Tennessee State 21, Jackson State 20

Jackson State's defense held out for three quarters, keeping Tennessee State scoreless.
In fact, neither team had scored at halftime.

In the end, however, Tennessee State took advantage of all 15 minutes in that last quarter, and a 6-yard touchdown pass with 8 seconds left tied the game. The extra point put the game away.

Thus ended one of the hardest fought games in the Classic's history.

For TSU's Charles Anthony, that last-minute TD was his second of the quarter, but Jackson State's offense never gave up. As the Nashville team started scoring, the Jackson team pulled off some big plays of its own.

Jackson State's Cletis Gordon had returned a punt for a 73-yard touchdown in the third quarter. Then Tennessee State's Dominique Rodgers grabbed an interception for a 35-yard touchdown to start the scoring in the fourth quarter.

Not to be outdone, Gordon took the ensuing kickoff 89 yards for another touchdown.

The final statement on this day belonged to Tennessee State. Their last drive took 18 plays to go 84 yards.

A crowd of 55,015 saw a classic Classic.