The Jacksonville State Gamecocks football program is the intercollegiate American football team for Jacksonville State University (JSU) located in the U.S. state of Alabama. The team competes in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) as a member of the Conference USA. Jacksonville State's first football team was fielded in 1904. The team plays its home games at the 24,000-seat Burgess–Snow Field at AmFirst Stadium in Jacksonville, Alabama. On November 5, 2021, the school accepted an invitation to join Conference USA (C-USA) of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) beginning with the 2023 season.

History

Jacksonville State University's first football team, the Eagle Owls, was formed in the late 19th century. During the first half century of play, Troy University and Samford University became their rivals. Before the start of the 1947 season, not only did the team change their colors from blue and gold to red and white but the mascot changed to the Fighting Gamecocks. Jacksonville State joined the NCAA in 1973, and played at the NCAA Division II level from 1973 to 1994. In 1995, the team moved up to the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) and competed in the Southland Conference from 1996 to 2002 before moving to the Ohio Valley Conference from 2003 to 2020. Jacksonville State University planned to leave the Ohio Valley Conference for the ASUN Conference in July 2021, with the team temporarily competing in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC)'s "ASUN–WAC Challenge" partnership league. However, a few months later on November 5, 2021, the school accepted an invitation to join FBS Conference USA (C-USA) beginning with the 2023 season.

Classifications

Conference affiliations

Championships

National championships

Jacksonville State has made four appearances in the NCAA Division II National Championship Game. The Gamecocks were defeated in their first three championship game appearances, losing 33–0 to Lehigh in 1977, 3–0 to Mississippi College in 1989 (later vacated), and 23–6 to Pittsburg State in 1991. The next year, the Gamecocks defeated Pittsburg State 17–13 in 1992, reversing the results in a rematch of their 1991 championship game.

Conference championships

Jacksonville State has won 25 conference championships, 18 outright and four shared. † Co-championship

Bowl games

Jacksonville State has participated in nine bowl games, and has a record of 7–2. However, most of them are not Division I bowl games. Consequently, after joining Division I FBS, they participated in one bowl game, and has a record of 1–0. † non-Division I bowl game

Playoff history

Division I-AA/FCS Playoffs results

The Gamecocks have appeared in the I-AA/FCS playoffs ten times with an overall record of 7–10.

Division II Playoffs results

The Gamecocks have appeared in the Division II playoffs ten times with an overall record of 15–9. They were National Champions in 1992.

Rivalries

Samford

This unnamed rivalry started in 1904 back when Jacksonville wore blue and gold as the Eagle Owls and Samford University was still named Howard College. Jacksonville State leads the series 23–21–2.

Troy

Jacksonville State used to play Troy in the annual Battle for the Ol' School Bell. The schools first played in 1924 and was one of the fiercest rivalries for both schools. The game hasn't been played since 2001 after Troy moved up to the FBS. Jacksonville State leads the series 32–29–2.

Notable former players

Notable alumni include:

Future non-conference opponents

Future non-conference opponents announced as of July 22, 2024.