AAMU Bulldogs looking for early answers

By REGGIE BENSON, Times Sports Staff

Alabama A&M prepares for first scrimmage today

Can Kevin Atkins move past Stanley Allen as Alabama A&M's backup quarterback? Will Ulysses Banks be able to hold off Anthony Green and Max Martin at running back? Who will step up along the offensive line and at wide receiver? And, can Whitney Garrett hold off Justin Harper, who started all of last season, at defensive tackle?

Those are just some of the questions A&M coach Anthony Jones and his staff will be trying to answer today when the Bulldogs hold their first full-scale scrimmage of the preseason. The action gets under way at 11:30 at Louis Crews Stadium.

"We're going to take a good look at the quarterback spot," said Jones, who hasn't been impressed with the play of Allen and Atkins. "We're going to look at the receivers, try to answer some questions on the offensive line and get some separation from the running backs.

"Defensively, we've got to decide on who's going to start at linebacker. Our secondary is pretty solid and we need to shore up the defensive line."

Allen filled in admirably in the Southwestern Athletic Conference championship in December to rally A&M to a 22-13 win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff after starter Kelcy Luke went down. However, according to Jones, Allen hasn't progressed in the offense and neither has Atkins, a redshirt freshman.

The Bulldogs are thin at receiver with the potential loss of rising junior Anthony Mitchell, who is in a battle to get eligible academically. A&M lost Kevin Francis, Emmanuel Edwards and Tedric Milton from last year's championship team.

A&M lost three fifth-year seniors along the offensive line and while the Bulldogs return a number of players there, many of them are inexperienced.

In the backfield, fullback Kevin McCants is the only running back that has carried the ball in a game for the Bulldogs. Banks led the nation in kickoff returns last season, but never carried the ball, while Green was redshirted. Martin hasn't played since the 2005 season at Michigan.

Defensively, seldom-used Garrett is trying to hold off Harper, while Carlton Rice, a Mississippi State transfer, is trying to unseat senior Jimmy Richardson at inside linebacker.

"We've got a good battle between Garrett and Harper," defensive coordinator Brawnski Towns said. "Harper started last year and made some plays. I haven't had a chance to see them on film to see who's going to be in that position."