MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – For the first time in 13 road trips to Middle Tennessee, Jax State departed Floyd Stadium victorious as the Gamecocks rallied past the Blue Raiders 45-30 in a nationally televised Conference USA matchup on Wednesday.
 
Jax State (5-1, 3-0 in CUSA) snapped an 11-game losing skid at MTSU's home stadium by erasing the Blue Raiders' 16-point halftime lead. Middle Tennessee dropped to 1-5 and 0-2.
 
Jax State's defense entered the contest ranked ninth among all FBS teams in turnovers with 11 and will certainly move up in next week's rankings. The Gamecocks forced four more takeaways against the Blue Raiders, including a 26-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown by Curley Young Jr. for their final points.
 
Quarterback Zion Webb came off the bench and accounted for 287 yards of total offense – 186 passing and a team-best 101 rushing – as the Gamecocks poured on 38 unanswered points after falling behind 23-7 at halftime.
 
"Our guys kept playing and kept plugging along," Jax State head coach Rich Rodriguez. "Nobody was quitting and nobody was down. Zion came in and gave us a spark. It's a great team win."
 
The senior quarterback threw touchdown passes to tight end Sean Brown and Perry Carter and ran for another short TD to ignite the Gamecocks' comeback.
 
The Gamecocks took their only first-half lead when Webb entered the game in relief of Logan Smothers early in the second quarter. Malik Jackson ran 23 yards on first down, Webb sprinted 61 yards to the MTSU 1 on the next play and Jackson plunged in for a touchdown at the 11:21 mark. Alen Karajic's extra point put Jax State in front 7-3.
 
The game was delayed almost 20 minutes in the second quarter following a serious injury to a Middle Tennessee receiver. When play resumed, the Blue Raiders struck for three touchdowns in less than four minutes – a 1-yard TD run followed by touchdown passes of 71 and 19 yards from Nick Vattiato to Elijah Metcalf.
 
Jax State, which had rallied from a 14-point deficit the previous week, outscored the Blue Raiders 17-0 in the third quarter to regain the lead going into the final stanza.
 
An interception by cornerback Kekoura Tamue – his second of the year – set up the Gamecocks' second score.
 
Jax State drove 40 yards in six plays to trim MTSU's lead to 23-14. Webb connected with Brown on a 10-yard touchdown with 11:31 left in the third quarter, and Karajic tacked on the PAT to narrow the deficit to nine points.
 
MTSU's lead was cut to two following a Blue Raiders' special teams miscue. The Gamecocks drove 27 yards in only four plays with Webb finishing off the drive by scoring on a quarterback sneak from the 1.
 
Karajic's 43-yard field goal with 1:03 left in the third put the Gamecocks in front for good at 24-23.
 
Jax State's points continued to come fast and furious in the fourth quarter.
 
Carter hauled in a 63-yard touchdown pass from Webb and J'Wan Evans had a 1-yard run with 7:52 left on the clock. Young's fumble return with 3:42 left gave Jax State 38 points in a span of less than 23 minutes.
 
Brown caught five passes for 103 yards and Carter hauled in four for 76 yards.
 
Chris Hardie tied a school record with 4.5 tackles for loss against the Blue Raiders. Quae Drake led the Gamecocks with seven stops.
 
Jax State hosts Liberty at Burgess-Snow Field next Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. on ESPNU.
 
 
Jax State Postgame Notes – Middle Tennessee State
October 4, 2023 • Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium • Murfreesboro, Tenn.
 

• JSU Captains: Redshirt-senior offensive line Treylen Brown, redshirt-senior nickel Kolbi Fuqua and redshirt-senior defensive lineman Jackson Luttrell.
• JSU won the toss and elected to defer.
• Head Coach Rich Rodriguez is now 14-3 at the helm of Jax State in his second season.
• With a 3-0 Conference USA start and 5-0 ASUN mark a season ago, Rodriguez has yet to lose a conference game in eight matchups.
• Junior kicker Alen Karajic's extra point early in the second quarter moved him into seventh place on the Gamecocks' career scoring list with his 241st career point, surpassing Boyce Callahan (1970-73) 
• Jax State was the first opponent that Middle Tennessee State ever hosted at Floyd Stadium. On Oct. 14, 1933, the Gamecocks and Blue Raiders played to a 0-0 tie in Murfreesboro.
• Jax State improves to 3-14-2 in the all-time series, but has one the last two meetings.
• Wednesday's game was the second in a string of five consecutive nationally-televised games for the Gamecocks – four straight on ESPNU followed by one on CBS Sports Network
• Redshirt-senior quarterback Zion Webb led the the Gamecocks on the ground with 101 rushing yards and in the air passing for 186 yards on 11-of-21 throwing.
• Webb's 61 yard rush to set up the Gamecocks' first score of the night is the longest rushing play of the season for Jax State, and stood as the longest play overall until he passed a 63-yard touchdown to Perry Carter in the second half.
• Chris Hardie 4.5 tackles for loss tied the school record previously set by Chris Landrum against Murray State on Nov. 21, 2015.
• Hardie also hauled in his first career interception during Jax State's second-half rally and returned 58 yards into the MTSU redzone.
• Junior Kekoura Tarnue had a career-high six tackles along with his second interception of the season.
• Jax State added two more interceptions on the defensive side of the ball after entering the night ranked third in FBS with eight in 2023.
• Redshirt-senior Quae Drake led a balanced Gamecock defense with seven tackles.