The Orange Blossom Classic was anything but a classic: It was a clinic put on by Jackson State under the leadership of Deion Sanders, his coaching staff and his players. For two teams who were within a hair of each other last year, Sunday’s game represented a massive separation. There were four main reasons Jackson State exuded its dominance over Florida A&M.
1. Energy: The Tigers came out like raging bulls, while the Rattlers limped into the game. From warmups you could feel the energy of the field tilted toward the visitors from Mississippi. Starting with the opening kick, the Tigers flew around the field with reckless abandon. It mimicked the level of activity formerly displayed by their head coach while he was at Florida State and in the NFL.
2. Analytics: HBCU football fans were wondering what effect the addition of analysts to JSU’s staff would have, former NFL head coach Mike Zimmer among them. The appearance was that JSU knew every move FAMU was about to make. In the post-game press conference, Deion Sanders bragged on his analysts. He also wondered why it was so difficult for folks to accept that he was implementing what major college and professional teams utilize. FAMU should not have been surprised though, as it lost two coaches from last season to analyst positions at larger schools.
3. Uncharacteristic miscues: FAMU made every mistake possible in a football game. From blunders on special teams to interceptions to fumbles…they did them all. A Willie Simmons coached team has never had that many errors in one game since his arrival at FAMU. It truly seemed like Murphy’s Law was in full effect for the Rattlers. Coming off a solid performance with 26 players missing from their roster last week, to nearly a full complement this week, the production seemed to drop off. There will have be plenty of corrections to be made in the film room as FAMU will welcome the 2021 SIAC champion Golden Rams of Albany State in six days.
4. Shedeur The Great: The 2022 SWAC Preseason Offensive Player of the Year displayed the full barrage of his skills in the game. At one time he was perfect on 16 throws. He had plenty of weapons and used them all, throwing to 11 different Jackson State receivers in the game. Sanders went 29-for-33 for 323 yards in the air. He also rushed for 32 yards and threw five touchdowns.