Jacksonville, AL – One week after falling to Western Kentucky, 19-17, to set up a championship rematch, Jacksonville State tore into the Hilltoppers, 52-12, to win the 2024 Conference USA title. The one-two punch of QB Tyler Huff and RB Tre Stewart ran amuck against the Topper defense who had no answers to stop them. Huff threw for 176 yards and two TDs completing 11 of 15 attempts. He rushed for 167 yards and one score on 23 carries. Stewart ran for 201 yards and three TDs on 27 carries.
On a beautiful, cold, cloudless evening in front of 15,628 fans on hand, WKU took a 3-0 lead on the first possession of the game with Lucas Carneiro’s 54-yard FG. After that, Jacksonville State answered with 28 points before the Hilltoppers added another three with Carneiro’s second field goal as time expired in the first half. Huff did damage on JSU’s first to possessions with a six-yard TD pass to Sean Brown to finish a 75-yard drive. His second TD pass went to Cam Vaughn from 26 after a turnover on downs at the WKU 42.
Stewart scores
Jacksonville State (9-4,7-1) started a drive from their 15 late in the second period. A leaping catch by Vaughn for 34 yards put the Gamecocks at the JSU four. Stewart took it in from there over the left side. The JSU defense registered a sack, a tackle for loss and a pass break-up to force a punt to take over at the WKU 43. With 1:19 left in the half, Huff carried it over from the six. HC Rich Rodriguez’s team took a 28-6 lead into the locker-room at halftime.
WKU can’t stop Jacksonville State in the second half
So much for halftime defensive adjustments by the Toppers. Huff finished Jacksonville State’s first possession with a three-yard TD run to punctuate a 75-yard drive. A sack by Travis Franklin, Jr. and fumble recovery by J-Rock Swain gave JSU possession once again on their 30. This turned out to be the only JSU possession of the second half that didn’t end with a touchdown. Instead, Garrison Rippa put up a 27-yard FG for a 38-6 Gamecock lead. WKU made up for that shortfall. Finally, they put together a 75-yard drive culminating with a 25-yard TD pass from Caden Veltkamp to Kisean Johnson. Their two-point conversion failed. They now trailed, 38-12, going into the fourth quarter.
Once again, Jacksonville State started from its 25. With 11:01 left, Stewart started to the right on the WKU 29 and then cut left. He scampered the entire way untouched to widen the lead, 45-12. On the final series, Rodriguez substituted for his starters, but with similar results. Their final possession resulted in a 61-yard drive with Logan Smothers scoring on a ten-yard run to cap the final score, 52-12. It was a drastic beatdown for the Hilltoppers (8-5,6-2).
Bright spots for Western Kentucky
Senior RB Elijah Young rushed for 108 yards on 19 carries. Soph WR Easton Messer snagged seven Veltkamp passes for 83 yards. Also, he returned three kickoffs for 113 yards. We hope the latter two return next season. As noted in the past, HC Ty Helton’s program displays a much better brand of local college football for us than does Middle Tennessee (3-9, 2-6). We will consider a season ticket package in Bowling Green instead of Murfreesboro in 2025. With both members of C-USA, we get our chances to add the three remaining FBS programs to our History – Sam Houston State, Delaware and Missouri State.
Upcoming postseason play
Both teams received bids to bowl games under C-USA contract agreements. Jacksonville State drew what we believe is one of the best among P4 teams. They will play Mid-American Conference champ Ohio U. (10-3, 7-1) in the Cure Bowl in Orlando on December 20. For those who follow us regularly, you’ve seen we attended three games won by Ohio U. It will be featured between two teams with mirror image offenses. JSU thrives with Huff and Stewart. The OU Bobcats run the same offense with QB Parker Novarro and their key back, Anthony Tyus. It will be fun to watch and would love to go, but we have something else planned that day. WKU will meet the runner-up of the Sun Belt, James Madison (8-4, 4-4) in the Boca Raton Bowl on December 18. JMU fell to Marshall, 35-33, in their conference championship game.
As for collegefootballfan.com
For collegefootballfan.com, we now head to the FCS playoff in Macon, GA between No. 10 Rhode Island (11-2) and No. 7 Mercer (10-2). Beyond that, we got ditched by USNA to attend our 12th ArmyNavy game in a row despite being season ticket holders for ten straight seasons before retiring farther away yet still being Navy Blue and Gold donors. Hope that reverts back next season. No convenient possibilities seem to exist to attend any FCS, D-2 or D-III playoff games next weekend. However, we’ll settle for ArmyNavy on TV. On December 20, it looks like we will head back to State College, PA to see the Nittany Lions (11-2) host SMU (11-2) in a CFP opener! Our biggest surprise and much to our relief, it’s not an 8 pm kickoff.
Merry Christmas Gift Idea
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