JACKSONVILLE – Shaq Davidson caught three touchdown passes from Zerrick Cooper and Marlon Bridges returned an interception for a touchdown as Jacksonville State rallied from a halftime deficit to knock off East Tennessee State 34-27 in the first round of the FCS playoffs.
 
Davidson, who missed the previous four games due to illness, snagged five passes, including touchdown catches of 37, five and 13 yards, as the Gamecocks (9-3) advanced in the postseason for the first time since 2015.
 
The Gamecocks' second-round foe will be No. 7 overall seed Maine (8-3), champion of the Colonial Athletic Association. Kickoff next Saturday at Alfond Stadium in Orono, Maine, is scheduled for 11 a.m. CT and the game will be televised on ESPN3.
 
"The goal is to advance to the next round. That's what the playoffs are about," said a relieved Jacksonville State head coach John Grass. "I thought our guys really responded in the second half and played really well in the third quarter. The fourth quarter was a battle and they were hard to put away."
 
Trailing by 10 to begin the second half, Jacksonville State roared back with 24 straight points to build a 34-20 lead with 7:34 remaining. Marlon Bridges' 32-yard interception return and Cade Stinnett's extra point gave the Gamecocks their largest lead of the evening.
 
The Buccaneers fought back again and closed the gap to 34-27 by marching 75 yards in just over two minutes following Bridges' pick-six.
 
East Tennessee State was moving toward a possible game-tying score when linebacker Zack Woodard came up with the biggest play of the game. Woodard knocked the ball loose as Bucs running back Quay Holmes was churning toward the goal line and Tre' Threat fell on the fumble for a touchback with 2:38 left on the clock.
 
"Give Jacksonville State credit for the way they competed and came back in the second half," said East Tennessee State head coach Randy Sanders. "They fought and battled. They had a couple of turnovers in the first half that we were able to take advantage of, but they didn't turn it over in the second half.
 
"The challenge was to score the most points in the 60 minutes they keep score and they were able to do that and we weren't."
 
Cooper completed 20-of-32 passes for 226 yards with all three touchdown throws going to Davidson. He became the first player in Jacksonville State history to surpass 3,000 passing yards in a season.
 
Cooper continues to rewrite the school record for most touchdown passes in a season with 30 in 12 games.
Jaelen Greene became the first Gamecock running back this season to rush for more than 100 yards with a game-high 121 on 15 attempts.
 
Stinnett added four extra points and field goals of 28 and 27 yards and moved past Bryce Callahan (1970-73) for sixth place on JSU's all-time scoring list with 241 career points.
 
Jacksonville State trailed 20-10 at halftime as the Buccaneers converted two interceptions into points.
 
Southern Conference co-champion ETSU (8-4) outgained the Gamecocks in the first two quarters, during which there were four lead changes. The Bucs jumped out to a 3-0 lead on a J.J. Jerman field goal after driving 77 yards in 11 plays on their initial possession.
 
After the teams exchanged punts, Jacksonville State took its first lead with an 80-yard drive that required only six plays. Three of the plays were Cooper passes to Davidson, the last a 37-yard completion for a touchdown with 2:05 remaining in the first. Cade Stinnett's extra point gave the Gamecocks a 7-3 lead.
 
The first of two interceptions thrown by Cooper in the first half gave ETSU its second lead. Titus Tucker stepped in front of a pass at the Bucs 40 and returned the pick-six 60 yards down the sideline on the final play of the first quarter. The PAT gave ETSU a 10-7 advantage.
 
The Gamecocks answered with the first of two Stinnett field goals to draw even at 10-10 with 11:54 to go in the second quarter.
 
The Buccaneers built the lead to 10 points by intermission with a short touchdown pass and another Jerman field goal in the final 8:30 minutes. His field goal on the final play of the half capped off a time-consuming 14-play drive set up by the second interception thrown by Cooper.
 
Bridges was also JSU's leading tackler with nine stops, followed by Traco Williams and Jalen Choice with eight apiece.
 
Maine – picked to finish eighth in the CAA in the preseason – is making its eighth all-time FCS playoff appearance and first since 2013. The Black Bears are 4-0 at home this season and carry a four-game win streak into the matchup against Jacksonville State.
 
This will mark the fifth time an Ohio Valley Conference member has faced a CAA team in the FCS playoffs, the last coming when Towson beat Eastern Illinois 49-39 in the 2013 national quarterfinals.

 
Jacksonville State Postgame Notes – vs. East Tennessee State
November 24, 2018 • Burgess-Snow Field • Jacksonville, Ala.
- JSU Captains: R-So. QB Zerrick Cooper, Senior DE Monty Young, R-Sr. OL B.J. Autry, Sr. DL Randy Robinson.
- ETSU won the toss and elected to defer.
- Attendance: 11,024
- The Gamecocks advanced in the NCAA FCS Playoffs to face No. 7 seed Maine in the Second Round on Saturday, Dec. 1. Kickoff is set for 11 a.m. CST on ESPN3 from Orono, Maine.
- JSU improved to 21-17 in NCAA Playoff games and 6-8 in 14 FCS games. Jax State is now 6-5 in the postseason since 2014.
- Jax State is now 2-1 all-time against the Bucs of East Tennessee State.
- With his three TD passes, redshirt sophomore Zerrick Cooper pushed his season TD passes mark to 30…Cooper has now recorded a passing TD in all 12 games this season.
- R-Sr. Shaq Davidson returned to action with a trio of TD passes, establishing a new career high in TD passes caught in a game…Davidson now has seven TD catches in his career and four on the season. He becomes the second Gamecock this season to have three TD catches in a game this season as Josh Pearson hauled in three versus Eastern Illinois.
- Davidson finished with 69 yards on five catches, which matches his career high in receptions and sets a new career high in total yards. His previous career yard mark was 64 yards against Liberty on Sept. 24, 2016.
- Cooper, who set the school record for passing yards in a season, moved past the 3,000 yards passing with 226 yards through the air. He surpassed Montressa Kirby's mark of 2,817 in the Kennesaw State game.
- So. RB Jaelen Greene recorded his first 100-plus rushing contest of his career with 121 yards on the ground on 15 carries.  He becomes JSU's first 100-plus rusher since Zion Webb ran for over 100 yards against Eastern Kentucky on Oct. 6. His previous high was 92 yards set against Kennesaw State in the regular season finale.
- For the third time this season, Sr. PK Cade Stinnett connected on a pair of field goals in a contest. Stinnett drilled a 27-yard field in the second quarter and added a 28-yard field in the third period.
- R-Jr. Safety Marlon Bridges collected his eighth career interception and his second career pick-six with a 32-yard interception return for a TD in the fourth quarter. His other pick-six happened in 2017 against Eastern Kentucky – a 73-yard return for a TD. It's the third pick-six for the Gamecocks this season as they had two against Tennessee State on Nov. 10. Bridges finished with nine tackles.
- Junior Tre' Threat tallied a career high five tackles, including a pair of stops for a loss. Threat also recovered the ETSU fumble in the end zone to halt an ETSU scoring drive late in the fourth quarter.
- For just the second time this season, R-Jr. WR Josh Pearson was held without a TD catch. Pearson did not turn in a TD catch at Tennessee State on Nov. 10. He finished the game with four catches for 91 yards.
 
Jacksonville State Postgame Quotes – vs. East Tennessee State
November 24, 2018 • Burgess-Snow Field • Jacksonville, Ala.
 
Head Coach John Grass
Thoughts on the game
"We're fortunate and blessed to get a win at home and advance to the next round. I thought East Tennessee State played really well and had a good game plan. They outplayed us in the first half, but I thought we really responded well in the second half – especially in the third quarter. I'm just really excited to get to move on."
 
On halftime adjustments
"We just weren't playing very well. We talked all week about playing better early in the third quarter since it has been our Achilles heel in most games. We were looking for ways to change that and we came out with a lot more energy to start the third quarter with running the ball better and getting good defensive stops."
 
Shaq Davidson, wide receiver, redshirt senior
On his three touchdowns and return to playing
"I have to give credit to Zerrick Cooper and my offensive line for giving me good passes and blocking well. Of course, the coaches dialing up good plays too. It just really felt great."
 
Zerrick Cooper, quarterback, redshirt sophomore
On getting the ball to Davidson
"I just took what the defense gave me. It was mostly man coverage on third down so the best matchup on the field was with Shaq Davidson, and he was able to make some good plays for me."
 
Jaelen Greene, bunning back, sophomore
On his first 100-yard rushing game
"The offensive line was blocking very well and their defensive line was pinching on the inside. That allowed me to bounce outside and run downhill for big plays."
 
Marlon Bridges, safety, redshirt junior
On his pick-six
"They ran with bulk the entire game. When I picked up the receiver in front of me, I felt like I should run with anything that comes my way. When I caught the ball though, all that I could think about was scoring."