Alabama A&M notebook

Photo: SWAC pre-season defensive player of the year, FS Jarmaul George is just one of the many game breakers that SU has available to stop opponents.

Huntsville Times

Bulldogs have concerns about secondary

Alabama A&M's secondary had held up pretty well in wins over Tennessee State, Clark Atlanta and Mississippi Valley State. The Bulldogs had allowed under 160 yards per game in those three victories.

However, A&M gave up 235 yards in a 31-6 loss at Grambling and then allowed a season-high 352 yards in Saturday's 48-24 win over Texas Southern as quarterback Tino Edgecombe was 29-of-59 with three touchdowns and three interceptions.

While A&M coach Anthony Jones voiced some concerns about the Bulldogs' secondary play, he admitted the nature of the game dictated some of the things that happened.

"They were trailing throughout the game and that forced them to throw the ball almost 60 times," he said. "We had three interceptions and we had our hands on a few more that we let slip away."

But Jones admitted the Bulldogs would have to play a lot better if they hoped to beat Southern this weekend.

The Jaguars are 5-0 overall and 3-0 in SWAC play after beating Alabama State 21-2 Saturday.

"We'll go back to the drawing board and try to make some adjustments to curb that," Jones said in reference to his team's problems in the secondary.

"We know if Southern has that kind of success against us the results won't be the same."

A different Southern team: Southern's best teams under coach Pete Richardson have usually been highly productive through the air.

This year's squad has been effective throwing the football with sophomore quarterback Bryant Lee. But the Jaguars have been equally impressive running the ball, led by senior Darren Coates, who has been among the SWAC's top rushers.

"They're going to run the football," Jones said. "They still have a relatively young quarterback and their coaches are doing a great job of putting him in situations where he can manage the game.

"They're going to try to run the ball and we've got to be geared up to stop it. They've got some serious weapons when they throw the ball. (Gerard) Landry is really fast. They are an explosive unit. They're going to be a group that will be hard to contain."

A little worried in warmups: Jones is usually pretty good about gauging his team during pregame warmups. That wasn't the case Saturday.

Fortunately for A&M, it worked out as the Bulldogs rolled to an easy win over Texas Southern.

"Coach (Ben) Blacknall and I talked during pregame and we were trying to figure out which team was going to show up," Jones said. "I couldn't make a good assessment. Either we were going to come out and explode or lay an egg.

"Thank God we exploded."

A&M scored on four of its first five possessions and rolled up 514 yards in total offense.

Reggie Benson