Box Score

FINAL STATS  |  PHOTO GALLERY

JACKSONVILLE — Coming off its final bye week of the season, No. 6 Jacksonville State played its most complete game in a 49-3 victory over Tennessee Tech Saturday afternoon.
 
The Gamecocks were led by the monster-rushing attack that tailed up 335 yards, the team's third 300-plus rushing performance on the season, to improve to 6-1, 4-0 on the year.
 
"It's impressive, to say the least. I think our rushing attack is something we pride ourselves on as an offensive line," senior center Max Holcombe said.  "If we can run the ball for 300 yards, I think it's a good day for us offensively as a unit."
 
JSU had a slow start out of the gate, but an explosive second quarter turned things around, quickly.
 
The Gamecocks set a school record by scoring 35 points in the quarter. The previous mark (34) was set in 2001 against Cumberland University. Also, the JSU offense rolled up 236 yards of total offense in the quarter, while holding Tennessee Tech just 16 yards.
 
Jax State led by Walter Payton Award Watch List running back DaMarcus James, who finished with 93 yards on 13 carries, including a 1-yard touchdown run. The touchdown, the 43rd of his career, inches him closer to the school record (48) set by David Gulledge (1987-90), and has scored a touchdown in 16 straight games against FCS opponents.
 
Quarterback Eli Jenkins finished with 136 yards through the air with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Ruben Gonzalez. He also added 73 yards on the ground. Fellow signal-caller Christian LeMay came into the game midway through the second quarter and threw two touchdown pass to Anthony Johnson, one a 17-yard reception and the other a 28-yarder.
 
Both quarterbacks found eight different receivers on the night as they combined to finish18-for-29 for 261 yards and three touchdowns.
 
On a double-reverse pass during the second quarter, wide receiver Dalton Screws threw a 24-yard completion to Jenkins, his first career reception.
 
"The season is a progression and I don't think this team had peaked," head coach John Grass said. "I think we can play better than we played today. I don't think our guys are satisfied."
 
Miles Jones got the Gamecocks on the board in the first quarter with a 9-yard touchdown run. Troymaine Pope added a 22-yard touchdown scamper during the explosive second quarter.
 
"This is probably the most complete game we've played, in all three phases," Grass said. "I think we had a little rust to knock off, coming off the open week, especially offensively."
 
Tennessee Tech's only points came by ways of a John Arnold 33-yard field goal in the first quarter. The Golden Eagle offense was limited to eight first downs and 174 total offensive yards by a stingy Gamecock defense.
 
"On the first drive, they kind of had something on us," said senior linebacker Ben Endress. "There were moving the ball on us pretty well, so we made some adjustments during on the timeouts, and got our play calls in quicker, so after that we shut them down the rest of the game."
 
Endress tied a career-high with 12 tackles to lead the Gamecock defense.
 
Jacksonville State returns to action next Saturday as the Gamecocks host Austin Peay for Homcoming. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. at Burgess-Snow Field.



POST-GAME NOTES:
• Captains for Jacksonville State: Markis Merrill (WR), LaMichael Fanning (DE), Dawson Wells (LB), and Justin Lea(OL)
• Jacksonville State wins the toss and deferred until the second half. Tennessee Tech received the opening kickoff and defended the east end zone.
• During the second quarter, JSU set a school record by scoring 35 points in the quarter. The previous mark (34) was set in 2001 against Cumberland University. JSU only had the ball of total of 6:45 during the second quarter, which means the Gamecocks scored a point every 11.57 seconds they had the ball during the quarter.
• The Gamecocks rolled up 236 yards of offense on 22 plays, while limiting Tennessee Tech to just 16 yards on 16 plays during the quarter.
• Tennessee Tech's field goal in the first quarter was the fifth time in seven games an opponent has scored first on the Gamecocks.
• Due to an injury on the offensive line, defensive lineman Terrence Pendleton took snaps on both sides of the ball during the game.
• Redshirt freshman Darius Jackson recorded his first career sack with under 2:00 minutes remaining before halftime. He finished with 1.5 sacks on the contest.
• Senior linebacker Ben Endress tied a career-high with 12 tackles, two of which were for a loss.
• Junior wide receiver Ruben Gonzalez caught his first touchdown as a Gamecock with 40 seconds remaining before halftime on a 10-yard reception from Eli Jenkins.
• Running back DaMarcus James finished with 93 rushing yards on 13 carries, which leaves him 66 yards short of eclipsing 3,000 career rushing yards. His second quarter touchdown (43) inches him closer to the school record of 48 set by David Gulledge (1987-90).
• DaMarcus James has now scored a rushing touchdown in 16 straight games against FCS opponents.
• Since 2000, JSU is 67-10 when scoring 30 or more points in a game and an impressive 40-3 at Burgess-Snow Field at JSU Stadium since joining OVC.
• The 2014 senior class now has a 30-14 four-year record, which ties them with the class of 2012 for the fourth winningest four-year class since Gamecocks left the Division II ranks in 1993.
• Fueled by the explosive second quarter, Jacksonville State now has 300-plus total offense in 79-of-91 games OVC games.
• Jax State continued its dominance over fellow OVC schools. The Gamecocks are now 98-40-8 all-time versus teams from the OVC. JSU is now 68-23 record in the OVC since joining the conference.
• JSU is 255-98-8 at JSU Stadium since its opening in 1946 as well as 29-6 in their last 33 games at Burgess-Snow Field, and 27-5 in their last 31 regular season games
• Since the 2008 season, JSU is now sporting an impressive 55-23 record.
 
BY THE NUMBERS
2: Junior quarterback Christian LeMay set a new career high by throwing two touchdowns during the game.
5: After falling behind early, Jax State rallied back for five come-from-behind wins this season, and the 28th overall since the start of the 2010 season.
7: JSU is now riding a seven game-winning streak, which is the seventh-longest at the FCS level and longest active streak in the OVC.
12: Saturday's victory over Tennessee Tech clinches Jacksonville State's 12th straight winning season, which is the third longest at the FCS level.
24: A second quarter completion from WR Dalton Screws to QB Eli Jenkins went for 24 yards. The double-reverse play was the first pass attempt for Screws while first reception for Jenkins.
43: With the start Saturday, center Max Holcombe has now started 43 straight games, which leaves him two behind the school record of 45 set by Haneef Haqq (2002-05).
236: Jacksonville State tallied up 236 yards of total offensive during the second quarter.
335: The Gamecocks rushed for 335 yards on 58 carries. It's the third time this season Jax State has rushed for over 300 yards in a game.
14,874: The attendance to watch the Gamecocks Saturday afternoon at Burgess-Snow Field.

Coach John Grass Tennessee Tech Post-Game Quotes
Opening Statement
"This is probably the most complete game we've played, in all three phases. I think we had a little rust to knock off, coming off the open week, especially offensively. We didn't play bad; we just didn't convert on third downs after we moved the ball across midfield. We got things rolling in the second quarter. Overall, I was real pleased with our performance today. We just have to continue building depth. We are doing a good job with next man up. It was a good home win and good crowd. We are just looking forward to next week with homecoming against Austin Peay, and just take it one week at a time."
 
On Christian LeMay's success
"You love all of them and that's one of the hardest things, because you do want to see them play. That's the reason we try to build depth. We tell them when you're ready to play; we'll get you in the game. Going back to the Tennessee State game, I hugged him even though he didn't play a play. I said 'I appreciate your attitude.' He's a high character kid, never complains about anything, and never asks questions about playing time. That's just the type of character kid he is. I was glad to see him get a chance to play."
 
On offensive performance
"The season is a progression and I don't think this team has peaked. I think we can play better than we played today. I don't think our guys are satisfied. When you look around the locker room, they're excited. They're going to enjoy this one, but be ready to get back to work. I think they all have the not satisfied mentality. I trust that, and we'll go back to work on Monday. I hope our guys will continue playing well. I tell them all the time, 'You can play well and still get beat in this conference.' It's a lot of fun to watch. We just hope we can keep progressing as a team and get better."