Alabama State preview

FOUR-DOWN TERRITORY

1: Top-shelf line: Senior Damian Love and junior Jylan Ware are both happy to be preseason All-Southwestern Athletic Conference offensive linemen. Check back at the end of the year to see if they’re happier. “It’s a pat on the back right now, but I’d rather get the handshake later,” Love said. “It’s a motivator.” Love, a Stanhope Elmore graduate, said he was preseason All-SWAC as a sophomore. He didn’t make the postseason list. “It’s an honor, definitely, but I see that as a ‘who to watch’ award,” Ware said. “It’s preseason. It’s more of a ‘he was good last year, and he should be good this year.’”

2: Ripe Berry: Middle linebacker Kourtney Berry, after reaching triple-digit tackles each of the last two years, returns for the Hornets. Oh, he’s just a junior. Berry also faces massive expectations. SWAC coaches pegged him as the league’s preseason defensive player of the year. Berry made a league-high 128 tackles last year, including a career-high 20 in a mid-November game with Grambling. He reached double figures in seven games. He was also first-team All-SWAC as a freshman when he started every game and made 105 tackles.

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