JACKSONVILLE – An eighth-straight victory on Saturday assured Jax State of its first appearance in the Conference USA Championship Game. Approximately 75 minutes after beating Sam Houston, the streaking Gamecocks learned they will host the Friday, Dec. 6 Conference USA title game at Burgess-Snow Field at AmFirst Stadium.
 
Quarterback Tyler Huff ran for a career-high 177 yards and three touchdowns as Jax State (8-3, 7-0 in CUSA) overpowered the Bearkats 21-11. The victory, combined with Liberty's 38-21 win over Western Kentucky, assures the Gamecocks will host the CUSA Championship Game in two weeks against an opponent still to be decided.
 
"Our guys for the last eight games have achieved something really, really remarkable," said Jax State head coach Rich Rodriguez. "I'm really proud of our players and our staff.
 
"Any time you get a win over a good team, that's good. To get in a bowl game in your first year is kind of unprecedented – to play in a championship game in your second year, is really pretty neat for everybody associated with our program."
 
Huff, who was recognized during the pregame Senior Day ceremony, directed a methodical 14-play, 75-yard opening drive to give the Gamecocks the lead first.
 
Jax State stayed on the ground for 13 of the 14 plays, finishing off the time-consuming drive with a three-yard scamper around right end.  Garrison Rippa's extra point made it 7-0 with 9:45 remaining in the first quarter.
 
The Bearkats cut Jax State's lead to 7-3 at the 9:12 mark in the second quarter when Christian Pavon kicked a 34-yard field goal after Sam Houston's nine-play drive stalled at the Gamecocks 17.
 
Huff gave the Gamecocks a 14-3 lead at halftime when he sprinted 38 yards up the middle for his second touchdown of the day and his third longest TD run of the season. Rippa tacked on the extra point with 5:14 remaining in the first half.
 
Jax State outgained the Bearkats 221-116 in the first half.
 
Sam Houston opened the second half with a 12-play scoring drive that took more than 6½ minutes off the clock. SHSU quarterback Hunter Watson ran 21 yards for a touchdown, then ran in a two-point conversion to cut the deficit to 14-11.
 
Huff's seven-yard run with 11:31 left in the fourth quarter extended the Gamecocks' lead to 10. It was his second three-touchdown game of the season.
 
Jax State's defense delivered a clutch stop late in the third quarter after the Bearkats recovered a muffed punt deep in Gamecocks territory. But Jax State escaped without any damage when Pavon missed a 37-yard field goal attempt with 2:38 left in the third.
  
Fred Perry, the second-leading tackler in CUSA, finished with eight stops, including two tackles for loss. Five Gamecocks made seven tackles in the win.
    
Kickoff for next Saturday's CUSA matchup against Western Kentucky at Houchens Industries-L.T. Smith Stadium in Bowling Green, Ky., is scheduled for 3 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPNU.
 
Jax State Postgame Notes – Sam Houston
November 23, 2024 • Burgess-Snow Field at AmFirst Stadium • Jacksonville, Ala.

• Jax State Captains: Redshirt senior receiver PJ Wells, redshirt senior linebacker Laletia Hale, redshirt senior tight end Sean Brown and senior defensive end J-Rock Swain.
• Jax State recognized 24 senior football players prior to Saturday's game. A total of 32 Jax State players have their undergraduate degrees.
• Sam Houston won the opening coin and deferred to the second half. Former Jax State star Eric Davis (1986-89), a 13-year pro veteran who holds the all-time NFL record with an interception in five straight playoff games, participated in the coin toss.
• Head coach Rich Rodriguez is now 6-2 in November games as the Gamecocks' head coach.
• Rodriguez improved to 189-128-2 in 27 seasons and ranks seventh on the career wins list.
• Huff's 38-yard run for a touchdown in the second quarter was the longest rushing play given up by Sam Houston's defense this season.
• Huff now owns the three highest rushing performances by a Jax State quarterback since moving to Division I in 1995.
• Huff and Tre Stewart became just the second QB-RB duo in Conference USA history to both eclipse 1,000 rushing yards in a season.
• The Gamecocks have outscored opponents 333-164 during the current eight-game win streak.
• Jax State's 333 points during its win streak is the third-most in school history in any eight-game stretch, trailing only the 2018 (349 points) and 1917 (343) squads.

• Jax State and Sam Houston are two of only five programs to reach bowl eligibility within their first two seasons of moving up to the FBS level (joining James Madison in 2023 and Liberty in 2018). Jax State is bowl-eligible in each of its first two FBS seasons, becoming the first team to reach bowl games in its first two FBS seasons since Marshall in 1997-98.

 
Jacksonville State Head Coach
Rich Rodriguez
November 23, 2024
The Sam Houston Game
 
Opening Statement:
I think the importance of more than anything is that our guys, for the last eight games have achieved something really, really, really remarkable. And I'm really proud of them. Been proud of them even before camp started, but to start off like we did, and to go eight-straight like this, in some different situations, different circumstances. Today, the outcome came in a different way than some of other games, but it was there. And I'm really proud of our players and our staff.
 
On Reaching the Conference USA Championship Game in the Second Year of FBS Play
We have a great situation here. It's a wonderful part of the country, great town, great school, so that part is there, and then the players. When I got here, and I said this before, there was a good culture and a good kind of feel around the program the day we got here. Now, we had to institute our own kind of policies and way we do things, and kind of the hard edge, earned success mantra that we took and we stuck to that the whole time. We had 60 new players this year. And I think that's indicative of what college football is right now. You're replacing half your team. And so maybe that's why we started off a little slow, but the culture and the way we go about doing things has never wavered, and it won't as long as this staff is here. We have a certain way, and I think our players can appreciate the consistency of that. You know that everybody's going to get coached, you know, everybody's going to be held to a higher standard, everybody's going to have to earn success, and that's who we are. And I think it's allowed us to go on the run that we've been on right now
 
On Tyler Huff's Rushing
Tyler wasn't complaining, and the ball doesn't weigh that much. And Tyler, he's one that as you get to know him, he wants the ball in his hands at the end of the game. He was clamoring the last couple drives, he said, let's not be conservative. Let's go win this thing and all that. And I'm like, I kind of agree with you, but then I kind of want to be a little conservative too, because I think our defense is playing pretty good, and I didn't want to put us in harm's way. But he ran, the key first downs that he run for was a difference. It was a difference. And just love coaching him. I got him for a few more games, but every quarterback we have now, he set a certain example now for the guys in the future, how you're supposed to play the game.