CONWAY - Newly hired
Rich Rodriguez stood before assembled media members and Jacksonville State supporters 356 days ago and declared, "I know you're looking forward as I am to what's going to happen here over the next 12 months."
On Estes Stadium's purple & gray striped turf Saturday, Year 1 of the Rodriguez era as Gamecocks' head football coach wrapped up with a resounding 40-17 victory over Central Arkansas.
Picked to finish fourth out of six teams in the ASUN Conference preseason poll, Jax State proved those prognosticators wrong and earned the 2022 league championship, winning all five of its ASUN games by an average of 19 points and finishing 9-2 overall.
"I'm just really so proud. I don't know that I've ever won a championship in my first year," Rodriguez said as his players and staff celebrated. "That's a true credit to these players – the way they've bought in, the way they've worked and all the changes they went through.
"I'm just so proud of them. They deserve this."
As a program transitioning to the Football Bowl Subdivision level, Jacksonville State is ineligible for this year's FCS playoffs, per NCAA rules. The ASUN issued a statement in September stating that the Gamecocks also were not eligible to win the league's football crown, even though their games counted in the standings.
Jacksonville State Athletics officials, however, intend to ignore the asterisk and will honor the team as ASUN champions and present the squad with championship rings and commemorative T-shirts.
Ron Wiggins scored on a pair of touchdown runs and Zion Webb rushed for a career-high 132 yards and a touchdown as the Gamecocks ended the season on a three-game win streak, outscoring its final three league opponents 122-50 in its FCS swansong.
Webb accounted for almost 300 scrimmage yards, and it was JSU's defense and special teams that played decisive roles. Jax State recovered four fumbles – second-most in a single game in school history – and limited the Bears to 78 yards on the ground, more than 100 below their average.
"Zion really battled," said Rodriguez. "I played with a lot of heart. He was kind of banged up a little bit. We blocked on the perimeter and we've got unselfish wideouts, so it was a great win for."
A chaotic first half saw the Gamecocks recover four fumbles, including back-to-back recoveries on successive kickoffs, roll up 284 total yards while surrendering 285, and score their first safety since 2017.
JSU received the opening kickoff and quickly drove 75 yards in five plays. Ron Wiggins ran 48 yards to deep in UCA territory on the game's first play and crashed in from 14 yards out with 10:30 remaining in the first quarter.
Yessman Green broke through to block a Bears' punt out the back of the end zone for a 9-0 Jax State lead. The safety was the first recorded by JSU's defense since Nov. 16, 2017, against Tennessee State.
Wiggins scored his second touchdown of the game on a 1-yard at the 1:08 mark in the first quarter to complete an 80-yard drive.
A bizarre second quarter saw Jax State drive to Central Arkansas' 2 following a 58-yard run by Webb. But the Gamecocks were forced to settle for Alen Karajic's 25-yard field goal for a 19-7 lead with 8:59 to go in the half.
Jett Smith recovered the ensuing kickoff at UCA's 25 and the Gamecocks offense needed just one play to find the end zone again as Webb found Anwar Lewis on a perfectly executed wheel route for 25-yard touchdown and a 26-7 lead.
Leeshoen Jarrett was in the right place at the right time on the kickoff following Lewis' touchdown catch. The fumble recovery, which was forced by Larry Worth, gave Jax State the football at the UCA 16, but the Gamecocks failed to capitalize when Karajic appeared to slip while attempting a 32-yard field goal.
A fumble recovery by the offense resulted in Jax State's first points after halftime.
Michael Pettway pounced on a Webb fumble in the end zone with 11:22 left in the third as JSU built its largest lead at 33-10. Webb's 2-yard dive into the end zone capped off the Gamecocks' sixth game with at least 40 points this year.
Central Arkansas (5-6), Austin Peay (7-4) and Eastern Kentucky (7-4) finished in a three-way tie for second place in the ASUN standings at 3-2.
Jax State's 2023 schedule is expected to be released soon. Games previously announced include a Sept. 23 home matchup vs. Eastern Michigan and a Nov. 4 visit to South Carolina.
The Gamecocks' new FBS league, Conference USA, recently agreed to a television rights deal with CBS Sports Network and ESPN. Part of the new five-year deal will shift C-USA's entire conference football schedule in October 2023 to mid-week evening games.
The majority of the league's schedule next October will be played on Tuesday and Wednesday nights, with a few games also slated for Thursday and Friday.
Jacksonville State Postgame Notes – Central Arkansas
November 19, 2022 • First Security Field at Estes Stadium • Conway, Ark.
- JSU Captains: Redshirt senior linebacker Stevonte Tullis, redshirt senior tight end Keishoen Jarrett and redshirt-senior quarterback Zion Webb
- Head coach Rich Rodriguez finishes his debut season at Jax State 9-2 and improves to 172-122-2 for his career
- Sophomore Alen Karajic's 25-yard field goal late in the second quarter moved him into a four-way tie for fifth place on the school's single-season field goal list with 13 successful field goals. He's tied with Cade Stinnett (2017), James Esco (2010) and Joe Hix (1974).
- Karajic also extended his school record with seven touchbacks against the Bears to bring his single-season school record to 59. The previous record before this season was 40 by Griffin Thomas in 2013.
- Running back Ron Wiggins' had two scores for the first time this season, and for the first time overall since the road contest at Lamar in 2021
- Jax State recovered four fumbles, all of which came in the first half, for the first time since recovering four against Nicholls on Sept. 21, 2002
- JSU's 15 total fumble recoveries this season ties the 1998 team for the fifth-most in a single-season in school history. The record is 24 set in 1997.
- Redshirt sophomore Laletia Hale set a new career-high leading the Gamecocks defense with 10 tackles
- With his first tackle of the game, senior Stevonte Tullus reached 200 takedowns for his career. He finished with a pair against UCA.
- Yessman Green's punt block in the first quarter resulted in JSU's first safety since scoring one against Tennessee State on Nov. 16, 2017
- Zion Webb's 132 yards on the ground established a new single-game high and marked the senior quarterback's second straight 100-yard rushing effort. He finished 8-for-17 passing for 163 yards.
- The 2022 ASUN title marks JSU's 25th conference football championship. The Gamecocks claimed their first football crown in 1962 as a member of the Alabama College Conference.
