Mississippi Clarion Ledger
Deion Sanders on the struggles and rewards of coaching at HBCU Jackson State
Sports Pulse: Deion Sanders on the future of his players and the struggles they face
SportsPulse, TODAY
JACKSON, Miss. Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders won his college coaching debut on Sunday when Jackson State defeated NAIA opponent Edward Waters 53-0 at Mississippi Veteran Memorial Stadium.
Jackson State is playing a spring season as the Southwestern Athletic Conference has moved fall sports to spring due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sanders and the Tigers play a seven-game season, with possibly an eighth if they make it to the SWAC Championship game.
Here are five takeaways from the game:
Jones gets the startAfter a preseason of mystery, sophomore Jalon Jones was the first quarterback on the field for Jackson State on Sunday. Most of the day Jones threw screen and short steps. He rarely pushed the ball into the field, but he didn’t have to.
Jones threw a 10 yard touchdown pass to Daylen Baldwin with 11 seconds remaining in the second quarter.
Freshman quarterback Quincy Casey, the other quarterback in the running to start, came into play with six minutes to go in the third quarter. Jones and Casey alternated snaps during the second half. Casey threw a 23-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter.
All throttle, no brakes: After Jackson State fumbleed Edward Waters in a kickoff return with 55 seconds to go in the first half, the Tigers marched off the field and increased the lead to 31-0 on four games in 44 seconds.
On the first drive of the second half, Kymani Clarke scored on a 10-yard touchdown run, and the Tigers went for two. Jones rolled out and threw an incomplete pass to Kourtland Hubbard on the two-point conversion.
Cowboy Surprise: Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman, a former Sanders teammate from their days with the Dallas Cowboys, surprised Sanders on the field during the pre-game warm-ups. Sanders and Aikman played together from 1995 to 1999, and the two were part of Cowboys’ 1995 Super Bowl team.
Shutout: The Jackson State win marked its first program shutout since September 6, 2014, when the Tigers defeated Virginia-Lynchburg 59-0. JSU reported a total of nine meters of violation in the first quarter.
Clarke and Newman reveal: Walking back, Kymani Clarke and wide receiver Warren Newman were all over the field as offensive weapons for Jackson State. Newman took a few transfers on the rollback.