Baseball/Football Player Honored For Historic Upset…
He is technically not a two sport college athlete yet, but Jacksonville State’s Coty Blanchard made a statement in his first college football game. Blanchard, a true freshman quarterback, is the Ohio Valley Conference co-Offensive Player of the week after helping the Gamecocks shock Mississippi 49-48 in 2 OT in Saturday’s season-opener in Oxford, MS.
Coty Blanchard
Blanchard was 9 for 13 passing for 126 yards and two touchdowns in the upset. He shares the OVC offensive honor with starting quarterback Marques Ivory, who was 13 for 23 for 126 and two TDs.
Jacksonville State’s win over Ole Miss is the OVC’s first victory over an SEC school since the league was formed in 1948.
Blanchard was taken by the Baltimore Orioles in the 41st round with the 1,228th overall pick in June’s MLB draft. He decided not to sign to that he could pursue both baseball and football at Jacksonville State and is expected to start at shortstop for the Gamecocks next spring.
Blanchard threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to Kevyn Cooper on fourth-and-15 to pull within 48-47 in the second overtime of the Ole Miss game. He then lofted a two-point conversion to running back Calvin Middleton to seal the win. The Gamecocks trailed the game 31-10 at halftime, before rallying for the win.
Blanchard is one of several college baseball players who play another sport in college who will be featured on the exclusive College Baseball 360 Two Sport Reports this fall. The first one will be published this week.