On the game’s final play, Jacksonville State kicker Alen Karajic slipped and fell to the turf at Burgess-Snow Field. But it didn’t matter. The junior had put enough leg on his 41-yard field goal give the Gamecocks the 20-17 come-from-behind victory against Western Kentucky on Tuesday night.

The win would have made Jacksonville State bowl eligible had it not been for their newness to FBS. The Gamecocks (6-2, 4-1 C-USA) are still in the transition phase and are disallowed from bowl competition unless there are too few bowl-eligible teams at the end of the regular season. At that point, the Gamecocks could be considered.

“Our defensive coaches do a great job at halftime every game of making adjustments,” Jacksonville State coach Rich Rodriguez said on the post-game television interview. “… our defensive guys played hard against, like you said, one of the best quarterbacks and some of the best skill people certainly in our league.

“That was the key in the second half. They just kept us in there until the offense finally got going.”

Jacksonville State trailed by 10 points twice. Once in the first quarter, 10-0, and again as Western Kentucky scored what would be its last touchdown with 8:36 left in the first half.

Jacksonville State answered that touchdown as Karajic made his first field, a 23-yarder, with 5:35 left in the half to pull the Gamecocks to within seven, 17-10.

That’s where the score remained until Anwar Lewis broke a 26-yard touchdown run with 4:40 to tie it at 17. Lewis finished with 85 yards, just four less than the entire Hilltopper team, but it was quarterback Zion Webb, who returned from a concussion, who was the offensive star.

Webb rushed for 146 yards on 28 carries and a touchdown and threw for another 218 yards on 22-for-39 passing.

Just before Lewis’ game-tying touchdown, Webb had left the game after a punishing blow knocked his helmet off. Backup Logan Smothers completed one pass before came back only to hand the spotlight to his tailback.

Lewis broke it up the gut for what proved to be his longest run of the night and the season.

The comeback was nothing new for Jacksonville State. It was the second time this season and third time in four weeks.

Against Middle Tennessee State, JSU scored 38 second-half points to earn a 45-30 win.

Against Sam Houston State, JSU trailed by 14 at the half before rallying with a touchdown with 13 seconds left to force overtime and then win on a touchdown pass from Smothers to Sean Brown for 24 yards.

Jacksonville State dominated statistically on Tuesday night.

The Gamecocks tallied 27 first down to WKU’s 16 and outgained the Hilltoppers 484-339. The advantage came as JSU limited Western Kentucky to 89 yards on 24 carries.

Jacksonville State returns to action in next week for another midweek game as it travels to Miami to take on Florida International at 6 p.m. on Oct. 25 (Wednesday). The game will be broadcast on CBSSN.