Alabama A&M notebook

Huntsville Times

Bulldogs gobble up ground

Alabama A&M's running game, which was limited to 30 yards rushing in a 31-6 loss last week at Grambling, showed up Saturday afternoon against Texas Southern.

The Bulldogs finished with a season-high 308 yards on 46 carries as five different players had 30 or more yards.

Ulysses Banks led with 112 yards on 17 carries. Anthony Green had 60 yards on nine carries, Generion McWhorter had 40 yards on three carries, Kevin McCants had 39 yards on four carries and quarterback Kelcy Luke had 32 yards on eight carries.

Harris on the move

Thomas Harris, a sophomore wide receiver, was involved in the running game early on.

On Alabama A&M's second play from scrimmage, Harris went 22 yards on a reverse that helped set up Banks' 9-yard touchdown run.

Cummings a force early

Defensive end Dominique Cummings has played behind Chris Traylor for much of his career, but the 6-foot-3, 190-pounder made his presence felt early against Texas Southern.

Cummings had a pass breakup on the Tigers' second possession of the game to force a field goal and later in the first quarter came up with his first sack of the season when he dropped quarterback Tino Edgecombe for a 6-yard loss.

Unfortunately for A&M, the Tigers came back to score on the next play as Edgecombe found B.J. Haith with a 32-yard touchdown pass.

Donaldson swipes pass No. 2

Free safety Al Donaldson took over the team lead in interceptions early in the second quarter.

Donaldson, a junior from Crawfordsville, Fla., picked off an Edgecombe pass early in the second quarter that led to a 12-yard touchdown pass from Luke to Gerald Stockdale.

Donaldson, who had four tackles and three pass breakups, now has two interceptions on the season. He had one in the season opener against Tennessee State that also led to a touchdown.

Luke picked off again

Luke threw his fourth interception of the season on Alabama A&M's first possession of the second quarter.

The Bulldogs had moved from their own 31 to a first down at the Texas Southern 40. Two plays later, facing a third-and-four from the 34, Luke's poorly thrown ball, intended for Rashad Johnson, was picked off by Texas Southern's Chris Salvant.

Luke threw just eight interceptions all of last season.

McWhorter an opportunist

McWhorter, a fullback, hadn't gotten many opportunities through Alabama A&M's first four games, but he had made the most of them.

Going into Saturday's game, McWhorter had only 40 yards on five carries, but was averaging a whopping 8.0 yards per carry. He topped that average in the first half against Texas Southern.

A 5-foot-10, 208-pound redshirt freshman out of Jasper, McWhorter had 40 yards on three carries, including a 27-yard jaunt to help set up Luke's 12-yard touchdown pass to Stockdale midway through the second quarter.

Stockdale scores his first TD

Saturday was a big day for Stockdale.

A 6-2, 223-pound junior from Talladega, hadn't scored a touchdown during his career. However, that all changed when quarterback Luke found Stockdale with a 12-yard touchdown pass midway through the second quarter.

"I saw the coverage a couple of plays before the touchdown," said Stockdale, who had three catches for 37 yards.

"I knew Kelcy was going to get it to me quick and I had to get in the end zone."

Harper picks off Edgecombe

Not only did defensive tackle Justin Harper make his first start of the season Saturday against Texas Southern, he also got his first career interception.

Harper, who lost his job to Whitney Garrett last spring and underwent surgery during the preseason on his left thumb, had a sack early in the third quarter and then recorded his first interception early in the fourth quarter.

Edgecombe's pass was tipped by defensive end Traylor and Harper was there to pick it off.

"I almost dropped it," Harper said. "It rolled around in my hands, but I finally got a hold of it."

Opponents are ex-teammates

Alabama A&M defensive back Stephan Tucker and Texas Southern's Edgecombe were former teammates during their Pop Warner football days in Miami.

"We were real cool," Tucker remembered.

Tucker was 2-1 against Edgecome entering Saturday's game.

"I just want to win," he said. "I'm not worried about any personal battles. I just want to get this win and go on to the next game."

Tucker forced Edgecombe to fumble early in the third quarter and recovered it. He finished with four tackles. Edgecombe completed 29-of-59 passes for 352 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions.

However, Tucker came away with a 48-24 victory.

Praise for Bulldogs

Texas Southern quarterback Steve Wilson said Alabama A&M was the best team the Tigers have faced in the Southwestern Athletic Conference because of Luke.

"There's a lot of things you can do with a senior quarterback," Wilson said. "He's the difference. He's a good runner, a good passer and he checks off well at the line of scrimmage.

"As long as they keep him healthy, they'll have a chance."

Furthermore

The 28 points A&M scored in the first half were the most the Bulldogs have scored in the first half this season. ... Luke has thrown at least three touchdown passes in four of A&M's five games this season. ... A&M place-kicker Jeremy Licea has made eight straight field goals dating back to last year's Southwestern Athletic Conference championship game.

Reggie Benson