3 keys for Jackson State to finish the season well

JACKSON, Mississippi -- Discussing Jackson State’s chances of winning the SWAC’s Eastern division may be premature, but the Tigers exit their bye week with an opportunity to still accomplish that goal.

They lead their division by a half-game over Alcorn State, which figures to be their main competitor, though Alabama State still has a chance. The bye week allowed Jackson State to rest its injured players, and the Tigers have the momentum of two consecutive wins.

Here are three keys for the Tigers (2-3, 2-1 SWAC) to win their division and reach the SWAC championship game for the first time since 2013. Their stretch run begins with Saturday’s 6 p.m. game at Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium against Southern (2-2, 2-0).

The Tigers struggled to run the ball effectively over the first three weeks, a stretch in which they averaged just 2.6 yards per carry and scored a total of 53 points.

But the emergence of true freshman Jordan Johnson seems to have turned the offense around. The Tigers have rushed for 198 yards in each of the past two games (Johnson has accounted for 199 rushing yards in that span), scoring 48 points combined.



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