Jacksonville State set for Conference USA opener against Middle Tennessee

SportsJacksonville State defensive back Marc Woods celebrates a play against Middle Tennessee.Madison Giltner, Jax State AthleticsBy Thomas Ashworth | tashworth@al.comJacksonville State’s football history against Middle Tennessee is as long as that of almost every opponent the Gamecocks have faced.The two teams first met on the football field in 1927, with Jax State losing 13-0. It took 16 tries for the Gamecocks to beat Middle Tennessee, a 19-0 win at home in 1960. Since joining Conference USA, the series record has shifted for Jax State. The Gamecocks are set to host the Blue Raiders on Saturday, looking to remain unbeaten against Middle Tennessee since jumping to the FBS ranks. Jax State is 3-0 against the Blue Raiders since 2023, including a 24-21 win last season.But, none of that matters for Saturday’s matchup at AmFirst Stadium.“I know what everybody’s saying: ‘Hey, it’s the first conference game,’” Jax State coach Charles Kelly said. “When you talk about it being the first conference game, it’s still a football game, and that doesn’t hide the fact that you got to execute to be able to win the game. It is not about last year; this is not last year’s team. It’s not about Saturday night because, first thing, and I know we all say it, but it’s the truth. Everybody’s going to say, ‘Great win Saturday night. What you did last year, blah blah blah.’ All that is rat poison for these guys, and you’re just feeding it. You’re just feeding it, and all of a sudden they think, ”Okay, we did this, we did this,’ and that has nothing to do with execution. “What we’ve got to do is be able to execute. It doesn’t matter who we play. I’ve got a ton of respect for this team, but it doesn’t matter about anything in the past. It matters what we do for 60 minutes.”Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. at AmFirst Stadium in Jacksonville, and the game will be streamed on ESPN+.Jax State is fresh off of a 31-27 victory against Georgia Southern, rallying from a 17-point deficit for the biggest comeback win at home since 2019. The Gamecocks moved to 2-2 on the season with the win over the Eagles.Caleb Nix returned a punt 75 yards for what was the game-winning touchdown with 8:16 left to play to give the Gamecocks their first lead of the matchup. Freshman linebacker Tristan Lyles secured an interception with 1:52 left to play to seal the win.“I give a lot of credit to our players,” Kelly said. “They’re very resilient and they stuck to the process. I give a lot of credit to our coaches for making the adjustments, but we’ve got to learn from that, just like we have on a lot of those other games where we have to improve. That’s our focus, is what we’ve got to do to improve.”They’ll face a Middle Tennessee squad that moved to 2-1 with a 27-20 home victory against Nevada. The Blue Raiders’ lone loss this season is a 28-26 setback against Marshall on the road.Kelly pointed out the play of Opelika native Roman Gagliano, who has thrown for 616 yards, two touchdowns and just one interception through the first three games of the season. Cam’ron Lacy, who is one of the top receivers in the league, has 23 catches for 222 yards and three scores.“I have a ton of respect for Derek Mason,” Kelly said. “I’ve known him for a long time. We were both defensive coordinators at the same time. We’ve always shared ideas. I’ve got a lot of respect for him as a coach. I think he’s done a really good job. They’re a much improved football team, and they had a good football team last year. If you look at their record, they lost a ton of one-score games in this conference. He’s going to have his team very well prepared.”Thomas is a sports reporter for AL.com. In 2025, he was named Alabama Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. His work has also earned awards from the Alabama Sports Writers...