PHOTO GALLERY

JACKSONVILLE – No. 1 Jacksonville State polished off the non-conference portion of its 2015 schedule with an impressive performance in less-than-ideal conditions.
 
Eli Jenkins and Troymaine Pope ran for two touchdowns each in limited action as the Gamecocks routed Mississippi Valley State of the Southwestern Athletic Conference 49-7 at rainy Burgess-Snow Field on Saturday.
 
Jenkins, Pope and most of the Jacksonville State (4-1) starters had called it a day by the time the Gamecocks built a 35-7 lead at half. JSU piled up 494 total yards, extending its school-record streak of consecutive games with at least 400 yards to 16.
 
Jacksonville State's defense did its part, intercepting four passes by the Delta Devils (0-5) and limiting the visitors from Itta Bena, Miss., to just 194 yards. Mississippi Valley State has now been outscored 265-49 this season.
 
"This game came at the right time," Jacksonville State head coach John Grass said. "We're not going to try to score 70 points and worry about stats. We're just not that type of team. We'll take a 49-7 win.
 
"We got to play everybody on the sideline that we wanted to play and we got everybody in the game for the whole fourth quarter."
 
Jenkins, last week's conference co-Offensive Player of the Week, accounted for three touchdowns – runs of 22 and 20 yards and a 14-yard TD pass to Ruben Gonzalez in the first quarter – and finished with 175 yards of total offense in only two quarters of work.
 
He moved into fourth place on Jacksonville State's career total offense list, passing Ryan Perrilloux (2008-09). Jenkins now has 5,573 yards for the Gamecocks.
 
Pope had touchdown runs of 32 and 2 yards before yielding to his backups. The senior from Anniston eclipsed the 100-yard mark for the seventh time in his career, getting an even 100 on seven carries.
 
The Ohio Valley Conference's leading rusher is now averaging 122 yards per game.
 
Josh Clemons added 98 yards on 13 rushes. He scored on a 12-yard touchdown run with 12:33 left in the third quarter and Bo Billups later ran in from the 1 for the Gamecocks' final points.
 
"It was a positive day for us, to see the guys come out and take care of business and not have a letdown this week," Grass said. "It's a good time to have an open week so we can get everybody healed up."
 
The Gamecocks' defense, which held on in a 48-41 win at Tennessee-Martin a week earlier, shattered the school mark for most tackles for losses in a game with 18. The Delta Devils were 1-of-14 on third-down conversions.
 
Jermaine Hough, Rashod Byers, Siran Neal and Lawon DeBardelaben each picked off an MVSU pass.
 
Byers also blocked a punt with less than a minute remaining before halftime that set up Jenkins' 20-yard touchdown run.
 
Jacksonville State has an open date next Saturday. It returns to Ohio Valley Conference action on Oct. 17 at Tennessee Tech, the start of a six-game stretch against league opponents to conclude the regular season.
 
The Gamecocks' next game at Burgess-Snow Field is Oct. 31 against Eastern Kentucky for homecoming.




POSTGAME NOTES
· Jacksonville State captains: CB Jaylen Hill, LB Dawson Wells, WR Dalton Screws, WR Ruben Gonzalez and SLB Santavius Oden.
· The Gamecocks won the toss and defers to the second half. It's the fourth time in five games JSU has won the toss.  
· On his first carry on the game, a 32-yard touchdown, Troymaine Pope passed Bubba Long (1966-69; 2,109) for 8th on the Jacksonville State career rushing list.
· The Jacksonville State defense set a school record with 18 tackles for loss. The previous mark was 17 at Murray State on Sep. 28, 2007.
· With 175 yards during the first half, Eli Jenkins passed Ryan Perrilloux (2008-09; 5,479) on the Jacksonville State career total offense list. The quarterback from Birmingham finished with 127 passing and 48 rushing yards to finish with 175 total offensive yards on the afternoon.  
· Late in the second quarter, Markis Merrill blocked a Raul Aranda punt from the Mississippi Valley State 30. It's the first blocked punt for the Gamecocks since Ben Endress blocked on against No. 6 McNeese State during the second round of the 2013 FCS playoffs on Dec. 7, 2013.
· Running back Troymaine Pope finished with 100 rushing yards, his seventh career 100-yard game to tie Oscar Bonds for the fifth-most 100-yard games in school history. Jacksonville State is now 8-0 when the Anniston native rushes for more than the century mark.
· Preseason All-American defensive back Jermaine "Junior" Hough intercepted a Delta Devil pass during the second quarter. It's the Lovejoy, Ga., native's ninth career interception and his first of the 2015 season.
· Redshirt freshmen Quan Stoudemire (WLB) and Joseph Roberts (BAN) both earned their first career starts for the Gamecocks.
· Kentucky transfer Josh Clemons set a career-high by finishing with 98 rushing yards on 13 carries on the day. He also recorded his first career reception during the Gamecocks opening drive of the third quarter.
· With 3:27 remaining in the third quarter, safety Siran Neal recorded his first career interception when he dove and picked off Mississippi Valley State quarterback Ruban Thurston, Jr.
· Senior running back Bo Billups scored his first career touchdown when he scored from one yard out with 20 seconds left in the third quarter.
· The Jacksonville State secondary intercepted the Mississippi Valley State quarterbacks four times. It's the first time the Gamecock defense has had four interceptions in a game since Oct. 11, 2014 at No. 25 Tennessee State.
· By finishing with 494 total offensive yards, the Jacksonville State Gamecocks extended their school record of games having at least 400 yards of offense to 16. The previous high was eight during the 1999 season.
· Jacksonville State has now held opponents to 100-yards or loss 58 times by holding the Delta Devils to 68 yards on the ground.