Comegy upbeat despite big loss
JSU coach thinks blowout helped prepare team for TSU
After an opening weekend marred by lopsided scores between mismatched opponents, critics have insisted that schools from the Football Championship Subdivision don’t get anything out of losing so handily to higher-level foes.
But one coach whose team lost badly disagrees.
Jackson State coach Rick Comegy said his team learned plenty from its 56-9 loss to Mississippi State last week, and he believes JSU will be better prepared for this week’s matchup with Tennessee State because of it.
“We might not have gotten anything out of it if we had just been going up there for a paycheck, but we were going up there to win the game,” said Comegy, who will lead his team against TSU at 6 p.m. Saturday in the Southern Heritage Classic at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium. “I think things could have been a lot different (against Mississippi State) if we had ever got- More information: For a complete list of the week’s events, visit southernheritageclassic.com. ten into the game. But we made some mistakes early — dropped some passes and that sort of thing — that just kept that from ever happening.”
The Tigers’ game against MSU wasn’t close for long. They fell behind 14- 0 in the first quarter, and it was basically out of reach when the Bulldogs carried a 35- 6 lead into halftime.
But the hopeless margin actually allowed Jackson State to work on things that will be beneficial down the road. Dedric McDonald, Clayton Moore and Evan Ingram all took snaps at quarterback for A 47-point loss last week to Mississippi State didn’t dampen the spirits of Jackson State coach Rick Comegy, who says he’s “seen a lot of enthusiasm from our players this week.”
the Tigers, and JSU was able to experiment with its special teams.
“We tried to get back in the game, but once the score finally got so far out of hand, we kind of went back to basics and started doing some things to prepare ourselves for the rest of our schedule,” Comegy said. “We needed to see if a young man could make a field goal — and he did. We wanted to play two or three quarterbacks and get those players ready because you just never know what might happen in the future.”
It’s not as if JSU accomplished nothing in the loss. McDonald threw for 136 yards and a touchdown as the Tigers’ starting QB, and two players — Moore and B.J. Lee — had just over 40 yards rushing.
The Jackson State defense also got some valuable experience against Dan Mullen’s high-powered spread-option attack. It prepared the Tigers well for a Tennessee State team that passed for 263 yards in a season-opening 17-14 victory over Florida A&M last week.
“It was a tough loss for us, but we learned a lot from it,” said Jackson State senior defensive end Joseph LeBeau, a preseason FCS All-American. “We came out of it healthy, and we’re all ready to play. Memphis is a great environment for football, and we’re always excited about playing Tennessee State.”
There was some criticism that JSU’s defensive scheme was too ordinary against Mississippi State, but the lopsided score never really allowed the unit to stretch its legs. Defensive coordinator Darrin Hayes has already said publicly this week that he plans to use more tricks against TSU.
Meanwhile, Comegy said his team’s spirits are fine despite the 47-point loss.
“If I was seeing a lot of frowns and players hanging their heads, I might think we had a problem,” Comegy said. “But I’ve seen a lot of enthusiasm from our players this week. We had a great teaching day on Wednesday, and we’re going to be ready to play against Tennessee State.”