Jackson State’s fairy tale football season of 2021 ended in Atlanta this past Saturday as the Tigers fell to South Carolina State, 31-10, in the Celebration Bowl. The game is considered the national championship of the historically black colleges and universities. The news was not all bad for the Tigers as Deion Sanders was named the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year; his son Shedeur was named the winner of the 11thannual Jerry Rice Award as the top FCS freshman. Coach “Prime” also stole the sports headlines from the top football programs in the country by signing the No.1 rated high school recruit in defensive back Travis Hunter of Shawnee, Georgia, who turned down Florida State.
Mississippi State (7-5) will travel to Memphis next Tuesday to face Texas Tech (6-6) in the Liberty Bowl. This will be the Bulldogs’ 12th year in a row to go bowling, though MSU went to the Armed Forces Bowl last year with a 3-7 record and beat Tulsa. Coach Mike Leach will be going against his former team in Texas Tech, which fired him in 2009, after a 10-year run at Tech in which he went 84-43. MSU is a 10-point favorite in the contest. The bad news for the Bulldogs is their All-American offensive guard Charlie Cross is expected to be an early pick in the NFL Draft and announced his intent to go pro and forego his college eligibility.
Mississippi State is taking over the Big Apple. This past weekend, the New York Mets hired former MSU All-American baseball player Buck Showalter. Showalter has won 1,551 games in 20 seasons as a big league manager. He joins the New York Giants head coach and former Bulldog footballer Joe Judge in the city that never sleeps.
The South All-Stars held off the North All-Stars, 27-24, in the 73rd Annual Bernard Blackwell All-Star Classic in Gulfport this past Saturday. The South’s offense scored on the game’s first play and then their defense intercepted four passes in building up a 27-10 lead before they held off a late fourth period rally by the North squad. The South’s MVP were Sumrall quarterback John Ford and Lake defensive lineman and MSU signee Kalvin Dinkins. The North MVPs went to Lake Cormorant’s quarterback Telvin Amos and Southaven’s defensive back Dillon Williams. The South coach was Laurel’s Ryan Earnest, and Louisville’s Tyrone Shorter led the North. The South now leads the series 35-29-5.
Seattle Seahawks quarterbacks coach Austin Davis was hired as the offensive coordinator at Auburn this past week. The former West Lauderdale and USM football star played for St. Louis, Cleveland, Seattle and Denver in the NFL before joining Seattle in 2019 as an offensive assistant.
The Southwestern Athletic Conference inducted four Mississippian into the 2021 SWAC Hall of Fame Class last week: Alcorn basketball stars Alesha Causey-Nelson and Willie Ray (Legend), Jackson State’s Robert “Ron Jay” Jeuitt and Mississippi Valley basketball star Marcus Mann.
Ole Miss (8-3), Mississippi State (8-3) and Southern Mississippi (4-6) all will open conference play next week. The Rebel cagers will host Florida next Tuesday, State will entertain Arkansas that same day, and USM will host Rick Stansbury’s Western Kentucky team next Thursday. Stansbury is a former MSU head coach, and his Hilltoppers (8-4) are coming off an impressive home win over Louisville.
Jones College men’s basketball is the lone unbeaten team in the Mississippi JUCO league. The Bobcats (10-0) are ranked 13th in the country and are dominating their opponents. They have five players averaging in double figures and have outscored their opponents by nearly 24 points. East Mississippi (8-2) is ranked 19thwhile Northeast (8-2) comes in at 25. The Jones women (7-1) are ranked No. 9 nationally.
Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Dale is a Waynesboro resident who has been writing sports since 1973.
