Following an abysmal start to the year at 1-8, the Southern University football team traveled to “The Reservation” in Lorman, Mississippi to take on the Alcorn State Braves in a SWAC Conference matchup. This game meant much more than just a regular conference game, as it was the homecoming from Southern head coach Fred McNair. McNair previously served as the head coach at Alcorn from 2016-2023, where he managed to win four SWAC East conference titles as well as two SWAC Championships. He was looking to defeat the only team in the conference that he has never beaten.
The game gets underway, and the Southern Jaguars get out to a fast start. They struck first with the first points of the ballgame, a one-yard touchdown by star running back Trey Holly. After making the extra point, the Jaguars took a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter. The good fortune would continue for the Jags. This time it would be the defense’s turn to step up and make a play. It would be linebacker Jamarlo Campbell who would make the interception for the defense, giving the ball back to the offense. This momentus play however did not lead to any points for the Jags, as they would go 3 and out and would quickly be forced to punt the ball away. This would mark the end of the first quarter, with SU leading the Braves 7-0. “That first possession was Southern football,” McNair said. “We executed, we controlled the line, and we played with purpose. The challenge is doing that consistently.”
The 2nd quarter began, and soon after Alcorn State scored their first points of the ballgame. This came in a bizarre way, as their running back Reggie Davis fumbled the ball on the goal line; however, it was recovered by one of their offensive linemen in the end zone for a Brave touchdown. This tied up the ball game 7-7. Alcorn would get the ball back again after a Southern punt, and a costly penalty by the Jaguars secondary would ultimately lead to another Alcorn touchdown. This time it would be Jarvis Rush, rushing in for the score from 4 yards out. This gave Alcorn a 14-7 lead with just under two minutes left to go in the half. The Southern University offense responded by driving down the field in a two minute drill. They got in the field goal range of their kicker, Nathan Zimmer, who would go on to knock down a 42-yard field goal as time expired for the half. This brought score going into halftime to 14-10. Definitely not a great first half by Southern University as a whole, but with the field goal going into the half, it gave the Jaguars some momentum and hope going into the locker room.
After a stellar halftime performance from both bands, the second half began. After a three and out from the Jaguar offense coming out of the half, the defense would go out and force a 3 and out of their own. Or so they thought, as this would lead to a muffed punt from punt returner Jason Gabriel, who coughed up the football and gave it back to the home team. This sudden change in momentum as well as the short field position would lead to an Alcorn touchdown. After this touchdown, things began to go downhill for the visiting team. More muffed punts, fumbles and overall just costly mistakes from the Jaguars led them to their 8th straight loss of the season. The final score was 35-17.
