American college football season
The 2018 Jacksonville State Gamecocks football team represented Jacksonville State University as a member of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) during the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season . Led by fifth-year head coach John Grass , the Gamecocks compiled an overall record of 9–4, with a mark of 7–1 conference play, winning the OVC title for the fifth consecutive season. Jacksonville State received the OVC's automatic bid to the NCAA Division I Football Championship playoff marking the program's sixth straight trip to the FCS playoffs. The Gamecocks defeated East Tennessee State in the first round before losing to Maine in the second round. The team played home games at Burgess–Snow Field at JSU Stadium in Jacksonville, Alabama .
On July 20, 2018, the media covering the OVC released their preseason poll with the Gamecocks predicted to win the OVC championship.[ 1] [ 2]
Media poll Predicted finish Team Votes (1st place) 1 Jacksonville State 134 (14) 2 Austin Peay 114 (1) 3 UT Martin 96 4 Tennessee State 91 5 Eastern Illinois 83 6 Eastern Kentucky 64 7 Murray State 39 8 Southeast Missouri State 35 9 Tennessee Tech 19
Coaches poll Predicted finish Team Votes (1st place) 1 Jacksonville State 126 (14) 2 Austin Peay 112 (4) 3 UT Martin 95 4 Eastern Illinois 73 5 Eastern Kentucky 69 6 Tennessee State 64 7 Southeast Missouri State 62 8 Murray State 24 9 Tennessee Tech 23
Preseason All-OVC team [ edit ] The Gamecocks had six players selected to the preseason all-OVC team.[ 3]
Offense
Tyler Scozzaro – C
B.J. Autry– G
Darius Anderson – G
Defense
Randy Robinson – DL
Marlon Bridges – DB
Specialists
Cade Stinnett – K
Date Time Opponent Rank Site TV Result Attendance August 25 7:00 p.m. vs. No. 14 North Carolina A&T * No. 6 ESPN L 17–2013,500 September 8 6:00 p.m. Mississippi Valley State * No. 13 ESPN+ W 71–021,864 September 22 6:00 p.m. Tennessee Tech No. 10 Burgess–Snow Field at JSU Stadium Jacksonville, AL ESPN+ W 48–2017,403 September 29 3:00 p.m. Austin Peay No. 8 Burgess–Snow Field at JSU Stadium Jacksonville, AL ESPN3 W 48–3219,388 October 6 3:00 p.m. at Eastern Kentucky No. 8 ESPN+ W 56–76,820 October 13 3:00 p.m. Eastern Illinois No. 8 Burgess–Snow Field at JSU Stadium Jacksonville, AL ESPN3 W 49–2215,649 October 20 1:00 p.m. at Southeast Missouri State No. 5 ESPN+ L 14–373,103 October 27 3:00 p.m. at Murray State No. 12 ESPN+ W 42–158,053 November 3 1:00 p.m. UT Martin No. 10 Burgess–Snow Field at JSU Stadium Jacksonville, AL ESPN+ W 21–1416,093 November 10 2:00 p.m. at Tennessee State No. 8 ESPN+ W 41–146,718 November 17 3:00 p.m. vs. No. 2 Kennesaw State * No. 6 FSS L 52–60 5OT 16,949 November 24 6:30 p.m. No. 22 East Tennessee State * No. 8 ESPN3 W 34–2711,024 December 1 11:00 a.m. at No. 12 Maine * No. 8 ESPN3 L 27–556,145 *Non-conference game Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time
[ 5] [ 6]
[ edit ] 1 2 3 4 Total No. 14 Aggies 7 0 13 0 20 No. 6 Gamecocks 0 3 14 0 17
Scoring summary Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP NCAT JSU 1 6:31 9 65 4:38 NCAT Zachary Leslie 24-yard touchdown reception from Lamar Raynard, Noel Ruiz kick good 7 0 2 3:55 10 57 4:00 JSU 23-yard field goal by Cade Stinnett 7 3 3 6:13 3 75 0:58 JSU Daniel Byrd 49-yard touchdown reception from Zerrick Cooper, Cade Stinnett kick good 7 10 3 5:57 NCAT Malik Wilson 98 yard kickoff return for touchdown, Cade Stinnett kick good 14 10 3 4:49 3 65 1:08 JSU Josh Pearson 40-yard touchdown reception from Zerrick Cooper, Cade Stinnett kick good 14 17 3 2:36 5 31 2:13 NCAT Elijah Bell 4-yard touchdown reception from Lamar Raynard, Noel Ruiz kick failed 20 17 "TOP" = time of possession . For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football . 20 14
Mississippi Valley State [ edit ] 1 2 3 4 Total Delta Devils 0 0 0 0 0 No. 13 Gamecocks 15 21 21 14 71
1 2 3 4 Total Golden Eagles 3 3 7 7 20 No. 10 Gamecocks 10 14 7 17 48
1 2 3 4 Total Governors 9 3 14 6 32 No. 8 Gamecocks 0 14 14 20 48
At Eastern Kentucky [ edit ] 1 2 3 4 Total No. 8 Gamecocks 14 14 7 21 56 Colonels 0 0 0 7 7
1 2 3 4 Total Governors 3 6 0 13 22 No. 8 Gamecocks 14 7 14 14 49
At Southeast Missouri State [ edit ] 1 2 3 4 Total No. 5 Gamecocks 0 7 0 7 14 Redhawks 7 9 14 7 37
1 2 3 4 Total No. 12 Gamecocks 14 7 7 14 42 Racers 6 3 6 0 15
1 2 3 4 Total Skyhawks 3 0 0 11 14 No. 10 Gamecocks 10 3 0 8 21
1 2 3 4 Total No. 8 Gamecocks 20 7 0 14 41 Tigers 7 0 0 7 14
1 2 3 4 OT 2OT 3OT 4OT 5OT Total No. 6 Gamecocks 7 7 10 0 7 7 8 6 0 52 No. 2 Owls 0 10 7 7 7 7 8 6 8 60
[ edit ] 1 2 3 4 Total No. 22 Buccaneers 10 10 0 7 27 No. 8 Gamecocks 7 3 10 14 34
[ edit ] 1 2 3 4 Total No. 8 Gamecocks 7 7 10 3 27 No. 12 Black Bears 21 21 7 6 55
Ranking movementsLegend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking Week Poll Pre 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Final STATS FCS 6 13 12 10 8 8 8 5 12 10 8 6 8 10 Coaches 6 12 11 9 8 8 7 4 12 10 9 7 9 13
Venues Bowls & rivalries Culture & lore People Seasons National championship seasons in bold
Pre-divisional NCAA College Division Division II I-AA/FCS National championships in bold
