Jackson State will return to the coveted Celebration Bowl after second-half dominance propelled the Tigers to a 41-13 win over Southern in the Southwestern Athletic Conference Championship.
T.C. Taylor’s club felt the love from the College GameDay crew, well at least all but one panelist, ahead of Saturday afternoon’s showdown. The popular college football pregame show’s hosts stood in near-solidarity in predicting a Tiger victory in the conference title, with legendary former Alabama frontman Nick Saban being the lone dissenter.
The Tigers also found an unexpected advocate in American-French actor Timothée Chalamet, GameDay‘s guest picker, as the movie star impressed the show’s audience with a wealth of knowledge of the title contests taking place.
“I’m going with Jackson State,” Chalamet predicted. “Eight wins in a row, 11 all-conference players — this should be a comfortable, easy win for them.”
Trailing 10-3 with just under two minutes remaining in the first half, the game was neither easy nor comfortable for Jackson State (11-2, 8-0 SWAC), especially with starting signal-caller Jacobian Morgan being sidelined with a knee injury late in the second quarter. But with everything on the line, the Tigers needed a hero to step up and second-string field general Zy McDonald rose to the occasion.
On Jackson State’s final drive of the half, McDonald marched his team into the red zone in a two-minute drill. A two-yard touchdown by Emari Matthews capped off the drive, sending Taylor’s crew to the midway intermission with a tied scoreboard and some much-needed momentum.
It’s not documented what was said in the Tiger locker room during halftime, but whatever was uttered lit a fire into the home team playing in a rowdy Veterans Memorial Stadium.
Jackson State wasted no time taking the lead after the break. A 27-yard pass and 28-yard run made possible by McDonald set up reliable Tiger running back Irv Mulligan to reach the end zone to claim a 17-10 advantage. A turnover forced by Jackson State on Southern’s first snap from scrimmage in the third quarter left the Tigers to smell blood in the water.
Tiger kicker Gerardo Baeza knocked in a 45-yard field goal to put his team up 10 points with 8:05 left in the game. After a series of punts by both squads, Jackson State sought more separation and McDonald delivered with a 23-yard keeper for a touchdown.
Southern (8-5, 7-2 SWAC) later took themselves out of the contest by muffing a punt and placing its opponent in the red zone with 7:46 left in the game. Jackson State capitalized on the error as McDonald found Joanes Fortilien for a 13-yard score.
A Jaguar three-and-out followed. Jackson State’s Travis Terrell, Jr. walked into the end zone from two yards out to punctuate the 28-point championship win. In the second half, Jackson State forced three Southern turnovers and held the Jaguars to only three points while putting 31 of their own on the scoreboard.
Jackson State had four rushing touchdowns in the contest. Mulligan led the way on the ground, and surpassed legend Walter Payton as the Tigers’ all-time single-season rusher, with 116 yards and a score. McDonald carried the passing game, completing 6 of 11 passes for 75 yards, one touchdown, and one interception.
The Tigers shined defensively, forcing two fumbles and a pair of picks while mounting three sacks and eight tackles for loss. Defensive back Robert McDaniel snagged the two interceptions. Shamar Hawkins was the team’s leading defender, recording eight tackles, one sack, and one pass breakup.
With the win, Taylor earned his first appearance in the Celebration Bowl as a head coach. But this will not be his first time on the sidelines in the showdown. Taylor served as former Tiger frontman Deion Sanders’ offensive play-caller in Jackson State’s last two Celebration Bowl appearances — a 31-10 defeat against South Carolina State in 2021 and a 41-34 loss to North Carolina Central in 2022.
The Tigers will have a chance at revenge against South Carolina State next Saturday. Taylor will also have the opportunity to do what his predecessor was unable to accomplish and bring a national HBCU title back to Mississippi’s capital city. The Celebration Bowl will kick off at 11 a.m. CT and will air nationally on ABC.
