JACKSONVILLE – Jax State dismantled New Mexico State 54-13 in prime time on Wednesday at Burgess-Snow Field at AmFirst Stadium as Tre Stewart and Tyler Huff each accounted for three touchdowns.
 
The Gamecocks offense (3-3, 2-0 in Conference USA) scored at will after a tight first quarter, pouring on 26 points in the second stanza to open a 33-6 halftime lead. It marks the first time since the 2015 FCS playoffs that Jax State scored 50-plus points in back-to-back games.
 
The 43-point margin of victory was Jax State's second-largest as an FBS program.
 
"I thought our guys seemed really dialed in and our defense was outstanding," said Jax State head coach Rich Rodriguez. "The first half of the season is over and we've gotten better. We still think there's another step or two we can take. We've started off 2-0 in the conference and that's a good thing."
 
Huff threw touchdown passes of 32 yards to Stewart and five yards to Brock Rechsteiner and added a two-yard scoring run. He finished with 196 yards through the air plus 58 more on the ground in three quarters of action.
 
Stewart, coming off a four-touchdown performance at Kennesaw State five days earlier, added two more TD runs against the Aggies along with his first touchdown catch. He finished with 118 yards on 21 attempts.
 
The Gamecocks found themselves trailing for the first time since the Eastern Michigan game after an early missed field goal try.
 
The Aggies (1-5, 0-3) then moved from their 23 to Jax State's 36 before their drive came to a halt. Abraham Montaño kicked a 53-yard field goal – the longest by an opposing kicker this season – as New Mexico State took a 3-0 lead with 8:16 to go in the first quarter.
 
The Aggies' lead was short-lived.
 
Jax State responded by finding the end zone less than two minutes later as Huff connected with Michael Pettway for a 54-yard completion to the NMSU 10. Stewart swept around the left side for a 10-yard TD on the next play and Garrison Rippa added the extra point for a 7-3 Gamecocks lead.
 
After punter Jack Dawson pinned New Mexico State at the 1 on the last play of the opening quarter, Jax State's defense came up with the next score. Defensive end Jawaun Campbell dragged down Seth McGowan in the end zone for a safety, the Gamecocks' first since 2022, for a 9-3 lead at the 14:51 mark.
 
Stewart became the first Jax State player since 2021 to rush for and catch a touchdown in the same game when he hauled in a 32-yard TD from Tyler Huff to finish off a seven-play, 55-yard drive. Rippa's extra point stretched the lead to 16-3.
 
Rippa later made up for his earlier miss with a 45-yard field goal. The Gamecocks added two more touchdowns in 49 seconds to end the first half, with Stewart sprinting untouched up the middle for a 48-yard score and Huff adding a two-yard TD run set up by J-Rock Swain's fumble recovery at NMSU's 20.
 
Safety Tee Denson led the Gamecocks with eight tackles, including seven solo stops. Travis Franklin Jr. had an interception.
 
Following an open date next week, Jax State is back in action on Wednesday, Oct. 23, vs. Middle Tennessee at Burgess-Snow Field at AmFirst Stadium. Kickoff for the CUSA matchup is set for 6:30 p.m. on ESPN2.
 
Jacksonville State Head Coach Rich Rodriguez
October 9, 2024
The NM State Game  
Opening Statement:
"It was a quick turnaround. Was concerned we were a little banged up and still a little banged up and, didn't have as much time to prepare, but thought our guys handled it well. You know, just a couple short practices that we had, they seemed really dialed in. I thought our defense was really outstanding in the first half. Got some turnovers, and offensively, we had some plays and made some plays, but we had missed a couple too, and some wide-open touchdowns that that maybe could have put the game up a little bit more early. But guys played hard. They continue to try to get better and better. And as I told them, after the first three games, there's probably a lot of negative talk or something going on, and didn't really pay attention that now there's a little bit more positive talk. And you know, it's like Coach Saban used to say rat poison. We're not worried about that. First half of season's over, we've gotten better. They still think there's another step or two we can take. I'll give a couple days off to the players, not the coaches.
 
 
On the Turnaround:
I think it's really the simple answer. It wasn't anything different. It was just doing the same stuff and not panicking. I felt good come after camp, and then that's I was really disappointed, or not discouraged, but disappointed in the way it opened up in the first game. But these guys, they continue to work hard, and we'll continue to coach hard, and we'll, we'll keep pressing it. There's going to be a lot of ups and downs throughout the season.
 
On Tre Stewart:
Him coming from a smaller school, we thought he had a chance to have the biggest upside than maybe even some of the freshmen, and he's extremely hard worker, and he's getting a great feel for what we do, but even catching a touchdown pass, I mean, that's a hard catch. You're wide open. He and Tyler Huff are two guys that weren't here in the spring, that just got here in the summer, and really just had to camp to work. So I'd expect him to keep getting better.
 
 
Jacksonville State Postgame Notes – New Mexico State
October 9, 2024 • Burgess-Snow Field at AmFirst Stadium • Jacksonville, Ala.

• Jax State Captains: Redshirt senior receiver Flip Rudolph, safety Antonio Carter, senior linebacker Ky'won McCray.
• Jax State received the opening kickoff after New Mexico State won the toss and deferred to the second half. U.S. Sen. Katie Britt of Alabama tossed the ceremonial coin.
• Safety Zechariah Poyser, the CUSA leader in interceptions with three, had seven tackles. Poyser had an interception on the last play of the first half nullified by a penalty against the Gamecocks.
• The Gamecocks improve to 6-1 all-time in "Weekday CUSA" games, including 2-0 in 2024. Jax State is now 3-0 in games played on Wednesday since joining CUSA.
• Jax State has outscored the last three opponents 161-37 during its current win streak. The Gamecocks have surpassed 500 total yards in all three wins.
• Head coach Rich Rodriguez is 18-1 when the Gamecocks score 30 points or more.
• With his 10-yard TD run and 32-yard TD reception in the first half, Stewart became the first Jax State player to run for and catch a touchdown in a game since Uriah West at Tennessee State on March 7, 2021.
• Backup quarterback Logan Smothers' 72-yard TD in the fourth quarter was the Gamecocks' longest run of the season.
• Backup running back Andrew Paul's 28-yard run was his first TD for the Gamecocks and the second of his collegiate career. Paul rushed for a four-yard touchdown for Georgia against Ole Miss in 2023.
• Jawaun Campbell's tackle in the end zone for a safety in the second quarter was Jax State's first since Nov. 19, 2022, vs. Central Arkansas.
• Dawson punted only three times for a 42.0-yard average and pinned New Mexico State inside its 2 twice.
• Pettway's 35-yard run back of a free kick after the second-quarter safety was the longest kickoff or punt return of Jax State's FBS era. 
• Jax State is 149-80 in televised games. The Gamecocks are in the midst of a five-game stretch where every game is nationally televised on the ESPN or CBS Sports platforms.
• New Mexico State was one of two opponents that have an open date before facing the Gamecocks. Florida International hosts the Aggies on Oct. 29, then doesn't play again until visiting Jax State on Nov. 16 – a span of 19 days.
• The 44-7 Homecoming win over Southern Miss on Sept. 28 was the last Saturday game day for Jax State in a 49-day span. The Gamecocks will have played on a Friday night, three Wednesdays and had two open dates before visiting Louisiana Tech on Saturday, Nov. 9.
• A victory over Middle Tennessee in its next game would give Jax State its first four-game win streak in a calendar year since the Spring 2021 season.