JACKSONVILLE – A record-extending 30^th consecutive Ohio Valley Conference win moved No. 3 Jacksonville State another step closer to its fourth straight league championship.
 
Junior quarterback Bryant Horn threw a career-high three touchdown passes and ran for one more, and the Gamecocks' defense set a school record for fewest rushing yards allowed during a 59-23 rout of Murray State at Burgess-Snow Field on Saturday.
 
Roc Thomas added two touchdown runs in the second half and shook off an early injury to finish with 138 yards on 17 carries as the Gamecocks posted their highest point total since posting 62 against Sam Houston State in the 2015 national semifinals.
 
"I thought we played really well outside of turnovers," Jacksonville State head coach John Grass said. "We've got to clean those up. But other than that, you have to be pleased."
 
The Gamecocks (8-1, 6-0) can lock up a share of their record-tying fourth OVC title in a row with a win at UT Martin next week, and will claim the title outright if Austin Peay loses either of its final two league games. Eastern Kentucky won the OVC crown every year from 1981 to '84.
 
The defensive unit, which began the day No. 4 in FCS in total defense at 263.8 yards per game, allowed the Racers only 153 total yards, the sixth straight game the Gamecocks have held an opponent to less than 300 yards of total offense.

Murray State ran 28 times for minus-three yards, the fewest rushing yards allowed in JSU history, eclipsing the previous record set of zero yards set against Southeast Missouri in 2016.
 
"The defense played outstanding all day," Grass said.

 
Murray State was limited to 58 total yards in the opening quarter but led 13-7 by scoring off two Jacksonville State turnovers.

The Gamecocks struck quickly by forcing a Murray State punt after receiving the opening kickoff.
 
Thomas had a 19-yard run and Horn carried for 17 more on the next play as Jacksonville State drove deep into Racers territory. Horn ran untouched for the final nine yards to finish off the five-play scoring drive and Cade Stinnett tacked on the extra point for a 7-0 lead with 12:25 left in the first.
 
Horn, however, was picked off on JSU's next possession and the Racers capitalized. Shuler Bentley hit Jordan Gandy with a 22-yard TD pass and the extra point tied it at 7-7 at the 10:06 mark in the first quarter.

Another offensive miscue just before the first quarter ended gave Murray State its only lead. Horn fumbled on a read-option and Racers linebacker Sean Rodriguez scooped it up and ran 47 yards for a touchdown, giving the visitors a fleeting 13-7 lead with 20 seconds remaining.
 
Demontrez Terry hauled in the first of Horn's three touchdown passes as Jacksonville State regained the lead for good, 14-13, with 13:24 to go in the second quarter.
 
Terry's 45-yard TD reception was the second for the junior receiver from Birmingham, Ala. He accounted for 162 total yards, catching four passes for 64 yards and adding his two longest punt returns of the season, 42 and 41 yards, to set up the Gamecocks' last two touchdowns of the first half.
 
JSU needed four plays to score after Terry's 42-yard punt runback. Horn found Jamari Hester on third down from the 15 and Stinnett's kick made it 21-13.

The Horn-to-Hester combo connected again after Terry returned another Racer punt 41 yards into Murray State territory. Horn tossed an eight-yard touchdown pass to Hester to cap the six-play, 43-yard drive and stretch the Gamecocks lead to 28-13 with eight seconds left before intermission.
 
Thomas scored on runs of four and nine yards and Tramel Terry and De'Marcus Flowers contributed touchdown runs of five and 15 yards, respectively, as the Gamecocks exploded for 31 points in the game's final 22.5 minutes.

Gamecocks senior Darius Jackson had his streak of games with at least one tackle for loss snapped at 11.
 
Charles Crawford had an interception for JSU and Jonathan Hagler led with six tackles.


Jacksonville State takes its final regular-season road trip when it travels to Martin, Tenn., to battle the Skyhawks (5-4, 3-3) next Saturday.
 
Kickoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. at Hardy M. Graham Stadium and the game will be available on ESPN3 as the OVC Game of the Week.
 
Jacksonville State Postgame Notes – Murray State
November 4, 2017 • Burgess-Snow Field • Jacksonville, Ala.
 

• JSU Captains: sophomore safety Marlon Bridges, senior running back Roc Thomas, junior defensive lineman Randy Robinson and junior offensive lineman B.J. Autry.
• Murray State won the toss and elected to receive to start the game.
• The Gamecocks are now 13-2 all-time against Murray State and are now 7-1 in Jacksonville. JSU has now won the last four meetings, which is the longest winning streak by the Gamecocks since winning nine straight from 2004 to 2012.
• The Gamecocks extend their winning streak in OVC games to 30 games, extending their OVC record and the longest conference win streak in Division I football. It is the second-longest conference win streak in FCS history, behind 39 straight Metro Atlantic Conference wins by Duquesne from 1999-2006.
• John Grass is now 41-7 in his career at JSU and is 38-0 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 Georgia Tech).
• JSU's 323 rushing yards in the game extends its streak of consecutive games with at least 100 rushing yards to 47 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 53-straight games vs. FCS foes, with the last time it failed to do so coming against Tennessee State on Oct. 12, 2013.
• Jacksonville State's defense held Murray State to negative-three yards rushing on 28 carries. It's the fewest rushing yards the Gamecock defense has allowed in its Division I history. The previous mark was zero at Southeast Missouri on Nov. 5, 2016. 
• Senior offensive lineman Justin Lea made his 48th straight start for the Gamecocks. The mark breaks a tie with Tim Kelly (Eastern Illinois, 2004-07) for the second-longest consecutive start streak in Ohio Valley Conference. Lea is one game shy of tying the top mark of 49, which was set by former JSU All-American Max Holcombe from 2011 to 2014.
• With his nine-yard rushing score early in the first quarter, Bryant Horn now has a career high four rushing touchdowns this season. 
• Murray State's first quarter fumble return for a touchdown was the first such the Gamecocks have allowed since Connor Mitchell had a one-yard return for a score for the Racers on Nov. 21, 2015. 
• Prior to Saturday's game, Demontez Terry's longest punt return was 32 yards. Against the Racers, he had returns of 41 and 42 during the first half alone. 
• Redshirt-junior quarterback Bryant Horn recorded the first three passing touchdown game of his career. He's the first Jacksonville State quarterback to record three passing touchdowns in a game since former All-American Eli Jenkins tossed three against Southeast Missouri on Nov. 14, 2015.
• Redshirt-sophomore wide receiver Jamari Hester set a new career high with two receiving touchdowns, both of which came by ways of Bryant Horn during the first half. 
• True freshman kicker Jake Lane recorded his first career point when he booted a point-after touchdown following Roc Thomas' nine-yard touchdown with 11:42 left in the fourth quarter. He added a second less than 30 seconds later following Tramel Terry's touchdown run. 
• By finishing with 138 rushing yards, Roc Thomas tied Washaun Ealey for sixth in Jacksonville State history with eight career 100-yard rushing games. 
• Running back Roc Thomas, after concluding the game with 138 rushing yards, set a career high with 834 rushing yards on the season. His two rushing touchdowns also give the Oxford, Ala., native a new career high with nine on the season. 
• Randy Robinson was credited with his first career forced fumble on an eight-yard sack early in the fourth quarter. 
• Jacksonville State scored 50-or-more points for the first time since beating Sam Houston State 62-10 in the semifinals of the 2015 FCS Playoffs on Dec. 19, 2015. 
• Freshman safety Charles Crawford recorded his first career interception when he returned a Greg Willard pass 55 yards to set up De'Marcus Flowers' 15-yard rushing touchdown with 3:55 left in the game. 
• By holding Murray State's offense to 153 yards on 74 yards, it marks the first time Jacksonville State's defense has held an opponent to under 200 yards of total offense since holding the Racers to 178 yards on Nov. 12, 2016. 
• By finishing with 323 rushing yards, it marks the first time Jacksonville State's offense has rushed for over 300 yards since going to 317 against Youngstown State in the first round of the FCS Playoffs last season.

 
Jacksonville State Postgame Quotes – Murray State
November 4, 2017 • Burgess-Snow Field • Jacksonville, Ala.
 
Head coach John Grass
Opening Statement
"A lot different weather than last week. I needed sunscreen instead of three jackets. I thought we got off to a good start then turned the ball over. I thought the game could've been over a lot quicker if we didn't turn the ball over. We were able to create a couple of turnovers in the second half. All of their points came off turnovers, so we have to take care of the ball. Moving forward, we have a tough road game next week at UT Martin. We have two more games left, but they are two of the tougher ones."
 
On offensive performance
"I thought Roc Thomas played well, and I thought Tramel Terry played well, too. We got both of them rolling. I thought both Bryant Horn and Kendrick Doss played well outside of the turnovers."
 
On defensive performance
"Anytime you can make anyone one-dimensional offensively, you're in for a good day defensively. I thought their inability to run the football then to us being able to create pressure with our front seven. It was the team in a while that picked on Siran Neal, but he didn't have any problems."
 
On the play of quarterback Bryant Horn
"He can move the pocket around and I thought he did a great job of that today. You can't hit them all. We missed a few opens. We had over 300 rushing yards were big against a team that makes you want to throw the ball. We just have to continue that.
 
On play inside the red zone
"We were 7-for-7 today or something like that. We got points when we got down there. Cade Stinnett kicked the ball well when he came in. Jake did, too, when he came in."
 
Roc Thomas, running back, Sr.
On the running game
"There were just a lot of times we had a lot of gaps because of the guys up front. There were a lot of things they did defensively that helped, too. Overall, it really helped us out offensively."
 
Bryant Horn, quarterback, R-Jr.
On the offensive performance
"I think we did a great job of mixing things up offensively. We just have to clean up the turnovers. I think if we took away the turnovers, we might've been able to put up over 600 yards of offense. I feel like we ran the ball well today and that opened up the passing game. Overall, as an offense, I think we played pretty well."
 
On his passing performance
"Murray State did a good job of putting pressure off the edge. I knew if I made one person miss, I knew I could hit my guys."
 
On the first touchdown pass to Jamari Hester
"It was really a broken play. They did a good job of covering the open play. Jamari did a good job of getting open. We locked eyes and we scored."
 
Quan Stoudemire, linebacker, R-Jr.
On the defensive performance
"One thing we are really proud of is stopping the run. I didn't know they had negative-three yards rushing. That's crazy."