Sunday, September 16, 2007

Alabama A&M notebook


Reggie Benson, Huntsville Times

A&M offense on hold early

Alabama A&M's offense, which had scored 28 points in the first quarter in its first two games, failed to score in the opening 15 minutes Saturday night against Mississippi Valley State.

On A&M's first offensive play from scrimmage, quarterback Kelcy Luke was picked off by Sam Irons. The Bulldogs were forced to punt on their next three possessions despite good field position.

The Bulldogs put together two drives in the second quarter as Luke found tight end Charles Moody with a 7-yard touchdown pass to cap a six-play, 39-yard drive with 9:12 left in the half. Jeremy Licea kicked a 25-yard field goal to cap a 12-play, 55-yard drive to give A&M a 10-0 lead with 2:29 before intermission.

A&M, who entered the game averaging 45 points and 529 yards per game, had only 166 yards at halftime.

Luke returns to earth

Luke, who was named Southwestern Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Week after completing 21-of-32 passes for 301 yards and four touchdowns last week in a 41-10 victory over Clark Atlanta, struggled in the first half against Mississippi Valley State.

Luke completed just 8-of-18 passes for 56 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. He entered the game having completed 64 percent of his passes for 562 yards, seven touchdowns and just one interception.

Nice timing

Inside linebacker Jimmy Richardson, who lost his starting job to former Johnson High star Carlton Rice, picked a good time to come up with his first career interception.

With the game scoreless early in the second quarter, Richardson picked off a Semaj Williams pass to give the Bulldogs a first down at the MVSU 39.

Six plays later, Luke found Moody for the touchdown.

Moving the chains

With Alabama A&M's offense struggling early in the second quarter, Moody took matters into his own hands Saturday night against Mississippi Valley State.

Facing a fourth-and-four at the Delta Devils' 33-yard line, Luke found Moody, but he was short of the first down. The 6-foot, 249-pound Moody refused to go down, dragging a number of tacklers 6 yards to pick up the first down.

Traylor stuck in neutral

Defensive end Chris Traylor, who has more sacks than anybody in the Southwestern Athletic Conference over the last three seasons, had been held in check through Alabama A&M's first two games.

Traylor was shut out in the season opener against Tennessee State and managed just one last week against lowly Clark Atlanta.

Saturday night against Mississippi Valley State, Traylor had two in the first half and also forced a fumble.

Moland makes presence felt

Entering Saturday's game against Mississippi Valley State, Alabama A&M inside linebacker Avery Moland hadn't done much this season.

He had been credited with only nine tackles through the Bulldogs' first two games.

But he more than made up for it against the Delta Devils. Moland had seven tackles in the first half, including five solos and 2.5 tackles for loss. He also had one sack and recovered a fumble.

Commish in attendance

Duer Sharp, the interim commissioner of the Southwestern Athletic Conference, attended Saturday night's Alabama A&M-Mississippi Valley State game.

Sharp, who took over June 15 when Robert Vowels left to take a job with the NCAA, was in Jackson, Miss., Thursday night to watch the Jackson State-Texas Southern game. He was in Montgomery on Friday watching the Alabama State Invitational volleyball tournament and came to Huntsville on Saturday. Sharp was heading to Indianapolis this morning to attend a two-day NCAA conference.

"We just want the student-athletes and coaches to know we're interested in what they're doing," Sharp said.

It was the second time in two weeks that Sharp has been at A&M.

He watched A&M's football team practice on Sept. 4 and stayed around to watch the Bulldogs' first volleyball match under new coach Nedra Brown that night.

"You just want them to know that you're out and if there's an issue we're here to talk about it and we can get it resolved," Sharp said.

Defensive changes

Alabama A&M's starting defense underwent some changes for the third straight week.

Left defensive tackle Renaldo Askew, who started the season opener against Tennessee State before losing his job to David Winston last week against Clark Atlanta, returned to the starting lineup against Mississippi Valley State.

Askew was not credited with a tackle against TSU, while Winston was credited with one stop. Askew had two tackles, including one tackle for loss and a sack against Clark Atlanta, while Winston didn't record a tackle.

Right cornerback Maurice Thomas started for the second week in a row after regular starter Frank Moore was out of the starting lineup for the second straight week after violating team rules.

Furthermore

Former Lee High standout Grant Mattix handled kickoff duties for A&M Saturday night. ... A&M failed to score in the first quarter for the first time this season. ... WR Nate Baxter sustained an ankle injury late in the first quarter and never returned. ... Licea's 25-yard field goal late in the first half was his first of the season. .... Combined, A&M and MVSU were 2-of-15 on third-down conversions in the first half. ... A&M had eight sacks through its first two games. The Bulldogs had four sacks in the first half against Mississippi Valley State.

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