JACKSONVILLE – Senior quarterback Eli Jenkins picked up where he left off as No. 3 Jacksonville State opened the 2016 campaign with a victory over longtime rival North Alabama.

Jenkins accounted for 331 total yards and running back Roc Thomas, the former Oxford High star, ran for three touchdowns as the Gamecocks cruised to a 31-12 win before a crowd of 22,116 at Burgess-Snow Field.

Jacksonville State extended its regular-season winning streak against non-FBS foes to 22 games, dating back to 2013.

The Gamecocks scored two touchdowns in the game's first nine minutes and kept the pressure on UNA's overmatched offense all night. The Lions got within 12 points early in the third quarter, but Thomas added the last of his three TD runs and the teams swapped field goals the rest of the way.
 
"I thought we came out (of the game) pretty healthy, and we played really well defensively," Jacksonville State coach John Grass said. The Lions managed just 52 yards on 32 rushing attempts.

"They couldn't run the ball, and take away holding penalties against our defense that kept drives going for them and it would have been an outstanding night. It was still pretty good."

Jenkins, a first-team preseason All-American, threw for more than 200 yards and ran for over 100 yards for the third time in his illustrious career. Jenkins hit on 20-of-34 passes for 230 yards while running for 101 yards on 13 carries, including a 47-yarder for a touchdown in the second quarter.

"There were a lot of new faces out there. We're breaking some new guys in for sure," said Grass. "We've got some good talent.

"I think the receiving corps from top to bottom could potentially be as talented as we've had. We have to get some continuity but it's coming along."

Thomas, a former standout for Grass' teams at Oxford, was efficient in his first game wearing Gamecock red.

Thomas ran 20 times for 73 yards and scored on runs of one, nine and five yards. True freshman Tyus Flakes contributed 75 yards on 12 carries as the Gamecocks piled up 278 yards on the ground.

Jenkins engineered a methodical 17-play, 83-yard drive after the opening kickoff for a 7-0 JSU lead with 9:18 left in the first quarter. Jenkins' 47-yard TD sprint three minutes later extended the cushion to 14-0.
 
UNA got on the scoreboard on Jacob Tucker's nine-yard pass to Julius Jones with 3:32 remaining in second quarter.

Kevin Henke kicked field goals of 47 and 24 yards for the Lions in the third quarter. Gamecock kicker Cade Stinnett tacked on a 23-yarder with 6:25 remaining for the game's final score.

Four Gamecocks – Delwyn Torbert, Marlon Bridges, Joel McCandless and Quan Stoudemire – recorded seven tackles to lead the stout defensive effort.

Jacksonville State steps up to face the top echelon of college football on Sept. 10 when it travels to face No. 5 LSU at Tiger Stadium.

Kickoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. and the game will be televised on ESPNU.



Postgame Notes
Jacksonville State Postgame Notes – North Alabama
- Captains for the Gamecocks: quarterback Eli Jenkins, cornerback Jaylen Hill, offensive lineman Nick Johnson and defense lineman Desmond Owino.
- University of North Alabama won the toss and elected to defer. It's only the third time the Gamecocks have lost the toss since the start of the 2015 season.
- The announced attendance for Thursday night's game was 22,116, which was higher than the Gamecocks' second-round playoff matchup with Chattanooga last season.
- On a 47-yard run scoring play in the first quarter, Eli Jenkins broke a tie with Ed Lett for the most career touchdowns responsible for in a Jacksonville State career. Coming into the game, the two quarterbacks were tied at 65.
- By not playing against UNA, Josh Barge's streak of consecutive games played comes to an end at 40. Barge had not missed a game, prior to Thursday night, since redshirting in 2012.
- Running back Roc Thomas recorded his first touchdown as a Gamecock when he went into the end zone from one-yard out to cap JSU's 17-play opening drive.
- With three rushing touchdowns, Roc Thomas recorded the first multi-touchdown game of his college career, and tied for third-most rushing touchdowns in a single game in school history.       
- Al Harris, Jr., Shaq Davidson, Justin Thomas-Thornton, Kevin Spears, Roc Thomas, Krenwick Sanders, Pat Porter, Dean Kelly, Jonathan Curry, Jonathan Hagler, Darius Anderson, Jalen Choice, Marlon Bridges, Dantley Coker, Branqavious Bussey, Brock Gould, Gavin Golsan, Jamari Hester, Delwyn Torbert, Selwyn Torbert, Tyus Flakes, Nuka Yobo and Evan Crossing all saw their first action as a member of the Gamecock football team.         
- Tyus Flakes, a true freshman from Auburn, Ala., saw his first game action as a Gamecock. He came into the game late in the third quarter and finished with 72 yards on 12 carries.
- After arriving in Jacksonville during the offseason, Shaq Davidson (South Carolina) and Krenwick Sanders (Wisconsin) hauled in their first receptions as Gamecocks during the first half. Davidson finished with two catches for 25 yards while Sanders had three receptions for 50 yards.
- In his collegiate debut, receiver Evan Crossing finished with 34 yards on three catches.
- Quarterback Eli Jenkins finished with 331 yards of total offense, which moves him past Derek Carr (UT Martin, 2009-12) for sixth on the Ohio Valley Conference career total offense list.
- With the win, Jacksonville State moves to 25-18-3 all-time against North Alabama and have won the last two in the series. The Gamecocks are 16-6-1 against the Lions in Jacksonville.
- Jacksonville State now moves to 49-50-8 in season opening football games since 1904. The Gamecocks have won five of their last seven season opening games.
- Marlon Bridges, a redshirt-freshman, made his first career start at the free safety position. He finished with a career-high seven tackles and one forced fumble.
- Jamari Hester, a 6-foot-6, 215-pound, made his first career start when the redshirt-freshman got the call at receiver. He finished with two receptions for 22 yards.
- By holding North Alabama to 52 rushing yards, it marks the 63rd time a Jacksonville State defense has held an opposing offense to 100 rushing yards or less since moving to Division I in 1995.
- Redshirt-sophomore Quan Stoudemire set a career-high in tackles as the Opp, Ala. native finished with seven.
- In his first career game, redshirt-sophomore Delwyn Tobert set a career-high in tackles with seven.
- Cade Stinnett, a redshirt-sophomore, set a career-long with he connected on a 23-yard field goal attempt midway through the fourth quarter.
- This is the third time in his career quarterback Eli Jenkins has thrown for 200 or more yards and ran for 100 or more in a game. 

Postgame Quotes
Jacksonville State Postgame Quotes – North Alabama
Head Coach John Grass
Thoughts on the game
"It's good to open at home in front of 22,000-plus after being on the road the last few years. You kind of worry, going in, how a Thursday night game will go since we haven't had one in a while. It was a really good atmosphere. I thought our guys played well. We have some things we have to clean up, but we played against a good football team in North Alabama tonight. I think they have a chance to win their conference and make a run at a national championship. We knew it was going to be tough going in."

On runningback Roc Thomas
"I thought he ran the ball hard. He shows you how hard he runs and how passionate he runs with the ball. It's just good to have him back on the field for me and our team. I think he had a great night."

On the Gamecock defense
"Minus the holding calls on our defensive backs, I think we played great defense. We held them to right around 200 yards of offense. The few times they scored, they got into the red zone aided by penalties. The quarterback made a couple of good plays and they have a few receivers who are really good. I thought our defense played really well even though we were breaking in a lot of new guys, too. Jaylen Hill was back there in the secondary with a couple guys who have never started a game for us."