Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium was filled with inconsistencies Saturday. And after 60 minutes of football, and a 30-20 loss, questions swirl around the Jackson State football team.
The Tigers (4-3, 4-1) hosted Grambling State (6-1, 6-0) in the matchup between the final two teams undefeated in Southwestern Athletic Conference play.
The game was hyped as one of the biggest games in recent Jackson State memory.
The university was celebrating 40 years of play inside Memorial Stadium. The 1967 football team, former coach Rod Paige, and the late former Grambling coach Eddie Robinson's family were honored before the game. Fans talked about the revival of the program.
But only an announced 14,501 showed up.
Coach Rick Comegy didn't shy from speaking about this game in historical terms all week. But it may have worked against his team.
"Everybody was too excited, we weren't calm," JSU linebacker Marcus Palmer said. "It was so big. ... it was the biggest game of some of our careers.