Jackson State rolled into Itta Bena last week and picked up its first win of the season. Texas Southern is hoping to do the same this week.
TSU limps into Rice-Totten Stadium Saturday at 0-7, 0-3 in the Southwestern Athletic Conference after last week’s 50-24 defeat to Grambling State.
“Our kids are hungry for that first win. They have not quit fighting. We know Valley won’t just roll over for us, though,” said TSU coach Michael Haywood.
Valley (2-6, 1-3) flat out laid an egg last week as Jackson State won 24-5 to end its 11-game losing streak. It was a painful loss for the Delta Devils and head coach Rick Comegy, who coached in Jackson for eight years before being fired following the 2013 season.
Comegy called the loss sickening moments after the game last week.
“We lost, and I hate it. But we have to move on to the next one, which is Texas Southern,” he said. “We’ve got to keep our kids up as we try to close out this season on a high note.”
After TSU, Valley plays Nov. 11 at Alcorn State, which leads the SWAC East, and then on Nov. 18 hosts Alabama State, which is 2-5.
Come Saturday, the Delta Devils will be looking to rebound from their worst offensive showing in SWAC play — only three points and 105 total yards.
JSU used heavy pressure on MVSU’s quarterbacks and tight man coverage on the outside receivers to hold the Delta Devils’ pass game in check. Haywood said TSU will look to do the same.
“They haven’t had any success running it, so they sling it all around the field. We have to generate pressure on the quarterback and do a good job with coverage on the back end. We have to know what we are doing in the secondary and avoid any coverage busts,” Haywood said.
Valley is averaging a league-high 296.5 yards per game through the air while averaging a staggering minus-11 yards on the ground. A lot of that is related to giving up a SWAC-high 42 sacks — 13 more than the next worst team — for a loss of 300 yards.
Valley has used three quarterbacks this season, with Dwayne Betts and Jett Even getting most of the playing time as of late. Betts started against JSU but was pulled late in the second quarter after completing 5-of-11 passing for 26 yards. Even wasn’t much better as he was sacked four times while completing 13-of-24 passes for 89 yards.
