Oct. 6, 2008

The win means that the Jags swept all three Mississippi SWAC teams and move to 2-0 in conference play.

Southern scored first on a 27-yard field goal by Josh Duran to take a 3-0 lead late in the first quarter.

Jackson State took its only lead in the second quarter. A beautifully executed play fake on 4th and 1 led to a 33-yard touchdown pass from Trae Rutland to Marcel Frost to give the Tigers a 7-3 lead with 12:10 to play until halftime.

Southern scored touchdowns on its next two possessions. Bryant Lee threw a pair of touchdown passes to Juamorris Stewart of 37 and 22 yards, respectively, to take a 16-7 lead late in the first half.

The teams traded safeties on the next two scores. Jackson State tackled a Southern player in the end zone after a blocked field goal attempt by the Tigers on the final play of the first half to cut the deficit to 16-9.

Southern scored on a safety mid-way through the third quarter as Jackson State lost a fumble out of the end zone to extend to a 18-9 lead with 8:18 to play in the period.

The teams then traded field goals to end the quarter: The Tigers' Eric Perri made a 36-yard field goal with just under four minutes to play in the third, and Southern answered a with Duran 21-yard field goal just before the third quarter ended.

Both teams scored a pair of touchdowns in the fourth quarter. Kendrick Smith scored on a two-yard run to extend Southern's lead to 28-12 with 8:48 to play. JSU answered with a 2-yard touchdown by Luther Edwards and a Rutland pass to Frost two-point conversion pass with 5:57 to play cut the deficit to 28-20.

Southern put the game away on a Silas Gibbs' 26-yard touchdown run with 1:57 to play. J-State scored with 22 seconds to play on 8-yard run by Rutland and a two-point conversion run by Edwards. Southern recovered the on-side kick attempt.

Rutland came in off the bench to lead Jackson State with 11 of 21 passing for 181 yards with one touchdown and one interception while rushing for 101 yards on 18 attempts and a touchdown.

Offensively, SU's Bryant Lee converted 18 of 29 passes for 266 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions and rushed 18 times for 58 yards. Juamorris Stewart finished with a game and career-high 179 yards on eight receptions and two touchdowns. Kendrick Smith Gibbs combined for 91 yards rushing and two touchdowns.

Defensively, Joe Manning led the Jags with six tackles, one fumble recovery and two pass breakups. Vincent Lands finished with five tackles, three tackles for loss, one forced fumble, one pass breakup and one sack. Frank Harry, Michael Williams and Dexter James also each had five tackles. Harry and James each had a forced fumble and ½ sack, while Harry also had three tackles for loss yards.