#23 Tennessee State Tigers Tops Jackson State, 17-15, in Southern Heritage Classic Thriller

MEMPHIS, Tennessee --- The 2017 Southern Heritage Classic went down to the final second as the Tennessee State football team topped Jackson State, 17-15, on Saturday Night at the Liberty Bowl. A fourth-quarter 58-yard punt return for a touchdown by Patrick Smith proved to be the difference in the game.

Smith’s touchdown with just over five minutes remaining put TSU up 17-9.

Jackson State was able to cut the lead down to 17-15 when Terrell Kennedy returned the ensuing kickoff 87 yards for a touchdown. Laquarius Cook broke up a pass on the two-point try to preserve TSU’s slight edge.

PHOTO GALLERY

Game 2: Tennessee State 17, Jackson State 15
Records: TSU (2-0), JSU (0-2)
Venue: Liberty Bowl
Location: Memphis, Tenn.
Attendance: 47,407
Weather: Clear, 80

Jackson State was able to cut the lead down to 17-15 when Terrell Kennedy returned the ensuing kickoff 87 yards for a touchdown. Laquarius Cook broke up a pass on the two-point try to preserve TSU’s slight edge.

With two seconds showing on the clock, JSU’s field goal from 47 yards out was wide left giving TSU the two-point victory. The Tigers improved to 2-0 on the season, while Jackson State fell to 0-2.

TSU quarterback Treon Harris earned MVP of the 2017 Southern Heritage Classic. 

TOTALS

• TSU finished with 238 yards of total offense to Jackson State’s 303
• Tennessee State rushed for 160 yards and limited JSU to 107 yards on the ground
• Jackson State held the ball for 33:38 of the 60 minutes in the game

INDIVIDUAL

• TSU quarterback Treon Harris led the offense with 78 yards passing and 91 yards rushing
• Harris scored a first-quarter rushing touchdown, his second of the season
• Patrick Smith finished with 41 yards on three punt returns, including one touchdown
• Junior linebacker Blair Edwards finished one shy of a career high with 12 tackles on the night
• Senior linebacker Chris Collins reached double-digit tackles for the second game in a row with 10

FIRST QUARTER

• The Tigers needed just four plays to travel 63 yards in 1:17 to open the score
• Treon Harris carried three times for all 63 yards, including a 13 yard touchdown run
• JSU responded with a 12 play drive, which ended in a 34 yard field goal
• Lane Clark drilled a 26 yard field goal on the next drive to put the Tigers ahead, 10-3
• Harris completed three passes on the drive to Patrick Smith, including a 32 yard connection on 3rd and five moving the Big Blue to the opponents 11
• TSU outgained JSU 115-90

SECOND QUARTER

• Jackson State opened and closed the second stanza with field goals to cut the lead to one, 10-9
• Tennessee State was held to 26 yards in the second quarter
• Blair Edwards and Ebo Ogundeko picked up sacks
• Edwards entered the locker room with a game high nine tackles; Ogundeko led all players with two sacks
• The Big Blue held JSU to 23 yards rushing in the first half

THIRD QUARTER

• JSU took the opening kickoff and drove down the field, threatening to score
• Jason Morrow deflected a pass allowing Joe Johnson to pickoff his first career pass
• Later in the period,with the opposing Tigers driving late in the third quarter, Laquarius Cook intercepted his first career pass in the end zone and returned it deep into JSU territory; a penalty brought the ball back to midfield

FOURTH QUARTER

• Tennessee State extended its lead to 17-9 on a 58-yard punt return for a touchdown from Patrick Smith
• On the ensuing kickoff, JSU responded with an 89-yard TD return courtesy of Terrell Kennedy
• Laquarius Cook broke up the two-point conversion try for JSU to keep TSU’s lead at 17-15 with 4:48 left
• After the teams traded stops, JSU had one final field goal attempt to win the game. Christian Jacquemin’s 47 yard field goal was wide left as time ran out giving TSU the 17-15 win

WHAT’S NEXT:The Tigers will head to Tampa, Fla. for the Tampa Classic on Saturday, Sept. 16. TSU will face Florida A&M in Raymond James Stadium.
 

NOTES

• Tennessee State entered Saturday night's game ranked No. 23 in the STATS Top 25 and 24th in the FCS Coaches Poll
• For the second game in a row Lane Clark, Ebo Ogundeko, Chris Collins and Patrick Smith served as team captains for TSU
• Jackson State won the coin toss and deferred the opening kickoff
• Weather at the time of kickoff was 79 degrees and clear
• Official attendance for the game was 47,407
• TSU is 17-11 all time in Southern Heritage Classic Games
• The Tigers are 30-21-2 in the all-time series versus Jackson State
• TSU has won six in a row over Jackson State
• TSU is 2-0 for the third year in a row

QUOTESDefensive Coordinator Garry Fisher

“They just fought. That was the biggest thing. They fought hard all night. No matter what the situation was, they rose up to the occasion. We gave up some yards and they got into the red zone a couple times, but we were able to hold them to field goals, which was huge for us tonight.”
- On what he liked from the defense

“I thought we tackled well. They hit us with a couple of plays. Their passing attack was on point, so they found some creases in our defense, and they drove down there, but we work on red zone defense every day. We were able to hold them to field goals and come up with a big interception.”
- On bending but not breaking

“We take pride as a team. No matter how the game goes, we have to find a way to stop the other team’s offense. Both defenses played well but at the end of the night, our defense outplayed theirs.”
- On the defense coming up big

Senior Wide Receiver Patrick Smith

“It’s very important. It being a rivalry game and me being from Memphis, you never want to come back home and lose a game whether it’s conference or non-conference. It was very big for us to come out here and get a win. I’m proud of my team. The defense really stepped up for us. The offense wasn’t really clicking like how we expected, but we know it’s early in the season.”
- On winning in Memphis

“It was a designed left return. As soon as I caught the ball I saw a lot of white jerseys on the left, so I knew it was going to be a good return. As soon as I started to run, I just took advantage of it and took it to the endzone.”
- On the punt return for a touchdown

Junior Safety Laquarius Cook

“It’s big. The team came out playing hard and kept our confidence up. The win was good for us.”
- On being 2-0

“It lets us know that if we get to hitting on all cylinders, that we’ll be running and we’ll be unstoppable.”
- On winning with room for improvement

Senior Defensive End Jason Morrow

“It’s a great feeling to be 2-0, but it’s still the beginning of the season. We still have a long road ahead of us. We can’t look too far ahead in the season.”
- On being 2-0

“We just kept fighting. That’s one thing Coach Fisher told us. You don’t quit. If everything is going wrong, you still don’t quit. You don’t hold your head down. You just keep fighting, and that’s what we did tonight, and that’s a big reason why we won tonight.
- On the positives of the defense

#23 TENNESSEE STATE AT JACKSON STATE | SEPTEMBER 09, 2017

SCORING
1st Quarter
TSU	TD	13:30	HARRIS 13 Yd Run (CLARK kick)
JKST	FG	07:45	Ch. Jacquemin 34 Yd
TSU	FG	03:56	CLARK 26 Yd
2nd Quarter
JKST	FG	12:06	Adrian Salazar 25 Yd
JKST	FG	00:00	Ch. Jacquemin 49 Yd
4th Quarter
TSU	TD	05:03	SMITH (CLARK kick)
JKST	TD	04:48	Terrell Kennedy

STATS AT A GLANCE	TSU	JKST
1st Downs	11	21
3rd Down Conversions	4-13	8-18
4th Down Conversions	0-1	2-3
Passing (Comp-Att)	78 (5-17)	196 (24-46)
Rushing (Att)	160 (35)	107 (33)
Total Yards	238	303
Penalties	8-97	9-75
Turnovers	2	2
Fumbles Lost	1	0
Interceptions	1	2
Possession	26:22	33:38

TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS MEDIA COMMUNICATIONS