Tyler Huff throws for a TD and rushes for 2 more as Jacksonville State tops Middle Tennessee 42-20

JACKSONVILLE, Ala. (AP) — Tyler Huff threw for 137 yards and a touchdown, and he ran it 18 times for 151 yards and two more scores as Jacksonville State beat Middle Tennessee 42-20 on Wednesday night.

Jacksonville State (4-3, 3-0 Conference USA) has a four-game winning streak for the first time since 2020 when the team won seven in a row while at the FCS level.

Jacksonville State trailed 10-7 before marching 75 yards in 12 plays at the end of the first half to take the lead on Andrew Paul’s first rushing touchdown. The Gamecocks pulled away by scoring 21 points in the third quarter.

The Gamecocks only needed four plays on the first possession of the second half to score again on Huff’s 7-yard connection with Michael Pettway. Huff and Tre Stewart each added a short TD run later in the third to go ahead 35-13.

Paul also rushed for two TDs and gained 210 yards on 21 carries for Jacksonville State, which racked up 438 yards on the ground.

Middle Tennessee (2-6, 1-3) was led by Nicholas Vattiato’s 297 yards passing and two touchdowns. Omari Kelly and Holden Willis each had 100-plus yards receiving.

Jacksonville State has won the last three meetings in the series, with a 10-7 win in Jacksonville in 1998 and last year’s come-from-behind victory in Murfreesboro. MTSU was 13-0-2 in the first 15 meetings of the series that dates to 1927.

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