Howard Bison mulls options at quarterback

COURTESY HOWARD UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- For the last four seasons, the Howard football team had stability at quarterback thanks to Greg McGhee. The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference’s all-time leader in total offense combined leadership and smart decision-making with a flair for the dramatic, often improvising to turn broken plays into long gains.

He was a player in the likeness of offensive coordinator Ted White, the former Bison quarterback who helped tutor McGhee and had held many of the records his star pupil broke. That first-hand experience gives White uncommon insight into what goes into developing a standout quarterback beyond such things as arm strength and accuracy.

There’s an intangible quality too, what Bison Coach Gary Harrell refers to as the “It Factor.” McGhee, he said, had that in excess.

Harrell and White, though, aren’t seeking the next McGhee to emerge from among the four quarterbacks competing for the starting job this season, which will begin Saturday with a visit to Appalachian State.

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Bethune-Cookman’s South Florida players, former Hurricanes motivated for Miami

DAYTONA BEACH, Florida  -- Saturday’s season-opener should be the least difficult game on Miami’s schedule.

Bethune-Cookman probably loves to hear that kind of talk.

The Wildcats will be motivated Saturday, having brought their usual complement of South Florida players – and a couple former Hurricanes – to Sun Life Stadium for the season-opener (6 p.m., ESPN3.com).

They have been an FCS powerhouse in the last half-decade and even made a shoddy Miami defense sweat in their 2012 meeting. Since then, they’ve toppled FIU twice, but managed two total touchdowns in blowout losses at FSU (2013) and UCF (2014).

After going 46-14 under controversial coach Brian Jenkins (now at Alabama State), they won’t change too much after promoting former assistant Terry Sims.



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Florida A&M Names Carson Royal Starting Quarterback

CARSON ROYAL
6-2/200  RJr.
QUARTERBACK
FLORIDA A&M UNIVERSITY RATTLERS
Hometown: Jacksonville, Fla. (Yulee HS)
Courtesy: Florida A&M University Athletics
 

TALLAHASSEE, Florida  -- The quarterback race at Florida A&M was not as intense as the one at Florida State, as head coach Alex Wood has been pretty clear all camp who the front runners.

Coach Wood praised both Kenny Coleman and Carson Royal since day one, but has said Royal, who got the most reps in the spring game, has stood out and been the leader.

Wood said the Rattlers finished preseason prep over the weekend, and FAMU decided as a staff that Royal will be the started for 2015, simply because he is the most prepared.

"He's been studying it a lot, and made some good decisions," Wood said of Royal's understanding of the offense.

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Jackson State Tigers seeking ‘identity’

JACKSON, Mississippi -- Successful football teams typically establish an identity, home in on it, then try to execute it better than anybody else.

As the season opener against Middle Tennessee State stands just a few days away, Jackson State coach Harold Jackson is hoping his team can pinpoint some defining characteristics this fall.

“That’s the thing I told my guys the other day, we need to go find some sort of an identity,” Jackson said during the SWAC’s weekly teleconference on Monday.

During camp, the defense, which finished seventh in the SWAC in sacks last season, showed it can harass the passer with the likes of defensive ends Javancy Jones, Teddrick Terrell, Keontre Anderson and Rodney Shorter II on the edges.

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Southern coach Dawson Odums aware of the challenge of playing at Louisiana Tech

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana -- Southern coach Dawson Odums is well aware of the differences in his program and that of FBS Louisiana Tech heading into this week’s season opener in Ruston.

While Southern is one of the top team in the Southwestern Athletic Conference, Odums acknowledged in his weekly luncheon press conference that there is a difference between the two leagues.



“(Louisiana Tech is) a level up from us, and just to have the opportunity to play in that kind of environment should create some excitement and should get you ready to play,” Odums said. “I think La. Tech is a worthy opponent. They’re a good program, and you have to come in with the right mindset. I think when you do that, you give yourself a chance.”

The biggest factor separating the two programs is the number of scholarship players each has on its roster, Odums said.

The Jaguars have only 65 scholarship athletes, filling in the rest of the depth chart with walk-on talent. Louisiana Tech has 80 scholarship players out of the Division I maximum allotment of 85.

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La. Tech dismisses the notion of a slip up vs. Southern

RUSTON, Louisiana – At this time 11 months ago, Jeff Driskel spent his fall in a Florida Gators uniform nearly 1,000 miles away from Louisiana Tech.

The fifth-year senior quarterback wasn’t present for Tech’s 30-27 upset loss against Northwestern State last September, but he’s heard enough from his teammates inside the Bulldogs’ locker room about the unnerving defeat to an in-state FCS opponent.

In other words, there should be no issue getting up for Saturday’s season opener against Southern, which just so happens to be another in-state FCS foe.

“A lot of the guys still have that bad taste in their mouth. Especially with this being the first game, if you have difficulty getting excited for a first game, there is something wrong with you,” Driskel said Monday.

“Obviously, I was not here for that game, but that is something that you don’t forget. Going into a game you are supposed to win and should win because you are more talented than the other team, but that is why you play the game. We are not going to go out and roll a helmet out there and win. We understand that.”

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ASU Hornets, Kennesaw State To Play Beginning in 2017; 2016 Football Schedule Set

ASU FOOTBALL STADIUM
COURTESY: ALABAMA STATE UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS

MONTGOMERY, Alabama -- Alabama State University and Kennesaw State University have agreed to a four-year football contract  beginning in 2017, both schools announced today.

The Hornets and Owls will face each other in a home-and home series beginning Sept. 16, 2017 at Kennesaw State. Other game dates are Sept. 15, 2018 at Alabama State, Sept. 14, 2019 at Kennesaw State, and Sept. 19, 2020 at Alabama State.

"With the Southwestern Athletic Conference's move back to a seven-game league schedule beginning in 2017, we have been very aggressive in adding quality opponents for Alabama State football during the last few months," Interim Athletic Director Melvin Hines said. "Adding quality opponents within driving distance from Montgomery should excite and energize Hornet Nation for ASU football both at home and on the road."

With the earlier announcement of the matchup with Texas San Antonio, along with Miles' two-year game contract beginning this season, the 2016 ASU Football Schedule is set.

2016 Schedule
                Sept. 3                  at Texas San Antonio
                Sept. 10                at Alcorn State*
                Sept. 17                at Southern*
                Sept. 24                vs. Texas Southern*
                Oct. 1                    vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff*
                Oct. 8                    at Prairie View*
                Oct. 15                  vs. Miss. Valley State*
                Oct. 29                  vs. Alabama A&M* (in Birmingham; 75^th Magic City Classic)
                Nov. 5                   vs Jackson State*
                Nov. 12                 at Grambling State*
                Nov. 19                 vs. Miles (93^rd Turkey Day Classic / Homecoming)

2017 Non-Conference Schedule
                Sept. 2                  Tuskegee
                Sept. 9                  at Troy
                Sept. 16                at Kennesaw State

2018 Non-Conference Schedule              
                Sept. 1                  Tuskegee
                Sept. 15                Kennesaw State
                Oct. 13                  at South Alabama

2019 Non-Conference Schedule              
                Sept. 7                  Tuskegee
                Sept. 14                at Kennesaw State

2020 Non-Conference Schedule              
                Sept. 5                  Tuskegee
                Sept. 19                Kennesaw State

Home games in bold; * denotes conference games; schedule subject to change
 

The 2015 Hornets, under first-year head coach Brian Jenkins, will open the season this Sunday at Tennessee State in the John Merritt Classic, with a 5:30 p.m. pregame show and 6 p.m. kickoff on the ASU Hornet Sports Network. The Hornets open the home schedule Saturday, Sept. 12 vs. Alcorn State at 6 p.m. and Saturday, Sept. 19 vs. Grambling State in the Prince Hall Mason's Americanism Football Classic. Season and single game tickets for Hornets' football are sale by phone at 334-229-4551 or in person at the ASU Ticket Office. Single game tickets start at just $10 online at bamastatesports.com/tickets.

COURTESY ALABAMA STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION