Jacksonville State's Rich Rodriguez accuses Stephen F. Austin of spying on practices ahead of match-up: 'We're making plans accordingly'

Zac Al-Khateeb

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Jacksonville State's Rich Rodriguez accuses Stephen F. Austin of spying on practices ahead of match-up: 'We're making plans accordingly' image

There's nothing like a little early-season espionage between FCS programs to kick off the 2022 college football season.

First-year Jacksonville State coach Rich Rodriguez on Tuesday accused the Gamecocks' Week 1 opponent, Stephen F. Austin, of spying on their practices. Rodriguez said the school first noticed the Lumberjack contingent watching their spring game in April.

As if that wasn't bad enough, Rodriguez said Jacksonville State found another spy peering in on the team's practice ahead of the Week 0 matchup, which takes place in Montgomery, Ala.:

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Rodriguez claimed the team had plans in place to keep the Lumberjacks from knowing its playbook. He also relayed an amusing anecdote in which he sent one of the team's assistant strength coaches to dispatch the intruder:

“I sent the biggest guy in the program, one of our assistant strength coaches. He’s about like 6-7, 350 (pounds), probably benches like a thousand pounds or something," Rodriguez said. "Sent him up the bleachers to run him out, and that guy disappeared pretty quick.”

It's uncertain whether Stephen F. Austin actually attempted to spy on Jacksonville State, even if Rodriguez believes it did. It's worth noting that the Lumberjacks went 8-4 and finished second in the WAC in 2021. However, they suffered a 28-24 loss to the Gamecocks in the WAC-ASUN challenge — their last loss of the regular season.

So it makes sense that SFA, headed by fourth-year coach Colby Carthel, would try to avoid a similar outcome in 2022. And you know what they say about cheating:

If you aren't cheating, you aren't trying.

Zac Al-Khateeb

Zac Al-Khateeb Photo

Zac Al-Khateeb has been part of The Sporting News team since 2015 after earning his Bachelor's (2013) and Master's (2014) degrees in journalism at the University of Alabama. Prior to joining TSN, he covered high school sports and general news in Alabama. A college sports specialist, Zac has been a voter for the Biletnikoff Award and Heisman Trophy since 2020.