If Shedeur Sanders’ FCS football career came to a close on Saturday night, he went out on a high note. Jackson State dominated Southern University from start to finish en route to their second-straight SWAC title and its starting quarterback was a big reason why.
(Photo by Justin Ford/Getty Images)
Shedeur, son of (current) Tigers head coach Deion Sanders, went 31-of-44 for 305 yards and four touchdowns without an interception. The former four-star recruit was lights out all game, but the majority of his numbers came in the first half before Coach Prime slowed things down and put the game to bed.
He had 199 yards and three touchdown passes in the first 30 minutes, with four rushes for 21 yards.
Jackson State started scoring early and never looked back.
Sanders found wide receiver Shane Hooks for a 14-yard score with 6:30 left in the first half to take a 16-0 lead. If that wasn’t enough, the Tigers went for two and were successful.
Less than three minutes later, Sanders found Hooks for six more. The former shook a tackle just beyond the first down marker and just kept running down the sideline.
Once again, Jackson State went for two and was successful.
Although Southern was able to get points on the board early in the second quarter, Shedeur answered right back. It was his best pass of the day by far.
He took the snap, looked left to shake the safety, and delivered a laser to the near pylon on the right side where only his receiver could come down with the catch. It was an NFL-caliber throw.
From that point on, JSU put things in neutral and coasted through the second half. Southern made a little push, but the deficit was too much to overcome.
Shedeur capped the scoring— neither side scored in the fourth quarter— with a nine-yard touchdown pass at the 1:29-mark in the third quarter. When the clock hit zero, he, his Pro Football Hall of Fame father, and the Jackson State Tigers were back-to-back SWAC champions.
Shedeur, of course, was named the offensive MVP.
Deion and Shedeur Sanders’ future is up in the air.
Saturday may have marked the Sanders family’s last game on the FBS level. Coach Prime is expected to accept a lucrative offer to become the next head coach at Colorado.
Should that come to fruition, Deion insinuated earlier this week that he would bring his star quarterback son with him to Boulder. It sounds like Shedeur will be the starting quarterback for the Buffaloes in 2023.
With a win on Saturday, Jackson State won the SWAC. As a result, it will play N.C. Central in the Celebration Bowl.
If Deion accepts the Pac-12 job, he likely will not coach Jackson State in the bowl game. That does not close the door on Shedeur sticking around for one more game. He could foreseeably stick around to play under an interim head coach in the Celebration Bowl before entering the transfer portal.
Coach Prime has to sign Colorado’s contract offer first, but if/when he does, Shedeur has a decision to make about his immediate future. Long term, it sounds like he’s off to Boulder.
