Jacksonville State Week Three Recap
The Jacksonville State Gamecocks moved to 3-0 on the season with an impressive 34-3 road win over Murray State. JSU is now 17-2 all time against Murray State. The Gamecocks have now won their first three games for the first time since the 2013 season. As successful as the program has been in the last decade, that’s still no small feat. Rich Rodriguez and his new look Jax State coaching staff continue to impress. Expectation placed is once again exceeded. Here’s the Jacksonville State Week 3 Recap.
Offensively, Saturday’s rollercoaster performance began with an impeccable first drive. An 11 play, 86-yard drive that ended with an Anwar Lewis touchdown run set the table for what would be a dominant performance. However, redzone sputters, two interceptions from star QB Zion Webb, & some interesting play calling (to say the least) kept the offense from putting points on the board the rest of the half & carried over into the 3rd quarter. Encouragingly, the offensive line was tremendous all night.
The “Warpigs” up front dominated the run game and paved the way for the Gamecocks to get back on track. The offense carried that momentum through the 4th quarter as well. Despite the unusually rocky performance early, the offense still managed to put up a whopping 568 yards of total offense. 388 of those came on the ground. 9.2 yards per carry on 42 attempts is a good of a day on the ground as fans could hope for. Anwar Lewis had a banner day with 17 carries, 184 yards and three touchdowns. Ron Wiggins added 88 yards and a touchdown on 2 carries. On the outside, PJ Wells led the way with five catches for 63 yards. Again, it’s very easy for the big guys up front to get lost in the discussion, but it can’t be said enough how imposing they were. The identity is clear with that group.
Defensively, it was as impressive of a performance as I’ve seen from a Gamecock unit in a while. Statistically, the Racers had some success on the ground with 175 yards on 42 carries, but that doesn’t tell the story up front. Half of those yards came on just five runs. Otherwise, the Gamecocks DL was dominant and imposing. In the passing game, the defensive back group was incredible. The defense held the Racers to a measly 6-19 passing for 92 yards. The “hard edge” was once again on display.
Most importantly, the defense was special on 3rd downs, holding the Racers to a staggering 3-14 on the money down. Markail Benton once again had a great day at the linebacker spot. He registered 8 tackles, 1.5 TFL’s, & a sack. Chris Hardie and Jaylen Swain both added a sack and were extremely disruptive all night. The defense as a whole made plays that don’t show up in the stat sheet. Those are the winning plas that don’t get enough credit. At the end of the day, when your defense holds your opponent to 3 points and a scoreless second half, you have to be satisfied with the performance.
Special teams were encouraging as a whole. Alen Karajic was 2/2 on his attempts, including a 42 yarder. The penalties were once again held in check for the most part with only five. In closing, the glaring improvements this team needs to make are quelled when you consider the strides the team has already made. There’s a clear duality here. We’re looking at a team that’s getting rid of bad habits while establishing a new, but at the same time, familiar identity. While the 3rd down offense (7/12) once again showed it’s come leaps and bounds, the three turnovers are inexcusable. While the defense as a whole played great, 10 explosive plays given up could be a back breaker on a different day. Again, when you win by 31 points on the road and put up almost 600 yards of offense while holding the opposing offense to 3 points, critique it can seem like nitpicking. However, the standard is the standard. See y’all next.
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