Jacksonville State football falls to Louisville, but Tyler Huff takes control of QB battle

Jacksonville State football's season fell to 0-2 with a big loss to Louisville but might have found its starting quarterback going forward.

The Gamecocks (0-2) fell 49-14 to the Cardinals (2-0) on Saturday at L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium in Louisville, Ky. It is the first 0-2 start for Jax State since 2009.

The Gamecocks started Tyler Huff at quarterback and let him play the full first half, and he took full advantage of the opportunity, leading two scoring drives and a much better all-around day for the offense, even if it didn't appear quite that way on scoreboard. For the day, he was 17 of 27 for 160 yards with a touchdown and interception. He also ran 18 times for 101 yards and a touchdown with some key runs on third down to extend drives.

Tyler Huff takes advantage of start for Jacksonville State football

A week after he found success in the second half against Coastal Carolina, Huff was rewarded with the start against the Cardinals. He had an up-and-down first few drives with an interception before responding with a touchdown drive where he found success through the air. On that drive, he went 7 of 8 and accounted for 56 yards and the score.

It was a performance that was needed by a Jax State quarterback to take the reins of the position battle. The offense struggled more in the second half, though.

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Gamecocks defense struggles, and injuries mount

The Gamecocks have struggled with their run defense over the first two games of the season. Louisville scored via the ground on three of its first four drives, running for 104 yards in that stretch, too. The Cardinals started to find success in the passing game during the second half as Tyler Shough found his deep ball.

The Gamecocks' defense is now starting to get hit with injuries as Darrell Prater missed the game and Shane Payton Hughes left the game due to injuries. J-Rock Swain went down with a lower-body injury in the fourth quarter but came back with a TFL a few plays later.

Found QB run game and Sean Brown more on offense

Coming out of the loss to Coastal the offense needed to find its a rhythm against Louisville. Two things that were keys last year needed to come back — the quarterback run game and finding Sean Brown, who went targetless in the first game. The first touchdown went to Brown, and then Huff had 26 yards on the ground, including a strong 19-yard run to convert a third and long to extend that scoring drive.

Jacksonville State's next game

The Gamecocks will once again travel north, facing Eastern Michigan at 6 p.m. on ESPN+ on Saturday.

This article originally appeared on The Gadsden Times: Jacksonville State football falls to Louisville, but Tyler Huff takes control of QB battle