NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Ohio Valley Conference portion of Jacksonville State's schedule is complete with another championship trophy.
Zerrick Cooper threw three touchdown passes as the No. 8 Gamecocks defeated Tennessee State 41-14 at W.J. Hale Stadium Saturday afternoon. Thanks to Murray State's last-second victory over Southeast Missouri State, Jacksonville State (8-2, 7-1) became the first league member to ever win five consecutive outright football championships.
"I'm just very, very proud of our football team," said Jacksonville State head coach
John Grass. "I thought we came out and played well on both sides of the ball and took care of business. We thought we would be able to throw the football and we were able to do that.
"I think offensively right now we're like a streak shooter in basketball shooting threes; we're really on or really off. We have to be more consistent."
Now Jacksonville State turns its attention to the regular-season finale against second-ranked Kennesaw State and a showdown with major FCS playoff implications.
Jalen Choice returned an interception 54 yards for a touchdown and
Yul Gowdy had a 15-yard pick-six during a four-minute span of the fourth quarter as Jacksonville State's defense turned the game into a rout. It marked JSU's first game with multiple interceptions for touchdowns since returning three for scores against Eastern Kentucky in 2016.
Traco Williams also had an interception in the end zone for the Gamecocks to halt Tennessee State's opening drive to begin the third quarter.
Cooper completed 20-of-30 passes for 272 yards. He now has 23 TDs this year, tying the school record for single-season touchdowns passes thrown held by
Ryan Perrilloux (2009).
He also led the Gamecocks in rushing with 50 yards on 14 carries.
Cooper threw two first-half touchdowns to
Jamari Hester and another to
Josh Pearson as JSU built a 27-7 lead by intermission. Pearson's 10-yard TD catch midway through the first quarter was his 16th of the season, extending his school record.
Hester caught a team-high nine passes, the most of his career.
The Gamecocks received the opening kickoff and wasted little time driving 65 yards for the game's first points.
Cooper hit Hester with a 14-yard touchdown pass at the 12:59 mark in the first quarter. It marked the Gamecocks' 35th scoring drive of the season that took less than three minutes.
Pearson's 10-yard touchdown catch completed a six-play, 80-yard drive on Jacksonville State's second possession.
Cade Stinnett's extra point pushed the lead to 13-0 with 7:12 to go in the first.
Tennessee State answered with a 58-yard touchdown to draw to within 13-7 but the Gamecocks responded with two more touchdowns – a 2-yard pass to Hester from Cooper with six seconds left in the first quarter and
Michael Matthews' 16-yard run early in the second.
The Gamecocks' defense delivered a key stop just before halftime to take a 20-point cushion to the locker room.
The Tigers (3-5, 2-4) drove 82 yards in 12 plays and had the ball on JSU's 1 with 18 seconds left. After a timeout, linebacker
Christian Wafford crashed through and sacked TSU quarterback Michael Hughes, forcing a fumble as time ran out.
Next week's JSU-Kennesaw State matchup will be the first football game played at SunTrust Park, home of the Atlanta Braves. FOX Sports Southeast will televise the rematch of last year's second-round playoff game, the first in a two-game series between the Gamecocks and the Owls (9-1), champions of the Big South Conference.
Tickets can be purchased online at
braves.com/jsufootball or the SunTrust Park ticket office, with prices starting at $20. Parking passes also are available.
Jacksonville State Postgame Notes – at Tennessee State
November 10, 2018 • W.J. Hale Stadium • Nashville, Tenn.
- JSU Captains: Senior OL Tyler Scozzaro, Senior DE Denzil Ware, Senior DE E.J. Moss, Junior WR Jamari Hester
- Tennessee State won the toss and elected to defer to the second half.
- With the win, Jacksonville State becomes the first team in Ohio Valley Conference history to win five consecutive conference titles. JSU has gone a combined 38-1 in league play over the last five seasons and won all five titles outright.
- JSU's eighth OVC Championship is the school's 23rd football conference championship in school history. The eight titles ties JSU with Murray State and Western Kentucky for the fourth-most in league history, but JSU has won its eight in just 16 years in the conference.
- The Gamecocks secure their 19th NCAA playoff appearance and its sixth in a row. The Gamecocks are one of only five teams to be in the FCS Playoffs in each of the past five seasons (New Hampshire, North Dakota State, Sam Houston, South Dakota State).
- With the win, Jacksonville State is now 11-2 all-time against the Tigers. JSU has now won four in a row and eight of the last nine in a row against the Tigers. They are 5-0 against the Tigers in Nashville and 2-0 at Hale Stadium.
- With his three touchdown passes in the game, Zerrick Cooper now has 23, tying Ryan Perrilloux's school record of 23 touchdown passes in a single season in 2009.
- Josh Pearson extended his FCS lead in touchdown receptions with one scoring reception today. He also extends his school record for touchdown catches in a single season to 16.
- With his touchdown reception, Josh Pearson moves into second place in OVC history with 16.
- With his 122 receiving yards today, Josh Pearson now has 891 this season. That moves him into fifth on the school's single-season receiving yards list.
- Jamari Hester's two touchdown receptions in today's game gives him seven this season and 13 in his JSU career.
- Jamari Hester set a new career high for receptions in a game with nine on Saturday. His previous high was eight at Southeast Missouri on Oct. 20. The nine catches tied for the seventh-most catches in a game in school history.
- Michael Matthews' 16-yard touchdown run in the second quarter was his third of the season.
- Traco Williams' interception in the third quarter was his third this season and the third of his career.
- Yul Gowdy's 15-yard interception return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter was his first career interception.
- Gowdy's interception return for a score marked the second-straight week that JSU has had an interception returned for a score after not having a defensive touchdown through the first eight games of 2018.
- Jalen Choice's 54-yard interception return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter was his first career interception.
- It is the first time JSU has returned an interception for a score in consecutive games since 10/31/15 vs. Eastern Kentucky and 11/7/15 vs. Eastern Illinois.
