FINAL STATS  |  POST-GAME NOTES  |  PHOTO GALLERY



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FINAL TOUCHDOWN  |  WINNING 2-POINT CONVERSION

OXFORD, Miss. (AP) - On the final crazy play of a crazy game, Jacksonville State running back Calvin Middleton found himself in the middle of a mass of bodies as quarterback Coty Blanchard lofted a 2-point conversion pass toward the end zone.

Somehow, through the arms and legs, Middleton came down with the football as the Gamecocks celebrated a stunning 49-48 victory over Mississippi in double overtime.

"The coaches called a shovel pass," Middleton said. "I don't even know if (Blanchard) saw me, but I knew if I could catch it I was deep enough in the end zone to score.
"This means everything."

Blanchard threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to Kevyn Cooper on fourth-and-15 to pull within 48-47 in the second overtime.

It looked like the two teams might play all night, but then Gamecocks coach Jack Crowe made the call to go for the win in the season opener for both teams.

"I just didn't think we could play defense again," Crowe said.

Crowe, who had tears in his eyes during the postgame press conference, was fired as coach at Arkansas in 1992 after his team lost to The Citadel - which was also a lower-level program.

"If you stay in this long enough, it goes both ways," Crowe said.

Jacksonville State, a Football Championship Subdivision team from the Ohio Valley Conference, trailed 31-10 at halftime but outscored Ole Miss 21-3 in the fourth quarter to force overtime.

"Without a doubt, it's the worst loss of my career," Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt said.

It's the first time Jacksonville State has beaten a Football Bowl Subdivision team since Sept. 27, 2001, when the Gamecocks beat Arkansas State. The 21-point deficit was the largest Jacksonville State has overcome in school history.

Jeremiah Masoli made his much-anticipated debut for Mississippi after being cleared by the NCAA on Friday. He completed 7 of 10 passes for 109 yards and one interception and led the Rebels on both of their touchdown drives in overtime.

Like the rest of his teammates, he had a hard time explaining the collapse.

"Crazy stuff happens sometimes," Masoli said. "I never expected us to be in overtime."

Ole Miss is 6-6 all-time in overtime games. It was the school's first loss to an FCS opponent.

The Ole Miss offense, which debuted eight new starters, scored on five of six first-half possessions, including four touchdowns. After that, Jacksonville State rolled.

The Gamecocks scored on their final six possessions, including touchdowns on the last five. The Ole Miss defense, which returned six starters, ranked in the top half of the Southeastern Conference in most major categories last season, but had no answer for the Gamecocks.

Ole Miss kicker Bryson Rose made a 35-yard field goal to extend the Rebels' lead to 34-26 with 2:55 left in regulation, but Jacksonville State drove the field for a touchdown to pull within 34-32 with 18.9 seconds left. Marques Ivory threw a 2-yard pass to La'Ray Williams for the two-point conversion to tie the game at 34 and send it to overtime.

Middleton rushed for 67 yards and a touchdown. The Gamecocks had no turnovers.
Using a two-quarterback system with Blanchard and Ivory, the duo combined to complete 22 of 36 passes for 252 yards and four touchdowns.

Mississippi's Brandon Bolden rushed for 104 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries. Sophomore Nathan Stanley threw for 133 yards and three touchdowns.

POSTGAME NOTES
- Captains for the Gamecocks: Senior WR Jeffrey Cameron, senior DB T.J. Heath, senior OL Curt Porter and junior DT Jamison Wadley.
- Jacksonville State won the coin toss and deferred to the second half.
- The Gamecocks had seven players make their first career JSU start in the game, three on offense (Odie Rush, Tori Mobley, James Shaw), two on defense (Jason Horton, Michael Ellis) and three on special teams (Coty Blanchard, James Esco, Griffin Thomas).
- The 21 points JSU trailed by at the half (31-10), was the largest deficit that JSU has overcome for a win in the school's Division I history.
- JSU improves to 2-4 in OT games and 1-3 in double overtime games. It was JSU's first OT game and win since a 17-10 win over Tennessee Tech on Oct. 28, 2006.
- JSU had 14 players make their Gamecock debut on Saturday.
- The Gamecocks improve to 4-13 all-time against NCAA FBS opponents and snap an eight-game losing streak to FBS foes. Their last win over an FBS school was on Sept. 22, 2001, a 31-28 win over Arkansas State.
- Jacksonville State improves to 46-48-1 in season openers and snapped a streak of five-straight losses in openers. Under Jack Crowe, the Gamecocks are 5-6 to open the season.
- The Gamecocks improve to 1-2 against current members of the Southeastern Conference. Saturday marked the first meeting with any SEC foe other than Mississippi State.
- Jamison Wadley's fumble return for a score in the first quarter marked the third time in the past five seasons the defense has scored the Gamecocks' first touchdown of the season (LaMarcus Rowell FR in 2006 and T.J. Heath INT in 2007). It is the fifth time it has happened in JSU's Division I history.
- The Gamecocks' fumble return for a touchdown in the first quarter was junior Jamison Wadley's first career fumble recovery and his first score, while it was the second time Rodney Garrott has forced a fumble in his career.
- James Esco's 45-yard field goal in the second quarter was his first career FG attempt and the longest by a Gamecock since Nov. 15, 2008 (Gavin Hallford - 48 yds. vs, Tenn. State).
- T.J. Heath's forced fumble and recovery in the third quarter was the third forced and third recovered fumble of his career.
- Two Gamecocks (Darius Barksdale and Coty Blanchard) had their first career rush on Saturday, while Blanchard threw his first career pass.
- Keginald Harris' interception in the third quarter was the second of his career. His 10 tackles tied a career high.
- Junior Jason Horton recorded 13 tackles, 10 more than his previous career high of three (at Nicholls State, 9/26/09). Junior Rodney Garrott's 13 tackles were nine more than his previous high of four (vs. Eastern Ky., 11/21/09).
- Freshman Coty Blanchard's 30-yard pass to Alan Bonner in the final seconds of the third quarter was JSU's first play of more than 20 yards on the afternoon.
- Coty Blanchard's four-yard touchdown pass to James Shaw in the fourth quarter was the freshman's first career touchdown and Shaw's third-career touchdown catch.
- Blanchard's TD pass to Kevyn Cooper in the second overtime was the second career TD catch for Cooper.
- Marques Ivory's 19-yard touchdown pass to Alan Bonner with 18 seconds to play was his fifth career TD pass and Bonner's fifth career scoring catch.
- Calvin Middleton's two-yard touchdown run with 14:56 remaining in the fourth quarter was the 10th rushing touchdown of his career.

BY THE NUMBERS
2 - Touchdown passes by Marques Ivory, tying his career high.
3 - Times in the last 5 years the JSU defense has scored the team's first touchdown of the season.
5 - Consecutive seasons the Gamecocks have opened their schedule on the road.
7 - Gamecocks that made their first career start on Saturday, 3 on offense, 2 on defense and 2 on special teams.
13 - Tackles by Jason Horton, 10 more than his previous career high of three.
14 - Gamecocks that made their JSU debut on Saturday
21 - Points by which the Gamecocks trailed at half time, the largest deficit they have overcome to win in their Division I history.
45 - Yard field goal by James Esco in the 2nd Quarter, the longest by a JSU player since 2008.
101 - Consecutive games in which the Gamecocks have scored, a streak that dates back to Nov.18, 2000, when they were last shut out.
355 - Yards of total offense by JSU, the most in a season opener since 2001 (456 vs. Cumberland).
55,768 - Attendance for this afternoon's game, the second-largest crowd to ever watch the Gamecocks play.