FINAL STATS  |  PHOTO GALLERY

JACKSONVILLE – The first game in the newly remodeled and newly named Burgess-Snow Field was worth the wait.

After a lightning delay that pushed kickoff back 86 minutes, the 22,186 in attendance saw the fifth-ranked Jacksonville State football team score 21 unanswered points to pull of its second fourth-quarter come-from-behind win, a 21-17 thriller over Chattanooga.

One week after the second-largest crowd to ever watch JSU play saw the Gamecocks (2-0) rally for a double-overtime win over Ole Miss, the largest home crowd in Gamecock history saw junior Marques Ivory find junior James Shaw for a 72-yard touchdown strike with 1:16 remaining and hand the Mocs (0-2) their second heartbreaking loss in as many weeks.

JSU, who added hall of fame coach Bill Burgess' name to its improved home in a pregame ceremony, got off to a slow start, turning the ball over three times in the first half and mustering just 93 yards of total offense before taking a 10-0 deficit into the locker room at the half.

After a pair of touchdown drives that cut a 17-0 UTC lead to just a three-point advantage, JSU got the stop it needed on defense and then used its longest scoring play of the season to provide the fireworks. The scoring drive was the Gamecocks' seventh-straight possession in the fourth quarter or later that resulted in a touchdown and gave Jax State its first 2-0 start since the 2004 season.

Thur winning toss from Ivory put a sweet cap on what had been a sour statistical night early on for the Warner Robins, Ga., native. After a pair of interceptions on the team's first two possessions led to a 4-for-10 first half, Ivory completed 14 of his final 23 passes for 181 second-half yards and his lone touchdown pass.

His freshman backup, Coty Blanchard, was 2-for-3 with an interception and a touchdown pass, a nine-yard strike to senior Jeffrey Cameron that cut the UTC lead to three with just under eight minutes to play. The Centre, Ala., native also ran for 45 yards and a score on seven carries before a 12-yard loss to run the clock on the Gamecocks' final play left him with 33 yards on the night.

Senior John Houston Whiddon led the Gamecock offense with a career-high seven catches for 68 yards, while senior Alphonso Freeney led the ground attack with 54 yards on just seven touches.

UTC quarterback B.J. Coleman's stats went in the opposite direction as Ivory's. The junior from Chattanooga went 10-for-22 on the night with all but 27 of his 149 passing yards coming before the half. Tailback Errol Wynn ran for 98 yards against the JSU defense on 13 carries.

Junior corner A.J. Davis and senior linebacker Antonio Bonner each recorded eight tackles to lead the JSU defense, while junior Brannon Byrd added seven tackles and two sacks.

Turnovers proved to be the Gamecocks' achilles heel early in the game, as their first three possessions ended in an interception. Ivory, who entered the game without throwing a pick since the 2009 season opener at Georgia Tech (50 attempts), threw the first two, while Blanchard tossed the second.

The Mocs were only able to parlay those picks into three points, a 27-yard Jeff Veres field goal with 11:37 remaining in the first quarter. Veres was set up for a 26 yarder later in the quarter, but his attempt sailed left.

UTC's defense put points on the board itself with 6:20 left in the first half, when a Chaz Moore hit knocked the ball from Jamal Young's hands. Jaron Norfleet scooped up the loose ball and went uncontested into the endzone to put the Mocs up 10-0.

UTC struck early to start the second half, when Coleman found Joel Bradford on a 14-yard slant route that put the Mocs up 17-0 with 12:19 remaining in the third. They needed just 54 yards to score, after a personal foul on the Gamecocks after the kickoff set up UTC with a short field.

The Gamecock offense finally put together a scoring drive on its first possession of the second half. Blanchard used a three-yard scoring keeper to cap a 69-yard drive that took 15 plays and 6:21 off of the clock. The Gamecocks finally forced a Mocs turnover on the ensuing kick, one that ended with James Powell stripping the ball from returner Brian Sutherland and James Shaw coming up with it at the bottom of a pile on the UTC 32.

The drive stalled when Blanchard was sacked for a loss of 12 on third down that forced James Esco to attempt a 46-yard field goal. His first unsuccessful attempt as a Gamecock missed left and gave UTC the ball back with just over three minutes remaining in the third quarter.

JSU cut the Mocs' lead to three midway through the final quarter, thanks to a 17-play, 97-yard scoring drive that was capped by a nine-yard pass from Blanchard to Jeffrey Cameron with 7:50 on the clock. The Esco point after put JSU within a field goal at 17-14.

The Mocs took the ensuing possession down to the Gamecocks' 10 yard line but turned it over on downs instead of attempting a 29-yard field goal on fourth and four from the 12.

JSU took over with 2:20 to play and worked their magic, when the sixth play of the drive saw Ivory find Shaw for the winner. Griffin Thomas pooched the ensuing kickoff and watched it slip through Shane Heatherly's hands. Jawaan Booker recovered the loose ball, and JSU ran all but six seconds off the clock, not enough for the Mocs to make a last attempt.

JSU will look to continue its magical start on Saturday, when they travel to Atlanta to take on the upstart Panthers of Georgia State. Kickoff is set for 12 p.m. CT in the Georgia Dome.

POST GAME QUOTES
JSU Head Coach Jack Crowe
“We've got some competitiveness about us. We had guys get hurt, in and out of the game. Calvin Middleton got hurt. Calvin Middleton is a gutsy gutsy player. I really talked to them individually, offense/defense, in their individual groups at halftime. The first half is a mystery for the coach. Our coaches continue to find a way to solve our problems; players keep finding ways to overcome them. Those two things on a football team are your most important and we have those. If we start living on those as a ticket, it will get us there.”

On the atmosphere:
“The atmosphere was electric. The players were giddy during pregame. I told them It's being built, the bar is being raised for you guys” (referring to the player's visit to the press box). You don't do this for average; we need to be nationally defined. Until we put ourselves in the top 10 consistently, then we have not restored the tradition that Coach Burgess' boys had.”

On the quarterbacks:
“Marques (Ivory) is no average Joe, I will say this in public - he better not be looking over his shoulder, Coty Blanchard is a play maker. He is going to be right there going in the game the whole year. I don't know if he is getting distracted by it but he better get used to it, because that is the way it's going to be. We would not have won this game without Blanchard, we would not have won this game without Marques Ivory, if we would have missed either one of their plays - we would not have won it.”

On the Ole Miss effect:
“We could have lost both these games and still won a National Championship (Ole Miss, Chattanooga). The only pressure we felt was to win this game, not to prove anything about Ole Miss. The best player on the field was their running back – No. 2 Errol Wynn. This was the best Chattanooga team we've seen since I have been here.”

James Shaw
On winning in a dramatic fashion
“I feel like we need to do better. We need to get off to a better start.”

On making the game winning play
“I got in the right position to make the right play at the right time. I told Coach to throw me the ball. Two plays later, he finally put me in running, and it worked out.”

Marques Ivory
On the winning play
“He (James Shaw) told me right before the play that he was on the post. I told him fine, make it work. Make sure the batteries are in the truck. He executed, I executed, the offensive line gave me time and we got it done.”

On coming from behind to win
“It's in our mind that we need to go ahead and get it together from the start, so that we don't have to do this all the time.”

POSTGAME NOTES
- Captains for the Gamecocks: senior DB T.J. Heath, senior OL Curt Porter, senior OL Tyler Olgetree and junior DT Jamison Wadley.
- Chattanooga won the coin toss and deferred to the second half.
- Heavy thunderstorms in the area delayed the game an hour and 26 minutes...Official start time was 7:26.
- Jax State has an overall record of 44-18-3 in home openers and are now 9-2 in home-openers under Jack Crowe.
- Tonight's attendance was 22,186, the largest crowd to witness a Gamecock home game.
- The Gamecocks moved to 2-0 on the season, the first time they have claimed the first two games of the season since 2004 (Emporia State, Chattanooga).
- JSU owns an impressive 235-93-8 overall mark at JSU Stadium since it opened in 1946...The university honored former Jax State coach Bill Burgess prior to kick off, naming the renovated facility's field Burgess-Snow Field.
- JSU has scored on seven of its last eight drives in the fourth quarter this season.
- The Gamecocks have out-scored its opponent 45-10 in the second half.
- Jax State has now claimed the last three games in the series against Chattanooga. The win was the 10th in the 35-year history between the two schools.
- Junior quarterback Marques Ivory's interception on the opening series snapped a streak of 60 straight passing attempts without an interception, dating back to the Georgia Tech game last season.
- Red shirt freshman defensive back Robert Gray recorded his first interception of his JSU career in the second quarter.
- The Gamecock defense has forced a turnover in each of thier first two games.
- Chattanooga's 26-yard touchsdown on a fumble return was the first since last season at Florida State.
- The Gamecocks were held scoreless in the opening half, marking the first time they have not scored in the first half since the Georgia Tech game during the 2008 season.
- Freshman punter Coty Blanchard punted three times for 117 yards (39.0 avg.) and drilled a season-best 51-yard punt that pinned UTC on its one-yard line.
- Blanchard scored JSU's first touchdown of the night at the 5:59 mark of the third quarter with a three-yard run, his first rushing TD of his career. The true freshman also added a passing touchdown to Jeffery Cameron.
- JSU's second touchdown accounted for 97 yards on 17 plays, the longest scoring drive of the season for Jax State.
- Freshman OLB James Powell turned in his first career forced fumble on a UTC kick off return. Junior WR James Shaw was credited with his first fumble recovery of his career on the play.
- Senior WR John Houston Whiddon finished with a career-high seven receptions. His previous high was three catches against Eastern Kentucky (10/11/08).
- Junior DB A.J. Davis and senior LB Antonio Bonner led the Gamecock defense with eight stops each....The eight tackles is a new career mark for Davis, while Bonner matched his career-high.

BY THE NUMBERS
0 - Points in the opening half from the Gamecocks, the first time JSU has been held scoreless in the first 30 minutes since the Georgia Tech Game of 2008.
4 - Turnovers commited by the Gamecocks, the most since Oct. 11, 2008 against Eastern Kentucky.
7 - Touchdowns in the final quarter on the season.
51 - Yard punt by Coty Blanchard, a new season-high for the multi-purpose freshman. Recorded a 49 yard punt at Ole Miss.
102 - Consecutive games in which the Gamecocks have scored, a streak that dates back to Nov.18, 2000, when they were last shut out.
339 - Average yards per game after two games.
22,186 - Attendance at the renovated Burgess-Snow Field/JSU Stadium, the largest crowd ever to watch a Gamecock home contest.