Jackson State's offense, Deion Sanders, coaching get an A against Texas Southern

Jackson State football made history last week with its first 8-0 start to a season in program history. The Tigers (9-0, 6-0 SWAC) and Deion Sanders continued their dominance and put on a show in a 41-14 victory over Texas Southern (4-5, 3-3) at PNC Stadium in Houston, Texas, on Saturday.

Sanders is two wins away from an undefeated regular-season in his third season in Jackson.

Here's our report card from Jackson State's win over TSU:

Offense: A

The formula was simple for JSU offensively in the first half: get sophomore Sy'veon Wilkerson the ball. Wilkerson finished with 214 yards and two touchdowns. Both of Wilkerson's TDs came in the first half as Jackson State's offensive line looked dominant.

Texas Southern loaded the box in an attempt to slow down Wilkerson, but that's when Shedeur Sanders and Shane Hooks took over for JSU. Sanders had three of his four TDs in the second half. He connected with Hooks on two TDs, including a 9-yard pass with 14:19 remaining to give JSU a 27-point lead.

Hooks went two weeks without a TD after catching two from Sanders in Jackson State's victory over Bethune-Cookman on Oct. 15. Hooks finished with a team-high seven catches for 76 yards. Sanders led the team with 252 passing yards, a 76.6% completion percentage and three TDs.

Jackson State has scored 41 or more points five times this season.

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Defense: A-

Jackson State has been the best defense in the SWAC all season, and the Tigers proved it once again in Houston. Texas Southern had two chunk plays and both came in the first quarter. Andrew Body had a 43-yard pass to Randy Masters and two plays later, Body connected with Jacorey Howard for a 25-yard TD.

Texas Southern would need a JSU fumble just outside the red zone to score another touchdown. TSU finished with seven punts, 130 rushing yards and 132 receiving yards in the loss.

Jackson State headed into Saturday as the No. 1 ranked team in FCS football. The Tigers only allowed 3.27 yards per play and eight touchdowns in eight games.

It wasn't as dominant as JSU's shutout performance against Southern on Oct. 29 but it was nearly perfect.

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Special Teams: C

Deion Sanders talks a lot about being dominant in all phases of the game. Jackson State won comfortably Saturday but special teams was the one sour note on a convincing win.

A fumble from Willie Gaines at the JSU 23-yard line with 11:01 remaining in the third quarter set up Texas Southern to score. Eight plays later Jacorey Howard punched in an 11-yard TD run.

Coaching: A+

The excitement surrounding Jackson State's matchup against Southern was impossible for JSU's coaching staff to recreate. "College GameDay" was in Jackson before the Tigers smashed the Jaguars 35-0 and the city was out in mass to show their support.

Saturday's SWAC matchup against Texas Southern was a trap game. It would have been easy for the Tigers to have a dip in focus or execution after such a momentous weekend. Coach Deion Sanders and his staff didn't let that happen. Jackson State looked dominant from the opening kickoff and Sanders deserves a huge amount of credit for that. The Tigers were locked in.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Jackson State football grades: Deion Sanders' coaching gets an A+