ATLANTA — Better luck next time, Prime.
This version of the Celebration Bowl was all about the underdog.
South Carolina State crushed the heavily-favored Jackson State squad coached by the legendary Deion Sanders, 31-10, to claim the Black college football national championship in a shocker.
“South Carolina State kicked our butts,” Sanders said. “In every way imaginable. They out-physicaled us, out-threw us. Much more disciplined than us. And I feel like we were over-confident and overlooked them, as if they were just going to hand us the game.”
So much for the hype that surrounded Sanders’ team, which won the SWAC title and fueled much of the buzz that resulted in a Celebration Bowl-record crowd of 48,653.