SU completes ’09 slate; mulls moving JSU game

In these tough economic times money is an issue driving many decisions.
In the past year the auto industry in Detroit has plummeted. The stock market has crashed.
And many workers around the world are without jobs.
Those same economic pitfalls have trickled down to state institutions such as Southern. These issues have also prompted the schools administration to come up with more cost effective ways of generating capital.
The newest idea up for debate may be SU returning to Jackson, Miss., to take on rival Jackson State in 2009, a move that would strip the Jaguars of a sixth home game in return for a potentially bigger pay day than what the team would make playing at A. W. Mumford Stadium.
But SU athletic director Greg LaFleur made it clear an official agreement between the two schools has not been reached, although he confirmed there have been talks between SU and officials from the city of Jackson.
He also made it clear SU could still host the game in A. W. Mumford next season.
“This isn’t something we are looking at doing permanently,” said LaFleur. “We just want to take advantage of an opportunity.”
If the deal is reached, it could send SU up Interstate 55 to play JSU for three straight years. The teams are scheduled to play in Jackson in 2010, and the Jaguars defeated the Tigers 35-28 at Veterans Memorial Stadium last season.
“Our stadium with the completion of the new end zone holds about 25 thousand seats,” LaFleur said. “The stadium at Jackson holds 65 thousand. Both years I’ve been to Jackson, there were over 40 thousand people at the game.”
This may be a clever idea after it’s all said and done.
In 52 seasons, SU has played JSU outside of opposing schools’ stadiums only four times. According to the College Football Data Warehouse’s Web site, the first was SU’s 17-7 win over JSU in 1961 in Mobile, Ala. Then, SU defeated JSU 31-30 1999 in Birmingham, Ala., in the first Southwestern Athletic Conference Championship Game. SU then established the Big Easy Classic and moved its home games in 2002 and ’04 to the Superdome.
“It puts us at a disadvantage by giving Jackson State another home game but at the same time we can’t come close to what we could make playing here in Baton Rouge as we could make playing in Jackson,” LaFleur said.
Erin Braxton, a senior mass communication major from Columbia, Md., disagreed with LaFleur.
“I think we shouldn’t play Jackson State in their stadium because it takes away a home game from kids that live on campus,” Braxton said. “What about the freshmen who don’t have cars or don’t want to take a bus to Jackson?”
Like any decision there are pros and cons.
The cons?
“You don’t know how many fans will turn up at the game,” said Morgan State athletic director Floyd Kerr, who was Southern’s athletic director at the time of the New Orleans games. “Traditionally, it’s a well-attended game but even when we played in New Orleans, the attendance the second year wasn’t the same as the first.”
If not Jackson, what about a neutral site?
“To take the game to Shreveport for example wouldn’t be a good idea,” Kerr said.
Kerr said the games against Jackson State in the Dome were an extension of the first two Big Easy Classic games the Jaguars played against Tulane in 2001 and 2002. Southern opted to bring in JSU because of the fans the schools brought, and complaints about Mumford’s inability to accommodate large crowds.
“The complaint was our stadium wasn’t big enough, so we decided to move it over to New Orleans,” he said. “We ended up drawing a good crowd the first year (2002) and made some money. That’s why we ended up going back there in 2004.”
What caused the deal with SU playing JSU at the Superdome to bottom out?
“To be honest it was administration,” Kerr said. “We thought we had something going. We had the complete package and were scheduled to expand it the next time and had a national television audience.
“But administration didn’t want to do it, so we stopped doing it.”
On SU’s official 2009 football schedule released on Wednesday, along with JSU, there were four more games without a set kickoff time.
“It’s just the time of the day,” LaFleur said. “With those games being SWAC games, we have to play those games. A time will be set soon.”
Attempts by The DIGEST to reach SU head coach Pete Richardson and SU Board of Supervisors Chairman Tony Clayton were unsuccessful at press time. Attempts to reach Jackson State athletic director Robert Braddy for comment were also unsuccessful.
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