Jacquez Jones looking to make Music City Bowl count in final college game

Jacquez Jones has played a lot of football. The former three-star recruit out of Tuscaloosa (Ala.) Hillcrest in the class of 2018 has been a starter since his true freshman season at Ole Miss. However, that journey will come to an end on New Year’s Eve.

The two-year starter is a super senior that will strap it up for the last time in a college game on Saturday afternoon. Jones is aware of that inevitability and is looking forward to the opportunity at the Music City Bowl.

“It’s big for me because I didn’t get a chance to play them [Iowa] last year because I was out with an injury. And I’ve been out the whole season with an injury,” Jacquez Jones told reporters after practice on Tuesday. “So coming to play this game means a lot to me. It also means a lot to everyone else on the team. We got another opportunity. It’s our last time to be we’re going to be together so we gotta make it count.”

“We want to go out there and handle business.”

Jones went out with a lower-body injury in the Week 5 loss to Ole Miss and did not return to the lineup until the Senior Day win over Louisville. In his return, Jones got a key fourth down stop in the red zone to stymie an early scoring opportunity for the road team. The former transfer has 300 career tackles and has made a handful of big plays during his career in the Bluegrass. Now he’s looking to lead a young team into the postseason.

“Everybody is having fun. But we know at the end of the day that we got a game to play so we still having fun but we still gotta handle business,” Jones told reporters. “That’s really the attitude.”

The future is quickly coming for Jacquez Jones, but the super senior is choosing to live in the moment right now. Expect the linebacker to play with full effort at Nissan Stadium.

“The NFL is not guaranteed,” said Jones. “So I’m going to play this game like my last and I’m going to give it all.”