#8 JSU proves ‘all money ain’t good money,’ sting the Hornets on homecoming weekend

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WLBT) - The undefeated and No. 8 Jackson State Tigers faced their toughest test yet on Saturday against the Alabama State University Hornets in a Southwestern Athletic Conference showdown. The Tiger defense stayed aggressive and stout to keep any threat of a comeback at bay as JSU crashed ASU’s homecoming parade with a 26-12 victory, proving “all money ain’t good money.”

While it wasn’t as dominant of a victory as Tigers’ fans are used to, leaving ASU stadium on homecoming weekend in an emotional environment with the win showed a resilient side of this JSU team that we have not seen yet this season, led by Heisman and Payton award candidate Shedeur Sanders and the top-ranked JSU defense.

“We weren’t dominant today, we won,” said JSU Head Coach Deion Sanders in his postgame press conference. “Sometimes, it doesn’t go as you desire for it to go. But, we got the W[in] and I’m proud of that.”

The Tigers got off to yet another slow start to open the contest and would trail the Hornets 0-6 after the first quarter. Midway through the second quarter, the Hornets would surrender their only lead of the day as quarterback Shedeur Sanders, who had another career day and arguably his best performance in a JSU jersey, completed a beautifully placed 35-yard pass to wide receiver Willie Gaines for the touchdown to give the Tigers a 7-6 lead.

JSU tacked on a field goal just before halftime to lead 10-6 after two quarters. After the break, Sanders completed an unbelievable 25-yard pass off his back foot in a Heisman moment to wide receiver and one of Coach Prime’s highly-touted recruits Kevin Coleman Jr. for a touchdown to give the Tigers a 17-6 lead after three quarters.

Leading 17-12 in the fourth quarter Sanders tossed a 16-yard touchdown pass to J.D. Martin to extend the lead to 23-12 with less than seven minutes remaining.

Sanders completed 30 of 44 passes for 336 yards and three touchdowns with one interception. The top-ranked JSU defense limited the Alabama State offense to 177 yards and 13 first downs in the game.

After the contest, there was a heated exchange between ASU head coach Eddie Robinson from Coach Sanders during the traditional postgame embrace. Robinson took to media to address the situation, stating that Coach Prime was “disrespectful all week” and, “I’m SWAC, he ain’t SWAC.”

Coach Sanders responded saying, “I’m not SWAC? Who is? I am a whole lot of things that a lot of folks would like to be,” Coach Prime said confidently via Thee Pregame Show.

On being their homecoming game, Sanders stated last week, “I’m looking forward to being the homecoming [game] for Alabama State. This is going to be a great game because we are their homecoming... It was brilliant to invite us because you’re going to make some money. But what comes with money? All money ain’t good money.”

The No. 8 JSU Tigers improved to 6-0 on the season and 3-0 in conference play and secured their 500th program win Saturday. The Tigers will hit the road again to face Bethune-Cookman in Jacksonville, Florida, with kickoff set for Saturday, October 15 at 3 p.m.

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