Texas Southern's drought deepens

By REGGIE BENSON, Times Sports Staff

Texas Southern falters further with Wilson at helm

Steve Wilson was supposed to resurrect Texas Southern's moribund football program when he was hired four years ago. Instead, the Tigers have sunk even lower.

Texas Southern hasn't had a winning season since 2000 and the Tigers' last Southwestern Athletic Conference championship came way back in 1968. Wilson was supposed to change all that.

He did it at Howard University, where he led the Bison to a pair of black college national championships in the mid-1990s. Unfortunately, he hasn't been able to duplicate that success in Houston and Texas Southern alumni and fans have begun to voice their displeasure. Some have even called for him to be fired.

Under Wilson, the Tigers went 0-11 in 2004, 1-10 in 2005, 3-8 in 2006 and are 0-4 so far this season. Combined, Wilson has compiled an underwhelming 4-33 record at Texas Southern.

"Our season is not over yet," Wilson said earlier this week during the league's weekly teleconference. "We can't control what has happened in the past. We can either sit and mope around or do something about it. We have six conference games left, including the meat of our division schedule in front of us.

"We feel good about our opportunities. We're not going to sit and worry about what has happened in the past. When you do that you stop playing to win. We're capable of playing good football. It's just a matter of getting it done."

This time two years ago, Texas Southern came here and played good football.

The Tigers, riding a 16-game losing streak, shocked Alabama A&M 17-7 on homecoming. The two teams will meet again on homecoming Saturday at Louis Crews Stadium. Kickoff is 3 p.m.


Texas Southern has played A&M extremely tough during Wilson's tenure.

The Bulldogs won 22-3 in 2004, lost in 2005 and escaped last season with a 19-14 victory on a late interception by Marcus Black.

"We match up well with them," Wilson said when asked why his team has been so competitive against A&M. "They're a physical football team and that's the way we like to play."

Texas Southern caught A&M coming off a 42-0 win over NAIA foe Allen University two years ago. The Bulldogs were feeling pretty good about themselves and perhaps overlooked the Tigers.

Wilson knows that won't be the case this time around, especially after Grambling whipped A&M 31-6 last weekend.

"We're going to catch them at their best," he said. "We know they're going to be hungry. They're a championship football team and they'll be ornery this weekend.

"It's their homecoming and the coaches will get their attention and have them ready to play."

But A&M coach Anthony Jones says Wilson will have his team ready to play as well.

"They're coming down here to do everything they can to upset us on homecoming," Jones said. "This is a team that if you're not alert in handling all your P's and Q's can be very scary.

"They're big and physical and they can run. They were in the game against Prairie View and Alabama State and played Jackson State tough before the weather became a factor. This is not a team to be joking with."