JSU, Murray State: Gamecocks leave OVC way they came in ... champions

Joe Medley, The Anniston Star, Ala.
·4 min read

Apr. 11—MURRAY, Ky. — Jacksonville State came into the Ohio Valley Conference winning championships, and the Gamecocks will leave a champion.

Quarterback Zion Webb accounted for 304 total yards and three touchdowns, and 10th-ranked JSU beat No 17 Murray State 28-14 on Sunday to clinch the OVC title and automatic berth to the COVID-shrunken, 16-team FCS playoff field.

The NCAA's selection committee will announce the playoff field April 18 at 10:30 a.m., and JSU will make its first playoff appearance since 2018.

The Gamecocks won or shared the OVC title for the ninth time since joining the league in 2003.They won OVC titles in 2003 and 2004.

JSU won the OVC for the sixth time in seven years, all during John Grass' run as the Gamecocks' head coach. He took the reins in 2014, promoted from offensive coordinator after Bill Clark left for UAB.

JSU played its last OVC football game Sunday and will begin play in the ASun, starting this fall.

The Gamecocks (9-2, 6-1 OVC) entered Sunday's game tied with Murray State (5-2, 5-2) atop the league, both teams holding one OVC loss to Austin Peay. The winner would clinch the league title and a playoff berth, and the loser could slip to third and, possibly, out of the playoff picture.

Austin Peay (4-2 OVC) postponed its scheduled OVC game at Eastern Illinois because of COVID-19 protocol.

Here are three things we learned:

1. Webb solid again

A week after playing what Grass called his best game as a Gamecock, Webb was solid again. He posted a 181.3 quarterback rating in a 44-23 victory at Eastern Illinois, and he hit 139.2 at Murray State.

Best part for JSU and Webb? He did it without a turnover at Murray State.

Webb hit on 17 of 26 passes for 239 yards and an 18-yard touchdown pass to tight end Trae Barry. Webb rushed for 65 yards and two scores, one and 11 yards.

Webb stayed down after a late-third-quarter option run and left the game but returned after one play with A.C. Graham at quarterback. On Webb's second play back in the game, he kept for nine yards to convert third down and seven.

Josh Samuel's 1-yard touchdown run in the second quarter was the only JSU score not involving a Webb run or pass.

2. Defense solid as usual

For the ninth game in a row, JSU held its opponent under 100 rushing yards. Murray State managed 26 net rushing yards.

No surprise, then, that the Racers could not sustain drives. Two JSU stands resulted in two missed Aaron Baum field goals, from 43 and 38 yards. Both went wide left.

One glitch for JSU's defense saw the Racers complete two big passing plays on their first-quarter scoring drive, including Preston Rice's 30-yard touchdown pass to DeQuon Dallas to trim JSU's lead to 14-7 in the first quarter. JSU released Dallas without help on the back end, and he scored easily.

The Racers also put together a nine-play, 88-yard drive for their other score, Rice's 13-yard touchdown pass to Jacob Bell in the fourth quarter, but JSU forced four incompletions after Murray State had first and goal at the 7-yard line with three minutes to play.

Jamias Presley came up with an interception to end Murray State's last-gasp drive.

3. Trae's day

Barry, JSU's All-American tight end, finally played in a spring road game this season, and he has a school record to show for it.

He caught four passes for 101 yards and a touchdown Sunday, and his 39-yard reception in the first quarter pushed him past Rusty Fuller for first place in career receiving yards for a tight end.

Fuller played from 1979-83 and finished his career with 1,500 yards. Barry's first-quarter reception put him at 1,513, and he finished the day with 1,536 career yards.

Barry had two 39-yard receptions Sunday, both setting up JSU touchdowns.

His 18-yard touchdown catch on a slant in the third quarter marked his first score since the Chattanooga game in 2019, and he recorded his first 100-yard receiving game since North Alabama in the fall.

Injuries have delayed Barry's big day. He led JSU in receiving before a season-ending knee injury shortened his 2019. What Grass described as a bone bruise on one knee kept Barry out of JSU's road games at Tennessee State and Tennessee-Martin, and Grass cited a concussion for Barry's absence at Eastern Illinois last week.

Sports Writer Joe Medley: 256-235-3576. On Twitter: @jmedley_star.