Jackson State wins Capital City Classic

By By Laurence Hilliard / special to The Star
Nov. 24, 2002
JACKSON Jackson State won the battle but lost the war Saturday. Now the question is whether the Tigers will lose their coach.
First the good news for the JSU faithful in a crowd of 45,292 at Mississippi Memorial Statdium theTigers won the annual Capital City Classic for the eighth consecutive year, defeating archrival Alcorn State 34-20.
Now the bad news Alabama A&M defeated Arkansas-Pine Bluff 39-19 to win the Southwestern Athletic Conference East Division. JSU needed a win over Alcorn and an A&M loss to tie the Bulldogs for the division title and advance to the championship game as a result of a win over A&M two weeks ago.
Instead, JSU's season ends with a 7-4 record, 5-2 in the conference, while A&M (8-3, 6-1) advances to the championship game against Grambling December 14 in Birmingham.
Now the question is whether JSU Coach Robert Hughes will survive another season deemed disappointing when compared with the high standards set by JSU backers, many of whom have been calling for his ouster throughout the season. A delegation of players met with Athletic Director Roy Culberson Tuesday in support of their coach, but that doesn't guarantee that he will be on the sidelines in 2003.
If the Hughes era is indeed over, it ended on a high note behind the passing of Robert Kent. He threw for 374 yards and all five Tiger TDs to five different receivers, and was named the game's Outstanding Offensive Player.
But Kent said the win was bitter sweet. "It was disappointing when we heard that Pine Bluff had lost. We had to come out and play for pride.
Kent said a strong finish four straight wins is something to build on for next year, his senior season. "We'll have to prepare ourselves for 2003 and come out and play."
The tone of the game was set on the Tigers' opening possession, a 68-yard drive in four plays, resulting in a 40-yard TD pass from Kent to Tim Manning just 4:12 into the game. Cornerback Jeremy Stockdale had tight coverage on Manning as he ran a sideline route. But Kent's pass, nearly 50 yards in the air, was perfect, enabling Manning to grabb it on the run at the goalline. Manning finished with 6 receptions for 121 yards
After Alcorn briefly tied the score at 6-6 on a 4-year run by Andrew Burks late in the first quarter (both teams missed extra-point attempts), JSU went up 27-6 as Kent threw second-quarter scoring strikes to Torrey Ross, Courtney Rogers and Chris Jones.
Alcorn rallied within a TD at 27-20 midway through the final period on two TD passes by Donald Carrie. But Kent wrapped it up when he threw a 22-yard scoring pass to Chris Gordon with 4:27 left. What made the play most impressive is that Kent was under strong pressure and going down as he released the ball.
Kent finished his junior season with 3,386 passing yards and 31 touchdowns. For three years, his totals are 9,536 yards and 89 TDs. He already holds nearly every school passing record.
That JSU did not reach the conference championship game can be attributed, at least in part, to a quirky SWAC schedule that counts only three games with teams from the other division as official conference games. Both JSU and A&M lost to Grambling, but the Tigers' loss counted in the standings; not so for the Bulldogs' defeat. Had all conference games counted, as will be the case beginning next year, JSU and A&M would have tied for the division title, sending the Tigers to Birmingham.
Alcorn also had a disappointing season, losing its last three to Mississippi Valley, Alabama A&M and JSU to finish 6-5. The conference record is 3-4, which leaves the Braves tied for third with Valley in the five-team East. Carrie was 22 of 43 passing for Alcorn for 289 yards, with two TDs and three interceptions.