Jacksonville State was the first Eastern opponent to rush for over 200 yards in the Gamecock’s 31-21 victory over the Panthers.

Jacksonville rushed for a total of 275 yards while Eastern turned in their second lowest rushing total of the season with just 62 yards on the ground. Gamecock running back Oscar Bonds racked up 111 yards on the ground.

“They had some punishing running backs that were powerful and ran hard,” Eastern head coach Bob Spoo said.

Panther running backs Vincent Webb and Ademola Adeniji split the duties in the Eastern backfield and rushed for 36 and 28 yards respectively. Jacksonville averaged 4.2 yards per carry, but Eastern could only muster 2.6 yards per carry.

“They were able to ground us out and not give us as many opportunities as we would have liked,” Eastern head coach Bob Spoo said. “Going into the game I knew we couldn’t stop (their rushing game), but I wanted to cut their production in half.”

The Gamecocks’ ability to run the ball effectively allowed them to control the pace of the game and keep the Eastern offense off the field. Jacksonville State ruled the time of possession, holding the ball for 37 minutes, while the Panthers had the ball for just 23 minutes. Jacksonville also ran 88 plays on offense to Eastern’s 62 plays.

“(The time of possession) is where all the frustration comes from, knowing we didn’t have enough opportunities,” Spoo said. “We had some shots at the end zone early but didn’t convert. We were passing the ball well, but we dropped a couple of balls we should have caught.”

What the Panthers lacked in rushing offense they made up with through the air against the conference’s worst rushing defense.

Eastern quarterback Matt Schabert was 27-36 passing with 253 yards and three touchdowns in the game and connected with 12 different receivers on the day.

Eastern wide receiver Brandon Robinson scored his first touchdown of the season and had four catches for 45 yards. Stand out receiver Ryan Voss had three catches for 48 yards and a 38-yard touchdown catch that he hauled in after bobbling and then split Jacksonville defenders to hit pay dirt.