JACKSONVILLE – Southeastern Louisiana scored 18 unanswered second-half points to defeat Jacksonville State 31-14 in a non-conference matchup at Burgess-Snow Field at JSU Stadium Saturday afternoon.
A Homecoming crowd of 18,654 saw the Gamecocks (6-2) take a 14-13 lead at halftime. The Lions of the Southland Conference controlled the tempo through the third and fourth quarters, however, putting the finishing touches on their road victory with a short scoring run with 15 seconds on the clock.
Jax State managed just 90 total yards in the second half and finished with 290. Southeastern Louisiana had 459 yards and dominated time of possession, 41:03 to 18:57.
"Obviously we looked poorly prepared at times; that's on me," said Jacksonville State head coach Rich Rodriguez. "We were outcoached. We've got to get our guys to play at a higher performance."
Anwar Lewis gained 125 yards on 15 carries and had a 10-yard reception, accounting for 135 of JSU's total. Ahmad Edwards grabbed two passes for 72 yards while Sterling Galban had a team-high three catches for 20 yards.
After a scoreless first 15 minutes, both offenses found their rhythm in the second quarter.
Southeastern Louisiana – which ran 50 plays during the first half, twice as many as Jax State – got on the scoreboard first with a 6-yard touchdown pass that finished off a 12-play, 80-yard drive.
Riley Callaghan's extra point gave the Lions a 7-0 lead at the 11:54 mark in the second.
Lewis broke free for a 53-yard touchdown run to draw the Gamecocks even. Lewis' eighth TD of the season and Alen Karajic's extra point made it 7-7 at the 10:11 mark.
The first of two Callaghan field goals in the last two minutes, this one a 31-yarder, put the Lions in front 10-7. Jax State quickly responded, however, when Zion Webb found Edwards behind the Southeastern Louisiana secondary for a 64-yard touchdown. Edwards' 10th career TD reception was the longest of his career and first of the season.
Karajic's PAT with 1:07 remaining gave the Gamecocks a 14-10 edge, its first lead of the afternoon.
Southeastern Louisiana (4-3) reverted to a bit of trickery to trim the deficit to one point at halftime.
Bauer Sharp ran 55 yards deep into JSU territory on a fake punt, but the Gamecocks defense stiffened and forced the Lions' Callaghan to kick a 23-yard field goal on the final play of the half.
"In the first half I thought we had some missed opportunities," Rodriguez said. "But I felt OK because our guys were playing hard.
"They didn't do anything differently in the second half than in the first half. It's just the execution wasn't there. We've got to take this as a learning opportunity for coaches and players, be mad about it for 24 hours, then learn from it and get ready for the next one."
The Lions took the lead for good on the first play of the fourth quarter, added another Callaghan field goal with five minutes left, and put the contest out of reach with a 2-yard touchdown run in the waning seconds.
The Gamecocks jump back into ASUN action next Saturday when they travel to Clarksville, Tenn., to face former Ohio Valley Conference rival Austin Peay (5-2, 1-1). Jax State owns a 12-2 lead in series history, but the Governors have won the last two meetings.
Kickoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. at Fortera Stadium and the game will be on ESPN+.
Jacksonville State Head Coach Rich Rodriguez
October 22, 2022
The Southeastern Louisiana Game
Opening comments:
"Obviously, we looked poorly prepared at times and that's on me. We've got to get them ready. We were outcoached and we've got to get our guys to play at a higher performance. I thought in the first half we had some missed opportunities, but I felt okay because our guys were playing hard, and we got the ball first. And they didn't do anything differently defensively in the second half than the first half, it's just that the execution wasn't there. Again, we got to take this as a learning opportunity for coaches and players, be mad about it for 24 hours, and then get ready for the next one."
On the offense's struggles:
"Our struggles offensively at times was just a myriad of things, could've been coaching, could've been plan, could've been snaps, missing things here and there. It was just a nightmare for some things."
On Southeastern Louisiana:
"You've got to give them credit too. They're athletic and they don't stay blocked long. They controlled the clock. I didn't realize it until looking at it, I mean 38 minutes, they had 23 first downs. Seemed like they controlled the clock most of the game."
On the defense wearing down:
"They ran a lot of plays. We didn't get off the field like we needed to. Gave them the fake punt which should never happen. We had them in a lot of third down situations we just didn't convert or get the stops."
Anwar Lews, RB, R-So.
On the offense:
"I feel like, you know, SELA they're a good team. They adjusted to what we were doing, and we just needed to execute more. We're going to go back to the drawing board and fix everything."
On his first quarter 53-yard touchdown run:
"I got to give all the credit to the o-line because without them it wouldn't be able to happen. I just had to set it up and when I seen the hole, I just had to hit it. Try to get zero to one hundred quick."
On bouncing back next week:
"We just got to go back to the drawing board and fix our corrections. Encourage each other after this loss, got to tell each other to keep our head up, and focus on the next game."
Fred Perry, S, Fr.
On the defense:
"I feel like we came out strong, we started fast, we had our foot on their neck. We came out second quarter, we let up a little bit and then they took advantage of that. So, we just had to get right."
On the different offensive looks from SLU:
"I feel like we had been seeing all of it on film, we knew what was coming, but we came out second quarter, we let up a little bit. They took advantage of that part."
Jeremiah Harris, S, R-Sr.
On the defense:
"We came out playing balls to the wall. Second half we didn't have no type of energy. Also, we just got to fix that by going to the film room tomorrow and just fix and correct our mistakes."
On where the energy comes from:
"The energy, it comes from us. You know, from the sidelines. As a player on the field, make a play, you want the sideline excited, you want everybody excited, so I feel like the energy comes from the players."
Jacksonville State Postgame Notes – Southeastern Louisiana
October 22, 2022 • Burgess-Snow Field at JSU Stadium • Jacksonville, Ala.
- JSU Captains: Running back Matt LaRoche, linebacker Stevonte Tullis and linebacker Markail Benton
- SLU won the toss and elected to defer
- The Gamecocks fall to 6-6-1 in the all-time series against the Lions. Saturday marked just the second meeting between the two schools since 1978.
- JSU drops to 61-14-2 all-time on Homecoming
- Head coach Rich Rodriguez is now 6-2 at the helm of Jax State, and moves to 169-121-2 for his career
- Southeastern Louisiana's 85 plays were the most an opponent has run against the Gamecocks this season and matched the mark Eastern Kentucky set in last season's double-overtime season finale
- JSU was held below 300 yards of total offense for the second time this season (290); the Gamecocks had 295 in their only other loss of the season at Tulsa.
- Senior quarterback Zion Webb finished 10-for-22 passing for 126 yards and a touchdown, but also was intercepted twice.
- With two touchbacks on his three kickoffs, sophomore kicker Alen Karajic tied and later set the school record for most touchbacks in a single season now with 41, surpassing Griffin Thomas (40) from 2013
- Freshman Fred Perry led JSU with a new career-high 13 tackles, including 10 solo stops to lead the Gamecocks defense for the second game this season
- Safety Jeremiah Harris also notched double-digit takedowns with a season-best 10 tackles
- Sophomore running back Anwar Lewis' team-high 125 yards rushing was his fourth 100-yard game of the season
- Lewis' 53-yard breakaway touchdown run in the second quarter was his third of the season longer than 50 yards, joining a 60-yarder last week at North Alabama and a 64-yarder at Murray State on Sept. 10
