Week 7: Pretenders vs. Contenders

A new powerhouse has emerged in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. This is a good thing!

Bethune-Cookman has beaten South Carolina State, breaking the Bulldogs string of 21 consecutive conference wins. The Wildcats in their 14-0 shutout Saturday at Oliver C. Dawson Stadium in Orangeburg also broke the Bulldogs 13 game home winning streak.

With the win, the Wildcats are tied with the Hampton Pirates for the conference lead with a 4-0 record. B-CU is scheduled to play the Pirates on November 6 in Hampton. The Bulldogs drop into a second place tie with Florida A&M with a 2-1 conference mark.

The Bulldogs have little time to recover as Hampton is scheduled for Saturday at Dawson Stadium in an ESPNU nationally televised cable game. Both the Bulldogs and Rattlers will need some help from the other MEAC teams, if they expect to overtake the Wildcats for the championship.

The Wildcats (6-0/4-0 MEAC) will play at North Carolina Central in Durham next Saturday in a non-conference game. The Eagles (2-4) fell to the upstart Georgia State Panthers 20-17 in overtime at the Georgia Dome.

Who ARE Those Guys on the B-CU Coaching Staff?

For starters, 39 year old first year head coach Brian Jenkins has never served as a head football coach at any level -- not even Pop Warner, junior high or high school. Jenkins was a career Division I position coach, serving 15 years at a number of schools as either wide receivers, running back or special teams coach at: Rutgers (2009), Louisiana-Lafayette (2002-08), NFL Europe - Frankfort Galaxy (2001), Bowling Green (2000), Eastern Illinois (1995-1999) and Western Kentucky (1994).

Coach Jenkins played wide receiver and running back at the University of Cincinnati and earned an associate’s degree in Education and bachelor’s degree in social work in 1993.

Jenkins is a native of Fort Lauderdale, Florida and played football at Dillard High School under a renowned high school football coach, the late Otis Gray. Jenkins played on the 1986 and 1989 Dillard High School State Championship teams with NFL running back Lorenzo White.

For you football historians, Gray is the father of former Florida A&M University and Jacksonville Jaguars star quarterback Quinn Gray Sr., who also played for his father at Dillard High School.

Nothing in Jenkins vitae shed any light to his instant success with B-CU other than the assembly of a great coach staff with great teaching skills, and superb chemistry with the players.

Offensive Coordinator Mark Orlando's Speedway O scheme has the Wildcats ready to play every game while their opponents look totally confused and unprepared for the no-huddle offense. His scheme is very similar to the legendary "Gulf Coast Offense" ran by former FAMU Coach Billy Joe during the 1990's on his way to several FCS playoffs berths.

Orlando won the 1981 Division I-AA National Championship as FAMU's offensive coordinator during six seasons with the Rattlers; five SWAC Championships and three HBCU National Championships during his tenure at Southern University under former Jaguars head coach Pete Richardson.

The jury is still out on Coach Jenkins, but we can confirm he is a great recruiter of Florida talent, a tremendous leader and exceptional facilitator of proven coaching talent. That in itself is a major plus up for MEAC Football -- that now has a four- headed monster in the Wildcats, Pirates, Bulldogs and Rattlers, battling for the MEAC Football Championship and FCS playoff berth.

Link: B-CU Football Coaches

Surprise of the Week: Jackson State quarterback Casey Therriault throwing a 28 yard TD with two seconds left in the game for a 49-45 Tiger victory over Southern. Therriault has passed for 2,087 yards and 20 touchdowns in six games. He has only 3 interceptions on the year and has rushed for 3 TDs.

Grambling State has hitched its wagon to senior running back Frank Warren who recorded his second 200 yard rushing game of the season. The Tigers' (5-1, 5-0 SWAC) earned a 38-28 win, as Warren rushed for 202 yards and 4 touchdowns on 29 carries, and caught a 9 yard pass for a 5th touchdown.

ASU true-freshman quarterback Brandon Bridge accounted for 445 yards of offense for the Alcorn State Braves. Bridge passed for 4 touchdowns and 404 yards but had 2 INT.

GSU's Warren is the second leading rusher in the Football Championship Subdivision.

Now, the rest of the story...

MEAC
#23 Bethune Cookman 14, #9 South Carolina State 0
Florida A&M 31, Savannah State 0
Hampton 7, Norfolk State 6
Delaware State 31, North Carolina A&T 26
Georgia State 20, North Carolina Central 17 (O.T.)

SWAC
Grambling State 38, Alcorn State 28
Prairie View A&M 45, Lincoln (Mo.) 12
Arkansas Pine Bluff 21, Alabama A&M 14
Jackson State 49, Southern 45

OVC
Jacksonville State 24, Tennessee State 0

SIAC
Fort Valley State 26, Tuskegee 0
Morehouse 38, Stillman 34
Miles 20, Lane 6
Albany State 27, Benedict 10
Clark Atlanta 19, Kentucky State 7

CIAA
Bowie State 24, Lincoln (Pa.) 18
Chowan 31, Saint Paul's 20
Virginia Union 44, Johnson C. Smith 21
Shaw 34, Fayetteville State 27
Winston Salem State 58, Livingstone 0
Virginia State 15, Elizabeth City State 10 (Thursday)

Others
Panhandle State 23, Texas College 14
West Chester 48, Cheyney 34
West Liberty State 48, West Virginia State 26

-beepbeep