Memphis — A tight game at halftime turned a roadblock for Jackson State at the Southern Heritage Classic on Saturday.
JSU coach Deion Sanders rides the record-breaking right hand of his son, quarterback Schedure Sanders, to a 38-16 win over Tennessee State at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium. This was the first meeting between the schools since 2019, after last season's game was canceled due to COVID-19.
Shedeur Sanders was passing 30-for 40 for 362 yards and three touchdowns, setting the Southern Heritage Classic records for most completions, highest completion percentage and third-most passing yards.
Former Whitehaven standout Aubrey Miller Jr., who moved from Missouri to Jackson State, had a game-high tying 10 tackles in front of an announced attendance of 46,171.
Jackson State (2-0) was never far behind. TSU (0–2) dropped their second straight game under first-year coach Eddie George.
Here are four takeaways from the Jackson State win:
If you don't succeed the first time
Jackson State was ready to make an opening statement, driving TSU 22 late in the first quarter with a steady attack featuring Shady Sanders.
The freshman quarterback began a 6-of-7 drive for 46 yards, but he missed a wide-open Josh Lanier near the end zone, and his fourth-down throw in the end zone was dropped by Trevon Rooker.
But Sanders didn't give up on Lanier. After recovering from a JSU blunder, Sanders joined Lanier from 14 yards for the first touchdown pass of his career.
TSU had the ball and the pace.
With the game tied 7–7 in the middle of the second quarter, TSU quarterback Jeremy Hickbottom paired with Deron Johnson on a 36-yard pass play, which led TSU to Jackson State Territory. Hickbottom went up again after two plays, when his 15-yard run on third and 13 extended the drive.
Then, Jackson State turned the tide. Hickbottom was stopped on two of the next three plays for a loss of 23 yards, the latter being played on third and 15 sacks by James Houston, who ended with two sacks and three tackles for the loss.
That vital sequence gave Jackson State the juice they needed to break the tie, turning their reversal of luck into a 28-yard field goal that gave Sanders' squad a 10-7 lead at halftime.
Three stops in Jackson State's first full season under Sanders, the Tigers were leaving a lot to be desired in severed-down situations. In last week's season-opening 7-6 victory over Florida A&M, Jackson State was 3-for-14 on Third Down and 0-for-1 on Fourth Down.
It was something similar in the first half against TSU. Jackson State converted only once in five attempts on the third down and its only fourth-down conversion attempt—a Sanders pass to Trevont Rucker who was dropped in the end zone—was unsuccessful.
It was quickly corrected in the second half. Facing third and -7 in JSU's first possession after halftime, Sanders held on to a 67-yard touchdown with Houston transfer Keith Corbin III to give Jackson State a 17-7 lead. Later in the third quarter, his 10-yard touchdown pass to Shane Hook gave Jackson State the third third-down conversion of the half.
Jackson State left the game with 7:29 to play. Warren Newman returned a TSU punt from 81 yards for a touchdown, giving the Tigers a 31-10 advantage. This marked the second straight Southern Heritage Classic special teams touchdown for Jackson State. In 2019, Josh Littles returned more than 100 yards to score the opening kickoff of the game.
