HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- Tantalizingly, it sat there, just out of reach. It never seemed that far away. Like something stashed on the top shelf you need to get on tippy-toes to reach.
"I just knew the big break was coming," Alabama A&M running back Kaderius Lacey said. "I knew it was coming."
But it never came.
Flat and fuzzy focused, Alabama A&M (6-1, 5-1 in the SWAC) flopped on homecoming Saturday afternoon, losing to Alcorn State 21-20 in front of an announced crowd of 16,781; double that figure for the number of people on tailgating on campus who neglected to come inside Louis Crews Stadium.
It spoiled a significant bit of history -- no Alabama A&M Division I-level team had ever started 7-0 and it would seem to assure that the Bulldogs' recent appearance in the NCAA Coaches' Poll of FCS schools, at 25th, will be little more than a cameo role.
"I don't think we were focused where we needed to be and we made some mistakes all across the field," coach Anthony Jones said.
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Alabama A&M's Great Homecoming Charade spoils chance to make history
HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- So gleaming the recent past, you had to squint.
So bright the future, you needed shades.
Then came the Great Homecoming Charade.
Alabama A&M only acted like a good team. It got itself humbled. It got a reminder in its 21-20 loss to Alcorn State.
Said A&M coach Anthony Jones, "we can never be blinded by our accomplishments again."
It went from 6-0 and ranked for the first time in the NCAA FCS poll -- that was NCAA Division I-AA in the dial-up days -- to 6-1 and a non-factor nationally.
This was a page of history wadded up and thrown away. No A&M team had started 7-0 since 1968.
This was a homecoming float with a flat tire, gumming up the whole works.
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