When It Rains, It Pours: Jags scoreless in Jackson

The 64th annual Boombox Classic was held this year in Jackson, Mississippi at Veterans Memorial Stadium. The much-anticipated rivalry game had an amazing atmosphere as usual, but even better ESPN’s most famous pregame show College Gameday came to town. The game also had a little more meaning this time around because it is the last Boombox Classic to be held on either school campus for the next 2 years as it will be played in Birmingham, Alabama instead. Southern came into the game looking to knock off undefeated Jackson State, but they would play a complete game of football.
The Jags had an uphill battle already with the atrocious weather conditions with the wind and rain. The SU Dog Day defense came out the gates fired up stopping Jackson State on 4 and 1s on JSU’s first two possessions. However, the offense could not capitalize, which ended up being the theme of the game. SU would try to get on the board with field goals, but JSU’s top-rated defense would block sophomore kicker Joshua Griffin on his first attempt followed by a missed kick. After these blown opportunities, it appeared the Jags were in for a long day in Jackson.
One of the more notable things was the unnecessary penalties the Jags committed. The Jags’ defense gave a lot of yards to JSU on their scoring drives due to being offsides or having neutral zone infractions. Also, the Jags’ offensive line had many false starts. The team just seemed out of their comfort zone and could never get back on track. On the other hand, officiating seemed not to be fair on both sides. Anyone can point out the notable missed calls the refs did not make. This would eventually lead to head coach Eric Dooley’s explosion on the sideline before the weather delay.
No doubt the crowd is used to seeing a competitive ball game between the two football squads, but that was not the case. JSU offense did not have off-the-chart numbers but capitalized on SU errors and would take the life out of the Jags. The score would be 22-0 at halftime and the Tigers would add on in the second half to win 35-0. This makes the second time this season the Jags would be shut out completely against a SWAC opponent with the first being against Texas Southern.
The Jags would only finish with 221 yards of offense. Sophomore quarterback Besean McCray would go 9 for 26 with only 85 yards passing with an interception. He followed up with a statement “We got to capitalize on a short field, we didn’t get any points and that’s on me as the leader of the offense.” Coach Dooley shared his thoughts on the game by saying “Every time we had something going, something would break down and that’s on me.” A lot of accountabilities are being held. The Jags will now have to win out to have a chance to get to the championship, and due to the loss, it will be played back at Jackson. Southern will play FAMU next Saturday at 5 P.M.