Jacksonville State football ekes latest Conference USA win over UTEP with final minute FG
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Jacksonville State football eked out another Conference USA win on Saturday, Nov. 8, in the final minutes.
The Gamecocks (6-3, 5-0 Conference USA) need a last minute 45-yard field goal from Garrison Rippa to earn the 30-27 win over UTEP at the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas. The defense forced a turnover on downs to seal the win.
The Gamecocks had 100-yard rushing games from Cam Cook and Caden Creel. Cook had his 12th rushing score on the year with Creel finding Deondre Johnson for a 77-yard passing touchdown on the offense’s first drive. Caleb Nix had a 93-yard interception return for a touchdown.
Here’s some takeaways from the game.
Passing game takes one step forward, two step back
The passing game continued its steady improvements but did regress a bit in two key areas. The accuracy dropped back to below 50% after being over 66% the last three games. Creel also had another interception, his first since Southern Miss. The downfield passing game had its best success, with a 77-yard score but they only managed 181 yards.
Two big plays swing momentum to Jacksonville State
The Gamecocks came out firing in the passing game, using a double move by Deondre Johnson for Caden Creel to find him wide open for the 77-yard touchdown. Johnson caught the ball at the 50 and walked in for the score. The second big play came from the defense as Caleb Nix picked off a Skyler Locklear pass and returned it 93 yards, ending a Miners drive that was threatening to score and take the lead.
Jax State run game slowed again
It wasn’t as bad as it was against Middle Tennessee State a week ago, but the run game was slowed again. Cam Cook broke a 51-yard run, but it took him until the fourth quarter to cross the 100-yard mark. He only had two other runs of 10 or more yards in the first three quarters. Creel was able to add more than 100 yards on the ground, including a 37-yard run that set up Cook’s fourth quarter TD.
Jacksonville State football’s next game
The Gamecocks return home next Saturday, Nov. 15, to host Kennesaw State in a matchup of the top teams in Conference USA. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. CT on ESPNU.
Maxwell Donaldson covers high school sports, Jax State athletics, the outdoors in Alabama and more for the Gadsden Times. Find him on Twitter/X @_Max_Donaldson and contact him at MDonaldson@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on The Gadsden Times: Jacksonville State football earns Conference USA win over UTEP
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