Deion Sanders has moved on to greener pastures. The man that replaced him at the helm for Jackson State football is TC Taylor, who for his part, is very much looking forward to his squad's upcoming high-profile matchup against South Carolina State football.

Taylor remembers well that it was South Carolina that destroyed Jackson State the last time these two teams met. This was almost two years ago when the Bulldogs blew out the Tigers, 31-10, in the 2021 Celebration Bowl. These two sides go at it again on August 26 in a nationally televised game, and Taylor isn't shy about talking up the revenge narrative:

“For us, we talked about this game being a little bit of payback,” he said, via Chris Stevens of HBCU Sports. “They kicked our butts pretty good on national television. Once they announced that we would be in this game, a few of our guys started licking their chops.”

South Carolina State head coach Buddy Pough isn't backing down either. The tenured shot-caller is likewise looking forward to facing Taylor and Jackson State on the field:

“The SWAC is a rival of ours,” added Pough. “They’ve taken a couple of our teams (Florida A&M and Bethune-Cookman) so that leads to a rivalry style of thought. Anytime you look across the field and you see a team like Jackson State that wants to get at you, I think it makes it easy to get yourself up to play.”

Both coaches agree, however, that apart from the rivalry narrative, this is a great opportunity for both Jackson State football and South Carolina State football to show America what they both can bring to the table:

“Anytime you have a wonderful occasion such as this, you want to try to have some meat and potatoes to support your community,” Pough said. “We want to create something that will spur young folk on to greater things in the future.”

“It’s good for S.C. State, Jackson State and all HBCUs to have that platform,” Taylor added. “It’s so important for us to put on at a high level because everything is on a high-level stage that weekend. Many people watching don’t know about HBCUs, so this is our time to shine.”