Sporting all red uniforms for the first time since 1955, the No. 20 Gamecocks (3-2, 1-0 Ohio Valley Conference) rolled up 445 yards of total offense, 201 on the ground and 244 through the air, to win their third-straight game and improve to 25-6 all-time against the Skyhawks (2-3, 1-1 OVC).
It was Jax State's 43rd home opening win in Paul Snow Stadium's 64th year and their eighth in 10 home openers under head coach Jack Crowe.
The Skyhawk offense, under the orchestration of quarterback and OVC Preseason Player of the Year Cade Thompson, struggled to get anything going against a stingy JSU defense. They managed just 224 yards of total offense, 99 fewer than their previous low on the year.
The Gamecocks' quarterback, senior Ryan Perrilloux, enjoyed his afternoon, picking the Skyhawk defense apart for a 14-for-16 effort that resulted in 205 yards and four touchdowns. The LaPlace, La., native entered the day leading the nation in passing efficiency and raised his season total to 199.22 with his performance on Saturday.
Perrilloux has tied his career high with four touchdown passes in each of the last two weeks and has tossed 11 over his past three games. He has guided the Gamecocks to at least 50 points in back-to-back weeks for the first time since the 1992 National Championship team did it in the final three games of the regular season.
He found fellow senior James Wilkerson six times for a career-best 133 yards and two long scoring tosses, both in the second half. Eight other JSU players caught at least one pass on the afternoon, with sophomore James Shaw and senior Greg Smith each hauling in scoring catches.
The Gamecocks intercepted Thompson twice and backup Derek Carr once to end a drought of five games without a pick. Sophomore T.J. Heath hauled in all three interceptions, the most by a JSU player since Darron Edwards had four at Samford in 1995. Heath, a native of Alexandria, Ala., stalled UTM's first two possessions of the day by returning his first two picks 26 and 55 yards, respectively, for touchdowns, making him the first JSU player in its Division I history to score two defensive touchdowns in the same game.
Sophomore Calvin Middleton led the Gamecock ground game with a career-high 121 yards and a score on just 13 carries. The Acworth, Ga., native averaged 9.3 yards per touch en route to the Gamecocks' first 100-yard rushing game of the season. Junior Jamal Young added 56 yards on his 13 carries.
Senior linebacker Alexander Henderson helped led the Gamecocks on the defensive side of the ball with 11 tackles. It was the seventh 10-tackle game for the Mobile, Ala., native and his first in 2009. He had one of the Gamecocks' eight tackles for a loss in the game.
Thompson did complete 17 of his 25 passes for 115 yards, while Brandyn Young ran 15 times for 53 yards and the Skyhawks' lone touchdown.
Heath started the scoring just 90 seconds into the game with his first interception return for a touchdown. Just four minutes and 35 seconds later, he picked up his second interception of the day, marking the first time since Oct. 14, 1995 at Samford that the Gamecock defense turned consecutive drives into defensive scores.
The JSU offense finally got on the field at the 7:16 mark of the first quarter and made it count. After a UT Martin roughing the punter call extended the drive, the Gamecocks took a 21-0 lead on a 43-yard run down the right sideline by Middleton. The run was 16 yards longer than his previous career long and capped an eight-play, 91-yard drive that took just 3:51.
Perrilloux found Smith from five yards out with 7:17 to play in the second quarter to give the Gamecocks a 28-0 advantage, punctuating an 11-play, 80-yard drive that ate 5:01 off of the clock. Sophomore Patrick Tatum, who connected on all seven of his PAT attempts on the day, drilled his only field goal of the afternoon with 29 seconds remaining in the half. It sailed through the uprights from 27 yards out and gave the Gamecocks a 31-0 lead at the half, the largest halftime lead by a JSU team since it moved to Division I in 1995.
The Jax State offense picked up where it left off to start the third quarter, when Perrilloux found Wilkerson on the right hash for a 51-yard touchdown strike that put the Gamecocks in front, 38-0, just 16 seconds into the half.
UTM managed its lone points on the ensuing possession, when Young forced his way in from the one-yard line to finish a 12-play, 45-yard drive that lasted 5:47. Perrilloux didn't allow the Skyhawks to enjoy it for long, finding Shaw, who made a diving grab from 16-yards out and gave the Gamecocks a 45-7 advantage.
Another one-play drive conducted by Perrilloux and Wilkerson with 14:39 to play in the fourth quarter capped the scoring for the day. Wilkerson made a juggling catch before diving over the goal line for a 51-yard scoring pass to put Jax State up 52-7.
The Gamecocks will travel to Murray, Ky., where they will take on Murray State on Saturday at 3 p.m.
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