Alabama A&M returns to action against Jackson State in Gulf Coast Challenge

MOBILE — After an unexpected week off, the Alabama A&M Bulldogs are back on the field Saturday in the annual Gulf Coast Challenge.

For Head Coach Connell Maynor, this isn’t just another regular season matchup with Jackson State. He likens the classic’s atmosphere to that of a bowl game.

“The Gulf Coast Challenge is a great classic game,” Maynor said. “I think this is the seventh year and we’ve been in it every year. It’s a great opportunity for our guys to travel to Mobile.

“It’s a challenge for us, like a bowl game. So, this gives our guys an opportunity to experience bowl atmosphere.”

The Bulldogs (2-2 overall, 0-0 SWAC) were off last weekend when their conference opener at Florida A&M was postponed due to Hurricane Helene. The break gave the Bulldogs an opportunity to hit the reset button ahead of two SWAC East matchups, first this weekend against Jackson State, followed by a Homecoming tilt against Bethune-Cookman.

Alabama A&M is seeking its first win over Jackson State since spring 2021, when the SWAC shifted a pandemic-cancelled fall 2020 season to the spring.

In their conference opener last week, Jackson State (3-2, 1-0) racked up 441 total yards, with 256 coming on the ground in a 43-14 win over Texas Southern. Running back Jacobian Morgan carried the ball just 10 times for 96 yards and two touchdowns in becoming the SWAC’s Co-Offensive Player of the Week.

“Jackson State is a very good team. (Head Coach) T.C. Taylor is doing a tremendous job,” Maynor said. “Their offense is spread out and they play two quarterbacks. We’ve got to be ready for both of them and they’ve also got some dangerous receivers. On defense, they fly around. They are big, fast and strong up front and got some good secondary guys.

“We’ve got to be ready to make some plays in the passing game and see if we can muster up our running game in some kind of way.”

The game will be streamed live on ESPN+ as Santoria Black and Ken Moore have the call. In addition, fans can tune into WJAB 90.9 FM with Ted Dixie on the play-by-play joined by Brian Howard. Kickoff against is 4 p.m.