What winning first FBS game means to Jacksonville State football players and Rich Rodriguez
JACKSONVILLE − The heat nor the football could damper a special day for the Jacksonville State football program Saturday.
The 2023 season opener against UTEP wasn't just another season opener. It marked the first FBS and C-USA game in program history. The heat index hovered around 100 degrees for most of the game, but the fans packed the home side of JSU Stadium to be part of the ocassion.
The Gamecocks did their job on the field, earning a thrilling 17-14 win that was sealed by a last minute interception on fourth down. It wasn't always pretty, but it was entertaining until the end and made sure that the day wasn't dampened by a loss, even to a strong UTEP team.
For coach Rich Rodriguez, who has FBS experience at stops Arizona, West Virginia and Michigan, he knows what this means for the program. He planned to celebrate once home, saving film for Sunday.
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"I really appreciate the crowd hanging around on a hot day and helping us out with some energy at the end. ... It's a great night for Jax State, and I'm going to enjoy a nice cold one at the Rodriguez hard-edge bar and grill at my house," Rodriguez said.
For Jeremiah Harris, who walked on seven years ago and made the game-sealing interception, playing at the FBS level is something that he felt like Gamecock players deserve, even if at the end of the day it's still just playing football.
"It means a lot. I feel like we were FCS players, I feel like ... the skill level that we had, everybody was a dog. I feel like we deserve a chance to play FBS ball," Harris said. "... There is no difference, football is football at the end of the day. We played against great players, good football, so at the end of the day football is football."
For Zion Webb, a seventh year senior who came to the program way before FBS was a thought and didn't know if he would play this year, the night was special.
"For me personally, it means a lot for the simple fact I didn't even know if I was going to get my last year back. Just to come out and handle business and everybody play as a team and get the team win was great," Webb said. "... It was a lot of ups and downs during this journey, a lot of obstacles that we had to go through, but I think we just fought it out, believed in each other and stuck it out and just made it to the end."
There's still plenty of work to do to establish Jacksonville State as an FBS program, but Saturday night showed that the Gamecocks were ready to take on the FBS level
Maxwell Donaldson covers high school sports and Jacksonville State athletics for the Gadsden Times. Find him on Twitter/X @_Max_Donaldson and contact him at MDonaldson@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on The Gadsden Times: What did winning first FBS game mean to Jacksonville State football?
