By REGGIE BENSON, Huntsville Times
A&M will try to avoid any chance of upset to Clark
Remember Texas Southern in 2005? How about Prairie View last season?
Alabama A&M was supposed to clobber both of those teams. Instead, the Bulldogs suffered letdowns and ended up losing to them.
Now, a week after Appalachian State shocked the world with its upset over Michigan, A&M will be trying to avoid an upset of similar proportions when Clark Atlanta, a former Division II rival in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, invades Louis Crews Stadium tonight in the Bulldogs' home opener. Kickoff is at 6:30.
Eleven years ago, Clark Atlanta came here and beat A&M 20-17 in triple overtime to spoil the grand opening of the stadium.
"Letdowns are always a concern," said A&M coach Anthony Jones, who reminded his team of that catastrophic loss earlier this week. "I can't speak for the team that we're playing. I know they have some talent. What I have to be concerned about is the team that I coach.
"We've done a lot of things to guard against a letdown. We've worked them hard. We've watched film. We've prepared them. We've done everything we could think of to guard against it and now our kids have to believe what we're saying."
A&M enters tonight's game 1-0 after its 49-23 romp over Tennessee State. Clark Atlanta is 0-2 after losses to Fort Valley State and West Georgia.
While Jones fears a letdown, he is also concerned about playing at home for the first time.
The Bulldogs have gone 4-1 at home each of the last five seasons, but even so, Jones says playing at home carries a certain amount of pressure.
"The excitement of playing at home for the first time is always a concern because you have a lot of distractions," he said. "You can lose focus and then you're in a dogfight."
See Texas Southern and Prairie View.
Texas Southern downed A&M 17-7 on homecoming a week after the Bulldogs had whipped Allen University. Prairie View held off A&M 13-7 a week after the Bulldogs clinched a berth in the Southwestern Athletic Conference championship game.
Jones admits Clark Atlanta has some formidable players.
Defensive end Curtis Jackson, a 6-foot-4, 245-pound senior from Lauderhill, Fla., has garnered some attention from NFL scouts. Meanwhile, quarterback Robert Coates is the Panthers' top playmaker.
"Jackson is special," Jones said. "He's a hard-working, relentless, physical kid that can run. Based on what I've seen on film, he's a heck of a football player. Their quarterback is very athletic and can make a lot of plays with his legs and he can throw the ball around and they've got some speed.
"Clark has some talent. If we do what we're supposed to do, we should be able to contain their big-play people. We should outnumber theirs and make some plays."
A&M will try to avoid any chance of upset to Clark
Remember Texas Southern in 2005? How about Prairie View last season?
Alabama A&M was supposed to clobber both of those teams. Instead, the Bulldogs suffered letdowns and ended up losing to them.
Now, a week after Appalachian State shocked the world with its upset over Michigan, A&M will be trying to avoid an upset of similar proportions when Clark Atlanta, a former Division II rival in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, invades Louis Crews Stadium tonight in the Bulldogs' home opener. Kickoff is at 6:30.
Eleven years ago, Clark Atlanta came here and beat A&M 20-17 in triple overtime to spoil the grand opening of the stadium.
"Letdowns are always a concern," said A&M coach Anthony Jones, who reminded his team of that catastrophic loss earlier this week. "I can't speak for the team that we're playing. I know they have some talent. What I have to be concerned about is the team that I coach.
"We've done a lot of things to guard against a letdown. We've worked them hard. We've watched film. We've prepared them. We've done everything we could think of to guard against it and now our kids have to believe what we're saying."
A&M enters tonight's game 1-0 after its 49-23 romp over Tennessee State. Clark Atlanta is 0-2 after losses to Fort Valley State and West Georgia.
While Jones fears a letdown, he is also concerned about playing at home for the first time.
The Bulldogs have gone 4-1 at home each of the last five seasons, but even so, Jones says playing at home carries a certain amount of pressure.
"The excitement of playing at home for the first time is always a concern because you have a lot of distractions," he said. "You can lose focus and then you're in a dogfight."
See Texas Southern and Prairie View.
Texas Southern downed A&M 17-7 on homecoming a week after the Bulldogs had whipped Allen University. Prairie View held off A&M 13-7 a week after the Bulldogs clinched a berth in the Southwestern Athletic Conference championship game.
Jones admits Clark Atlanta has some formidable players.
Defensive end Curtis Jackson, a 6-foot-4, 245-pound senior from Lauderhill, Fla., has garnered some attention from NFL scouts. Meanwhile, quarterback Robert Coates is the Panthers' top playmaker.
"Jackson is special," Jones said. "He's a hard-working, relentless, physical kid that can run. Based on what I've seen on film, he's a heck of a football player. Their quarterback is very athletic and can make a lot of plays with his legs and he can throw the ball around and they've got some speed.
"Clark has some talent. If we do what we're supposed to do, we should be able to contain their big-play people. We should outnumber theirs and make some plays."
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