Another tough game for Jacksonville State left Rich Rodriguez and his team still hunting for their first win of the season.

Jax State fell to 0-2 on the season after a 49-14 loss at No. 22 Louisville on Saturday, with the Gamecocks scoring all 14 of their points in the second quarter of the contest.

Jax State will look to get its first win in Ypsilanti, Michigan, against Eastern Michigan on Saturday. Before that, here are five takeaways from Saturday’s loss to Louisville:

1. Has Jacksonville State found its QB1?

One of the few positives from Saturday is the Gamecocks’ play at quarterback.

Huff finished 17-for-27 with 160 passing yards, a touchdown pass to tight end Sean Brown and an interception. He also ran for 101 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries.

One of the highlights of the Furman transfer’s day came on a run that saw him truck a Louisville defender for a 21-yard game.

Rich Rodriguez said in his postgame press conference that he didn’t see a reason why Huff wouldn’t start next week against Eastern Michigan.

“I think Tyler Huff played his tail off,” Rodriguez said. “This guy was trying to run over people, he was competitive as all get out. I’m not sure, we blocked very well up front and I don’t think our running backs hit the hole very hard, but I think Tyler played his tail off.”

Huff backed up Logan Smothers last week against Coastal Carolina, going 7-for-14 with 173 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions last week against Coastal.

Rodriguez has been set on using a two-quarterback system with Huff and Smothers, but Huff definitely earned some respect for his performance against one of the top teams in the country.

2. What’s next for Jax State’s defense?

In its first two games, the Gamecocks have now allowed 104 points and 1,162 total yards.

For reference, last season’s Jax State team allowed 275 points, an average of 21 points per game, and the total yards margin through two games is around a quarter of what was allowed all season.

Along with losing multiple key players to Power Four programs, including defensive lineman Chris Hardie (Ole Miss), linebacker Larry Worth (Arkansas) and cornerback Kekoura Tarnue (West Virginia), this year’s defense is keyed by first-year defensive coordinator Luke Olson, former Tulsa defensive coordinator; last year’s DC, Zac Alley, is now in the same position at Oklahoma.

With the absence of starting noseguard Darrell Prater against Louisville, the Gamecocks allowed 233 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns. The 49 points is also the third-most a Rich Rod team has allowed at Jax State, behind only last week’s 55-27 loss to Coastal and 2022′s 54-17 loss to Tulsa.

3. Running backs will look to find their stride

Granted, Louisville’s defensive line has some potential NFL Draft picks, but the running back room could not get it going against the Cardinals.

Tyler Huff ran for 117 of the team’s 148 rushing yards in the loss, with the running back room totaling just 31 yards on 14 carries: an average of just over two yards per carry.

Against Coastal, the team’s running backs fared a little better, totaling 98 yards on 17 carries for an average of over 5.7 yards per carry; Limestone University transfer Tre Stewart led the pack with 62 yards, including a 38-yard carry.

It’s uncharacteristic for a Rich Rod group, but the running backs and offensive line have enough talent to get it figured out.

4. Jax State found a tackling machine in the portal

Despite a tough day on defense, one bright spot continued to shine for Jax State.

Georgia transfer Patrick Taylor once again led the Gamecocks with 12 tackles (six solo) in the loss at the safety position.

He was able to chase down Louisville’s leading receiver and Alabama transfer Ja’Corey Brooks early in the game, continuing to pile up the tackles.

Taylor now leads the Gamecocks with 24 total tackles on the season, five ahead of with his performance against the Cardinals matching his 12 tackles against Coastal Carolina last week.

His 24 total tackles is five ahead of Notre Dame safety transfer Antonio Carter, who has 19 on the season.

5. Unfamiliar territory

Jax State is 0-2 for the first time since 2009.

Those two losses were to Georgia Tech and Florida State during the Gamecocks’ days in the Ohio Valley Conference, when Marques Ivory started at quarterback; Jax State went on to go 8-1 the rest of the way under coach Jack Crowe.

This also marks the first time Rich Rodriguez has been 0-2 in his time coaching Division I football; this season marks his 19th as a head coach of a Division I program.

It’s not to say that this is an end-all be-all, but it certainly puts a new look on the rest of the team’s nonconference, schedule, which includes Eastern Michigan on the road next week and Southern Miss at home the following week.