Photo: SU defense unloaded on FAMU in 2007 MEAC/SWAC Challenge in Birmingham.
By JOSEPH SCHIEFELBEIN, Advocate sportswriter
The loss of junior linebacker Johnathan Malveaux presented a challenge to Southern University’s youth and depth at both inside linebacker positions the Jaguars answered Saturday.
Southern shut down Alabama State’s marquee running back, Jay Peck, and dismantled the Hornets’ passing game in a 21-2 victory in Mobile, Ala.
SU, now ranked 25th, did so without Malveaux, who was the team’s starter at okie as well as the most experienced linebacker. Malveaux was out with a high ankle sprain that likely will also keep him sidelined for Saturday’s homecoming game against Alabama A&M.
“It went pretty well,” SU linebackers coach Todd Middleton said. “They fed off each other. I don’t think they made any major mistakes.
“We’ll have to keep mixing up like that until Malveaux gets healthy.”
Instead, sophomore Brian Lewis, the backup at eagle, started at okie and had a career-high five tackles, all solo.
Lewis moved over to okie during the week of practice.
“You have to know where the blitz is coming from, and he picked that up pretty easily,” Middleton said.
Junior Donald Steele backed Lewis, who had a slight hamstring pull, and had a season-best four stops.
Meanwhile, sophomore Allan Baugh remained the starter at eagle and had a career-best five tackles as well. True freshman Corey Ray saw his first career action behind Baugh but did not have a tackle.
“He’s a very smart player,” Middleton said of Ray. “I knew he was going to play. It was just a matter of when.”
Baugh has 19 tackles (including half of a sack) and one interception after making just three tackles last season. Lewis, with 16 stops, had four tackles last season. Steele has eight tackles, matching his total from last year.
No see, no problem
On the play that helped Southern seal the victory over Alabama State — running back Darren Coates’ 51-yard gain on a screen pass — Coates had difficulty seeing.
“I saw two balls coming at me,” Coates said. “I just happened to catch the ball.”
Coates said his helmet had come down over his eye, causing poor vision. He said he went through “half a bottle of eye drop” trying to clear his eye.
The catch and run, first to the right and traversing to the left, set up a 23-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Gerard Landry with 3:08 remaining.
Money in the Banks
A&M sophomore Ulysses Banks ranks 20th nationally in all-purpose yardage (172.0 ypg).
Banks, the reigning Southwestern Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Week, has 491 yards and four touchdowns — averaging 7.4 yards per carry — as a running back. He has eight catches for 156 yards and two touchdowns — averaging 19.5 yards per catch. And he’s averaging 10.3 yards on three punt returns and 18.2 yards on 10 kickoff returns.
“He’s a versatile kid,” SU coach Pete Richardson said. “He’s making a lot of big plays for them. &hellip They’re going to put him in position where he’s going to get his hands on it and hopefully he can do something with it.”
Last season, Banks led the nation in kickoff returns, averaging 34.9 yards per return and scoring twice, and was the Southwestern Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year.
Return to sender
Southern is last in the nation, 116th of 116 Football Championship Subdivision teams, in kickoff returns, at 13.7 yards per return.
Plus, the Jaguars are 84th in punt returns, averaging a paltry 5.9 yards per return (along with muffing one and fumbling another in the season opener).
“I’m concerned about that, because we’re really not getting what we want out of it,” Richardson said.
Last season, SU averaged 19.1 yards per kickoff return (65th nationally) and 7.5 yards per punt return (80th).
In 2005, Southern led the nation in punt returns (19.1 per return) and was 11th in kickoff returns (22.38). The Jaguars were third in both in 2003: 26.4 per kickoff return and 15.7 per punt return.
Crowd control
Alabama A&M coach Anthony Jones said he is expecting a large crowd for homecoming.
“We have to try to get focused past that,” Jones said.
Jones said A&M will have to keep Southern’s crowd from becoming a factor.
“The best way to keep the crowd out of the game is not to give them a lot to cheer about,” Jones said. “That’s what we’ll try to do.”
Notes
Saturday, A&M blasted winless Texas Southern 48-24, with the Tigers falling to 0-5. Saturday, A&M will play undefeated SU (5-0). A&M is SU’s homecoming foe for the fifth time (previously doing so in 1999, 2001, ’03, ’05). SU was A&M’s homecoming opponent in 2004 and 1998 in Normal, Ala. In 2002, the teams met in the Circle City Classic in Indianapolis.
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