Box Score BOWLING GREEN, Ky. –Western Kentucky kicked a 50-yard field goal with three seconds remaining to knock off Jax State 19-17 at frigid Houchens Industries-L.T. Smith Stadium Saturday evening. The loss snapped the Gamecocks' eight-game win streak and sets up a rematch against WKU next Friday in the 20^th annual CUSA Championship game in Jacksonville.
 
Jax State (8-4, 7-1 CUSA) took the lead with 9:44 remaining in the nationally televised showdown when backup quarterback Logan Smothers scored on a 17-yard touchdown run.
 
Smothers, in his first action since Oct. 23, came in and rushed for 32 yards and completed 4-of-6 passes for 62 yards as Jax State rallied.
 
But the Hilltoppers (8-4, 6-2 CUSA) – whose only path to the CUSA Championship Game was to defeat Jax State – moved 44 yards in 10 plays in the final two minutes, with Lucas Carneiro knocking through his second 50-yard field goal of the day for the decisive points.
 
Western Kentucky is making its fourth appearance in the CUSA Championship Game.
 
"I'm very disappointed in how we played in all three phases," said Jax State head coach Rich Rodriguez. "Give them credit because they won the game. We've got to have a better plan. We did some uncharacteristic stuff throughout the game."
 
Jax State drove into Hilltoppers' territory on two of its first three possessions but managed to only put three points on the scoreboard on Garrison Rippa's 46-yard field goal with 3:19 to go in the first quarter.
 
The Gamecocks' first series ended when the Hilltoppers' Demarko Williams intercepted a Huff pass at WKU's 24. Western Kentucky took advantage of Jax State's miscue by moving 76 yards in seven plays for the game's first points, the touchdown coming on Caden Veltkamp's 21-yard pass to Elijah Young.
 
The extra point gave Western Kentucky a 7-0 at the 8:48 mark in the first.
 
Tre Stewart put Jax State in front for the first time with an eight-yard touchdown run with 3:42 remaining in the second quarter. Stewart's 20^th rushing touchdown of the season capped a six-play, 47-yard Gamecocks' scoring drive and Rippa tacked on the extra point for a 10-7 edge.
 
The teams were tied 10-10 at halftime after Western Kentucky's Carneiro kicked his first 50-yard field goal with 46 seconds remaining, the second-longest kick made against the Gamecocks this season.
 
How even was the opening 30 minutes?
 
Western Kentucky had 195 total yards to Jax State's 194. The Gamecocks got 157 of their total on the ground while the Hilltoppers had 158 through the air. WKU ran 38 plays to Jax State's 35 and each team had a turnover.
 
Jax State found itself trailing in the fourth quarter for the third time in the last four games when Western Kentucky's Carneiro kicked a 21-yard field goal midway through the third for a 13-10 lead.
 
The Gamecocks lost Huff on the ensuing drive and generated only 32 yards total yards in the entire third quarter.
 
Friday night's CUSA Championship Game at Burgess-Snow Field at AmFirst Stadium is scheduled to kick off at 6:06 p.m. and will be televised on CBS Sports Network.
 
Jax State is the 13th different CUSA school to host the game.
 
Visit CUSA Football Championship Tickets | Jacksonville State University to purchase CUSA Championship Game tickets. Club seating is available for purchase online in advance until three (3) days prior to gameday. Tickets will be available for purchase at the Burgess-Snow Field at AmFirst Stadium ticket booths A and D on Friday. Prices start at $17.50.


Jacksonville State Head Coach
Rich Rodriguez
November 30, 2024
The Western Kentucky Game
 
Opening Statement
"We coached awful. Didn't play well. We give them credit, but disappointed in how we played and how we coached in all three phases. Give them credit--they won a game.
 
On Playing WKU Next Week
Well, hopefully just play better. We gotta have a better plan. Gotta play better. They got a good team, and we did some uncharacteristic stuff today, throughout the entire game and in all three phases, offense and defense. It wasn't good football from us. Part of it was due to them, but, we got to play better.

Jax State Postgame Notes – Western Kentucky
November 30, 2024 • Houchens industries-L.T. Smith Stadium • Bowling Green, Ky.
 

• Jax State Captains: Redshirt senior nose guard Ricky Samuel, redshirt senior running back Anwar Lewis and redshirt junior wide receiver Michael Pettway.
• Rodriguez is now 6-3 in November games as the Gamecocks' head coach. Under Rodriguez, the Gamecocks are 18-3 in conference games.
• The Gamecocks' last five games have been decided by 10 points or less.
• Quarterback Tyler Huff's 51-yard carry in the first quarter was his longest rush of the year. Huff's previous long run was for 49 yards vs. Middle Tennessee on Oct. 23.
• Huff finished with 97 rushing yards and now has 1,176 yards in 2024, moving him into ninth place on Jax State's single-season rushing list. Huff surpasses Eli Jenkins (1,161 in 2015) for most rushing yardage ever by a Gamecocks quarterback.
• Stewart now has 1,398 yards on the season and moves into fourth place on the single-season rushing list. He is 20 yards shy of moving past Rondy Rogers (1,417 yards in 2001) into third place.
• Linebacker Laletia Hale's strip sack of WKU quarterback Caden Veltkamp in the second quarter was his third career forced fumble. The fumble recovery by fellow linebacker Jibreel Al-Amin was the first of his Jax State career.
• Jax State's eight-game win streak was the program's longest since 2017.
• The Gamecocks have scored 189 points in the second half over their last nine games.