Western Kentucky looks for back-to-back wins over Jacksonville State as the teams square off for the C-USA title on Friday.
Western Kentucky (8-4) punched its ticket to the Conference USA championship game by knocking off Jacksonville State (8-4) at home on Saturday. The same two teams get together again on Friday night, this time at AmFirst Stadium in Jacksonville, Alabama, with the C-USA championship on the line. With its win last week, the Hilltoppers got to 6-2 in conference play and won a head-to-head tiebreaker with Sam Houston for the spot in the championship game. The Gamecocks had an eight-game winning streak snapped at Western Kentucky and finished 7-1 in C-USA play.
How to Watch C-USA Championship, Western Kentucky at Jacksonville State, in College Football Today:
Game Date: Friday, Dec. 6, 2024
Game Time: 7 p.m. ET
TV: CBSSN
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Lucas Carneiro banged home a 50-yard field goal with three seconds left on Saturday to lift the Hilltoppers to a 19-17 victory over Jacksonville State. Carneiro hit all four of his attempts, including another 50-yarder in the second quarter. Caden Veltkamp was 28-of-47 for 301 yards and a touchdown through the air, Elijah Young ran for 91 yards on 19 carries and also made seven catches for 78 yards and WKU’s lone touchdown.
The Gamecocks took the lead with 9:44 remaining on a 17-yard run from Logan Smothers but managed to burn just four minutes off the clock before punting on their final two drives. Smothers replaced an injured Tyler Huff at quarterback and ran for 32 yards on five carries while hitting 4-of-6 passes for 62 yards. Huff piled up 97 yards on 13 carries before her was hurt and Tre Stewart ran for 85 yards on 20 carries and a touchdown.
Western Kentucky is 5-2 all-time against Jacksonville State and won the C-USA championship game in 2015 and 2016. This is the first appearance in the championship tilt for the Gamecocks. Huff threw for 2003 yards and 11 touchdowns while also running for 1,176 yards and 13 scores and will be a game-time decision on Friday. Stewart leads the Jax State ground game with 1,403 yards and 20 touchdowns.
Veltkamp finished the regular season with 2,665 yards and 22 touchdown passes while Young rushed for a team-best 738 yards. Kisean Johnson is the top receiving threat with 65 receptions, 830 yards and six TDs.
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