Roundup: No. 1 Jax State hammers EKU

Roundup: No. 1 Jax State hammers EKU

Published Oct. 30, 2015 11:44 p.m. ET

(STATS) - The schedule in October hadn't been overly taxing for Jacksonville State, but the No. 1 squad in the FCS used the final day of the month to make a statement.

The Gamecocks proved scarier for No. 13 Eastern Kentucky than Halloween as they rolled to a 34-0 shutout in a battle of Ohio Valley Conference unbeatens.

With its sixth straight win, Jacksonville State (7-1, 5-0) set up an even bigger game to open November. Next Saturday, the defending OVC champions will visit the conference's other remaining undefeated team, Eastern Illinois (5-3, 5-0).

"Ours guys just came out ready to play," Jacksonville State coach John Grass said after his team took a 7-6 series lead over Eastern Kentucky. "It's probably the best we have played all year, especially in the first half."

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Quarterback Eli Jenkins completed 23 of 32 attempts for 324 yards and a pair of touchdowns to Josh Barge, who caught nine passes for 158 yards. Miles Jones rushed for 110 yards as the Gamecocks gained 507 yards of offense.

The Jacksonville State defense limited Eastern Kentucky (5-3, 4-1) to 175 yards and had the pivotal play of the game early in the second quarter. On the first play after the Gamecocks turned the ball over on a fumble, middle linebacker Dawson Wells intercepted a pass by Bennie Coney and returned it 48 yards for a touchdown, pushing the lead to 14-0.

Jacksonville State scored again on Troymaine Pope's 1-yard run and Connor Rouleau's 41-yard field goal as the Gamecocks' lead swelled to 24-0 by halftime.

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STATS FCS TOP 25=

ALL TIMES ET=

FRIDAY, OCT. 30=

No. 15 Harvard (7-0, 4-0 Ivy) 14, No. 22 Dartmouth (6-1, 3-1) 13

Harvard trailed for 56 minutes, 54 seconds, but rallied from 13-0 down behind two Scott Hosch touchdown passes in the final 6:38, including a 5-yarder to freshman wide receiver Justice Shelton-Mosely with 38 seconds left. Stone Hart then blocked a game-ending field goal attempt as the Crimson posted their 21st straight win and took sole possession of first place in the Ivy League.

Hosch completed 23 of 37 attempts for 271 yards, while Dartmouth's Dalyn Williams, the Ivy leader in total offense, was 24 of 42 for 311 yards, adding 49 more yards on the ground. Big Green linebacker Will McNamara intercepted Hosch once in each half.

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SATURDAY, OCT. 31=

No. 24 Charleston Southern (7-1, 4-0 Big South Conference) 33, No. 2 Coastal Carolina (7-1, 2-1) 25

Charleston Southern stopped Coastal Carolina on downs at the 8-yard line with 27 seconds left to hand the Chanticleers their first defeat. Austin Brown threw for 252 yards and two touchdowns in leading the Buccaneers to a sixth straight win.

Coastal Carolina ran 19 plays on its final drive before coming up short when Alex Ross' pass sailed out of bounds on a fourth-and-4.

Coastal Carolina's De'Angelo Henderson increased his FCS record streak to 22 straight games with a touchdown, and finished with 90 yards on 15 carries.

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No. 3 Illinois State (7-1, 5-0 Missouri Valley) 27, No. 21 Indiana State (4-4, 2-3) 24

Illinois State rallied from a 24-9 second-half deficit to extend the FCS' longest home winning streak to 17 games.

Marshaun Coprich finished with 165 yards and a touchdown on 28 carries and quarterback Tre Roberson scored twice, helping the Missouri Valley leaders overcome Indiana State quarterback Matt Adam's three TD passes to Robert Tonyan in the second quarter.

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No. 4 Chattanooga (7-1, 5-0 Southern) 41, Western Carolina (5-3, 3-2) 13

Chattanooga quarterback Jacob Huesman was unstoppable, completing 14 of 15 attempts for 191 yards and rushing for 168 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries, while running back Derrick Craine rushed for 103 yards and four scores.

The Mocs, who have won a school-record 12 straight Southern Conference games, are in a first-place tie with The Citadel (6-2, 5-0).

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No. 5 Eastern Washington (6-2, 5-0) 14, Weber State (4-5, 3-3) 13

Eastern Washington continued to survive tight games in the Big Sky as Weber State place-kicker Josh Kealamakia's three missed field goals in the second half helped preserve the Eagles' win.

EWU quarterback Jordan West and wide receiver Cooper Kupp connected on two touchdown passes, although Weber State held a surprising 412-189 advantage in yards. Eighth-year coach Beau Baldwin improved to 73-27 in his100th game with the Eagles.

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No. 6 Richmond (7-1, 5-0 CAA) 38, Albany (2-6, 1-4) 31

Richmond safety David Jones had an FCS season-high four interceptions and Jacobi Green followed up a career-best rushing performance against James Madison with 34 carries for 186 yards and two touchdowns.

Quarterback Kyle Lauletta passed for 293 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for another score, but he threw three interceptions.

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No. 7 North Dakota State (6-2, 4-1 Missouri Valley) 35, Southern Illinois (3-5, 2-3) 29

North Dakota State rushed for 397 yards behind running back King Frazier (16 carries, 177 yards, one touchdown) and quarterback Easton Stick (16 carries, 130 yards). Easton also was 12 of 17 for 138 yards and two touchdowns with one interception.

Junior linebacker Nick DeLuca notched a career-high 20 tackles.

Southern Illinois' five losses have come by a combined 14 points.

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No. 8 Sam Houston State (6-2) 38, Texas A&M-Commerce (7-2) 24

Sam Houston State overcame 432 passing yards from Texas A&M-Commerce's Harrison Stewart to push its winning streak to six games. The Lions rallied from a 14-point halftime deficit with a pair of third-quarter touchdown passes from Stewart, but the Bearkats answered with TD runs from Corey Avery and Jared Johnson.

Avery finished with 125 rushing yards and three touchdowns and Johnson passed for 267 yards and ran for another 74.

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No. 16 William & Mary (6-2, 4-1 CAA) 44, No. 9 James Madison (7-2, 4-2) 41

Kendell Anderson scored from 2 yards out with 41 seconds remaining to provide William & Mary with its fourth straight win. Anderson (30 carries, 138 yards) and Mikal Abdul-Saboor (12 carries, 68 yards) both rushed for three touchdowns.

Safety DeAndre Houston-Carson had a monster game and scored the Tribe's first points on a defensive PAT return. He finished with 16 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, one sack, an interception and one pass breakup.

In replacing James Madison's injured quarterback Vad Lee, redshirt sophomore Bryan Schor passed for 227 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 64 yards and a score. Cardon Johnson led the rushing attack with 134 yards and a TD.

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No. 10 McNeese State (8-0, 7-0 Southland) 15, Abilene Christian (2-6, 2-5)

McNeese State's Trent Manuel kicked three field goals and quarterback Daniel Sams scored on a third-quarter run despite having a mistake-filled game, as he had four of the Cowboys' five turnovers.

McNeese coach Matt Viator gained his 52nd career Southland Conference victory, breaking a tie with former Sam Houston State coach Ron Randleman for the all-time conference high. His Cowboys can clinch the Southland title and automatic bid to the FCS playoffs by defeating Sam Houston State next Saturday.

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Colgate (4-4, 3-0 Patriot) 31, No. 11 Fordham (7-2, 3-1) 23

Fordham's late charge fell short as quarterback Kevin Anderson threw two of his four touchdown passes in the final 27 seconds, with the Rams recovering an on-side kick in between, but a potential tying two-point conversion was stopped by Colgate with no time remaining.

Colgate quarterback Jake Melville accounted for 353 yards of total offense (241 passing, 112 rushing) as well as three touchdowns (two rushing, one passing) in the first half when the Raiders built a 24-9 lead.

The Raiders held Fordham's Chase Edmonds, who entered the game with the most rushing yards and touchdowns in the FCS, to 51 yards on 18 carries - the third-lowest rushing total in his 23 career games - and no scores. Anderson was 34 of 49 for 378 yards, but he was sacked eight times.

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No. 12 Portland State (7-1, 4-1) 35, No. 17 Montana (4-4, 3-2) 16

Portland State ran all over Montana as running back David Jones (29 carries, 165 yards, one touchdown) and quarterback Alex Kuresa (11 carries, 119 yards, two touchdowns) led the way. Kuresa also threw for two touchdowns on four completions.

A week after throwing for six touchdowns in his first career start, Montana's Makena Simis was 15 of 36 for 134 yards and three interceptions.

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No. 14 South Dakota State (6-2, 3-2 Missouri Valley) 39, Missouri State (1-7, 0-5)

South Dakota State quarterbacks Zach Lujan (15 of 19, 208 yards, two touchdowns) and Taryn Christion (9 of 11, 97 yards, one TD) combined to complete 24 of 30 attempts in the shutout - the Jackrabbits' first since a 29-0 win over Indiana State on Nov. 9, 2013.

Running back Brady Mengarelli rushed for 142 yards and a touchdown.

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No. 18 Northern Iowa (4-4, 2-3 Missouri Valley) 20, South Dakota (4-4, 2-3) 7

UNI pulled back to the .500 mark as quarterback Aaron Bailey threw for a touchdown and rushed for another.

The Panthers' defense forced three turnovers and limited South Dakota to 187 yards. Karter Schult had seven tackles, including two sacks.

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North Dakota (5-4, 3-3) 44, No. 19 Montana State (4-4, 2-3) 38

North Dakota freshman John Santiago rushed for 230 yards and three touchdowns, reaching 250 all-purpose yards for the sixth time in Big Sky play. Brady Oliveira added 167 yards and a TD on the ground as UND gained 426 rushing yards on 8.2 per carry.

Santiago has 1,162 rushing yards this season, UND's Division I single-season record.

Bobcats quarterback Dakota Prukop had 289 yards of total offense and three total touchdowns. He was intercepted twice and lost a fumble.

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No. 20 North Carolina A&T (7-1, 5-0 MEAC) 28, Florida A&M (1-7, 1-4) 10

North Carolina A&T rolled to its sixth straight win as quarterback Kwashaun Quick rushed for a touchdown and threw for another score.

The first-place Aggies travel to South Carolina State (5-3, 4-1) for a key MEAC game next Saturday.

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No. 25 Youngstown State (4-4, 2-3 Missouri Valley) 23, No. 23 Western Illinois (4-4, 3-2) 21

Youngstown State erased a 21-20 deficit on Zak Kennedy's 30-yard field goal with 2:07 left in the third quarter and held on to stop a three-game losing streak.

Andre Stubbs caught six passes for 129 yards and a touchdown in the win.

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