LUT WILLIAMS BCSP Editor
There are four black college football teams still alive in the 2024 postseason. Three will be in action Saturday.
In Jackson, Mississippi (1 p.m., EST) homestanding Jackson State, winner of the SWAC East Division, will play host to West Division winner Southern in the 26th SWAC Championship Game. The game will be carried line on ESPN2.
Down in Valdosta, Georgia Saturday (1 p.m., ESPN+), CIAA champion Virginia Union (10-3) plays at Valdosta State (11-0), the top Div. II team in the region and the nation, in the championship game of Super Region II. The winner of this national quarterfinal match-up will be in the national semifinals, D2’s Final Four on Dec. 14.
The other team still alive is MEAC champion South Carolina State. The Bulldogs await the SWAC champion who they will face next Saturday, Dec. 14 at Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta in the Cricket Celebration Bowl. In most cases, the Celebration Bowl would signal an end to the black college football season. But that all depends on how far VUU makes it.
Let’s take a look at this week’s match-ups.
SWAC Championship Game
Saturday’s game in Jackson is a rematch of a JSU vs. SU game from early in the season. In that Sept. 14 contest, head coach T. C. Taylor’s JSU Tigers jumped out to a 23-0 first-half lead before settling for a 33-15 decision.
After losing 41-20 to Grambling State the following week, JSU has run off eight straight wins
led by 6-4, 227-pound junior Syracuse transfer QB Jacobian Morgan and 1,000-yard senior RB Irv Mulligan. Mulligan averages a league-best 105.8 rushing yards per game while Morgan has thrown for nearly 2,000 yards with 19 TDs and only six interceptions. The Tigers enter with the league’s best rushing attack (213.8 ypg.) and best scoring offense (36.8 ppg.).
Southern head coach Terrence Graves has turned to 6-1, 200-pound freshman Jalen Woods at quarterback since the youngster helped pull out a 25-23 five-overtime win on Nov. 9 vs. Bethune- Cookman. The youngster has thrown for a total of nearly 400 yards in two wins since including a 24-14 win over rival Grambling State at last week’s Bayou Classic.
Woods has been able to lean on a three- headed senior running attack of Kendric Rhymes, Kobe Dillon and C. J. Russell that has topped 200 yards rushing in each of the last three contests.
Virginia Union at No. 1 Valdosta State
Head coach Dr. Alvin Parker Jr.’s Panthers of Virginia Union won on the road for the second straight week – their first two playoff wins in history – in the NCAA Div. II playoffs as they dominated Lenoir-Rhyne 44-12 Saturday.
In Valdosta State, VUU is taking on a team that faced one CIAA opponent this season – Fayetteville State. The Blazers shut out the Broncos 34-0 on Sept. 14.
VSU went unblemished in runing to a Gulf South Conference championship game 28-7 win over West Florida. The Blazers are led by senior QB Sammy Edwards, the GSC offensive player of the year. Edwards threw for 2,449 yards with 23 passing TDs and completing 67.9% of his throws. Grad RB Blake Hester (894 yds., 13 TDs) and WR Rodney Bullard (34 rec., 9 TDs) are also GSC first-teamers. Grad defensive back Larry Elder, who leads the team with 79 tackles, was the league’s co-defensive player of the year.
The VUU/VSU winner will play the winner of the California (PA) vs. Slippery Rock quarterfinal in the national semifinals on Dec. 14. The D2 championship game is set for Dec. 21.
