Western Kentucky was already going to be a tough enough opponent for Jacksonville State, but the Gamecocks’ uncertainty at quarterback makes facing the Hilltoppers potentially even more daunting.

Jax State (5-2 overall, 3-1 Conference USA) hosts WKU (4-2, 2-0) on Tuesday night at Burgess-Snow Stadium, the second straight first-place team to visit Calhoun County. Unbeaten Liberty came to Jacksonville last Tuesday, and walked away with a 31-13 victory.

It was in that game that JSU’s season-long quarterback rotation came unraveled, as starter Zion Webb left early in the first quarter with a concussion and replacement Logan Smothers went the next two or so quarters before exiting due to nagging injuries of his own. Redshirt freshman Ashton Frye finished up in his first collegiate action, completing 5 of 11 passes for 51 yards and running for 23 yards on seven carries but leading the Gamecocks to only three points.

Jax State coach Rich Rodriguez wasn’t tipping his hand as to what the plan under center will be Tuesday. He noted that perhaps even redshirt freshman Te’Sean Smoot — who did not play vs. Liberty but has seen action in two other games this season — could also take some snaps vs. the Hilltoppers.

“I thought for his first time in there, I thought he was pretty composed,” Rodriguez said of Frye. “… You lose one quarterback early and then you lose another one and then next thing you know, Ashton is in there. So I don’t know where we’re at right now. We’ll see if Zion and Logan — they’re both banged up, but we’ll give Ashton a lot of reps. We’ll get Smoot a lot of reps and we’ll see what happens.”

Western Kentucky has no such quarterback problems, as Austin Reed is among the top passers at the Group of 5 level if not in all of college football. He’s thrown for 1,665 yards and 14 touchdowns with just three interceptions this season, and has passed for nearly 14,000 yards and more than 130 scores in a career that also included a two-year stint at Division II West Florida.

The Hilltoppers also feature one of the most dangerous receivers in the conference in Malachi Corley, who has 37 receptions for 538 yards and five touchdowns in just five games this season. He torched Louisiana Tech for 207 yards and three touchdowns on eight receptions last time out.

“It’s exciting; you always want to play against the best,” Jax State safety Jeremiah Harris said. “Playing against the best to bring the best out of you. So it’s a good feeling to go out to play one of the best quarterbacks in the nation for real, because he’s a great quarterback and also the receiver, he’s a great wideout, and they have chances to play on the next level in the NFL. So it’s a great feeling to go out to play against those guys.”

Tuesday marks the fourth of five straight midweek games for JSU, which also plays at Florida International on Wednesday, Oct. 25. The Gamecocks will then finish up their first season of FBS competition with three straight Saturday games: at South Carolina Nov. 4, home for Louisiana Tech Nov. 18 and at New Mexico State Nov. 25.

Despite it being on a Tuesday night and available to watch on TV, the Jax State-Liberty game drew a crowd of 21,745 to 24,000-seat Burgess-Snow Stadium. Rodriguez said he is hoping for a similar turnout vs. Western Kentucky.

“It was set up for a really neat atmosphere,” Rodriguez said. “I thought we had a good turnout with the students, a good turnout with the crowd. Because it’s a midweek so you never know — people are working, they have to drive to get here, the game’s later so you’re going to get home later. So I didn’t know how it was going to turn out, but I thought our crowd was pretty good. From what I’ve seen in other midweek games and other teams, I think our crowd was one of the better ones.”

Kickoff Tuesday for Jax State-Western Kentucky is set for 6:30 p.m. ESPNU will broadcast the game live.