A new era for Jacksonville State football begins on Saturday, as the Gamecocks host UTEP in their first game as an FBS program.

Kickoff is set for 4:30 p.m. at Burgess-Snow Field, with live television coverage on CBS Sports Network. The Gamecocks are the only in-state FBS team in action this week, which is commonly referred to as “Week Zero” of the college football season.

“Every coach would tell you, you’re not really sure what you have until you play a game or two,” head coach Rich Rodriguez said. “And I’m the same way. We’ve moved up a level, so the competition is certainly hiked up quite a bit. But our guys have worked hard. It’s where it’s time for us to see where we’re stand and what we got to build on. It’s been a good camp, and it’s been a lot of fun working with the coaching staff and the players to get them to this point. Now it’s time to see what we’ve got.”

Rodriguez, the former head coach at Arizona, Michigan and West Virginia, enters his second season at Jacksonville State. The Gamecocks went 9-2 as a member of the ASUN Conference in 2022, but move up to the sport’s highest level as part of a reconfigured Conference USA.

Gone from CUSA are UAB, Rice, North Texas, Florida Atlantic, Charlotte and Texas-San Antonio, all of whom are now members of the American Athletic Conference. Jax State moves into the conference, along with Liberty, New Mexico State and fellow former FCS member Sam Houston, joining UTEP, Western Kentucky, Middle Tennessee, Florida International and Louisiana Tech to form a 9-team league.

As with a year ago in the ASUN, the Gamecocks are not eligible for the CUSA championship in 2023 as part of their two-year transition to the FBS level, and cannot play in a bowl game unless there are not enough 6-win teams. Rodriguez is taking the long view, however, that his program is a work-in-progress along with several ongoing projects on the Jax State campus.

“We use the phrase, we’re ‘under construction,’” Rodriguez said. “We’re building a brand new football facility; that’s underway already. We’ve got a lot of exciting things happen. Moving up to Conference USA. We know it’s a great league and great competition. But there’s a lot of construction going on at Jax State now, not just the football facility, but a new dining facility, a new dorm facility. So there’s a lot of neat stuff happening.”

Jax State played on Week Zero in 2022 as part of the FCS Kickoff event, beating Stephen F. Austin 42-17 at Montgomery’s Cramton Bowl. Because of non-conference games already scheduled before their move to Conference USA, the Gamecocks were granted an NCAA waiver to schedule a conference game vs. UTEP on the final Saturday of August this year.

UTEP went 5-7 a year ago, missing out on a bowl game after losing 34-31 to eventual conference champion UTSA on the season’s final weekend. The Miners are coached by Dana Dimel, a former Kansas State assistant whose defensive-led team makes for an interesting matchup vs. Rodriguez’s vaunted spread option attack.

“I think you’d rather just have a non-conference game (for the opener) and you just make some adjustments,” Rodriguez said. “And not only is it a conference game, I think it’s one of the best teams in our conference with the No. 1 defense coming back with a lot of the same guys. So it’s a veteran team and going to get tested and see where you’re at right away. Either way, you’re going to have to play them. So let’s see what happens.”

Though Zion Webb returns for a seventh year of college football this season, Rodriguez has not tipped his hand as to who will start at quarterback for Jax State on Saturday. Webb — a Phenix City native who passed for 1,737 yards and 10 touchdowns and rushed for 647 yards and 13 scores a year ago — is listed alongside Nebraska transfer Logan Smothers on the Gamecocks’ Week 1 depth chart.

Te’Sean Smoot, a redshirt freshman from Springfield, Ohio, could also play some, Rodriguez said. Jax State returns a veteran offense led by receiver Sterling Galban, tight end Sean Brown and offensive linemen Clay Webb and Treylon Brown.

Defensively, Jax State should be solid, particularly in the front seven. Leading the way are edge rusher Jaylen Swain, defensive lineman Chris Hardie and linebacker Kolbi Fuqua (a former Auburn transfer) and safety Jeremiah Harris.

“It’s cool that we get to make history,” said Treylon Brown, the Gamecocks’ starting center. “We get to be the first team that is taking that next step for Jax State, and it’s great to be senior and a part of that team.”

Jax State was a long-time power at both the Division II and FCS levels, winning 25 conference championships and appearing five times in the national championship game over the years. The Gamecocks won the D2 title in 1992 and played for the FCS crown in 2015.