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JACKSONVILLE - Jacksonville State got "Back in Black" for Saturday night's Ohio Valley Conference game against Eastern Illinois University.

Exchanging their traditional red jerseys for black, the Gamecocks overcame a pair of costly first-half turnovers and used a punishing running attack to knock off the Panthers 28-21 before a crowd of 14,813 at Burgess-Snow Field.

Jacksonville State - wearing black for the first time since last year's Murray State game - improved to 3-1, 2-0 in the OVC. It was the Gamecocks' first home win over Eastern Illinois since 2003.

JSU's victory wasn't secured until the final seconds. After quarterback/punter Coty Blanchard pinned EIU at its 1 with 27 seconds left, Jacksonville State senior defensive back A.J. Davis recovered a fumble by the Panthers' Kenny Whittaker after a completed pass and the Gamecocks ran one more play to burn the remaining time off the clock.

Eastern Illinois fell to 1-3 and 0-2 in OVC play.

Jacksonville State pounded out a season-high 294 yards on the ground, led by junior Washaun Ealey's career-best 155 yards. Senior Calvin Middleton finished with 96 yards and scored both of JSU's second-half touchdowns on 1-yard runs.

"I thought the offensive line came out very physical tonight," Ealey said. "It was something that we needed in the running game.

"They came out and basically did what the coaches asked them to do all week. I feel like if we run straight at anybody, I don't think anybody can stop us. The offensive line is young but they're playing great ball right now, and hopefully we'll keep that up."

"They're weapons when the offensive line blocks like it did tonight," Blanchard said. "We definitely established the run. We threw in some passes here and there to keep them guessing on the defensive side."

Jacksonville State head coach Jack Crowe is now 7-0 in games in which the Gamecocks were tied at halftime. Blanchard's 10-yard touchdown pass to Trey Smith with 1:22 left in the second quarter pulled JSU into a 14-14 deadlock heading to intermission.

Smith's score was his first touchdown as a Gamecock.

The Gamecocks scored on their first drive for the second straight week, taking the opening kickoff and covering 70 yards in 10 plays.

Ealey's 16-yard burst moved JSU deep into EIU territory. Blanchard finished off the drive with a scoring pass to Howard, the senior tight end's second TD of the season.

The first of James Esco's four extra points made it 7-0 with 10:09 left in the first quarter.

Eastern responded with an 80-yard, 10-play drive capped by quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo's 18-yard TD pass to Chris Wright at the 4:53 mark of the first quarter.

JSU backup quarterback Thomas Darrah's fumble gave EIU the ball at its 41 early in the second quarter. The Panthers drove to the JSU 10 in 12 plays, but came away empty-handed when kicker Cameron Berra missed a 27-yard field goal attempt.

Another fumble - this one by James Shaw - and a personal foul penalty gave Eastern Illinois possession at the JSU 13 moments later. The Panthers needed only two plays to score, with Jake Walker running in from the 2 with 4:26 left in the first half.

Jacksonville State regained the lead late in the third quarter on Middleton's first 1-yard touchdown run.

His second touchdown run, with 12:22 left in the game, marked the Acworth, Ga., native's fourth career two-touchdown game.

Jacksonville State now hits the road for three straight road games and doesn't return to Burgess-Snow Field until Oct. 29.

The Gamecocks travel to Murray State for a 6 p.m. game next Saturday. After an open date the following week, JSU visits Austin Peay on Oct. 15 and plays at Kentucky on Oct. 22.



POST-GAME NOTES
- Captains for the Gamecocks: senior RB Calvin Middleton, junior DB Brooks Robinson, senior DE Jamison Wadley.
- EIU won the toss and deferred to the second half ... The Gamecocks had won the toss in the first three games.
- Number changes for JSU for the EIU contest: #13-QB, dressed in place of Steven Coates, #19- Justin Howard (#81), #30- Chase Williams (#50), #64-Terrance Pendleton (#74), #71-Michael Ellis (#67), #75-Blake Burks (#72), #89-Blake Burks, #89 Jake Scott, #98 Jakari Kinnie (#57).
- JSU senior DE Marquis George started in place of Monte Lewis on the Gamecock defensive line.
- Jax State donned the black jerseys for the second time in the last two seasons...The Gamecocks wore their black tops last season in a 40-34 win over Murray State on Oct. 2.
- JSU has scored on its opening drive in the last two games as TE Justin Howard hauled in the Gamecocks' first TD of the contest with a nine-yard catch.
- JSU now leads the series with Eastern Illinois 5-4 and has claimed the last two meetings ... The win also snaps a four-game losing skid to the Panthers in Jacksonville ... The last JSU win on its home field was in 2003.
- Justin Howard now has three catches on the season and two has gone for touchdowns. The senior from Brewton, Ala., caught a TD pass in the season opener against UT Martin.
- For the second consecutive game, Jax State's Clarence Jackson had in interception.
- Jax State had a season-high two turnovers in the contest.
- Junior WR Trey Smith caught his first career TD as a Gamecock to tie the score before halftime, 14-14.
- JSU is now 7-0 under Jack Crowe when tied at the halftime break and 2-0 this season after being tied at the intermission last week vs. Georgia State.
- With his pair of TD tosses, Coty Blanchard matched his career-high for the third time as he threw two TDs last season against Ole Miss and Austin Peay.
- Blanchard has now surpassed 100 yards passing in all four contests this season and now has five games with 100-plus yards passing.
- The Gamecocks are a perfect 13-for-13 on Red Zone scoring chances this season.
- JSU is 16-2 in their last 18 games at Burgess-Snow Field at JSU Stadium and 16-1 in their last 17 regular-season games.
- Senior RB Calvin Middleton has now scored a TD in nine of his last ten games played, dating back to the UT Martin contest last October... Middleton has recorded a TD in three of the first four games this season.
- With Middleton's second TD of the night in the fourth quarter, he now has four two TD career games, which ties a career high and it is his first two TD game of 2011.
- Junior RB Washaun Ealey became the first Gamecock this season to eclipse the 100-yard rushing mark... The transfer finished with 155 total yards on 24 carries ... The last 100-plus yard rusher for JSU was Calvin Middleton, who posted 120 yards last season at Tennessee Tech.
- Ealey becomes the first 150-yard rusher since Jamal Young rushed for 162 yards last season against EIU in Charleston, Ill.
- JSU DB Jason Horton secured the win with an interception, the first of his career.

BY THE NUMBERS
2 - Wins when the Gamecocks don the black jerseys.

4 - Straight 100-plus yard passing outings for JSU QB Coty Blanchard.

4 - JSU snapped a four-game losing skid to EIU on its home field. It's the first Jax State win in Jacksonville in series since 2003.

8 - Consecutive regular season wins at home at Burgess-Snow Field at JSU Stadium.

9 - Touchdowns by RB Calvin Middleton in his last ten games.

50 - Ohio Valley Conference wins by JSU since joining the league in 2003 ... Jax State is now 50-15 all time in the OVC and a winning percentage of .769.

116 - Consecutive games in which the Gamecocks have scored, a streak that dates back to Nov.18, 2000, when they were last shut out.

279 - Average yards rushing by the Gamecocks over the past two games.

14,813 - Attendance at Burgess-Snow Field at JSU Stadium.

POST-GAME QUOTES
Head Coach Jack Crowe
“I think there is a really good attitude on this field and there is also a major risk factor on this football team. We let our emotions get away from us we had some things happen that good football teams don't do. We did the things good football teams do - we stop the run and we run the ball.”

“We are still trying to transition to put players in position to make plays and some of our players are still new to us. We see something different in them every week - some good and some not so good.”

Calvin Middleton (Senior - RB)
“The offensive line was amazing tonight and it was the best job all year long. We Ran the ball in the second half and the main thing we wanted to do was to run the clock out.”

Washaun Ealey (Junior - RB)
“The offensive line came out very physical tonight, something that we needed, basically came out like coach asked them to do all week.”

Monte Lewis (Senior - DE)
“We were hoping to come into tonight's game and play better than we were last week and I believe we came in and showed it. We are a team and we are going to stop the run”

Jason Horton (Senior - DB)
“We came out and put up a good game plan and preparation for this game. We came out focused and stuck to the game plan. When times got tough, we had guys pull through and we had some young guys come in and step up and that was a big thing.”

Coty Blanchard (Sophomore - QB)
“We tried to establish the run and chew up the game clock and keep our defense off the fence. It makes it easier for us and gives them a good rest. If we can establish a running game like that, I think it will be hard to beat us.”