Alabama A&M rallies to win Circle City Classic, 35-15
Taking advantage of four second-half turnovers and a blocked punt for a touchdown, Alabama A&M rallied past Tuskegee 35-15 today in the Circle City Classic at Lucas Oil Stadium.Alabama A&M trailed 15-0 but scored 35 unanswered points. Tuskegee (4-2) lost two fumbles, had two interceptions and had a punt blocked that Larry Lumpkin fell on for a score. The two traditional rivals from Alabama were playing a rematch of last year’s game, won 34-24 by Tuskegee, an NCAA Division II school. Ulysses Banks ran for 104 yards and a touchdown for A&M (4-1), an NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivsion (formerly I-AA) program. Korey Morrison also had a 42-yard interception return for a touchdown for A&M, alma mater of Colts defensive end Robert Mathis.
A time to rise
INDIANAPOLIS - For 30 minutes, Alabama A&M's defense had no answers against Tuskegee's offense. The Golden Tigers had their way against the Bulldogs in the first half, accumulating almost 230 yards, but only had an eight-point lead at intermission. The second half was totally different. The result was a 35-15 A&M victory before an announced crowd of 35,289 in the 26th annual Circle City Classic at Lucas Oil Stadium. The Bulldogs blanked Tuskegee over the final 30 minutes, holding the Golden Tigers to 23 yards in total offense while blocking a punt for a touchdown and forcing four turnovers that led to 17 points.
"We realized they couldn't hang with us if we played the way we were supposed to play," said A&M inside linebacker Afu Okosun, whose interception early in the fourth quarter helped set up Tony Green's 1-yard run that gave the Bulldogs a 25-15 lead with just less than nine minutes remaining. "We dominated the way we were supposed to dominate." With the win, A&M avenged last year's 34-24 loss to Tuskegee, and improved to 4-1 on the season. Tuskegee fell to 4-2.
Alabama A&M makes it a rivalry
For a half, it appeared Robert Mathis might be upset with his alma mater for the second year in a row. The Indianapolis Colts defensive end delivered a pregame speech to Alabama A&M prior to its 35-15 victory over Tuskegee in Saturday's Circle City Classic. The Bulldogs fell behind 15-0 before turning four second-half turnovers and a blocked punt in the end zone into a lopsided victory in the recently resurrected rivalry between the two Alabama schools. A&M lost 34-24 to Tuskegee in last year's Classic, the first time the schools had played since 1999 in a rivalry that dates to 1932. Mathis let the Bulldogs know what he thought about losing to the Golden Tigers.
"He was talking about last year's game and how he was down about that," said A&M running back Tony Green, whose 1-yard touchdown run was part of 20 fourth-quarter points. "He was here and wanted to see us whoop up on them." Alabama A&M leads the series 23-20-4, but when the schools next play is up in the air. The rivalry stopped after A&M won 54-0 in 1999 and moved from NCAA Division II to the Division I Football Championship Subdivision (I-AA) while Tuskegee remained Division II.
Circle City Classic Attendance: 35,289 @Lucus Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, IN.
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