ATLANTA — Everybody and their third cousin Bam-Bam counted South Carolina State out in the Celebration Bowl. There was so much hype about JSU coming into this game that folks completely slept on the Bulldogs, primarily because they had loss five ball games this season.
Well…by the time the smoke cleared at the Mercedes Benz Stadium South Carolina State had beaten the doors, brakes, transmission and back seats off of Jackson State.
JSU was the change that college football needed but South Carolina State was ready to play on Saturday.
They still were the MEAC Champs and deserved to be in the Black College National Championship Game known as the Celebration Bowl and they proved it.
On Jackson State’s second possession Shedeur Sanders marched the Tigers 9 plays 66 yards hitting Kieth Corbin III on a 7 yard touchdown pass to go up 7-0. They made it look easy.
South Carolina State didn’t pick up a first down until less than a minute left in the first quarter. However, they continued to hang around and with 3:42 remaining in the half Shedeur Sanders fumbled on the Jackson State 5 yard line giving the Bulldogs easy money. They punched it in to knot it up 7-7 with 2:06 left in the half. That’s when the flood gates opened.
The Bulldogs woke up and started biting. With :08 seconds left in the half Gavyen Zimmerman knocked down a 26 yard field goal to put the Bulldogs up 10-7. They scored 10 unanswered to get into the break and that was just the start of their scoring spree.
On Jackson State’s first possession Shedeur Sanders threw another interception. The Bulldogs needed only 2 plays to punch it in on a 16 yard touchdown pass from Corey Fields Jr. to Shaquan Davis. South Carolina went up 17-7 with 12:36 left in the third quarter scoring 17 unanswered points to shocking the JSU crowd and everybody else watching.
On the ensuring JSU possession Sanders throws yet another pick as the Bulldogs set up shop on the JSU 19 yard line.
JSU finds a way to keep them out of the end zone and walks it back down the field as Glenn Misiak makes good on a 36 yard field goal to pull the Tigers to within two scores down 24-10.
With 6:19 left the play South Carolina State nailed the coffin shut as Fields hits Davis for 16 yds for a TD to go up 31-10.
All in all it was South Carolina State’s day. The Bulldogs walk out of the joint with the Black College National Title and an unbelievable win over heavily favored Jackson State. HBCU football was a blast this season.
