CLARKSVILE, Tenn. – Jacksonville State tied the Ohio Valley Conference record for consecutive league wins on Saturday evening, thanks to a convincing 34-14 win over Austin Peay at Fortera Stadium.
 
The fourth-ranked Gamecocks (4-1, 2-0 OVC) won their 26^th consecutive OVC game, tying Eastern Kentucky's conference record that ended in 1995, while also tying the Colonels and Appalachian State for the second-longest streak in FCS history.
 
JSU matched the record with a dominant performance against a red-hot Governors (3-3, 2-1 OVC) team that entered the game riding its first three-game win streak in 31 years. The Gamecocks built an early 20-0 lead and never looked back in snapping EKU streak and extending their own.

The Gamecocks ran for 296 yards against a defense that hadn't allowed more than 165 so far this season behind a 135-yard, two-touchdown performance from Roc Thomas. The senior from Oxford, Ala., scored JSU's first touchdown and then another right before the half that put his team up by three scores.
 
Quarterback Bryant Horn ran for 71 yards and a score, while throwing for 52 yards and another touchdown in a game that saw him go 5-for-9 passing. Freshman Trae Barry caught two passes for 26 yards and one touchdown. Barry now has four catches on the year - two of which are for touchdowns.

Jacksonville State-ment!

No. 4 JSU matches an OVC record with 26 straight wins against conference foes with a 34-14 win at Austin Peay pic.twitter.com/BkW5Dm0zeu

— FCS Football (@NCAA_FCS) October 7, 2017

 
JSU's defense held the Govs to a season-low 234 yards of total offense and 54 yards below their previous season low in rushing yards. Peay managed just 106 yards on 30 carries and didn't score a rushing touchdown for the first time this season. Senior Jonathan Hagler led that charge, recording a career-best 11 tackles. It was JSU's first double-digit tackle performance this season.
 
The Gamecocks special teams also showed out in the game, one that was highlighted by De'Marcus Flowers' 87-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter that quieted the announced crowd of 7,102 after their team scored a late touchdown to make it a 13-point game. JSU's first kickoff return for a score since 2011 put the final seven points on the board and the deciding 34-14 score on the board.
 
The Gamecocks took control of the game early, scoring on their first two possessions to post an early lead. The first drive was an impressive one that spanned 17 plays, went 91 yards and took almost eight minutes off of the clock. Barry's second scoring catch of the year, a six-yard strike from Horn over the middle, capped the drive and gave the Gamecocks the early lead.
 
A quick stop put the ball back in the JSU offense's hands and the Gamecocks made that one count, too. This time, a Thomas 23-yard run off left tackle made it a 14-0 game with just 38 seconds left in the quarter. JSU's second scoring drive took just three plays and went 49 yards in 76 seconds.
 
Thomas scored his second touchdown of the game just within the two-minute mark of the second quarter, pushing multiple Govs defenders the entire three yards of his scoring run to put the Gamecocks up 20-0.
 
Peay did manage to get on the board just before the half on a 21-yard scoring pass from JaVaughn Craig to Kyran Moore, but JSU would take the 20-7 lead into the half.
 
JSU took the first drive of the third quarter and stretched its lead back to 20 points, thanks to a nine-play, 77-yard drive that ended with Horn's first rushing score of the season from four yards out.
 
Austin Peay scored again early in the fourth to make it a 27-14 game, but Flowers put the game away on the ensuing kickoff. The junior from Daleville, Ala., took the kick 87 yards for a touchdown, JSU's first score on a kickoff return since 2011, when Gabriel Chambers took one 99 yards at Kentucky.
 
JSU will get its shot to pass EKU for the league record for consecutive conference wins on Saturday and will have to beat the Colonels to do so. The Gamecocks host EKU at Burgess-Snow Field at 3 p.m. in the OVC ESPN3 Game of the Week. It will also be Fall Preview Day and Family Day on JSU's campus. It will also wrap up Hall of Fame Weekend for the JSU Athletics Department, which will honor its four inductees at halftime of the game.
 
 Jacksonville State Postgame Notes – Austin Peay
October 7, 2017 • Fortera Stadium • Clarksville, Tenn.

• JSU Captains: junior quarterback Kendrick Doss, senior safety Ra'Shad Green, sophomore defensive lineman Montrez Lang, senior offensive lineman Justin Lea.
• Jacksonville State won the toss and deferred to the second half.
• One Gamecock made his first career start on Saturday – wide receiver Landon Smith.
• The Gamecocks wore white jerseys for the first time this season, despite Saturday being their fourth game away from home. JSU was the home team in its neutral-site opener and, the home teams elected to wear white at Georgia Tech and Tennessee Tech.
• The Gamecocks are now 19-6-3 all-time against Austin Peay and are now 8-3-2 in Clarksville. JSU has now won the last 11 meetings and seven straight in Clarksville.
• The Gamecocks extend their winning streak in OVC games to 26 games, the longest conference win streak in Division I football. It also ties the OVC record of 26, set by Eastern Kentucky from 1992-95. It ties EKU and Appalachian State (2007-10) for the second-longest conference win streak in FCS history. The FCs record is 39 straight Metro Atlantic Conference wins by Duquesne from 1999-2006.
• John Grass is now 37-7 in his career at JSU and is 34-0 against non-FBS opponents in the regular season. He has four regular-season losses in four years, all to FBS schools (Michigan State, Auburn, LSU and Ga. Tech).
• JSU's 296 rushing yards in the game extends its streak of consecutive games with at least 100 rushing yards to 43 games. JSU's last game with less than 100 yards on the ground was at Michigan State in the 2014 season opener.
• JSU has now run for at least 100 yards in 48-straight games vs. FCS foes, with the last time it failed to do so coming against Tennessee State on Oct. 12, 2013.
• The Govs had not allowed 200 yards rushing in a game this season until Saturday, when the Gamecocks rolled up 296 yards on the ground.
• JSU's opening drive of 17 plays for 91 yards is longest drive in plays since a 17-play TD drive on its first possession vs. North Alabama on Sept. 1, 2016. The 91 yards was the longest drive since a three-play, 91-yard TD drive vs. Charleston Southern on Dec. 11, 2015.
• JSU's 20 first-half points are the most by the Gamecocks in the first half since scoring 31 vs. Eastern Illinois on Oct. 29, 2016.
• Roc Thomas' 135 rushing yards in the game put him over the 100-yard rushing mark for second-straight week. It was his third 100-yard game this season and the seventh in his career at JSU.
• Roc Thomas' seventh career 100-yard rushing game ties him with Oscar Bonds for the seventh-most in a career in JSU history.
• Bryant Horn's 6-yard touchdown pass to Trae Barry was the sixth of his career, while it was Barry's second career touchdown catch. It was Barry's third career reception, two of which are touchdowns.
• Roc Thomas' two touchdown runs give him five on the season and 12 in his career. It was his fourth career multi-touchdown game and his second this season.
• Jonathan Hagler's interception late in the second quarter was his second this season and the second of his career.
• Jonathan Hagler's 11 tackles set a new career high for the Leeds native. His previous high was nine vs. Liberty on Sept. 23, 2016. It is JSU's first double-digit tackles game this season and the first by a Gamecock since Quan Stoudemire and Marlon Bridges each had 10 against UT Martin on Nov. 19, 2016.
• Bryant Horn's four-yard rushing touchdown to start the third quarter was his first rushing TD of the season and the second of his career. He scored on an 11-yard run vs. Eastern Illinois on Oct. 29, 2016.
• With his 0.5 tackles for a loss in the game, senior defensive end Darius Jackson has now recorded at least one tackle for a loss in eight-straight games and in 17 of his last 19 games.