FLORENCE, Ala. – Braly Stadium, the University of North Alabama's football home, has been the scene of many memorable Jacksonville State victories, most famously the Gamecocks' 1992 NCAA Division II national championship.
Playing without head coach
John Grass, who watched from his home after testing positive for COVID-19 two days earlier, Jacksonville State overcame a halftime deficit to defeat UNA 24-17 before a socially distanced crowd of 4,632 Saturday afternoon.
Zerrick Cooper ran for two scores and tied the school record with his 61st career touchdown pass as the Gamecocks (2-1) beat their longtime rival for the fourth straight time. Senior tight end
Trae Barry caught five passes for 104 yards – his fourth career 100-yard receiving effort – and Cooper accounted for 290 scrimmage yards in the 48th meeting between the schools.
The outcome was not decided until safety
Nicario Harper intercepted a desperation UNA heave at the JSU one-yard line on the game's final play.
"I'm really proud of our staff and our players for pulling out the win," Grass said on a postgame media teleconference. "I was just really proud of the way we played in the second half. I thought all three phases of the game played well after halftime."
Cooper had a pair of one-yard touchdown runs in the third quarter as the Gamecocks rallied from a 10-7 halftime deficit. Both of his TD runs finished off lengthy JSU drives – a 14-play, 80-yard march at the 5:24 mark and a five-play, 82-yard drive on the final play of the quarter to put the Gamecocks ahead for good.
Cooper now has five rushing touchdowns in three games and 17 for his career. He ran nine times vs. the Lions (0-2) for a season-high 46 yards.
Alen Karajic remained perfect on the season with a 36-yard field goal that extended UNA's advantage to 24-17 with 10:23 remaining.
UNA took the opening kickoff and strung together a 19-play drive that consumed almost 10 minutes. The Lions, however, were forced to settle for a 19-yard Sam Contorno field goal and a 3-0 lead.
Jacksonville State finally responded midway through the second quarter as Cooper tossed a 14-yard touchdown pass to
Quan Charleston. Karajic's extra point made it 7-3 at the 5:39 mark.
Cooper's 61st career TD pass ties
Ed Lett (1979-82) atop the school record book. He completed 15-of-25 passes for a season-high 244 yards Saturday afternoon.
The Lions regained the lead when Parker Driggers scored on a one-yard run with 19 seconds to go before halftime. UNA controlled the football for 22:26 to Jacksonville State's 7:34 in the first half.
The Gamecocks' defense limited UNA to 63 yards on 30 attempts and 276 yards total. The Lions had only one play of more than 20 yards. D.J. Coleman had a game-high nine tackles and Harper was credited with seven stops in addition to his game-clinching interception as time expired.
The series resumes in 2021 when the Lions visit Jacksonville. The Gamecocks will return to Florence in 2022.
The Gamecocks are slated to play Conference USA member Florida International (0-2) Friday night at Ricardo Silva Stadium in Miami, Fla. The JSU-FIU game was rescheduled from Sept. 3. The Panthers' game at Charlotte on Saturday was postponed due to COVID-19 concerns.
Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. and the game will be televised on ESPN3.
October 17, 2020 • Braly Stadium • Florence, Ala.
Jacksonville State Postgame Notes – at North Alabama
- JSU Captains: redshirt senior linebacker Umstead Sanders, senior tight end Trae Berry, redshirt senior punter Preston Knight, redshirt senior offensive lineman Nahum Horton, redshirt junior kicker Bryant Wallace, redshirt senior Zerrick Cooper, redshirt senior tight end Landon Rice, redshirt junior linebacker Zack Woodard and senior wide receiver Jared Scott.
- JSU won the toss and elected to defer.
- This was the 87th time since moving to Division I in 1995 where the Gamecocks held their opponent to fewer than 100 yards rushing, limiting UNA to just 63 yards on the ground. It's the lowest total since Southeast Missouri was held to 60 yards on Oct. 19, 2019.
- Today marked JSU's first game back at Braly Stadium since the 1992 Division II National Championship game, a 17-13 win over Pittsburg State. JSU is now 10-10-2 against the Lions in Florence.
- JSU improves to 27-18-3 all-time in the series with North Alabama, mostly during the Division II era when both were Gulf South Conference members, but is 12-1-1 in the last 14 meetings and owns back-to-back victories with both programs as FCS members since 2018.
- Zerrick Cooper's 14-yard touchdown pass to Quan Charleston late in the second quarter was the Jonesboro, Ga., native's 61st career touchdown pass, tying Ed Lett (1979-82) for the school record.
- Redshirt junior Charleston caught his first career touchdown pass with five minutes remaining in the second quarter.
- Cooper's 244 passing yards moves him to 7,435 for his career at JSU, now just 217 shy of matching Eli Jenkins' school record of 7,652.
- With a pair of one-yard touchdown runs to go with a 14-yard scoring pass, Cooper accounted for three touchdowns against UNA and is now responsible for 78 career touchdowns, 11 behind Eli Jenkins' school record.
- Cooper tallied 290 yards of total offense, moving him past Tony Romo (EIU) for 10th place on the Ohio Valley Conference's all-time total offense list with 8,210 career yards. He sits 131 yards behind EKU's T.J. Pryor for ninth.
- One week after returning a fumble recovery for a score, redshirt sophomore Nicario Harper pulled down his first career interception on the final play of the game to deny UNA's Hail Mary attempt and secure the victory for JSU.
- Senior tight end Trae Berry had a season-high five receptions to lead the Gamecocks with 104 receiving yards. He moves within 184 yards of Rusty Fuller's 1,500-yard school record for receiving yards by a tight end.
- Junior DJ Coleman tied a career-high with nine tackles to lead the Gamecock defense against UNA.
- Freshman kicker Alen Karajic converted a 36-yard field goal and three extra points to remain perfect to begin his Gamecocks career. (10/10 PAT, 4/4 FG).
