Monday, September 3, 2007

Alabama A&M notebook: TSU coach praises Luke

Reggie Benson, Huntsville Times

Tennessee State coach praises Luke

Tennessee State coach James Webster praised A&M quarterback Kelcy Luke after the Bulldogs whipped the Tigers 49-23 Saturday night.

Luke, who picked A&M over TSU after deciding to transfer from Auburn four years ago, is 3-1 against the Tigers in four career starts. Saturday night, Luke was brilliant, completing 18-of-29 passes for 261 yards and three touchdowns. He also ran for a touchdown.

"Luke is a winner," Webster said. "I love the guy. When they needed to have plays made, he made the plays."

Trick play pays off: With his team struggling to get untracked in the first quarter against Tennessee State, Alabama A&M coach Anthony Jones went into his bag of tricks and came out with a play that practically turned the game around.

With the Bulldogs backed up deep in their own territory, Jones called for a reverse pass and wide receivers Gerald Stockdale and Thomas Harris made it work.

Stockdale, a former quarterback at Talladega Central High School, found Harris for 42 yards down to the TSU 44 and Kelcy Luke found Harris on the next play for the touchdown. A&M went 86 yards in 18 seconds to tie the game.

"That woke our kids up and I think they were a little unsure of themselves," Jones said. "It forced them to make some adjustments and then after halftime, we came back out with some things they hadn't seen and really played well."

A&M scored 35 points and had 250 yards in total offense in the second half.

Defense rebounds: A&M's defense gave up 171 yards in the first quarter against Tennessee State, but settled down and did a much better job over the last three quarters, defensive coordinator Brawnski Towns said.

The Bulldogs allowed just 211 yards the rest of the game and forced four turnovers, three of which led to A&M touchdowns.

"We had a lot of young kids playing for the first time and we didn't do a good job of coming off the ball and staying in our gaps in the first quarter," Towns said. "We talked about that and the kids responded well.

They made some mistakes, but they hustled all night and that was the key for us winning the game."

According to the tackle chart, 10 newcomers recorded stops for the Bulldogs.

Alabama A&M University Marching Maroon and White Band


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