"We lost some great football players, but we brought in some guys to go along with some returning guys to give us the edge we need", said Head Coach Monte Coleman. "It's going to be a tough camp for all of us players and coaches alike."
Returning under center for the defending SWAC champions is 2103 SWAC Preseason Offensive Player of the Year Ben Anderson. Anderson finished last season on the All-SWAC First Team before leading the Golden Lions to their first-outright SWAC Championship crown since sharing the title in 1966. He was named Offensive MVP of the 2012 Toyota SWAC Football Championship after lifting UAPB to a 24-21 overtime win over Jackson State.
He helped the Golden Lions claim a West Division title on their way to a 10-2 record, the most wins in the program's history. With Anderson, UAPB captured the HSRN Conway Cup and the network's National Championship title. The Golden Lions were also named Black College National Champions by the American Sports Wire and were voted by the coaches' poll as the BoxtoRow National Champions. Anderson completed the season with 2,346 passing yards and 16 touchdowns finishing second in SWAC. He rushed for 524 yards and recorded five touchdowns on the ground. He led UAPB in total offense (2,870) while finishing second in the league in the category.
"Ben's looking extremely sharp now. He had a lot of post season honors last year and he received a lot of preseason honors that he's going to have to live up too, although it's early he's playing real well", commented Coleman.
Offensively, the Golden Lions will be relying heavily on some key returning players to step and field the leadership roles left vacant by 2012 senior class. With 2013 SWAC Preseason First Team offensive lineman Kenny Eagle anchoring the o-line, Me' kale Carter will be called on at left tackle to take up slack left by Armstead. Returning in the backfield will be the SWAC's second leading rusher from a year ago Justin Billings, who also lead a running back corps that finished first in the SWAC in rushing (200.2).
The bright spot on the offense so far has been the receivers. With Mr. Preseason All- Everything Dezmond Beverly, and 2013 SWAC Preseason First Team wide receiver Ladarius Eckwood leading by example through conditioning has the coaching staff feeling pretty good.
"Eckwood, Beverly, Cody Swain, Willie Young, and all of those guys have come back in great shape. Our personnel meetings have raved about the condition of the receiver position", added Coleman.
On the other side of the ball, incoming transfers like Joel Green, who is pegged to replace Ross will have to adjust quickly to fit the defensive scheme here at UAPB. 2013 SWAC Preseason First Team linebacker Jer-ryan Harris and Xavier Lofton have been setting the pace; along with 2013 SWAC Preseason First Teamer's Damien Lee and Demarcus Berry on the defensive end, the Golden Lions are positioning themselves to once again have one of the top rated defense's in the SWAC.
In the defensive backfield guys such as David Watson, Gyovanni Harvey, T.Q. Mims will be the looked upon for more than just leadership, they will be working to keep the Golden Lions passing defense on top of all statistical categories.
"We've got several guys playing well, but one thing I've challenged all of them with is for the leaders to step and lead this team down the road we took last year. It's still early but what I'm impressed with is the fact that we're working hard." replied Coleman.
2013 UAPB GOLDEN LIONS FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
DATE OPPONENT SITE TIME
August 31 Arkansas State University Jonesboro, AR TBA
September 7 McNeese State University Lake Charles, LA 7:00 PM
September 14 Alabama State University* Pine Bluff, AR 6:00 PM
September 21 Alcorn State University* Pine Bluff, AR 6:00 PM
September 28 OPEN
October 5 Jackson State University * Jackson, MS 6:00 PM
October 12 Texas Southern University* Pine Bluff, AR 6:00 PM
October 19 Southern University*$ Pine Bluff, AR 2:30 PM
October 26 Miss. Valley State University* Itta Bena, MS 1:00 PM
November 2 OPEN
November 9 Grambling State University* Pine Bluff, AR 2:30 PM
November 16 Alabama A&M University* Huntsville, AL TBA
November 23 Prairie View A&M University* Prairie View, TX TBA
Bold= indicates home games
*= indicates conference games
$= indicates Homecoming
COURTESY UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS GOLDEN LIONS SPORTS INFORMATION
No comments:
Post a Comment