KENNESAW, Ga. – No. 17 Jacksonville State's inaugural trip to Fifth Third Bank Stadium turned out to be one the Gamecocks would rather forget.
Kennesaw State quarterback Xavier Shepherd ran for three touchdowns as the No. 20 Owls bullied their future ASUN Conference rival 31-6 before an announced crowd of 7,476, the fourth-largest crowd in the school's short football history. The non-conference loss dropped Jacksonville State to 2-3 for the first time in 14 years.
Shepherd attempted only six passes, completing five for 72 yards. He ran 32 times for 124 yards and had scoring runs of 16, two and one yards. The Owls had 68 plays to Jacksonville State's 49 and maintained possession for almost 15 minutes more than the Gamecocks with their run-heavy attack.
"We couldn't stop them and get off the field," said Jacksonville State head coach John Grass. "It's hard to get ready for what they do in a week and I don't think we handled it very well. They played great from ahead. We needed to try to make them play from behind and couldn't do it."
Kennesaw State (3-1) was 12-of-16 on third-down conversions and also converted a fourth down. The Owls only punted once – with 3:32 left in the game.
Jacksonville State trailed 17-0 at halftime after getting only three possessions in the first 30 minutes.
The Owls received the opening kickoff and established the tone for the rest of the afternoon with a nine-play, 75-yard drive for a touchdown with 10:12 left in the first quarter to go ahead 7-0.
Jacksonville State seemed to have answered on the ensuing drive as it moved from its 21 to the Kennesaw State 8 (one of four times the Gamecocks drove into the red zone). But the drive stalled and Alen Karajic's short field goal try was blocked by KSU's Desmond Scott and returned 24 yards to midfield.
Shepherd directed a methodical 11-play drive as the Owls went ahead 14-0 with 40 seconds left in the first quarter. KSU's Nathan Robertson later boosted his team's lead to 17-0 with a 45-yard field goal just prior to intermission.
Jacksonville State's lone score came in the third quarter as quarterback Zerrick Cooper threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to PJ Wells at the 6:53 mark. It was Cooper's 66th career touchdown pass and the second straight week in which Wells, a former Westbrook Christian standout, has been on the receiving end of a Cooper TD pass.
Cooper was 19-of-32 for 212 yards with two interceptions.
Josh Samuel led the Gamecocks with 75 rushing yards. Ahmad Edwards had nine catches for 67 yards.
It was the Gamecocks' largest regular-season loss to an FCS opponent since 2013.
Linebackers Umstead Sanders (12) and Marshall Clark (11) were Jacksonville State's leading tacklets.
The Gamecocks will try to snap a two-game losing streak when they open their AQ7 schedule next Saturday vs. Stephen F. Austin at Burgess-Snow Field. Kickoff is at 3 p.m. The teams met annually between 1996-2002 with the Lumberjacks owning a 6-1 series lead.
Jacksonville State Postgame Notes – Kennesaw State
October 2, 2021 • Fifth Third Bank Stadium • Kennesaw, Ga.
• JSU Captains: Redshirt senior quarterback Zerrick Cooper and redshirt sophomore defensive lineman Anthony Nesby
• JSU won the toss and elected to defer for the third straight week
• The Gamecocks fall to 0-3 all-time against Kennesaw State. The two programs officially become ASUN Conference rivals beginning next season.
• Head coach John Grass is now 70-24 at the helm of the Gamecocks
• JSU's back-to-back losses are just the second stretch of consecutive regular-season losses in eight years under Grass
• Jacksonville State State starts 2-3 overall for the first time since 2007
• Freshman cornerback Marco Baker, redshirt senior lineman Nahum Horton and freshman running back Ron Wiggins each earned their first career starts against KSU
• The Owls rushed for 271 yards, becoming the first team to gain more than 250 yards of offense on the ground since Florida State gained 263 on Oct. 3, 2020
• Redshirt senior Umstead Sanders led JSU's defense with a career-high 12 tackles
• Redshirt sophomore Marshall Clark registered his third career game of double-digit tackles with 11 on Saturday
