inside the Red Zone in which the Gamecocks have scored.

37 -  Degrees warmer than JSU's last trip to Charleston. It was 42 degrees at kickoff in 2006 in Charleston and was 79 degrees today.

90 - Consecutive games that Jax State has scored in, the longest active streak in the Ohio Valley Conference.

75 -  Consecutive pass attempts by Ryan Perrilloux without an interception (last INT was final play of second quarter at Georgia Tech) before EIU's interception with 7:48 left in the third quarter.

578 - Games since Jacksonville State last wore Red Pants. JSU wore them on Dec. 4, 1955 vs Rhode Island in the Refrigerator Bowl