Coach Jones Sets Record Straight On Birmingham News Article
A Birmingham News reporter apparently took Coach Joey Jones quote out of context on Sunday. The Press-Register posted an article Monday evening concerning the misunderstanding.
The article had the quote, “We try to keep (the opponents’ score) in the 40s,” Jones said. “You’re going to get beat bad, but if you can keep them in the 40s it’s OK.”
However, as always, context is what matters. Coach Jones told the Tommy Hicks of the Press-Register, “There was a question from the audience about Savannah State getting beat 77-0 and so I made a joke and said, ‘Yeah, we try to keep ours (games against bigger schools) in the 40s and not the 70s.’ I was just making a joke obviously and everyone in the room laughed,” Jones said.
In 2011, the Jags played two FBS teams in NC State and Kent State. The Jags played the NC State Wolfpack closely before turnovers and mistakes let them finish with a 35-13 win over the Jags. Then the Jags traveled to Kent State and allowed them to take a big first half lead, but the Jags roared back in the second half by scoring 25 unanswered points and had the ball with a chance to drive the field for a chance to tie the game with a potential 2-point conversion.
In both of those games the Jags kept the score under 40 and were very competitive in both, nothing like the article suggested with the out of context quotation.