Gamecocks rout Western Kentucky to capture first Conference USA title
JACKSONVILLE – Jax State savored the sweetness of revenge along with the program’s 26th conference title as it routed Western Kentucky 52-12 in the 20th annual Conference USA Championship Game at Burgess-Snow Field at AmFirst Stadium Friday night.
The Gamecocks (9-4), beaten by the Hilltoppers just six days earlier, jumped out to a 14-3 lead in the opening quarter and kept their foot on the gas the rest of the night.
Quarterback Tyler Huff accounted for three touchdowns and Tre Stewart continued to etch his name in Jax State’s record book with three more rushing TDs, giving him 23 on the year.
Huff’s 167 yards on the ground established a CUSA Championship Game record for rushing yards by a quarterback. He was selected as Championship Game Most Valuable Player by the media.
Huff was a dual threat all night, completing 11-of-15 passes for 176 yards with touchdown throws to Sean Brown and Cam Vaughn.
“We talk about earning success and they’ve earned this tonight,” said Jax State head coach Rich Rodriguez. “Now we go to a great bowl in a great venue and we’re so excited for that.
“Last year was incredible to get to a bowl game in the first year as an (FBS) school, and this year to win a league championship and to another great bowl game, it’s just phenomenal. These seniors, especially, should be very proud that they can look back for many, many years and say ‘we were the ones that elevated Jax State to this level.”
Stewart finished with 201 yards on 27 carries, his third 200-plus performance in 13 games. He had touchdown runs of 29, four, and six yards and also caught four passes for a season-best 54 yards.
The Gamecocks piled up 562 total yards while limiting Western Kentucky to 229.
Lucas Carneiro, who kicked the game-winner for the Hilltoppers in the first meeting, staked WKU (8-5) to a 3-0 lead with a 54-yard field goal on the game’s opening drive.
Huff ran four times for 75 yards – including a 48-yard sprint deep into Western Kentucky territory – as Jax State quickly took the lead. He finished off the six-play march with a six-yard TD pass to tight end Brown, who caught his third touchdown of the year and 11th of his career.
The Gamecocks’ second drive also culminated with a touchdown for a 14-3 lead. Huff’s second TD pass of the night went for 26 yards to Vaughn, capping a six-play, 42-yard drive set up by Jax State’s defense forcing a turnover on downs when the Hilltoppers failed to convert a fourth-and-1 in their own territory.
Garrison Rippa added his second extra point with 3:21 left in the first quarter.
The Gamecocks tacked on two more touchdowns in a 2½-minute span late in the second quarter to build a 22-point cushion by halftime. Stewart had touchdown runs of four and six yards on back-to-back drives as Jax State stretched its lead to 28-3 with 1:19 remaining in the second stanza.
Western Kentucky hit a 44-yard field as time expired to go to the locker room down 28-6. The Hilltoppers were limited to 125 total first-half scrimmage yards.
Logan Smothers ran for a 10-yard TD late in the fourth quarter after replacing Huff, who left the game to a rousing ovation from the AmFirst Stadium crowd.
Zechariah Poyser led the Gamecocks with eight tackles and contributed one pass breakup. Antonio Carter II had six stops a team-high 1.5 tackles for loss.
Jax State will learn its bowl destination and opponent on Sunday, Dec. 8, after the College Football Playoff Selection Show on ESPN.
Jax State Postgame Notes – CUSA Championship vs. Western Kentucky
December 6, 2024 Burgess-Snow Field at AmFirst Stadium Jacksonville, Ala.
• Jax State Captains: Redshirt senior wide receiver PJ Wells, redshirt senior linebacker Laletia Hale, senior defensive end J-Rock Swain and senior punter Jack Dawson.
• Jax State running back Tre Stewart’s 19 rushing touchdowns against CUSA teams are the most by any FBS running back against conference opponents in 2024.
• The Gamecocks’ 48 rushing touchdowns are the second-most in CUSA history, trailing only 2017 Florida Atlantic (52).
• Tyler Huff has thrown for 2,179 yards and rushed for 1,343 yards, making him just the second CUSA player to have more than 2,000 passing yards and 1,100 rushing yards in a season, along with UAB’s Joe Webb III in 2009 (2,299 passing, 1,427 rushing).
• Jax State head coach Rich Rodriguez is 8-4 in his career in December. Seven of those were bowl games, two in conference title games, and three in regular-season finales.
• This is the second time Rodriguez has been part of a CUSA championship winner. He served as offensive coordinator for the 1998 Tulane squad that went 12-0 – 8-0 against CUSA competition – and finished ranked No. 7 in the nation.
• The Gamecocks have scored 213 points in the second half over their last 10 games.
• The CUSA Championship Game marks the fourth time Jax State has played on Friday night since 2014.
• Jax State is 6-0 when allowing fewer than 258 passing yards. Western Kentucky’s Caden Veltkamp was held to 141 yards through the air after throwing for 301 in the first meeting.
• Swain’s third-quarter fumble recovery was the ninth of the senior lineman’s standout career and third of the 2024 campaign. He became the school’s all-time leader in fumble recoveries, moving past Eurosius Parker’s eight from 1995-98.
• Huff (1,343) and Stewart (1,604) need two yards to become the single-season leading rushing duo in Jax State history. Troymaine Pope and Eli Jenkins combined for 2,949 yards in 2015.
• Including his three seasons at Division II Limestone University, Stewart has rushed for 4,598 yards with one game remaining in his collegiate career.
• The temperature at kickoff was 32 degrees, making it the coldest recorded start to a game in AmFirst Stadium history. It was also the coldest CUSA Championship Game ever played.
• The 52-12 win by Jax State was the second-largest margin of victory in CUSA Championship Game history. Florida Atlantic defeated UAB 49-6 in the 2019 title game.
Jacksonville State Head Coach
Rich Rodriguez
December 6, 2024
The Conference USA Championship
Opening Statement:
So proud of these players and the staff. From where we started to where we finished, tremendous group of young men, not just football players, but people how they committed to the program, to Jax State, whether they’ve been here an extended period of time, four or five, six years, or just one year, they bought in from day one. I am just so proud and so blessed to be their coach. And they’ve earned us– we talk about earning success, and they earned this tonight, and now we go to a great bowl and a great venue, and here in a couple weeks, and we’re excited for that.
On What the Title Means:
To do it from a program that’s in its first year eligible for to win the league. Last year was incredible to get to a bowl game in the first year as an (FBS) school, and this year to win a league championship and to another great bowl game. It’s just It’s phenomenal. They’ve set a legacy, and I think these seniors, especially should be very, very proud that they can look back for many, many years and say we were the ones that elevated Jack state to this level, and we’re ahead of schedule, right? But they’ve earned it, and I’m really proud of right here.
On the Play of the Defense:
Six days ago we played them, and didn’t have our best game, but they made some stops. And in this game, the defense was phenomenal. I think we got some key stops. The offense was running the football, controlling the clock. I think we only punted one time, and we didn’t give up big plays. There were a lot of people contributing. That was a neat part. There was a lot of people on defense making tackles and making plays.
On Having His Family Involved in the Program:
Oh, absolutely. Miss Rita has been part of this coaching staff for 30 some years, and trust me, she knows ball, but having Rhett here, who I think, is tremendous. And then my daughter, Raquel, she’s an absolute rock star and all the stuff that she does for our program, but it’s even more than that. I’ve had some guys that’s been with me for a long, long time, like the big fellow, Dusty Rutledge, everybody from our administrative staff to the guys on the field. I’m hard on them too, I don’t mind telling you this, but I do that because I know the kind of potential they have.
Tyler Huff
Senior | Quarterback
On the Difference Between Last Week and This Week
Last week, we just weren’t connecting. I was missing guys in the passing game, and that’s why we weren’t really moving the ball. They were able to stack the box on us, and make us one dimensional.
On His Rushing Performance
I mean, they key in on (Tre) so, it makes it pretty easy for me. A lot of our stuff is two-way go. It’s running back or quarterback, and a lot of the read. When we got five guys flowing over to 28 I mean, it makes pretty easy for me.
Tre Stewart
Senior | Running Back
On Rushing for 200 Yards
I came out first half a little bit slow, but I think the pass opened up the run game honestly. So the offensive line just did their job and found those.
J-Rock Swain
Senior | Defensive End
On The Meaning of the Title to the Upper Classmen
Stay the course, always believing where you came from or where you’re at. We had a lot of guys getting in the portal, a lot of guys coming from the portal, but we still got to stay the course. And everybody believed.
