Three 2024 trap games Jackson State football cannot overlook as it tries to regain SWAC title

The Jackson State football team is good enough and the schedule is favorable. The Tigers could be undefeated when they play Alabama State and Alcorn State in the last two games of the 2024 season.

For Jackson State to reach the Southwestern Athletic Conference championship game, it must navigate three tough, emotional games — against traditional rival Southern (Sept. 14), on the road against Texas Southern (Sept. 28) under former NFL player Chris Dishman and a showdown with defending Black national champion Florida A&M (Oct. 19).

The trap games come when Jackson State will be favored to win against lesser opponents, teams the Tigers should be favored to beat.

Here are three opponents Jackson State should not overlook and have beaten the Tigers.

Grambling

• When: 6 p.m. Sept 21, at Eddie Robinson Memorial Stadium

• Last Meeting: JSU won 22-16, on Sept. 23, 2023, at Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium.

• Last win for Grambling: 44-21, on Oct. 5, 2019, at Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium.

Grambling’s new coach, Mickey Joseph, added 17 FBS players from the transfer portal. It also returns quarterback Myles Crawley, who attended the Peyton Manning Camp this summer. In 2023, Crawley completed 60% of his passes for 2,303 yards with 16 touchdowns.

Jackson State will be playing on the road the the week after its rivalry game against Southern, and it's a challenge to immediately turn focus to the following game.

Alabama A&M

• When: 4 p.m. Oct. 5, 2024, at Mobile, Alabama, in the Gulf Coast Challenge

• Last Meeting: JSU won 45-30, Oct 7, 2023, at Mobile

• Last win for Alabama A&M: 52-43, on April 10, 2020, at Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium.

Alabama A&M football coach Connell Maynor is on the last year of his contract . He needs to win this game. Maynor has lost two consecutive Magic City Classic games to rival Alabama State and has not beaten Jackson State in their past three meetings.

Maynor signed eight players from the FBS transfer portal . He has second-team All-SWAC running back Donovan Eaglin defensive back, Emari Pait returning.

Sandwiched between the game at Texas Southern and the one against defending Black national champ Florida A&M, this could be a challenge for the Tigers.

Bethune-Cookman

• When: 3 p.m. Oct. 26, at Daytona (Fla.) Stadium

• Last Meeting: JSU won 22-16, on Sept. 23, 2023, at Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium.

• Last win for Bethune-Cookman: 36-15, on Sept. 1, 2019, in the MEAC/SWAC Challenge at Atlanta.

Bethune-Cookman absorbed a challenging offseason in 2023. The Wildcats hired Pro Football Hall of Famer Ed Reed. After a media nightmare, Bethune-Cookman folded on the Reed experiment and hired veteran Florida Atlantic assistant coach Raymond Woodie Jr.  After being hired late, Woodie went 3-8, including 2-6 in the SWAC.

This offseason Woodie has bolstered the roster with 12 FBS players in the transfer portal, including his son, Robert Woodie III.  Woodie III played at Florida State before transferring to California and former Oklahoma and Charlotte quarterback Micah Bowens II.

In 2023, Jackson State had to hang on after Bethune-Cookman led 9-8 at halftime.

Jackson State will play against Bethune-Cookman in the Wildcats' homecoming game, emotionally challenging one week after the Tigers' contest against Florida A&M, especially if the Tigers enter the game with its undefeated SWAC season intact.

THESE FOUR RUNNING BACKS WILL HELP JSU Why these four RBs are critical to Jackson State football's offensive plans in 2024

J.T. Keith is the HBCU sports editor for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at JKeith@gannett.com or reach him on Twitter @JTKEITH1.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Three 2024 trap games Jackson State football cannot overlook as it tries to regain SWAC title