It was another Saturday for the B-CU Tigers but this time they played in Jacksonville at the Jaguars Stadium. This was a televised game for B-CU and the weather couldn’t have been better for the outside arena. This year’s match-up between the B-CU Wildcats and the Jackson State Tigers was a title match for who’s the SWAC’s biggest cat. Unfortunately for our home team, the battle was one-sided with B-CU only putting up 8 points to The Tiger’s 48 points by the end of regulation. On a good note, this was the largest game attendance the Wildcats have ever seen. A total of 22,373 came to Jacksonville breaking a school record (last years highest was 5,322).
Domination Led by Sanders
The Wildcats put up a good fight giving Sanders 2-interceptions, but the defense couldn’t hold the star QB from Jackson State back. Sanders put on performance yet again with a total of 5 touchdowns (75% completion rate) continuing his dominating performance for QBs in the SWAC and nationally.
Wildcats Try their Best Protect Against Down-Field Plays
The Wildcat defense did what it could to keep Sanders uncomfortable with making the long plays down field holding Sanders to short and medium passes with his longest being a 34-yard (below the average of Heisman candidates, but still great as his efficiency to do this consistently wears teams out).
The Wildcats should be proud of the protection they provided in the secondary zones, but need to improve their overall coverage to make quarterbacks more uncomfortable. The Defense was only able to hold the Tiger’s offense off twice, forcing Jackson State to punt once in the 3rd quarter and again in the 4th. Improving their pass rushing will go a long way for the Wildcats in their next half of games this season. Too many plays were made with the Wildcats allowing the run after catch to become their worst enemy; but hey, there were some super monster hits including this hit (Watch Below) ….
Mistakes by Wildcat Offense
The Wildcats failed to make productive progressions down the field. Almost every quarter the Wildcats gave away unnecessary points in the form of a Safety starting early in the 2nd quarter. With each safety, the opportunity wasn’t wasted and the Tigers immediately scored in the resulting safety.
A Complete Shutout Avoided
QB Jones led his team through the battle with the Tigers fans by his side. One thing you can give Wildcats fans is their ability to support for the long haul even when things got ugly. The band kept playing, and the fans continued to enjoy themselves at Jaguar Stadium never looking down but looking forward to getting a score. That tenacity paid off in the 4th quarter with Jones putting together a drive and rushing TD. The Wildcats Topped it all off with a 2-point conversion play; a 4-yard pass to Avertt from Jalon Jones. Just before this play they also were able to retrieve an onside kick!
It may have not been the performance we wanted from the Wildcats but the experience of playing this dominant JSU offense and defense will hopefully create some opportunities for the B-CU Football team. Nevertheless, being in the Jaguar Stadium was an experience that I’m sure the fans and players will never forget.
