JACKSONVILLE – How dominant was Jax State in its final home game of the season against Louisiana Tech?
 
So dominant that the pyrotechnics traditionally fired off following each Gamecock touchdown ran out … before halftime.
 
Senior Zion Webb rushed for three touchdowns and fellow senior Malik Jackson ran for a career-high 193 yards and two scores as Jax State jumped on LA Tech early and cruised to a 56-17 Conference USA victory before a crowd of 20,252 at Burgess-Snow Field.
 
The Gamecocks (8-3, 6-1 in CUSA) raced to a 42-10 halftime cushion behind a school-record 398 yards of total offense and kept the pedal applied in the second half, shattering Jax State and league offensive marks en route to their highest point total of the year.
 
"I'm really proud of the guys. They played hard," said Jax State head coach Rich Rodriguez. "Every guy that got in there, from my vantage point, played hard. That's kind of a trademark for our program.
 
"We want to finish strong. It's been an amazing season and amazing to see how these guys have bought into the culture during this transition. We've got a bunch of little guys that play pretty hard and that's what I'm proud of."
 
For any bowl games with an eye on the Gamecocks, the performance was definitely a resumé builder.
 
Jax State piled up 628 total yards against the Bulldogs (3-9, 2-6) and established a CUSA rushing record with 522 yards on 60 carries, eclipsing the previous mark (495) set by Middle Tennessee State in 2016. The Gamecocks also rushed for seven touchdowns – one shy of the school record. Eleven players carried the football against LA Tech.
 
Jackson, one of 11 seniors honored in a pre-game ceremony, finished with 193 yards on just nine carries with touchdown runs of two and 13 yards in the first quarter. His 68-yard run on the offense's first play was the longest by a Gamecock back this season and the longest of his career.
 
Webb ran for three touchdowns for the third time in his career on a day when the passing game was an afterthought. He completed six passes for 106 yards while gaining 122 more on 10 carries, including TD runs of 34, 8 and 29 yards.
 
Anwar Lewis also gained 122 yards on a team-high 14 carries, including Jax State's final touchdown via a 9-yard run with 5:53 remaining in the third quarter. Alen Karajic's eighth extra point gave the Gamecocks an insurmountable lead and allowed Rodriguez to go deep into his depth chart in the final quarter.
 
Ron Wiggins contributed a 13-yard touchdown run in the second quarter and finished with 33 yards.
 
The Gamecocks' special teams got into the act of scoring as well, with Kekoura Tarnue blocking a Louisiana Tech punt and scoring on the 21-yard return to give Jax State a 14-0 lead less than seven minutes into the contest.
 
"I'm going to try to enjoy this one and I want our players to," said Rodriguez. "Then we've got another one and hopefully a bowl game."
 
Jax State travels to Las Cruces, N.M., next Saturday for a CUSA showdown vs. New Mexico State (9-3, 6-1 in CUSA) in the regular-season finale for both teams. Kickoff at Aggie Memorial Stadium is scheduled for 3 p.m. CT.
 
The Aggies have clinched a spot in the CUSA Championship game in Lynchburg, Va., on Friday, Dec. 1, against No. 25 Liberty (11-0). New Mexico State lost to the Flames 33-17 on Sept. 9.
 
 
Jacksonville State Head Coach Rich Rodriguez
November 18, 2023
The La Tech Game
 
Opening Comments
"Really proud of the guys, played hard. They've got some talented players, and we knew that. Our guys, we had an open week, but more importantly I thought our seniors and our players were dialed in to play really hard. Great atmosphere, good crowd, great weather. Obviously, we didn't play perfect, but every guy that got in there, from my vantage point, was playing really hard. That's kind of the trademark of our program, at least we think it is."
 
On possibly making a bowl:
"We call our meeting rooms the truth rooms, I deal with them straight. This is what is happening. I'm hopeful that things will work out, there won't be enough teams that qualify, and we'll be in because I think our seniors and our guys deserve it. We want to finish strong, and we want to be able to at least have the record that finishes second in the league if we can win next week. It's been an amazing season and amazing to see how these guys have bought in to the culture and during this transition."
 
On Malik Jackson:
"It's really nice to have a guy come for one year. Having that relationship and just thinking so much of him and coaching him. Like not only coaching him because of his ability, but who he was. Just a great young man, so when he came, I wanted to make sure he enjoyed the experience, and I think he has even up to this point. For him to finish his last home game with that kind of impact, that's forever for him and he deserves that."
 
On Treylen Brown:
"Trey Brown has been as good of a senior leader at offensive line as I've ever had, just from his personality, taking accountability, helping the guys out, talking to them. He's done a good job of that." 
 
On the senior class:
"The reason that we're having a little bit of success in this transition is because of the culture that's here, and the culture is set by the players. Coaches give them direction, but the players are the ones that set the culture day-in and day-out. Last year's class was great, this year, 11 seniors, they're great. I hope they get to finish it with a bowl game, that would be a really nice finish for our seniors to be the first ever Jax State football team, senior class, to go to a bowl game."
 
Zion Webb, QB, R-Sr.
On the rushing attack:
"I think it was just a mentality that we have up front, man, those guys are just tremendous. Just getting up, lining up, and getting to the next play, playing every play hard. We got some guys in the backfield that run it hard and we've got five guys up front that play their (tails) off every game. I love our front line."
 
On setting a CUSA rushing record:
"That's a blessing. It just tells you we work our (tails) off everyday, so we just try to get up and play the next play. That's what we keep doing."
 
On circumstances around making a bowl:
"We just focus on Jax State football, we don't worry about the next team or the next guy. We just worried about the next team we're about to play. At the end of the day, we can't worry about what's going on in the future, we just got to worry about the next game we play."
 
Treylen Brown, OL, Sr.
On the offensive line's efforts:
"It's tremendous. I knew we always had the talent, we've got the coaching, my guys fight hard. We all block as one and just proud of my guys man."
 
On the speed of the offense:
"I'll say this, I know I'm tired but I know the other team's more tired than me. That's the mindset I always have. I know I'll be breathing hard, but I know they'll be breathing just as hard."
 
Quae Drake, LB, R-Sr.
On the energy of the defense:
"It felt good, I feel like that bye-week definitely helped us regain a little bit more energy and momentum. Just going out there trusting Coach (Zac) Alley and his plan and we felt comfortable, we prepared for two-weeks straight. We knew we were going to go out there and have a great game today."
 
On pressuring the quarterback:
 
"We work hard in practice, that's just the emphasis. Every week we're trying to get 2-3 sacks in a game, that's just a goal for our defense. I feel like we take pride in that and we go to work everyday to try to do that in a game on Saturdays."
 
On stopping the run:
"That's another big emphasis from Coach Alley, just stopping the run every game. If we can limit the run game, we pretty much know that we can get pressure when they try to throw the ball. That's going to help us out tremendously to win the game and help the offense out as well."
 
Malik Jackson, RB, R-Sr. 
On the offensive line:
"I really just can't thank them a lot. We just come to work everyday and just them knowing we trust them, they trust us. (Brown) always comes to me on the sideline like, 'Follow me, follow me, I'm going to lead the way.' It's pretty big just knowing we're going to have to run the ball, just trusting it really."
 
On getting healthy:
"It felt great just knowing it's senior day. I think the work put in throughout the week to make sure that I was at my top, I just thank the training staff and the coaches for just trusting and giving me the opportunity to come out and have a day like that today."

Jax State Postgame Notes – Louisiana Tech
November 18, 2023 • Burgess-Snow Field at JSU Stadium

• Jax State Captains: Senior defensive lineman Jackson Luttrell, redshirt senior safety Jeremiah Harris, redshirt senior offensive lineman Treylen Brown
• Louisiana Tech won the coin toss and elected to receive the opening kickoff
• Eleven seniors were recognized in a pre-game ceremony at Burgess-Snow Field. Making their final home appearance were Harris, Brown, Luttrell, running back Malik Jackson, linebacker Quae Drake, quarterback Zion Webb, wide receiver Jamarye Joiner, wide receiver Perry Carter, linebacker Kolbi Fuqua, defensive lineman Jeff Marks, and wide receiver Quinton Lane.
• Head Coach Rich Rodriguez is now 17-5 at the helm of Jax State in his second season.
• After an 84-year series drought since 1939, Jax State evened the series at 1-1.
• Malik Jackson's 68-yard run on the Gamecocks' first play of the game was the longest rush by a Jax State player this season. He later had a 65-yard rush in the third quarter.
• Jax State finished with 522 yards on the ground – one yard shy of the school record.
• The 522 yards on the ground did set the Conference USA record, previously held by Middle Tennessee vs FAU on Nov. 26, 2016.
• Led by Jackson's career-high 193 yards, Jax State had three 100-yard rushers with Zion Webb (122) and Anwar Lewis (122) for the first time since Nov. 23, 2013 against Southeast Missouri.
• Kekoura Tarnue's 21-yard blocked punt return for a touchdown in the first quarter was the first by a Gamecock since Cole Fuller blocked a Kennesaw State punt and Amon Scarbrough scored on Oct. 1, 2022
• Freshman safety Zachariah Poyser's interception in the third quarter made him the 11th Jax State defender to pick off a pass. Safety Travis Franklin became the 12th Gamecock with an interception late in the fourth quarter, the most of any FBS team.
• With eight PATs on Saturday, kicker Alen Karajic climbed to 152 for his career now just four behind Gavin Hallford (2004-08) for second-most extra points made in school history.
• Louisiana Tech is the ninth program from the Bayou State that Jax State has played in football. The Gamecocks are 30-30-1 all-time vs. teams from the state of Louisiana.