Early struggles send Alabama A&M to loss against No. 17 Jackson State

MOBILE — Alabama A&M could not recover from a slow start in the Gulf Coast Challenge and fell Saturday night, 57-24, to No. 17 Jackson State in a Southwestern Athletic Conference game at Ladd-Peebles Stadium.

Alabama A&M (3-3 overall, 0-2 SWAC) struggled on its first offensive possession as Cornelious Brown IV fumbled the ball, giving Jackson State good field position at the Bulldog 13.

However, the Tigers (4-1, 2-0) could not get much going after the turnover as Gerardo Baeza booted a 25-yard field goal, giving Jackson State a 3-0 advantage with 11: 52 remaining in the opening quarter.

After an AAMU punt, Jackson State marched 60 yards in just five plays as JaCobian Morgan connected on a fade pass to the back of the endzone to Shemar Savage for a 22-yard touchdown, pushing the lead to 10-0 with 8:33 left.

The Bulldogs, who didn’t pick up their first first down until 3:54 left in the quarter, got things going offensively, highlighted by a 34-yard Brown to Isaiah Nkwokenkwo 34-yard pass play. AAMU closed out the 7-play, 80-yard drive when Brown scored on a 10-yard keeper, as the Bulldogs cut the deficit to 10-7 with 2:08 remaining.

A Brown interception led to seven Jackson State points as he was picked off by Jace Ward and two plays later, Morgan walked into the endzone on a 4-yard touchdown run, giving the Tigers a 17-7 advantage with 12:34 remaining.

Following another Alabama A&M punt, Jackson State went right back to work, going 80 yards in just four plays as Morgan connected deep down the right sideline to Savage for a 60-yard touchdown, extending the lead to 24-7 with 7:27 left in the half.

The Bulldogs responded with a 9-play drive as David Faulk booted a career-long 46-yard field goal, closing the gap to 24-10 with 3:48 remaining.

Jackson State answered on its next drive as Morgan capped a 66-yard, 4-play drive with a 19-yard touchdown pass to Ja’Naylon Dupree as the Tigers stretched their lead to 30-10 with 1:55 left.

The Tigers took over after another punt and used the two-minute offense to move the ball to the Bulldog 10 as Donovan Warren booted a 27-yard field goal, extending the advantage to 33-10 at the half.

JSU got the ball to start the second half and, after a Travis Terrell Jr. 58-yard kickoff return, the Tigers scored on a 1-yard touchdown run by Emari Matthews to stretch the lead to 40-10 with 13:55 remaining in the third.

Back came the Bulldogs, however, as Brown used the long ball, connecting with Franck Pierre for a 36-yard touchdown pass to close to deficit to 40-17 with just over 11 minutes left in the period.

Jackson State, which completed a 41-yard, 9-play drive, pushed the lead to 43-17 after a 41-yard field goal by Warren with 3:24 left.

Alabama A&M answered on its next drive as Brown connected with Daveon Walker for a 41-yard touchdown strike as the Bulldogs trailed, 43-24, with 1:28 remaining.

The Tigers put the game away early in the fourth quarter when Morgan connected with Dupree for 37 yards, extending the advantage 50-24 with just over 12 minutes to play.

Jackson State added one more score late in the fourth as Donerio Davenport scored on a 1-yard run, pushing the margin to 57-24 with 5:39 remaining.

CHECKING THE BOX SCORE

• Alabama A&M finished with 406 total yards of offense, with 347 coming from the air
• The Bulldogs recorded 18 first downs
• Cornelious Brown IV went 26 of 39 passing for 341 yards, with two touchdowns and one interception
• Ryan Morrow rushed 12 times for 29 yards
• Daveon Walker caught nine passes for 100 yards and one score
• John Robinson led the defense with 11 total tackles, including nine assisted
• Jalen Wright, Nick Glenn and Wyatt Wright each recorded nine tackles
• Jackson State finished with 702 total yards, including 388 on the ground
• The Tigers registered 30 first downs
• JaCobian Morgan was 21 of 30 passing for 314 yards and four touchdowns and rushed 12 times for 120 yards and one score
• Travis Terrell Jr. carried the ball seven times for 103 yards
• Jameel Gardner Jr. caught eight passes for 84 yards
• Quincy Ivory recorded 10 total tackles

NEWS & NOTES

• Alabama A&M and Jackson State met for the 31^st time
• The Bulldogs fell to 12-19 all-time in the series
• The Tigers won their fourth straight in the series
• Jackson State scored 40-plus points in the last three meetings
• In the past four meetings, AAMU has been outscored by JSU in the first quarter, 56-20
• For the 11^th straight game, the Bulldogs put points on the board in the opening quarter

UP NEXT
Alabama A&M returns to action Saturday when Mississippi Valley State visits for Homecoming. Kickoff is 2 p.m. from Louis Crews Stadium and the game will be streamed on SWAC TV.