PHOTO GALLERY (Steve Gross)

MARTIN, Tenn. — Every good team has at least one game a season when it struggles against an opponent to make the score closer than the game actually was.
 
That is what happened to No. 1-ranked Jacksonville State at UT Martin Saturday afternoon.
 
After having a commanding 28-point lead early in the fourth quarter, the Gamecocks held on to beat the Skyhawks 48-41 after UTM scored 21 unanswered to draw to within seven in the game's closing minutes.
 
"It was just a kind of long, bizarre game, that's the only way I can describe it," Jacksonville State head coach John Grass said. "I have to take my hat off to UT Martin though. I knew they were going to be ready to play and ready to battle, which they did. They played extremely hard and had a great game plan for us."
 
The win improves Grass' overall record as Gamecock head coach to 13-3, tying Jim Blevins (started in 1965) for the best 16-game start as a head coach in Jacksonville State history. It's also the 11th consecutive game the Gamecocks have won against fellow Ohio Valley Conference opponents, with their last loss coming at Eastern Illinois on Nov. 16, 2013.
 
Jacksonville State (3-1, 2-0) fell behind early in the first quarter after a Jackson Redditt 41-yard field goal put UT Martin ahead by three. He added a 38-yarder later in the quarter after a Troymaine Pope 8-yard touchdown run then a 21-yard touchdown completion from Eli Jenkins to Josh Barge put the Gamecocks ahead.
 
The pass from Jenkins to Barge was the first of three touchdown toss from the redshirt junior quarterback to the Carrollton, Ga., native. Barge also hauled in a 9- and 17-yard touchdown pass later in the game.
 
The three touchdown catches in the game tied the junior's career-high and was only his second career multi-touchdown game at JSU. He finished with nine catches for 107 yards to go along with the three touchdown receptions.
 
Jenkins came up 34 yards short of his career-high in passing yards (288), but the Birmingham native finished the day 16-of-25 passing for 254 yards and three touchdowns. He also added a 1-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter. He became the first quarterback since Ryan Perrilloux to account for four touchdowns in a game.
 
Jenkins (5,398) also moved past Maurice Mullins (5,138 from 2002-05) for sixth place and David Gulledge (5,339) for fifth place in Jacksonville State's total offense list. He trails Perrilloux (5,339 from 2008-09) for fourth.
 
Running back, and Kentucky transfer, Josh Clemons scored his second rushing touchdown since joining the Gamecocks when he ran into the end zone from four yards during the fourth quarter.
 
UT Martin's Jarod Neal did everything he could to help the Skyhawks earn the come-from-behind victory.
The quarterback threw for 433 yards on 34-of-49 passing. He also threw for five touchdowns: 12-yarder to Carlos Williams, 63-yarder to William Tanner, 16-yarder to Rod Wright and a 39-yarder to Wright.
 
"Their quarterback is really good," Grass said. "With a lot of defensive linemen out, we just couldn't get enough pressure and they had a good plan to get the ball out of his hand quick. We busted a few coverages, which isn't typical of us, and couldn't get off the field on third downs."
 
Anniston native Troymaine Pope ran for a game-high 159 yards on just 16 carries. He also added a 46-yard touchdown run to his first quarter score.
 
UT Martin trailed 28-6 with three seconds left in the first half before Neal's touchdown strike to Weathers brought the Skyhawks to within 15. UTM immediately opened the second half on a scoop-and-score by Terri Triplett to cut the deficit to eight, which was the closest it would come to the lead until the it trailed by seven at the end of the game.

Postgame Notes 
- Captains for the Gamecocks: Sr. QB Christian LeMay, Sr. RB Miles Jones, Sr. CB Rashod Byers, So. DE Darius Jackson and So. WR Brandon Wilson.
- UT Martin won the toss and elected to receive. It was the first time this season that JSU has not won the toss.
- Two Gamecocks made their first career start against the Skyhawks: freshman Randy Robinson started at DL and sophomore Dalton Campbell started at defensive end.
- The Gamecocks are now 30-7 all-time against the Skyhawks. The Gamecocks have won three in a row and is 10-3 in the series since joining the OVC in 2003. JSU is 15-4 in Martin.
- The Gamecocks have won 11-straight games against OVC opponents and 14-straight games against non-FBS foes. JSU's last non-FBS loss and OVC loss came at Eastern Illinois on Nov. 16, 2013.
- John Grass improves to 13-3 as Jacksonville State's head coach, tying Jim Blevins (started in 1965) for the best 16-game start as a head coach in JSU history.
- The Gamecocks gained over 400 yards for the 15th-straight game and the fourth time this season. The 15-straight games with at least 400 yards is a school record, with the previous long being eight games from Sept. 17-Nov. 6, 1999.
- Troymaine Pope's two touchdown runs give him his fourth career multi-touchdown game of his career and the first since he ran for two scores against Southeast Missouri on Nov. 23, 2013.
- Troymaine Pope's 159 rushing yards on Saturday marked his sixth career 100-yard game
- With his 159 rushing yards in today's game, senior Troymaine Pope passed Calvin Middleton and Terence Bowens in 10th place and Sean Richardson in ninth place on the school's all-time rushing list. He now has 2,098 yards and trails Bubba Long (2,109) in eighth place by 24 yards.
- Junior Josh Barge's three touchdown catches in the game marked his second career multi-touchdown game and tied his career high of three TD catches against West Alabama on Sept. 20, 2014.
- Junior Josh Barge added to his career totals in receptions and receiving yards, both of which he ranks second all-time behind Joey Hamilton. Barge now has 150 catches for 2,150 yards, behind Hamilton's records of 178 catches for 2,903 yards.
- With nine catches for 107 yards, Josh Barge notched his second 100-yard receiving game of the year and the ninth of his career.
- Junior quarterback Eli Jenkins' 273 yards of total offense in the game give him 5,398 in his career and move him past Maurice Mullins (5,138 from 2002-05) in sixth place and David Gulledge (5,339) in fifth place on the school's all-time list. He trails Ryan Perrilloux (5,479 from 2008-09) in fourth.
- Eli Jenkins threw three touchdowns and ran for one more, making him the first JSU player to account for four touchdowns in a game since DaMarcus James had five TD runs at Austin Peay on Nov. 2, 2013. He's the first quarterback to do so since Ryan Perrilloux had four passing TDs vs. UT Martin on Oct. 3, 2009.
- Senior running back Josh Clemons' touchdown run in the fourth quarter is his second as a Gamecock and the third of his career. He had one in his career at Kentucky.