Jacksonville State defeats Tennessee State 48-13

JACKSONVILLE, Ala. (AP) Eli Jenkins fired a pair of touchdown passes in the second quarter as Jacksonville State jumped out to an early lead, beating Tennessee

JACKSONVILLE, Ala. (AP) Eli Jenkins fired a pair of touchdown passes in the second quarter as Jacksonville State jumped out to an early lead, beating Tennessee State 48-13 in an Ohio Valley Conference opener on Saturday.

Jenkins completed 14 of 23 passes for 162 yards and rushed for 95 more as the Gamecocks (2-1, 1-0), voted to the top slot in the FCS poll, rolled to a 24-0 lead by early in the third quarter before a record crowd of 24,413.

Ronald Butler led a third-quarter rally for Tennessee State (2-1, 0-1) hitting Patrick Smith and Isiah Freeman-Jeffries on scoring plays of 84 and 51 yards, closing to 24-13. The 84-yarder to Smith was the longest play given up by Jacksonville State since 2008.

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Jacksonville State piled up 576 yards total offense to 208 for Tennessee State, and it was especially lopsided in rushing - 349 yards to 24.

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AP college football website: http://collegefootball.ap.org