JACKSONVILLE – The streak, impressive as it was, is finally over.

Murray State forced Jacksonville State into a season-high four turnovers – including two interceptions in the fourth quarter – to defeat the Gamecocks 35-34 in overtime Saturday afternoon at Burgess-Snow Field. The Racers (3-2, 1-0 Ohio Valley Conference) opted for a two-point conversion on their first overtime possession and pulled off the victory when quarterback Maikhail Miller rolled out and hit a wide-open Jeremy Harness for the game-winner.

Jacksonville State (4-1, 0-1) had won the previous nine meetings in the series.

Kicker Griffin Thomas sent the game to overtime with a 25-yard field goal on the last play of regulation, the Gamecocks' third straight OT game.

Jacksonville State took possession first and needed just two plays to score, with DaMarcus James running 13 yards for the touchdown. Thomas' extra point put JSU ahead 34-27.

Murray State's first three plays failed to gain any yardage. But on fourth-and-10, Miller hooked up with Harness for a 13-yard completion to keep the Racers' hopes alive.

The Racers later converted again on fourth down, this time a 2-yard rush by Miller from the JSU 3, and scored on the next play as Miller snuck in from the 1. After each team called a timeout, Murray State coach Chris Hatcher stayed with his decision to go for the road win and it paid off when Miller connected with Harness.

The loss snapped Jacksonville State's six-game winning streak in overtime games, a streak dating to 2003.
JSU became only the second team in Division I history to play three straight OT games, tying the mark set by Ivy League member Pennsylvania in 2006.

"We've got them fourth-and-10 and they made a play. Give them credit," said Jacksonville State coach Bill Clark. "Four turnovers is the thing we need to go back and focus on. We talk about it all the time – if you don't turn the ball over, you win."

The teams combined for 1,057 yards. Jacksonville State had a Division I school-record 652 yards of total offense, led by James' career-best 189 yards and three touchdowns on 27 carries.

Quarterback Max Shortell was 22-of-35 for 285 yards, but was picked off three times by the Racers' opportunistic defense.

"Any time you turn the ball over it hurts, especially in the fourth quarter when the game is on the line," said Shortell. "We can't have turnovers, especially by me, the quarterback.

"Over 600 yards of total offense, we've got to put up more (points) than what we did and not turn the ball over."
Murray State led 10-0 after the first quarter. Thomas finally got JSU on the scoreboard with a 30-yard field goal early in the second, but the Racers responded with a 21-yard field goal to make it 13-3 at the 9:44 mark.

Miles Jones' 3-yard run, his first career touchdown, drew the Gamecocks to within 13-10 with 4:37 left in the second. Murray State, however, came back with nine-play, 57-yard touchdown capped by Duane Brady's 6-yard run.

The Gamecocks drove 84 yards in eight plays just before the half but came away without points.

After picking up a first down on fourth-and-3 from the Racers 34, Shortell hit Josh Barge with a long pass near the JSU sideline. As the redshirt freshman receiver ran toward the end zone Murray State defensive back Brandon Wicks reached out and knocked the ball from Barge's grasp.

The fumble bounced forward into the end zone and was pounced on by Anthony Hayes for a touchback. The Racers then ran out the clock and carried a 20-10 lead to the locker room at halftime.

Murray State's lead after two quarters marked the first time it had led Jacksonville State at halftime since 2003.
Jacksonville struck quickly to start the third quarter and took its first lead, 24-20, on James' 1-yard TD run with 4:06 left in the third quarter.

"We came in and made some adjustments at halftime," said Clark. "I think we really played well defensively in the second half, and that got us back in the game. I wish we had done it earlier."

The Gamecocks trek to UT-Martin next Saturday. Jacksonville State leads the all-time series against the Skyhawks 27-7.

POSTGAME NOTES

- Captains for the Gamecocks: senior LB Harris Gaston, senior OL Taylor Johnstone and senior WR Mike Bradford.
- JSU won the toss and deferred to the second half. Murray State won the coin toss in overtime.
- JSU played in its third-straight overtime contest and had its six-game winning steak in extra session games snapped by Murray State. The Gamecocks are now 6-5 in overtime games.
- The three consecutive overtime games ties an FCS record - The only other school that has played a trio of consecutive extra session games was Pennsylvania in 2006. The feat has never happened in the FBS.
- The Gamecocks' 652 yards of total offense breaks the Division I school record of 646 set vs. Samford on Nov. 6, 2004.
- Redshirt freshman Dalton Screws (WR) was the only Gamecock to make his first career start on Saturday.
- The Gamecocks were held scoreless in the first quarter for the third time this year. They had scored first-quarter points in each of the last two games.
- Senior PK Griffin Thomas has connected on at least one Field Goal in each of the Gamecocks' fives game this year, the longest streak of his career.
- The Gamecocks successfully converted a fake punt in the second quarter, when Kyle West completed a 31-yard pass to Rob Gray. It is the second successful fake punt of the year for JSU, who also converted one vs. Jacksonville on Sept. 7.
- Miles Jones' 3-yard touchdown run in the second quarter was the first of his career.
- Murray State led 20-10 at halftime, the first halftime lead for the Racers in the series since the first meeting in 2003, the Racers only win in the series. The two have been tied twice, in 2012 and in 2005.
- With his three rushing touchdowns in the contest junior DaMarcus James now has seven on the year and six in the past two weeks. It marks the second consecutive week in which he has scored three touchdowns in a game.
- After outscoring the Racers 14-0 in the third quarter, JSU has now outscored its foes 65-6 in the third quarter this season.
- The Gamecock defense failed to force a turnover for the first time this season. JSU forced at least two turnovers in each of the first four games of the year.
- The Racers snap a nine-game losing streak against the Gamecocks. JSU leads the series 9-2.
- JSU now holds a 8-3 record in OVC openers.

BY THE NUMBERS
0 - Turnovers forced by the JSU defense, the first time they have not forced one in a game this season.
1 - Gamecocks that made their first career start on Saturday (RS-Fr. WR Dalton Screws)
5 - Successful fourth-down conversions by the Gamecocks, who were 0-for-4 on them prior to today.
12 - Career rushing touchdowns for DaMarcus James, who now has a team-best six on the year.
13 - Different players that have caught a pass for JSU this season after Rob Gray's reception on a 2nd quarter fake punt.
189 - Rushing yards by DaMarcus James, his second 100-yd game of the year and seventh of his career.
296 - Rushing yards by Murray State, the most against the Gamecocks this season and the most since EKU ran for 327 on Sept. 22, 2012.
652 - Total offense by the Gamecocks on Saturday, a new Division I school record.
14,382 - Attendance at today's game.




COACH BILL CLARK POST-GAME QUOTES
"I think early on, defensively they came out and ran the ball a lot more than I thought they would. I had us in a defense that was geared to stop the pass more. Give them credit, they ran the ball well. We came in and made some adjustments at halftime. I think we really played well defensively in the second half, and got back in the game. I wish I would've done it earlier. They've been a big time throwing team, and we didn't know they'd run it quite as much. I thought we had a good plan for their run game."

"Offensively, we did a ton of good things, but too many turnovers. We talk about it all the time. We cannot turn the ball over and win, but to overcome that and get the thing into overtime and really should win the game. One, I just want to talk about how proud I am of our guys for not giving up for all the negatives that happened and (we) kept making plays. I thought we had a really good night on special teams, other than our two missed field goals. I don't want to put all that on Griffin (Thomas). Without making excuses for him, we didn't kick him much this week—a little soreness. You get what you practice, like we didn't practice him all week kicking, but we got him ready for the game and he comes into the game hits the one that counts."

"All and all, I was proud of them for fighting and not quitting. What a job of fighting through and there we are to win the dang thing and come up just a little bit short. With the negatives, there are a lot of positives and courageous efforts and chance to win it right there at the end and they made a two play—give them credit."

"The fourth down is just sickening. We really debated. That's the question—do you bring pressure against that guy or make him fit it in there. We thought about it, and I could just see us bringing a guy and him having a chance to run the ball, which he had done on us, so we dropped. I think we lose Byers on the third down play; gosh he's got that ball, it falls out of his hands and he gets hurt. So now you have to sub on his spot, and not taking anything away from him, but that's where the ball gets thrown."

"The two-point, I really had in my mind that if they scored they would go for two. I think we were at that point where they didn't think they could stop us. It was a gutsy call. We almost played zone coverage down there, but we had played zone coverage earlier, and they ran the ball in. Every player we had voted to come after him, and so it was a team decision. You could see the guy who had him covered got knocked off. I don't know what you do about that."



JSU PLAYER QUOTES
Jermaine Hough, So., CB
"It was a good play call by them. They ran pick routes the whole game. My man picked Pierre's (Warren) man and he was wide open."

"We were prepared for them to go for two and then they came out and went for it. We did have a good play called."

Max Shortell, Jr., QB
"Anytime you turn the ball over it hurts, especially in the fourth quarter when the game is on the line. We can't have turnovers, especially by me, the quarterback. We can't make those plays. We left probably five, six touchdowns on the board. Over 600 yards of total offense, we've got to put up more than what we did and not turn the ball over."

On not finishing drives:
"We've seen that all year. We've been so close. So close to touchdowns, so close to putting teams away, even today, it's been our story all year. We've got to learn to put teams away and score touchdowns. Field goals are nice but they don't win games. Touchdowns put teams away."

Miles Jones, So, RB
"When my opportunity comes I just try to make the best of it and help the team as much as I can.  I felt good. We had some pretty good holes. The lineman opened up some holes. We just couldn't get the win."

DaMarcus James, Jr., RB
"I feel like we just have to learn from our mistakes and then go forward.  They called me out there to run the ball so when I get out there I got to do what I got to do.  I just came out and executed."