JACKSONVILLE – The first FCS selection committee rankings will be released next week, and Jacksonville State solidified a case for the top spot with its performance against No. 22 Eastern Illinois.
 
The second-ranked Gamecocks shook off offensive cobwebs from the previous week and rolled to a 47-14 win before a homecoming crowd of 21,655 at Burgess-Snow Field on Saturday. Jacksonville State improved to 7-1 and 4-0 in the Ohio Valley Conference with its 21^st straight league victory.
 
Roc Thomas rushed for 115 yards after missing the previous two games with an injury as JSU posted its biggest margin of victory in series history.
 
Josh Clemons added a pair of touchdown runs and Eli Jenkins passed for two more scores. Jenkins accounted for 242 total yards to move into second place on the OVC's career total offense list.
 
The Gamecocks' offense, which failed to produce a touchdown in a 24-7 win at Eastern Kentucky the previous week, had no such issues against the Panthers.
 
JSU led 21-0 after nine minutes and stretched its cushion to 31-7 by halftime.
 
"We scored in the red zone," said Jacksonville State head coach John Grass. "We got the ball in the end zone and that's what we didn't do last week. We ran the ball well, threw the ball and we made some field goals.
 
"Today was just a great team win. I don't think we can play much better. We played a good football team and really dominated most of the game."
 
Jacksonville State wasted no time in putting the game out of reach.
 
Monty Young sacked EIU quarterback Mitch Kimble and Justin Thomas-Thornton recovered at the Panthers 6 on the game's first series. Clemons ran in from the one-yard line to give Jacksonville State a 7-0 lead with 12:26 left in the first quarter.
 
Jenkins added an 11-yard TD run and tossed a 13-yard touchdown to Josh Barge to stretch the lead to 21-0 with 5:54 remaining in the first.
 
Freshman Jamari Hester hauled in his first career touchdown – a 27-yarder from Jenkins – to extend the Gamecocks' lead to 28-7 early in the second. Cade Stinnett later nailed a 32-yard field goal as JSU built its lead to 31-7 at intermission.
 
Clemons' second touchdown run and Stinnett's career-long 48-yard field goal helped Jacksonville State carry a comfortable 40-7 lead into the final quarter.
 
Backup quarterback Bryant Horn found the end zone midway through the fourth with an 11-yard run to cap off a 13-play, 73-yard march that consumed almost eight minutes. It was the first career touchdown for the sophomore from Alex City.
 
Safety Marlon Bridges recorded nine tackles, including six solo stops, to lead the Gamecocks. The redshirt freshman from Lannett also forced a fumble in the third quarter and is now tied for the FCS lead in that category with five.
 
The Gamecocks play the first of back-to-back road games when they travel to Cape Girardeau, Mo., to face Southeast Missouri (3-5, 3-2) next Saturday.
 
Kickoff at SEMO's Houck Stadium is at 1 p.m.

 
Jacksonville State Postgame Notes – vs. Eastern Illinois
October 29, 2016 • Burgess-Snow Field • Jacksonville, Ala.
-Jacksonville State captains: CB Jaylen Hill, OL Nick Johnson, DL Desmond Owino, RB Josh Clemons.
 
-Jacksonville State won the toss and defered to start the game. The Gamecocks have won three of the eight tosses in 2016.
 
-Jacksonville State's first touchdown of the game was the quickest score for the Gamecocks this season. The previous quickest came during the first quarter at Liberty.
 
-With his 13-yard touchdown reception midway through the first quarter, Josh Barge broke the NCAA FCS record of consecutive games played with a catch. It's the 46th consecutive game played with a catch for Barge and he held sole possession of the record until Eastern Washington's Cooper Kupp tied him later in the afternoon.
 
-With his first receiving touchdown of the season during the first half, Josh Barge tied Derrick Thomas (1982-85) for third in career receiving touchdowns (18) in JSU history.
 
-By having two first half passing touchdowns, quarterback Eli Jenkins passed Montressa Kirby (1995-98) and Ryan Perrilloux (2008-09) both second and third, respectively, on Jax State's career passing touchdown list.
 
-With the win, the 2016 JSU senior class earned its 41st win of their career. The mark is the most by a four-year class in JSU's Division I history. Jax State's 1992 NCAA Division II National Championship team holds the all-time mark with 46 wins.
 
-Receiver Jamari Hester, a redshirt freshman from Miami, Fla., hauled in his first career touchdown reception when he was on the receiving end of Eli Jenkins' 26-yard pass early in the second quarter.
 
-Eastern Illinois' rushing touchdown to open the second quarter was the lone score Jacksonville State has allowed in a homecoming game since 2013.
 
-With the win, JSU moves its all-time record against Eastern Illinois to 8-6. The Gamecocks are now 4-3 at home in the series.
 
-For the first time in the series, Jacksonville State has beat Eastern Illinois three games in a row.
 
-JSU extends its longest active home winning streak in the FCS to 13 games.
Jacksonville State has now won its last 28 straight regular season games against non-FBS opponents.
 
-JSU has now won its last 21 Ohio Valley Conference games, which is the longest active conference winning streak in Division I football and one shy of the second-longest streak in OVC history.
With the win, JSU moves its all-time record on homecoming to 57-12-2. The Gamecocks have won 11 of their last 14 homecoming matchups.
 
-Since JSU Stadium opened in 1946, Jacksonville State is now 270-99-8 at home. The Gamecocks are 44-7 in their last 51 home games at Burgess-Snow Field at JSU Stadium and 38-5 in their last 43 regular-season home games.
 
-After finishing the game with 85 rushing yards, Eli Jenkins passes Rodney Landers (James Madison; 2005-08; 3,477) for 10th in FCS history for career rushing yards by a quarterback.
 
-On a 21-yard carry early in the third quarter, quarterback Eli Jenkins passed Casey Brockman (Murray State; 2009-12) for second on the Ohio Valley Conference career total offense list.
 
-Cade Stinnett's 48-yard field late in the third quarter was tied for the eighth longest in school history. It's the longest field goal by a JSU kicker since Connor Rouleau kicked a 48-yard field goal at Eastern Kentucky on Nov. 8, 2014.
 
-During the third quarter, redshirt freshman Marlon Bridges record his fifth forced fumble, which ties him with Khalil Young of Mississippi Valley State for the FCS lead.
 
-The 47 points scored by Jacksonville State is the most the Gamecocks have put on the scoreboard in their series against Eastern Illinois.
 
-Midway through the fourth quarter, Bryant Horn recorded his first career rushing touchdown when he ran into the end zone from 11 yards out.
 
-JSU's defense held Eastern Illinois to 56 rushing yards, which is the sixth opponent held under 100 rushing yards this season. Since moving to Division I in 1995, JSU has held 67 opponents to 100-yards or less.
 
-Under Head Coach John Grass, JSU improves to 10-2 against ranked opponents.  
 
Jacksonville State Postgame Quotes – vs. Eastern Illinois
October 29, 2016 • Burgess-Snow Field • Jacksonville, Ala.
Head Coach John Grass
Thoughts on the game
"Today couldn't have been any better for our homecoming crowd. I thought it was a great crowd on a pretty day. I thought everyone saw the fruits on three great practices, and everything was clicking today. It was probably the best we've played since Liberty, and the most complete game we've played this entire season. We just have to play good down the stretch. We kept everyone pretty much healthy, and getting the guys back was a good thing too."
 
Thoughts on the defense
"Any time you can hold someone to under 100 yards rushing… I thought our defense played lights out. They held them to 231 yards of total offense and forced a couple turnovers. I thought we had great pressure on the quarterback all day long."
 
Thoughts on the offense
"Offensively, it's much better when you can score the football when you get down into the red zone. I know Coach Ogle and the offensive guys will sleep a lot better this week. We got touchdowns when we got down there, so that's a good deal for the most part."
 
On Randy Robinson
"We had some injuries along the defensive front, so we had to play him. He ended up starting about eight games for us, so that kind of shows you what kind of player he was. He probably had as good a season any player inside last year as a true freshman. He's going to have a great career."
 
On Josh Barge's touchdown reception
"Those walls are close to the field, which I like. It makes it tight when you catch one like he did. He did a great job of getting his foot in bounds on that pitch-and-catch there. When he takes a little flip over the wall there, you have to hold your breath."
 
On sustaining energy
"We have a certain way we want to play. If we don't, then we are kind of disappointed. I thought we really came out and had fun playing football. We don't want to be an emotional football, but you do have to have adrenaline to create energy, and I thought we were able to do that from the opening kickoff to the final horn."
 
Eli Jenkins, quarterback, R-Senior
On having Roc Thomas back
"It was great. I love that kid. Every time he gets the ball, you never know what's going to happen. You never know if it's going to be a 60-yard run or what. He and Josh Clemons complement each other very well."
 
On first the drive
"I was thinking about pulling the ball the whole time. As soon as I saw them get the fumble, I was like, I'm about to pull the ball and walk in for a touchdown,' but it didn't go like that."
 
On the offense
"We had a pretty good day. I think we had something to prove as a unit after last week. All week we talked about getting the ball into the end zone and setting up to make plays. We shot ourselves in the foot last week. We got in the red zone six times last week and didn't capitalize, so it was all about us. This week, we capitalized on several opportunities."
 
Joel McCandless, linebacker, junior
On the defense
"I contribute all of that to our coaching staff. Coach Blackwell and the team as a whole. I can't give credit to any one player."
 
Randy Robinson, defensive lineman, sophomore
On stopping the run
"As a front seven, we take a lot of pride in stopping the run. We don't want anyone to run the ball on us ever. We don't care if you're going to run the ball every play, we are going to try and stop you."
 
On the defense
"We are going to make mistakes. We aren't going to play a perfect game, no matter how hard we try. It's all about the next play and that's what we focus on."
 
Marlon Bridges, safety, R-Freshman
On the defense
"We had a couple busted coverages, but the defensive line was teeing off the entire game."