The year was 1984. Michael Jackson was still riding high on Thriller. The Purple One was having women dip themselves in the Waters of Lake Minnetonka. Li-Nell Richie had been officially replaced by Li-on-el Richie and the very first millenials were toddlers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the sports world, a rookie from Wilmington, NC was trying to establish himself in Magic Johnson and Larry Bird’s NBA with a pair of gaudy red-and-black sneakers that would soon be banned. <\/p>\n\n\n
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Simply put, it was a different era. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
One thing that was true then is still true now, and that is that football was and is king in the South. When it came to HBCU football, the SWAC had long worn the crown ahead of its elders in the CIAA and SIAC and its struggling Division I-AA partner the MEAC<\/a>. Most years it was Grambling or Jackson State battling for SWAC supremacy. But this year was different. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Alcorn State entered its yearly grudge match with Mississippi Valley ranked fourth in D I-AA football, thanks mostly to its rugged defense, which hadn’t allowed more than 16 points in a game all season. ASU’s defense was ranked second in the country, led by senior defensive back Issiac Holt, who already held the NCAA career mark in interceptions. It relied on a run-first, pass-second offense that that averaged 436 yards per game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “The emergence of Alcorn’s offense and its ability to control the ball and take time off the clock will limit Mississippi Valley’s scoring opportunities,” Jackson State coach W.C. Gorden told the Clarion-Ledger before the game. <\/p>\n\n\n\n That offense was good for 44.3 points, second in the country. And in the SWAC. And in Mississppi.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe Soul Patrol vs. Phi-Lookem-Jukem<\/h2>\n\n\n\n