George comes up with big plays last game at Mumford

Brains, brawn, determination, big play ability. Will to win. That’s why Southern free safety Jarmaul George is an All-American.
Saturday in his last game in A.W. Mumford Stadium the senior came up with a huge tipped pass preventing a go ahead touchdown by Alcorn’s Emmanuel Arceneaux to preserve the Jaguars 14-10 victory on a crucial fourth and six play.
“Jarmaul is a great football player,” said Southern defensive coordinator/defensive backs coach Terrence Graves. “He’s a great young man and a great athlete as well. He has the heart of a lion and guys feed off him.”
“Things got tough toward the end but he hung in there and did what he had to do as far as making things happen,” Graves said.
The play also broke a two game losing skid for Southern (6-2, 4-2 Southwestern Athletic Conference), securing its first winning season since 2004 and marking its first win in October since 2005.
“Going into fourth down I told the defense we have one more down, focus, it’s not over,” said George. “We’d been stopping them all night stuffing the run, so we forced them to pass.”
“Defensively we played lanes,” George said. “Everyone had one responsibility, stay in your lane. I saw the quarterback reading to the number three receiver on the slant, that made me just break on it at the last second because I knew we had pressure coming from the defensive line.”
“I got my right hand in there,” George said. “I almost had it. I tried to get it, but I made the big play on fourth down to win the game.”
The last time George faced Alcorn in Mumford stadium was in 2003 when he was a freshman. That loss was Southern’s only of the season as the Jaguars were defeated by Alcorn 36-34. In fact, George could have prevented that Alcorn score as well.
On first-and-10 at the Southern 39 yard line, Alcorn quarterback Donald Carrie threw into double coverage down the sideline between George and another SU defender and George let an interception slip through his hands.
Carrie made the Jaguars pay four plays later, hitting Charlie Spiller on a 24-yard touchdown pass with 40 seconds left to play.
“It was a tough game against Alcorn,” George said. “They played us tough. They always play us tough every year. Last time I played them in Mumford I didn’t make the play I was supposed to and we lost. Tonight I was able to come up with the big play and we got the win.”
Lately, all George has done is come up big for the Jaguars in pressure situations but he has definitely experienced the highest of highs and the lowest of lows during his time as a collegiate athlete.
As a freshman George was an All-SWAC first teamer with (50 tackles, three interceptions, two fumble recoveries), but broke his leg in practice, missing the Bayou Classic and SWAC Championship game.
In fact, George is the last remaining link to the 2003 team which went 12-1, winning SWAC and Black College National Championships.
Following his break-out season George was ruled ineligible by the NCAA before the 2004 season and spent the 2005 season at Copiah-Lincoln Community College (Miss.), thinking he wouldn’t be cleared to play at Southern. George was later cleared but word came too late.
And though offered scholarships by Louisiana Tech, Mississippi State and Cincinnati, George chose to return to Southern last spring and finish where he started.
“I have to live up to the hype their putting on me,” George said. “It’s nothing I can’t carry. The main thing is just staying focused as I’m doing that, not getting a big head and always staying humble.”
Though he’s a humble guy George won first team All-SWAC honors last season in his return to Southern (51 tackles, five interceptions, 10 breakups) while playing with a shoulder injury that hampered him most of the year and required off-season surgery.
George was nominated preseason defensive player of the year and made the Buck Buchanan Award watch list. So far he has 46 tackles (24 solo, 22 assisted), 1.5 tackles for loss, four interceptions and three pass breakups.
Of his three pass breakups this season, none was bigger than the one Saturday against Alcorn State.
“I didn’t want to lose Senior Day,” George said.
“There’s no way we could lose Senior Day. As a senior it makes me feel good to go out with a win instead of a loss. On fourth and goal I was like come on, we can’t lose like this.”
“I told the defensive line get pressure and we have your back in the secondary,” George said. “We got pressure up front and I was able to tip the ball away.”
Next season George will be replaced by another guy who made a big play Saturday when Alcorn was threatening close to the goal line in junior Toyin Akinwale.
“He made a great play toward the end,” George said. “We needed a stop them from scoring and we knew we had to stop them. He’s a great athlete and he’s going to come up big for us next year as well. I’ll be back to watch him next year.”