JACKSON, Miss. – Freshman Shedeur Sanders passed for 251 yards and tossed three touchdowns to lead Jackson State past Delta State 24-17 in the 2021 W.C. Gorden Classic.
 
JSU (3-1, 1-0 SWAC) jumped out to a 17-0 first-half lead. Glenn Misiak started the scoring with a 40-yard field goal. Sanders connected with Keith Corbin III at the 52-second mark in the first quarter to put JSU up 10-0. Sanders found Corbin III again late in the second quarter with a 13-yard toss.
 
Sanders' third touchdown pass was at 1:16 in the third quarter to Warren Newman.
 
For the second week in a row Newman was a focal point of the Tigers' offense. Coming off a career-high 10 receptions last week at ULM, the senior set another career-high with 11 receptions.
 
Corbin III grabbed eight passes for 113 yards and two touchdowns in his coming-out party for the Tigers.
 
Junior Santee Marshall toted the rock for 64 yards on 14 attempts for an average of 4.4 yards per carry.
 
Senior linebacker Aubrey Miller, Jr. finished with a team-high nine tackles and added one-and-a-half tackles for loss. Fellow senior linebacker Keonte Hampton finished with six-and-a-half tackles.
 
Senior James Houston and junior Devonta Davis each recorded a sack. JSU held DSU (2-2, 0-1 GSC) to 3 of 17 on third down.
 
Quick Hits:
 
JSU won the time-of-possession battle 35:32 to 24:28
 
Newman career-high 11 receptions
 
JSU recorded 21 first downs; DSU added 10 first downs
 
Tigers held Statesmen to 237 yards

Shedeur Sanders was W.C. Gorden Classic Offensive MVP and Antwan Owens was W.C. Gorden Classic Defensive MVP.