Jax State crushes Tops 52-12 in CUSA championship game

Published 4:24 am Saturday, December 7, 2024

by Jeff Nations

JACKSONVILLE, Ala. — Western Kentucky had a shot to take home the Conference USA championship Friday night.

Host Jacksonville State made sure the Hilltoppers never really had a chance with a relentless offense that simply would not be stopped in a 52-12 win.

The Gamecocks rolled up 562 yards of total offense and tied a CUSA championship game record with five rushing touchdowns in the win. The second-year FBS program denied WKU sixth-year head coach Tyson Helton his first CUSA title in his second championship game appearance.

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“They hit some explosive plays down the field early,” Helton said. “And they were able to control the line of scrimmage and run the football. We couldn’t it. And they played good defense, so it pretty much came down to that.”

Jacksonville State running back Tre Stewart ran for a game-high 201 yards and three touchdowns, plus added three catches for 54 yards. Gamecocks quarterback Tyler Huff was just as deadly, running for 167 yards and a score plus completing 11-of-15 passes for 167 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

The game started off well enough for the Hilltoppers. Redshirt sophomore Lucas Carneiro, the hero of last week’s 19-17 win with a game-winning 50-yard field goal against Jax State that earned the Hilltoppers a rematch against the Gamecocks in the CUSA championship, picked up right where he left off by equaling his career high with a 54-yard field goal to give the Tops an early 3-0 lead.

Jacksonville State (9-4) answered in short order. Quarterback Tyler Huff, who was injured in the third quarter of last week’s game and did not return, got the start and immediately started gashing the Tops’ defense. His 48-yard run was the longest of his 75 rushing yards in the opening drive before he capped it with a 6-yard touchdown pass to Sean Brown with 7:39 left in the first quarter.

After the Tops came up short on a fourth-and-1 attempt on their ensuing possession, the Gamecocks put together a six-play scoring drive finished off with a Huff 26-yard touchdown pass to Cam Vaughn.

“I felt like we needed to play pedal to the metal,” Helton said. “If we converted on the fourth down, momentum in our favor. I was not going to be passive and play scared, so felt like we needed to do that and they stopped us.”

Stewart’s touchdown runs of 4 and 6 yards pushed Jax State’s lead to 28-3 with 51 seconds left in the first half. The Gamecocks totaled 386 rushing yards against the Hilltoppers, less than a week after totaling 229 in WKU’s win at Houchens-Smith Stadium.

“They did a lot better with defending the gaps, like the scheme and checking us and seeing what we were in and seeing what we were not in,” WKU senior safety Devonte’ Mathews said. “They just had a good game plan this week from last week. They just changed some stuff.”

A facemask penalty on Jax State got Carneiro in range for a last-second field goal and he came through again with a 44-yarder to stretch his school record streak to 17 straight made attempts.

Jax State kept pouring it on in the second half, with Huff scoring on a 3-yard touchdown run to push the lead to 35-6 early in the third.

“I think they were hitting on all cylinders,” Helton said. “(Huff’s) a good player and they’ve got good players all around him. He had a helluva night tonight.”

Travis Franklin Jr.’s sack of WKU quarterback Caden Veltkamp knocked the ball loose and Jax State recovered to set up another scoring drive — a 27-yard field goal by Garrison Rippa that pushed the lead to 38-6 with 6:21 left in the third.

The Tops finally reached the end zone on Veltkamp’s 25-yard touchdown pass to Kisean Johnson, but a two-point conversion pass failed and WKU trailed 38-12 with 2:16 left in the third.

Stewart got his third rushing touchdown of the night early in the fourth quarter, a 29-yard burst up the middle to push the Gamecocks’ lead to 33 points.

Jax State backup quarterback Logan Smothers came in on fourth-and-goal and dashed in for a 10-yard touchdown run to make it 52-12 with 3:00 to play.

Veltkamp finished 18-of-30 passing for 141 yards and a touchdown, but lost a pair of fumbles and was sacked twice will getting consistent pressure from the Gamecocks’ blitzing scheme. WKU running back Elijah Young tallied 108 rushing yards, and wideout Easton Messer had seven catches for 83 yards.

“It was an honor to be in this game,” Helton said. “Wish we could’ve performed a lot better than we did. We will rebound and go get a big bowl win, but I want to congratulate coach (Rich Rodriguez) and his team. Hat’s off to them tonight.”

With the loss, the Tops will await their next game with bowl announcements slated for the weekend. Helton has coached WKU to three straight bowl wins and intends to make it four.

“It’s one game and you turn the page and you clear it, and you get ready to go play in a bowl,” Helton said. “It’s an honor to play in a bowl game and it’s an even greater honor to win the bowl game. We have a really good team with good men. They’ll bounce back and we’ll be ready to roll.”

About Jeff Nations

Sports Editor, Bowling Green Daily News

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