Jeremy Anderson
Staff Writer
The Tigers of Jackson State University will head to Houston, Texas this Saturday in the second of three straight road games. JSU’s opponent this week will be the Tigers of Texas Southern University.
Both teams are coming off a loss in Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) play. Both Texas Southern and Jackson State are out of contention for a SWAC Championship appearance.
Texas Southern and Jackson State are facing similar slumps in the season. Jackson State has lost its last five games, while Texas Southern has lost its last four games.
TSU started off the season hot, winning 5 of its first 6 games. The lone loss was to Alabama State. Ever since then, the Tigers of Texas Southern have struggled to win games.
TSU traveled to Baton Rouge, La. last week and lost to the Southern Jaguars by a score of 30-20. Before the loss to Southern, TSU lost games to Alcorn State, Arkansas Pine-Bluff and Grambling State in consecutive weeks.
This Saturday’s matchup will be an intriguing one for Texas Southern Head Coach Darrell Asberry. Although a native of Baton Rouge, La., Asberry is a graduate of Jackson State and also played quarterback at his time at JSU. He lettered two years as JSU QB and was the team’s Most Valuable Player as a senior.
Asberry also coached at a JSU, serving as running backs coach and eventually offensive coordinator in the early 2000s.
Last week, Jackson State traveled to Montgomery, Ala. to play the Hornets of Alabama State University.
The game was all tied up going into halftime with a score of 3-3. Yet, after halftime, JSU could not keep up with the Hornets.
JSU dropped its fifth straight game, 26-10.
This week, the JSU defense must focus on containing a balanced offense from Texas Southern. TSU has found equal success in the rushing and passing game.
Conversely, JSU must find its rhythm on offense in order to win the game. The high-flying offense must put points on the board as it did earlier in the season.
Running Backs Jarius Moore and Alexander Montgomery should return to the field this week after missing the previous two games. Look for them to provide depth to a running back position that has been relatively thin in the past two games.
Kickoff is set for 5:30 P.M. in Houston, Texas at BBVA Compass Stadium.
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