MEAC/SWAC Challenge: By The Numbers
ATLANTA - The start of HBCU football is less than a week away as Jackson State and South Carolina State meet at Center Parc Stadium to battle in the MEAC/SWAC Challenge. But before we get to the 19th installment of the contest, let's look at the numbers surrounding the matchup between the Bulldogs and the Tigers.
HIGH-SCORING SEASON OPENER
The last four MEAC/SWAC Challenge games have seen some potent offenses take the field. The previous ]winners combined to average 30.5 points per game, and the last four games have been decided by an average score of 30-16.
Additionally, there have only been two instances in the game's history where the winner didn't score at least three touchdowns, and the victors have scored 34 points or more eight times. Bethune-Cookman holds the record with 63 points in 2011.
That said, while the offenses can pack a punch, each program has a strong reputation on the defensive side of the ball. It's a good chance the scoring trend could change after Saturday.
JACKSON STATE AIMS TO TIE THE SERIES
Saturday will be the sixth all-time matchup between Jackson State and South Carolina State, with the Bulldogs holding a 3-2 lead. The Tigers won the first two meetings in 1991 and 1992; then the Bulldogs won in 1993, 1994, and most recently in 2021 in the Celebration Bowl.
In the 31-10 blowout, South Carolina State's Corey Fields threw 166 yards and four touchdowns, while wide receiver Shaq Davis, now with the New Orleans Saints, caught five passes for 95 yards and three scores.
Fields is still the quarterback for South Carolina State, but it'll be a new signal caller for Jackson State as the Tigers aim to tie the series at three wins each.
BULLDOG'S SUCCESS IN MEAC/SWAC CHALLENGE
Buddy Pough has been the head coach at South Carolina State as long as there's been a MEAC/SWAC Challenge (and then some), and his program is one of the most successful in the event.
The Bulldogs hold a 3-1 record in the Week 0 game, tied for the most wins with Bethune-Cookman, the only program to win back-to-back games, and Southern, who gave South Carolina State its only loss. In those three wins, the Bulldogs averaged 32 points per game. Pough won't have Shaq Davis on his team anymore, but the head coach thinks there's enough talent in the receiving room and the expectation of a bounce-back season from Corey Fields.
T.C. TAYLOR HOPES TO KEEP STREAK ALIVE
Although it'll be Taylor's first game as the head coach of his alma mater, program history is on his side. The last two Jackson State head coaches and seven of the previous nine have won their first career game. Deion Sanders blew out Edward Waters 53-0 in his debut in the COVID spring season, and Sanders' predecessor John Hendrick defeated Prairie View 34-28 at the end of the 2018 season. Taylor will have a chance to make it three in a row Saturday.
TIGERS' LOSING TREND IN ATLANTA
This seems counterintuitive compared to the previous stat, but it's worth noting how Jackson State has struggled in Georgia's capital, whether in the MEAC/SWAC Challenge or the Celebration Bowl.
Between the two games, Jackson State has a combined 0-3 record, and two of those losses came in rather epic fashion. In 2019, Bethune-Cookman scored 29 straight points in the second half to win the MEAC/SWAC Challenge. Then the Tigers lost consecutive celebration Bowls in 2021, a blowout loss to South Carolina State, and in 2022, an overtime loss to North Carolina Central.
The losses actually go further back regarding the two contests; Jackson State lost to Hampton in the 2008 MEAC/SWAC Challenge, but that game was played in Orlando at the Citrus Bowl.
Jackson State hopes to break that trend on Saturday, giving the SWAC a 3-2 lead in the MEAC/SWAC Challenge since the game moved to Atlanta.