By BRENT WORONOFF, Daytona Beach News-Journal
DAYTONA BEACH -- After Saturday's 31-17 victory over Jacksonville, Bethune-Cookman coach Alvin Wyatt was sort of like Jack Nicholson as the Joker in Batman.
He had a smile plastered on his face that he couldn't or didn't want to get rid of. But he also knew the celebration after the season-opening victory at Municipal Stadium couldn't last long. Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference opponent South Carolina State is due in town on Saturday, and it would soon be time to get back to work.
"We're going up against a stronger, faster, better, bigger opponent next week when we play South Carolina State," Wyatt said. "It won't be anything like this game."
For starters, more than pride will be on the line. With at least four MEAC teams capable of going 7-1 in the conference, the Wildcats can't afford a sluggish start.
"You never want to start off the MEAC at 0-1," said B-CU quarterback Jimmie Russell, who ran for three touchdowns and produced 217 yards of total offense in the win against the Dolphins.
S.C. State has lost just one or two conference games in each of the past four seasons, and the Bulldogs were the preseason choice to win the conference title this year in a vote of league coaches and sports information directors.
The Bulldogs know how hard it is to rebound from an early conference loss. B-CU rallied back from a 14-0 deficit to thump S.C. State 45-21 in Charleston, S.C., last season. The loss wound up keeping the Bulldogs out of first place in the conference, as Hampton claimed the MEAC's playoff spot for a third consecutive season.
"We're at a point where we need to make the playoffs," Bulldogs coach Buddy Pough said before the season.
Pough would like nothing more than to beat the Wildcats this year after suffering losses to Wyatt's team in three of the past five seasons. But the Bulldogs took a totally different approach than the 'Cats in preparing for the conference opener.
While B-CU played a non-scholarship Division I-AA team (now known as the Football Championship Subdivision) on Saturday, S.C. State traveled to Colorado Springs, Colo., to play a Division I-A team for the first time in its 100-year history.
Air Force sent the visitors home with a 34-3 drubbing. The Bulldogs were held to 160 yards of offense and were sacked six times. Their only highlights came in the kicking game. Stephen Grantham booted a 51-yard field goal, while punter Aaron Haire had a 40.9-yard average including a 61-yard punt. But even those positive numbers might have been skewed.
"Kicking at altitude is a lot better than kicking in South Carolina," Grantham said after the game.
Pough didn't see any positives at all. When the Bulldogs scheduled the game they had expected to see Fisher DeBerry's flex-bone offense, which is very similar to B-CU's Wyattbone. But Air Force has a new coach this year in Troy Calhoun, and a new offense. The Falcons did show some triple option but also lined up in a variety of other formations and passed more than previous Air Force teams. The Falcons rolled up 455 yards of offense.
"We played hard, but we played poorly on both sides of the ball," Pough said. "It was just ugly. We have a lot of work to do before we play Bethune-Cookman."
DAYTONA BEACH -- After Saturday's 31-17 victory over Jacksonville, Bethune-Cookman coach Alvin Wyatt was sort of like Jack Nicholson as the Joker in Batman.
He had a smile plastered on his face that he couldn't or didn't want to get rid of. But he also knew the celebration after the season-opening victory at Municipal Stadium couldn't last long. Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference opponent South Carolina State is due in town on Saturday, and it would soon be time to get back to work.
"We're going up against a stronger, faster, better, bigger opponent next week when we play South Carolina State," Wyatt said. "It won't be anything like this game."
For starters, more than pride will be on the line. With at least four MEAC teams capable of going 7-1 in the conference, the Wildcats can't afford a sluggish start.
"You never want to start off the MEAC at 0-1," said B-CU quarterback Jimmie Russell, who ran for three touchdowns and produced 217 yards of total offense in the win against the Dolphins.
S.C. State has lost just one or two conference games in each of the past four seasons, and the Bulldogs were the preseason choice to win the conference title this year in a vote of league coaches and sports information directors.
The Bulldogs know how hard it is to rebound from an early conference loss. B-CU rallied back from a 14-0 deficit to thump S.C. State 45-21 in Charleston, S.C., last season. The loss wound up keeping the Bulldogs out of first place in the conference, as Hampton claimed the MEAC's playoff spot for a third consecutive season.
"We're at a point where we need to make the playoffs," Bulldogs coach Buddy Pough said before the season.
Pough would like nothing more than to beat the Wildcats this year after suffering losses to Wyatt's team in three of the past five seasons. But the Bulldogs took a totally different approach than the 'Cats in preparing for the conference opener.
While B-CU played a non-scholarship Division I-AA team (now known as the Football Championship Subdivision) on Saturday, S.C. State traveled to Colorado Springs, Colo., to play a Division I-A team for the first time in its 100-year history.
Air Force sent the visitors home with a 34-3 drubbing. The Bulldogs were held to 160 yards of offense and were sacked six times. Their only highlights came in the kicking game. Stephen Grantham booted a 51-yard field goal, while punter Aaron Haire had a 40.9-yard average including a 61-yard punt. But even those positive numbers might have been skewed.
"Kicking at altitude is a lot better than kicking in South Carolina," Grantham said after the game.
Pough didn't see any positives at all. When the Bulldogs scheduled the game they had expected to see Fisher DeBerry's flex-bone offense, which is very similar to B-CU's Wyattbone. But Air Force has a new coach this year in Troy Calhoun, and a new offense. The Falcons did show some triple option but also lined up in a variety of other formations and passed more than previous Air Force teams. The Falcons rolled up 455 yards of offense.
"We played hard, but we played poorly on both sides of the ball," Pough said. "It was just ugly. We have a lot of work to do before we play Bethune-Cookman."
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