PDF Game Notes
FLORENCE, Ala. -- After seeing halftime leads disappear the last two weeks in disappointing losses, the University of North Alabama will try and rebound this Saturday on the road against a formidable opponent in 13th ranked Jacksonville State University.

The Lions and Gamecocks will kickoff at 6 p.m. at Burgess-Snow Field at JSU Stadium, renewing a rivalry that dates back to the first game in UNA's modern football history on September 29, 1949.

It will be North Alabama's second game against a nationally ranked opponent in three weeks, with the Lions falling at No. 23 Montana on Sept. 7. All-time, UNA is 0-4 against nationally ranked FCS teams but the Lions are 61-45-1 in 107 previous meetings wth ranked opponents on all levels over the last 27 seasons.

North Alabama enters this year's contest with a 1-2 record and is coming off a stinging 31-24 home loss to Alabama A&M. Jacksonville State came back from a 21-point deficit to claim a 49-45 win over No. 4 ranked Eastern Washington at home.      

UNA must figure out its second half slumps if the Lions are going to be successful. For the season, North Alabama has outscored its opponents 54-30 in the first half and has held the lead at intermission in all three games. The Lions have then been outscored 79-13 in the second half. In the last two weeks, North Alabama held halftime leads against Montana and Alabama A&M  but couldn't hold either. UNA led Montana 17-16 at the half before being outscored 45-0 in the second half. The Lions led Alabama A&M 18-0 at the half but were outscored 31-6 over the final two quarters.

"We're on a two-game skid and we've got to try and find a way out of it," UNA head coach Chris Willis said. "We can't help the way that our schedule falls and it looks like we are catching Jacksonville State as they have gotten into the groove. They are a really-talented football team that is picked to win the Ohio Valley Conference and they have an outstanding quarterback and a lot of other good football players. We can't ask them to take it easy on us. We've got go over there and play hard and compete and clean up the penalties that have hurt us the last two weeks."

This will be the first meeting between North Alabama and Jacksonville State in football with both schools as members of the FCS. JSU made the move to the FCS following the 1992 season, when the Gamecocks won the Division II National Championship. There were three meetings between the Lions and Gamecocks with UNA still in Division II and JSU in the FCS. UNA won the 2003 meeting 28-16. Jacksonville State won in double-overtime in 2013, 24-21, and the Gamecocks won 31-12 in 2016.  

The Gamecocks lead the all-time series 25-18-3 and are 10-1-1 in the last 12 meetings. UNA held a 17-15-2 advantage after a third straight win over JSU in 1985.

UNA's last win in the series came in 2003 with Mark Hudspeth as head coach. The Lions won that game 28-16 in Jacksonville and went on to a 13-1 season that ended with a loss in the semifinals of the Division II playoffs. JSU went on to win the Ohio Valley Conference Championship that season. Will Hall, now the offensive coordinator at Tulane, quarterbacked the Lions to the win.

A couple of bright spots for the Lions have been the play of senior running back Terence Humphrey of Huntsville and junior kicker/punter Joe Gurley of Killen, Ala. Hunmphrey has two 100-yard rushing games in the first three weeks of the season, with 102 against Western Illinois and 123 against Alabama A&M. Gurley, meanwhile, is a perfect seven-for-seven on field goal attempts in 2019, leads the team in scoring with 25 points and is averaging 45.3 yards per punt.

JSU is led by quarterback Zerrick Cooper whi was named the OVC Offensive Player of the Week for the second week in a row.  
Cooper led the Gamecocks to a dramatic, come-from-behind win over No. 4 Eastern Washington and accounted for 337 yards of total offense He threw for 249 yards and three scores, while sprinting for 88 yards and a rushing touchdown.