Jacksonville State: 2025 Salute To Veterans Bowl Champions

 

MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- — Caden Creel threw a touchdown pass, Deondre Johnson had six receptions for 101 yards, and Jacksonville State beat Troy 17-13 on Tuesday night to win the Salute to Veterans Bowl.

Andrew Paul’s 1-yard run off a direct snap gave the Gamecocks a 17-13 lead with 5:44 remaining. With about a minute left, Tucker Kilcrease drove Troy past midfield but his Hail Mary pass-attempt to DJ Epps on the final play was knocked down in the end zone.

Creel completed 14 of 20 passes for 173 yards that included a 22-yard touchdown pass to Brock Rechsteiner in the first quarter. Garrison Rippa added a 51-yard field goal in the third for Jacksonville State (9-5).

Kilcrease was 12-of-23 passing for 116 yards and threw two interceptions for Troy (8-6), which ended a 79-game win streak when leading heading into the fourth quarter.

Late in the first quarter, Troy scored its only touchdown on the Gamecocks' botched flea flicker. Luis Medina recovered a fumble in the end zone after TJ Thompson strip-sacked Creel. Scott Taylor Renfroe kicked field goals from 38 and 30 yards in the second quarter and the Trojans led 13-7 at halftime.

Troy had won the last seven games between the teams but it was the first meeting since 2001 for the schools located just 162 miles apart. The Trojans are 33-29-2 in the series that dates to 1924.

Jacksonville State has played in a bowl game in each of its three seasons at the FBS level. Marshall is the only other team (1997-99) to appear in bowl games in each of its first three eligible seasons.

Jacksonville State: 2023 New Orleans Bowl Champions

 - In a blast of a game, Louisiana stalled on its overtime possession, and Jacksonville State made the most of its opportunity. It took the running game down to make it a chip shot, and relatively untested backup kicker Garrison Rippa came through with a 27-yard field goal for a bowl win.

- Jacksonville State dominated the offensive tempo, but Louisiana managed to stay in the game - no one was ever up by more than one score - with a pick six for a late 31-24 lead. Jacksonville State drove back in the final few minutes, and scored on a fourth down 18-yard Zion Webb pass to Perry Carter pass. The extra point by Rippa tied it up, and the Gamecock D held on Louisiana’s final drive in regulation.

- Louisiana came up with another pick six earlier in the game, and started out the game with a scoop and score for a less than two minutes in. Jacksonville State was battling through quarterback injuries in a rotation, but survived despite being -4 in turnover margin.

R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl Player of the Game

Ron Wiggins, RB Jacksonville State

Wiggins ran 27 times for a game-high 126 yards and a score, and he caught three passes for 17 yards.

R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl What It All Means

- It’s a real shame the NCAA didn’t get to enforce its rule that teams transitioning from the FCS to FBS weren’t eligible for a bowl game. This back-and-forth overtime game was a TOTAL drag with Jacksonville State in it. (Sometimes, the teams that REALLY want to be in a bowl game bring the most fire.)

- The Louisiana offense struggled. The game was close because of the three defensive scores, but the offense was more than doubled up in yards and couldn’t keep things moving. The Jacksonville State defense had a good game, but the offense had something to do with it, too. It ran more than 100 plays and dictated the tempo out of the game.

- How amazing has this season been for Jacksonville State? It was supposed to be a wee bit of a struggle in the first year in the FBS, but it started with a tough close win over UTEP, kept grinding even when the points were there, and head coach Rich Rodriguez generated a nine-win season with a bowl victory just one year removed from the FCS.

- Experts Picks For Every Bowl

R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl Key Stats

- Total Yards: Jacksonville State 526, Louisiana 247

- 4th Downs: Jacksonville State 5-of-6, Louisiana 0-of-0

- First Downs: Jacksonville State 31, Louisiana 14

Jacksonville State: 2016-17 Ohio Valley Men's Basketball Champions

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- First-year coach Ray Harper wants Jacksonville State to be as successful in basketball as the school is in football.

And he's in a hurry to get there.

Greg Tucker scored all 14 of his points in the first half, and Jacksonville State topped UT Martin 66-55 Saturday night in the Ohio Valley Conference championship game to earn its first NCAA tournament berth.

It was the first time the Gamecocks (20-14) had reached the OVC Tournament final since they joined the league for the 2003-04 season. The former Division II program upset regular-season champion Belmont in the semifinals and knocked off the West Division winner in the title game for their fourth straight win and third in three days.

"We're trying to build something at Jacksonville State," said Harper, who took Western Kentucky to two NCAA tournaments. "You've got to walk before you can run, but we decided to run a little quicker than anyone thought."

Erik Durham led No. 4 seed Jacksonville State with 17 points, and Malcolm Drumwright added 13 as the Gamecocks became the first school in the country to earn an automatic NCAA tournament bid this year.

On the gridiron, Jacksonville State is accustomed to winning in the second tier of college football. The Gamecocks lost in the FCS title game at the end of the 2015 season and have won the OVC for three straight years.

Now, the basketball program is beginning to make a name for itself.

"It's just a great feeling, to be honest," said Tucker, a senior guard. "I mean, really I can't explain it. We're just all happy that we all got the job done."

The Gamecocks entered second in the OVC in scoring defense and didn't give up more than 59 points in the tournament. They held UT Martin to its lowest point total of the season.

UT Martin (21-12) had its three-game win streak snapped and lost in the title game for the second straight year. First-year coach Anthony Stewart congratulated Jacksonville State for its stingy defense.

"We've had four guys that had a virus right before we came up here, so they were out, down for the count," Stewart said. "And the day we get up here, [leading scorer Jacolby Mobley] tests positive for the flu, so we had four starters battling."

Mobley led the second-seeded Skyhawks with 18 points, Matthew Butler had 17, and Javier Martinez had 13. UT Martin started four seniors along with Butler, a junior.

"To lose two in a row, I don't know how it feels," Butler said. "If it was me, I'd be devastated."

This wasn't the first postseason game between these teams, but they hadn't met in a tournament since the 1984 Div. II Gulf South Conference Tournament in a game won easily by Jacksonville State.

This time, the Gamecocks jumped to a 36-23 halftime lead, then held on despite not making a field goal in the second half until Durham's 3-pointer with 11:42 left. UT Martin wasn't much better during that stretch and only pulled to 37-31 on a jumper by Kahari Beaufort with 14:20 to go.

Norbertas Giga added a dunk almost midway through the half to push Jacksonville State's lead back to double digits. UT Martin didn't get closer than nine the rest of the way.

"They made two 30-footers they bank in late, or they don't even get to 50," Harper said. "That's pretty darn good defense."


Both teams struggled to shoot from the opening tip. Jacksonville State settled down first and finished on a 10-1 run going into halftime.

BIG PICTURE

Jacksonville State: The Gamecocks already were 10th-best nationally with a nine-win turnaround from a season ago. They have matched the 2002-03 squad for most wins as a Division I program.

UT Martin: The Skyhawks notched their third straight 20-win season but missed out on tying the 2008-09 team that won 22 games.

NO RESPECT

Harper noted that his Gamecocks were picked to finish 12th in the OVC and placed nobody on the all-conference first team. The coach said he promised the Gamecocks wouldn't finish last. "And we didn't," he said.

UP NEXT

Jacksonville State: NCAA tournament.

UT Martin: Hoping for an invite to a smaller postseason tournament.