Jacksonville State’s mid-week gauntlet begins on Thursday night with a visit to fellow FBS and Conference USA newcomer Sam Houston.

The trip to Huntsville, Texas, is the first of five straight on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday for Jax State as part of the conference’s new broadcast deal with ESPN and CBS Sports Network. The Gamecocks (3-1, 1-0 CUSA) have had to make a quick turnaround after blanking Eastern Michigan 21-0 in non-conference action last Saturday.

“It’s going to be interesting and a different dynamic,” Jax State coach Rich Rodriguez said. “… We’ll have a shorter practice today and a shorter practice tomorrow and then we’ll travel on Wednesday, so your preparation is accelerated. You have to probably simplify things a little bit in all three phases and then you lose one day because you’re traveling on the road on Wednesday.”

Jax State has made the transition to FBS football rather smoothly, including a 17-14 victory over UTEP in their CUSA opener back on Aug. 26. The Gamecocks’ lone loss came 30-16 at Coastal Carolina three weeks ago.

It’s been a rougher go thus far for 0-3 Sam Houston, which has been outscored 65-10 in losses to BYU, Air Force and Houston. Like the Gamecocks, coach K.C. Keller’s Bearkats were a regular presence in the FCS playoffs over the years, including a national championship in the 2021 spring season.

“Sam Houston is extremely underrated,” Rodriguez said. “They’re very good defensively, they played a really good Houston team last weekend. I think they’re finding their way on offense and Coach Keller has had great success. I think when we played them a couple of years ago and they killed us, so at least our guys that were on the team then know what kind of program they have.”

The Gamecocks’ performance against Eastern Michigan was nearly perfect from a defensive standpoint. Jax State held the Eagles to just 152 total yards and 1-for-15 on third down while recording 13 tackles for loss, six sacks and three interceptions.

Defensive end Chris Hardie was named Conference USA Defensive Player of the Week on Monday after recording five tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks and a pass breakup vs. EMU. However, any number of JSU players could have won the award after a dominant team-wide performance.

“It’s kind of the norm to me because during fall camp, we get to the ball and our main goal is to make plays,” linebacker Laletia Hale said. “When the plays come, everybody is trying to eat and get those plays, so you have get it when it comes.”

Jax State made a quarterback switch last week, with Nebraska transfer Logan Smothers playing every offensive snap after Zion Webb started two of the first three games under center. (Smothers also started in Game 2 vs. East Tennessee State, but Webb missed most of that week’s practices due to illness.)

In his first game as the Gamecocks’ QB1, Smothers ran for 118 yards (including a 41-yard touchdown) and passed for 95 (including a 16-yard score). Though he has not officially declared Smothers the starter, Rodriguez said the Muscle Shoals native “played pretty well,” especially considered what quarterbacks are asked to do in JSU’s spread option scheme.

“A lot of quarterbacks, their decisions in the run game are just ‘hand it off,’” Rodriguez said. “Their decision-making is based on the pass game. Our quarterbacks’ decision-making is (on) almost all runs and all passes. So instead of making 40 decisions a game or 35 decisions a games, our guys are making 70 decisions a game at quarterback. So mentally, there’s a lot more on him from his decision standpoint than a typical offense. But that’s part of what we do.”

After the Sam Houston game, Jax State plays at Middle Tennessee on a Wednesday (Oct. 4), then at home on back-to-back Tuesdays — vs. Liberty on Oct. 10 and Middle Tennessee on Oct. 17. After that is a Wednesday (Oct. 25) game at Florida International before the Gamecocks’ next Saturday game, at South Carolina on Nov. 4.

Kickoff for Thursday’s Jax State-Sam Houston game is set for 7 p.m. at Elliott T. Bowers Stadium in Huntsville, Texas. The game will be televised live by ESPNU.

• In addition to Hardie, Jax State punter Jack Dawson was also honored by Conference USA on Monday as the league’s Special Teams Player of the Week.

Dawson, a junior from Sylvania Waters, Australia, averaged 41 yards on five punts. He dropped two of his punt inside the 20-yard line, and also picked up a low snap and ran 12 yards for a first down.