On its surface, the 2024 Cricket Celebration Bowl appears to be a rematch of 2021, but it’s a lot more than that.
For the second time in the game’s history, we will have two participants facing each other once again in Atlanta this December.
Chennis Berry has his Bulldogs in a familiar place one year after succeeding legendary head coach Buddy Pough. South Carolina State has won nine games for the first time in 11 years, but postseason success isn’t new to Berry. Before taking the helm in Orangeburg, Berry spent three seasons at Benedict, where he amassed a record of 27–7 while going undefeated in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) play and advancing to the Division II playoffs each of the last two seasons.
This season, JSU alum T.C. Taylor coached the Tigers to at least 11 wins for the third time in four years, a feat the program has never accomplished. Coaching in the HBCU FCS bowl game is familiar territory for Taylor, 0-3 in his previous Celebration Bowl appearances, Taylor served as an assistant (QB/OC) for Jerry Mack at North Carolina Central from 2014-2017 and under Deion Sanders at Jackson State (WR/TE, OC) from 2020-2022.
While Jackson State is in search of their first Cricket Celebration Bowl victory in their third attempt (2021, 2022), South Carolina State is looking to become only the second program to earn a second victory in this Black College Football postseason matchup between the MEAC and SWAC (North Carolina A&T; 2015, 2017-2019).
Here is my preview and prediction for this week’s title game.
Game time is Eastern Standard. Rankings are from the AFCA FCS Coaches Poll
2024 Cricket Celebration Bowl
#15 Jackson State (11-2, 9-0) vs. #18 SC State (9-2, 5-0)
Saturday, Noon ET (ABC)
Jackson State (11-2)
Key players: RB Irv Mulligan, DL Joshua Nobles
The nation’s fifth-best scoring offense (37.1 points per game) has scored 33 or more points in 10 games this year, including a 41-point performance in JSU’s SWAC Championship victory over Southern. Backup quarterback Zy McDonald earned Offensive MVP honors in the title game with his 170 total yards and two touchdowns after replacing an injured Jacobian Morgan late in the first half. Morgan is expected to start on Saturday, but the strength of JSU’s offense is not in their passing.
Led by SWAC Offensive Player of the Year Irv Mulligan (1,174 rushing yards, 11 touchdowns), the Tigers are fourth in the nation in rushing yards (2,840), averaging 218.5 per contest. Rushing for 100-plus yards six times this season, Mulligan averages 6.52 yards per carry on his way to surpassing JSU and NFL Hall of Famer Walter Payton’s single-season rushing record (1,139).
Defensive Lineman Joshua Nobles earned first-team All-SWAC honors in his first season in Jackson. The Western Michigan transfer led the Tigers in tackles for a loss (12.0), sacks (10.0) and quarterback hits (7). Joined by fellow all-conference selection defensive back Ke’Vric Wiggins Jr. (29.0 total tackles, three interceptions, nine pass breakups), the nation’s fifth-best total defense (280.5 yards per game) has limited opponents to a total of 10 points in the second half of their last seven contests.
X factor: WR Travis Terrell Jr.
Wide receiver Travis Terrell Jr. has been electric all season for the Tigers, compiling 1,377 all-purpose yards and scoring six touchdowns. The freshman from Atlanta tallied 94 all-purpose yards and a rushing touchdown last Saturday on two returns, four receptions, and ten carries.
South Carolina State (9-2)
Key players: QB Eric Phoenix, DL Ashaad Hall
The Bulldogs’ 390 points is their highest season total in 30 years, outscoring teams by an average of 14.5 points per game. Led by MEAC Offensive Player of the Year Eric Phoenix, South Carolina State became the nation’s 12th-highest-scoring offense (35.5 points per game), averaging 41.8 points during their eight-game win streak. The Benedict transfer via Murray State scored 22 total touchdowns against seven interceptions and tallied 246 passing yards per contest while leading the Bulldogs to an average of 47.6 points against MEAC opponents.
First-team All-MEAC selections Caden High (1,009 total yards, seven receiving touchdowns), Justin Smith-Brown (725 receiving yards, four touchdowns), and Keshawn Toney (287 receiving yards, three touchdowns) garnered the accolades for this high-powered offense. However, multifaceted wide receiver Einaj Carter (745 all-purpose yards, six receiving touchdowns) is a threat whenever he touches the ball.
Defensive lineman Ashaad Hall (40.0 total tackles, 14 tackles for a loss, 11 sacks, two forced fumbles) has been a fixture of the Bulldogs’ disruptive defense that has limited opponents to just under 21 points per game.
Alongside fellow Pough-era carryover Aaron Smith (78.0 total tackles) and Benedict transfer Jayden Broughton (34.0 total tackles, 8.5 sacks, two forced fumbles), Hall and the Bulldogs defense led the MEAC in sacks (36), interceptions (14), interceptions returned for a touchdown (3), forced fumbles (11) and fumble recoveries (10).
X factor: P Dyson Roberts
A punter?! Yes, a punter. Roberts was instrumental in South Carolina State’s lone Celebration Bowl victory. In 2021, the two-time all-conference selection averaged 49.0 yards per attempt, including two kicks downed inside JSU’s 20, aiding in the Bulldogs’ battle over field position, giving the Tigers an average start of their 28-yard line after punts. This season, the senior out of Sumter, SC, finished second in the MEAC in punting average (41.98) and downed 14 punts inside the 20.
Celebration Bowl Prediction
Neither team was expected to be here this summer. The Tigers were picked third in their division, while the Bulldogs were forecasted to finish fourth in their respective conference preseason polls.
Saturday will be the third time these programs will meet in four seasons.
With both teams owning a win a piece, Tayor’s first victory as a head coach came against South Carolina State in last year’s MEAC/SWAC Challenge, giving him his lone out-of-conference FCS victory.
Both programs face a little pressure as they enter Saturday as the representative for their respective conferences. South Carolina State wants to continue the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference’s dominance over the Southwestern Athletic Conference. Since 2000, the MEAC has had a 49-33 record against SWAC opponents, leading the Celebration Bowl series six games to two. In contrast, the SWAC has a slight 6-5 lead against the MEAC over the past three seasons.
If Jackson State wants to end the stigma that they can’t win “the big game,” their staunch defense will have to stop the most prolific offense they’ll face this year. The FCS’s 10th-best scoring defense (17.9 points per game) may have bullied their way through the SWAC, but they will face a team averaging 19.4 points in the second half of their last eight games this Saturday. Not to mention, Mulligan will look to grind out yards against the country’s 18th-best rushing defense (115.5 yards per game). Look for Chennis Berry to become the fourth South Carolina State head coach to win a Black College Football National Championship.
Bulldogs 27, Tigers 24
