At Conference USA Media Days, Jacksonville State head coach Rich Rodriguez is clearly excited about his Gamecock’s second season of Conference USA football.
While there has been much said about Rodriguez, what can be expected from Jacksonville State football in 2024?
“Watch Jax State” Rich Rodriguez Issues Warning for 2024
The former West Virginia, Michigan, and Arizona coach Rodriguez is one of the architects of the spread offense and has never shied away from the spotlight. One thing is clear as well: He’s been a perennial winner.
Rodriguez boasts an 181-125-2 overall record as a head coach and has earned conference coach of the year honors five times across three different leagues. As he enters the 2024 season, he ranks eighth among active FBS head coaches in career wins and 11th among all active Division I head coaches.
Essentially, when Rodriguez talks, we listen.
The Jacksonville State Gamecocks enjoyed an impressive first season under head coach Rodriguez at the FBS level, finishing 9-4. The Gamecocks were propelled by a dominant run game, which averaged over 225 yards per game and notched more than 30 rushing touchdowns in 2023.
The defense was surprisingly dominant at times as well.
They finished 2023 atop the conference in points allowed per game and second in total yards allowed per game. All of this culminated with a third-place finish in the Conference USA a season ago.
Addressing the media at CUSA Media Days, Rodriguez didn’t waste any time setting the bar for what people can expect from Jacksonville State football in 2024: Entertainment.
“You want to be entertained? Watch Jax State,” Rodriguez said to a room full of reporters at the CUSA Media Days in Frisco, Texas. b”Jax State football is must-watch TV, one way or another.”
Rodriguez is typically known for leading high-flying spread offensive attacks, but as much as any part of the team, the defense was must-watch TV in 2023.
The Gamecocks boasted one of the nation’s top pass rushes and excelled at stopping opponents on third down. Their formula for success was clear: they went 7-0 when allowing fewer than 365 yards but struggled to a troublesome 2-4 record when giving up more than 365 yards of total offense.
J-Rock Swain returns as a formidable edge rusher, poised to create problems for opposing offenses again, but will be without the help of two main contributors from the stingy 2024 defensive front.
Standout pass rushers Chris Hardie (Ole Miss) and Kamari Stephens (Arkansas State) were both lost in the transfer portal, leaving some big holes to fill.
Who Will Start at QB in 2024 for the Gamecocks?
While everyone loves watching an excellent defensive unit, when you think of excitement and college football, you immediately think of a big-play offense. And when you think of Rich Rod, you think of the spread offense.
The running attack led Jacksonville State in 2023, as they finished second in CUSA in rushing yards but dead last in the basement of the CUSA in passing yards.
At the 2024 CUSA Media Days, Rodriguez talked about his plethora of options at the quarterback position in 2024.
The Gamecocks will look to build on their 9-4 record and third-place finish in Conference USA last year without Zion Webb, their three-year starter who has graduated. Logan Smothers, a Nebraska transfer who shared time with Webb last season, returns to the Gamecocks in 2024 and has a real chance to grab the starting job in the season opener on August 29 against Coastal Carolina.
Joining Smothers in the quarterback battler is Zion Turner, who transferred from UConn after starting in 2022 and redshirting last season, and Tyler Huff, the 2023 Southern Conference Offensive Player of the Year from Furman.
“A lot of people asked why you’ve got eight quarterbacks, and it’s because you’ve got to find two or three that can play,” Rodriguez said. “And we do have some great competition. Logan Smothers is a veteran who played last year in his first year with us. And then we brought in Tyler Huff from Furman that I think is really good and sound.”
Rodriguez continued to describe his options at the quarterback position in 2024. “Turner transferred from Connecticut, and I think he’s pretty good. Those are the three upperclassmen, the older guys. But we still have Caden Creel who’s a young guy who redshirted last year. We’ve got Te’Sean Smoot as a young guy in the program.”
Rodriguez didn’t mention he was planning on using a QB-by-committee approach, but he did say he’s not afraid to play multiple quarterbacks if it helps the Gamecocks win football games.
“I wouldn’t hesitate if I have three that are good enough to win with; I’ll play three in a game,” Rodrigeuz said.
“If I have four, I’ll play four in a game. So, I’m a little bit unconventional in my thinking. Why do you just got to play one guy? We’ll play them all. And so those three upperclassmen—I’m really excited because the competition is going to make them all better. And all three of them, I think, are good enough to help us win.”
With eight quarterbacks in the mix to earn some playing time and three upperclassmen with a chance to start week one, the next few weeks at Jacksonville State are guaranteed to be, for lack of a better word, exciting.
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