COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee Tech quarterback Bailey Fisher ran for two touchdowns and passed for two more as the Golden Eagles defeated Jacksonville State 37-27 at Tucker Stadium to snap the Gamecocks' seven-year dominance of the series.
 
Jacksonville State dropped to 6-5 overall and 3-4 in the Ohio Valley Conference. The Gamecocks need to win against Eastern Kentucky in two weeks to secure a 17th straight winning season, the longest active streak of winning seasons in FCS.
 
Josh Pearson added two more touchdown receptions to move into sixth place in OVC history with 30 during his storied Jacksonville State career.
 
"We haven't played a great ballgame all year. I thought we had it figured out," said Jacksonville State head coach John Grass.
 
"I'm very, very disappointed today. I thought we shot ourselves in the foot offensively all day. We gotta get back to the drawing board. We finally get an off week to heal up a little bit."
 
Tennessee Tech improved to 6-4 and 3-3, its highest win total since 2011.
 
Pearson caught touchdown passes of four and 66 yards from Zerrick Cooper. The senior from Decatur snagged eight passes for 142 yards, his second-highest yardage total this season.
 
Cooper, who passed for 312 yards, surpassed the 3,000-yard milestone (3,093) again, matching his accomplishment from 2018 when he threw for 3,416 yards.
 
Jamari Hester had a nine-yard touchdown reception in the fourth quarter, giving him 23 career TD catches, tying him with Joey Hamilton (1996-99) for second place all-time.
 
Michael Matthews contributed a 19-yard touchdown run for the Gamecocks in the third quarter. Uriah West led JSU with 71 yards on three carries.
 
Charles Crawford was Jacksonville State's top tackler with a game-high 13 stops.
 
The Golden Eagles dominated time of possession 35:08-24:52. Tennessee Tech built a 24-7 lead at halftime with three consecutive touchdown drives of 70-plus yards.
 
The Gamecocks have an open date next Saturday.
 
Eastern Kentucky visits Burgess-Snow Field for the regular-season finale on Nov. 23 for Marching Southerners Reunion Weekend. The game will be televised on ESPN3.

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Jacksonville State Postgame Notes – at Tennessee Tech
November 9, 2019 • Tucker Stadium • Cookeville, Tenn.

• JSU Captains: sophomore defensive end DJ Coleman, sophomore safety Jeremiah Harris, senior wide receiver Jerad Washington and senior quarterback Dalton Etheridge.
• Tennessee Tech won the toss and elected to receive.
• Two players made his first career start for the Gamecocks on Saturday: sophomore cornerback George Steele and sophomore safety Jeremiah Harris.
• JSU is now 16-7 all-time in the series against Tennessee Tech and had won the last seven meetings with the Golden Eagles before today's loss. The Gamecocks are 8-4 all-time in Cookeville.
• With his two touchdown catches in the game, senior Josh Pearson moved into sole possession of second place on the school's single-season touchdown catches list with 13. He now has the top two spots on that list after a school-record 17 last season.
• With his three touchdown passes in the game, Zerrick Cooper now has 25 this season and has moved into second on the school's single-season touchdown passes list. He holds the record with 32 in 2018, giving him the top two single-season touchdown pass totals in JSU history.
• With his 312 passing yards in the game, Zerrick Cooper now has 3,093, the second-most in a season in school history. He holds the record of 3,416 set last season, giving him the top two passing seasons in school history and the only two 3,000-yard seasons in school history.
• Zerrick Cooper added to his school record for career 300-yard passing games with his 10th on Saturday.
• Michael Matthews' 19-yard touchdown run in the third quarter was his fifth of the season and the ninth of his career.
• Zerrick Cooper's three touchdown passes in the game gives him 57 in his career, second all-time and closer to Ed Lett's school record of 61 from 1979-82. He moves into seventh on the OVC's career touchdown passes list.