FINAL STATS  |   PHOTO GALLERY  |  POST-GAME NOTES

JACKSONVILLE – A flurry of special teams mistakes proved costly for the No. 12 Jacksonville State football team on Saturday, when No. 24 Eastern Illinois handed the Gamecocks a 28-20 Homecoming loss at Paul Snow Stadium.

The Gamecocks (4-3, 2-1 Ohio Valley Conference) had a punt blocked, a kickoff returned for a score, missed an extra point and came up on the short side of an EIU onside kick in suffering just their ninth Homecoming defeat since 1946. The Panthers (6-2, 4-1 OVC) used the JSU miscues to build an early 15-point lead and never looked back.

EIU led by 15 as late as a 28-13 in the third quarter, the largest deficit the Gamecocks have faced against an OVC foe since 2005, and made the plays when they needed to hold on for their third win in four trips to Jacksonville.

Senior quarterback Ryan Perrilloux threw for 236 yards and a score on 16-for-26 passing, while also running for 36 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries in the losing effort. The LaPlace, La., native moved past Maurice Mullins into sixth place on the school's career passing list with 3,838. His touchdown pass, a 38-yard strike to senior James Wilkerson, was the 35th of his career, tying Reggie Stancil for third on the school's career touchdown passes list.

Wilkerson also made some waves in the Gamecocks' career record books in the game. The Crestview, Fla., native hauled in five catches for 96 yards and a score, giving him 1,587 receiving yards for his career. That moves him past Rusty Fuller (1,500) in seventh place and Taurean Rhetta (1,586) in sixth on the school's career receiving yards list.

Sophomore Calvin Middleton led the Gamecocks' ground attack with 53 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries. Junior Jamal Young added 33 yards on nine touches. Along with Wilkerson's five catches, Perrilloux found five other players twice, led by Justin Howard's 42 yards.

Senior linebacker Alexander Henderson racked up 15 total tackles to lead all players on the day. The Mobile, Ala., native picked up 11 solo stops.

EIU quarterback Jake Christensen did just enough to keep his team in control of the game, firing two touchdowns on a day where he completed 16 of his 29 attempts for 190 yards and one interception. Mon Williams accounted for 38 of the Panthers' 65 rushing yards and also scored once.

The Panthers jumped on the Gamecocks quickly, taking their opening drive 58 yards in 5:03 to take an early 7-0 lead. Christensen capped the nine-play drive by finding Erik Lora from six yards out to account for the first first-quarter points against JSU by an FCS foe this season.

EIU recovered an onside kick on the ensuing kickoff and drove to the JSU one, but stalled and turned it over on downs. The Gamecocks failed to produce and the Panthers' Lorence Ricks blocked Patrick Tatum's punt attempt to set up the EIU offense at the Jax State four yard line. Mon Williams ran it in on the second play to give the Panthers a 14-0 lead with 14:35 to play in the half.

The Gamecocks got a boost before going into the locker room at the half, when Perrilloux found James Wilkerson across the middle. Wilkerson plowed through the Panthers' initial tackle attempt and scampered the rest of the way for a 38-yard score that cut the deficit to 14-6 with 49 ticks on the second-quarter clock. Tatum missed the point after attempt, leaving the Gamecocks with an eight-point deficit at the intermission.

EIU stretched the lead to 21-6 early in the second half, thanks to Christensen's second touchdown pass of the game. He found Chris Wright on the right sideline from 10 yards out with 10:15 to play in the third, capping a seven-play, 51-yard scoring drive.

Perrilloux marched the JSU offense down the field on the next possession, an 80-yard drive that took just eight plays and 3:48 off of the clock. The senior signal caller was 2-for-2 for 39 yards passing and ran for 20 yards on three carries on the drive, the last being an eight-yard scoring run that cut the Panthers' lead to 21-13 with 6:27 to play in the third quarter.

The Panthers answered on the ensuing kickoff, thanks to an 87-yard return for a touchdown from Ricks, the first against the Gamecocks since EIU's Quinten Ponius ran one back 97 yards on Nov. 10, 2007.

The Gamecock offense had another 80-yard scoring drive to respond with, one that ended with a two-yard Calvin Middleton run that cut the deficit to 28-20 with 49 seconds remaining in the third quarter.

The JSU defense would hold strong the rest of the way, but the Gamecocks failed to make another offensive threat. Their hopes ended with 1:39 to play, when a Perrilloux pass on fourth down was intercepted by Charles James at the Panthers' 33 yard line.

The Gamecocks will look to get back on track next week, when they travel to Clarksville, Tenn., for a 4 p.m. game against Austin Peay on Oct. 31.

POSTGAME NOTES
- Captains for the Gamecocks: Senior WR James Wilkerson, senior OL Reggie Wade, senior defensive lineman Brandt Thomas and senior linebacker Alexander Henderson.
- Jacksonville State won the coin toss and deferred to the second half.
- EIU's first score with 9:57 to play in the first quarter was the earliest score against the Gamecocks by and FCS opponent since UT Martin scored just 53 seconds in on Oct. 23, 2008. It was the first points by an FCS foe in the first quarter this season.
- The Panthers scored 14 points in the first quarter, equaling the total number of points the Gamecocks had allowed in OVC play in 2009.
- The Gamecocks are now 53-9-2 on Homecoming since 1946 and are 7-3 in Homecoming games under Jack Crowe.
- The Gamecocks are now 3-4 all-time against the Panthers and are 1-3 against EIU in Jacksonville. The road team has now won the last three meetings.
- EIU's 14-6 lead at the half marked the first time JSU has trailed at the half since the season opener at Georgia Tech. It was the first time the Gamecocks trailed an OVC opponent at the half since Oct. 23, 2008, when UT Martin led 16-10.
- Senior Ryan Perrilloux has now thrown at least one touchdown pass in 16 of his 17 games at JSU.
- Perrilloux has now thrown and ran for a touchdown in the same game three times this season and five times as a Gamecock. He achieved the feat once in his career at LSU.
- The 87-yard kickoff return for a score by EIU's Lorence Ricks was the first against the Gamecocks since EIU's Quentin Ponius ran one back from 97 yards on Nov. 10, 2007.
- The Panthers led by as many as 15 points on Saturday, the largest deficit by the Gamecocks in an OVC game since losing to Eastern Kentucky, 31-14 on Oct. 1, 2005.
- With his 96 receiving yards on Saturday, senior James Wilkerson passed Rusty Fuller (1,500) in seventh place and Taurean Rhetta (1,586) in sixth place on the school's career receiving yards list. He now has 1,587 career receiving yards, just 52 shy of Ronald Bonner (1,639) in fifth place.
- Perrilloux threw for 236 yards on Saturday, moving him past Maurice Mullins (3,750) in sixth place on JSU's career passing list. Perrilloux now has 3,838 yards as a Gamecock.
- Perrilloux threw one touchdown pass on Saturday, giving him 35 in his JSU career. That ties Reggie Stancil (35) for third place on the school's career touchdown passes list.
- The Gamecocks held EIU to just 65 rushing yards, the 29th time they have held an OVC foe under 100 yards on the ground.
- With the loss to #24 Eastern Illinois, JSU falls to 5-32 all-time and 5-16 under Jack Crowe against FCS teams ranked in the Top 25. 

BY THE NUMBERS
10 - Consecutive games in which the Gamecocks have forced at least one turnover.
10 - Career touchdown receptions by senior James Wilkerson after his 38-yard scoring catch on Saturday.
15 - Points by which JSU trailed at times on Saturday, the largest deficit in an OVC game since a 31-14 loss to Eastern Kentucky on Oct. 1, 2005.
35 - Touchdown passes by Ryan Perrilloux in his JSU career, tying Reggie Stancil for third place on the school's career touchdown passes list.
65 - Yards rushing by the EIU offense, the 29th time since joining the OVC in 2003 the Gamecocks have held a conference foe under 100 yards on the ground.
96 - Consecutive games in which the Gamecocks have scored, a streak that dates back to Nov.18, 2000, when they were last shut out.
1,587 - Career receiving yards by senior James Wilkerson, moving him from eighth to sixth place on the school's career list.
3,838 - Career passing yards by Ryan Perrilloux, moving him past Maurice Mullins for sixth place on the school's career passing list.

POST-GAME QUOTES
Head Coach Jack Crowe
“There wasn't a time I didn't think we couldn't run or throw, or stop their run or their pass. I don't think we didn't get ready to play. We played hard. The components of winning were there, but the true things about football just weren't running true. The kicking game was the worst of it; that was atrocious. About half the players that played have been here one, maybe two years. Some have only been here a couple of months, and they are really sprinkled throughout the kicking game. That's where they are more prevalent. We missed an extra point, our punt return, punt team, and kickoff coverage team faltered. We never had the kickoff return. We were missing a positive nature in our kicking game.”

“This is not a step backwards, but it definitely brought us to a screeching halt. It's a time of reflection. There's ways you grow up, and sometimes you have to go through hard times to realize what growing up really is. I don't think we really did anything to separate ourselves from the other team. We had a negative turnover differential today, by far the first time that's happened. They were playing about 40 yards of football field, and we were playing about 80.”

“Coach (Bob) Spoo did a great job of positioning them, and making opportunities happen. I think their quarterback is a great game manager. Eastern Illinois knows how to play football. We're going to go back and keep doing what we're doing, and I expect us to win the next four football games. I don't expect anyone to hang their head. I think we'll come back and show some dominance in our personality again. I think the open week probably did hurt us.”

“We missed an extra point, our punt return, punt team, and kickoff coverage team faltered. We never had the kickoff return. We were missing a positive nature in our kicking game.”

“I thought our defense managed their offense from a scrimmage standpoint. I just never thought they weren't defensively in control, or offensively capable.”