JACKSONVILLE -- The momentum built during the abbreviated fall 2020 campaign carried over to spring as No. 16 Jacksonville State defeated Tennessee Tech 27-10 on Sunday for its fourth straight win.

The Gamecocks (4-1, 1-0) relied on an opportunistic defense that forced the No. 23 Golden Eagles into five turnovers and a punishing ground game that rolled up 274 yards to win their league opener in their final season as an Ohio Valley Conference member.

Uriah West ran for 106 yards – his second straight 100-yard rushing performance – with one touchdown, Zion Webb rushed for 70 and Pat Jackson finished with 62 yards as Jacksonville State outgained Tennessee Tech 399-227 and beat the Golden Eagles (1-1, 0-1) for the eighth time in the last nine meetings.

"Overall, just a very good first game," said Jacksonville State head coach John Grass, who also celebrated his 53rd birthday on Sunday (his actual birthday is Feb. 29). "You're always concerned when the other team has played a game before you've played, but I don't think was a factor. We played a lot of guys, and that helps. I thought that was huge tonight.

"The game ball goes to our defense for sure. Those guys bailed the offense out several times, especially in the third quarter holding them to a field goal and blocking another field goal. We've got to do a better job offensively, taking care of the ball and just improving all the way around," Grass added.

Webb, making his first career start, completed 12-of-19 passes for 125 yards, including a 19-yard touchdown to Dave Russell III early in the fourth quarter. The junior from Phenix City, Alabama also was intercepted once.

The first official touchdown ever scored by a Gamecock player in the month of February came less than seven minutes into the game.

Jacksonville State started its spring season with an efficient, time-consuming 53-yard scoring drive that took 14 plays. Josh Samuel, who had two touchdown runs in the Gamecocks' victory at Florida International last October, ran in from the 2 and Alen Karajic added the extra point for a 7-0 JSU lead with 8:02 remaining in the first quarter.

Safety Kolbi Fuqua forced Golden Eagles' quarterback Bailey Fisher to fumble on the ensuing possession and recovered the football at TTU's 40. Jacksonville State needed just four plays to find the end zone, with West scoring on a 13-yard run at the 3:28 mark.

Karajic's second successful PAT extended JSU's lead to 14-0.

Tennessee Tech got on the scoreboard after forcing the Gamecocks into the first of their three turnovers. TTU covered 41 yards in seven plays with Fisher diving in from the 1 to complete the scoring drive. Hayden Olsen's extra point trimmed JSU's lead to 14-7 with 10:28 left in the second quarter.

Karajic, a freshman who converted 8-of-9 field goal attempts during the fall, stayed hot with a 34-yard kick with 7:40 to go before halftime to extend the Gamecocks' cushion to 17-7.

Karajic later wrapped the scoring with 3:43 remaining by kicking a 23-yard field goal to cap off an eight-play, 85-yard drive by the Gamecocks.

Fuqua and Stevonte Tullis recovered fumbles for Jacksonville State. Nicario Harper, Jeremiah Harris and Markail Benton had interceptions for the Gamecocks.

Harper was credited with a game-high 13 tackles to lead Jacksonville State defensively.

Jacksonville State travels to Nashville next Sunday to face Tennessee State (0-1) at Hale Stadium. Kickoff is at 2 p.m. and the game will be available on ESPN+.
 

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Jacksonville State Postgame Notes – Tennessee Tech
February 28, 2021 • Burgess-Snow Field • Jacksonville, Ala.

• Jacksonville State won the toss and differed to the second half. 
• Today's attendance: 9,355. 
• JSU notched its first win in the month of February and the first win on head coach John Grass' birthday. 
• The Gamecocks have now won eight of the last nine meetings with Tennessee Tech after falling to TTU last season in Cookeville. 
• Redshirt sophomore Dave Russell III collected his first career touchdown in the fourth quarter with a 19-yard grab from Zion Webb. Russell finished as JSU's leading receiver with five catches for 81 yards. 
• Webb finished 12-of-19 for 125 yards passing and tallied 71 yards on six carries in his first career start. 
• Two different Gamecock running backs turned in scoring runs with redshirt junior Josh Samuel putting JSU on the scoreboard with a two-yard run. Junior Uriah West extended Jax State's lead to 14-0 after a 13-yard run in the opening quarter. 
• West accumulated 106 rushing yards on eight carries against TTU and has now rushed for 100-plus yards in the last two games. He finished with 116 rushing yards versus Florida International on Octo. 23, 2020. 
• Redshirt sophomore Nicario Harper registered his second career interception to stave off a TTU scoring threat. Harper's first pick came against North Alabama on Oct. 17, 2020. Harper finished with a team-best 13 tackles in the win over Tech. 
• The JSU defense forced four TTU turnovers with three interceptions (Jeremiah Harris, Nicario Harper and Markail Benton) and a fumble recovery by Kolbi Fuqua. The Gamecocks' special teams added a fifth Tech turnover with a fumble recovery by Stevonte Tullis on a muffed punt return late in the game.  JSU's special teams also blocked a field goal, which is the first blocked field goal attempt since Nov. 24, 2018 against East Tennessee State. Redshirt senior Umstead Sanders was credited with the blocked field goal. 
• For the second-straight game, the Gamecocks' defense has limited the opposition to less than 100 yards rushing.  FIU was held to 72 rushing yards on 24 carries, while Tech was limited to 75 yards on 30 attempts. 
• Freshman kicker Alan Karajic maintained his 2.0 field goals per game this season with two made field goals against Tennessee Tech. Karajic drilled a 34-yard field goal in the second quarter and added a 23-yard field goal in the fourth quarter.  He is now 10-for-11 in fields goal this season. 

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Jacksonville State Postgame Quotes – Tennessee Tech
February 28, 2021 • Burgess-Snow Field • Jacksonville, Ala.
 
Head Coach John Grass
Thoughts on the game
"It was a good opening game. The game ball goes to the defense for sure. I thought they bailed the offense out several times, especially at the start of the third quarter. We have to do a better job of taking care of the ball and improving all the way around. I thought the special teams played very clean. Overall just a good first game."
 
On Zion Webb's first start at quarterback
"I thought he played very well considering he did not practice pretty much all week. He didn't take very many reps until Friday, so that's why he was a little bit off throwing the ball. I thought managing the game he did well, though. He'll get better and better the more reps he gets."
 
On the offensive line's improvement
"I think our guys are so much better than the year before. We had a lot of youthfulness last year, but now they're older and they're really clicking together. It's just so much fun watching our line play."
 
Umstead Sanders, Linebacker, Redshirt Senior
On the defense's performance
"We were really focused on takeaways. We talked all week that we wanted a lot of turnovers to be able to win the game. We just executed today with that on our mind."
 
Zion Webb, Quarterback, Redshirt Junior
On his first start at quarterback
"We got the win and we got the job done, but there's a lot of things that I have to clean up and that I can do better at."
 
On playing in the spring
"It honestly felt weird, but it felt good to get back in the groove of things. We just have to take it one day at a time and get better every day."