Tennessee State 2010 Football Schedule Announced

TSU head football coach Rod Reed














The Tennessee State University football team will return to the Circle City Classic at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, IN for the 2010 season. TSU will be matched against Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) foe North Carolina A&T University. The Aggies will replace Southern University on the Tigers 2010 schedule. TSU’s last appearance in the Circle City Classic was in 2005 when they dropped a16-3 decision to North Carolina A&T in the RCA Dome.

The Tigers will again participate in four “Classic” games against traditional rivals from the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) and the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC). Coupled with their seven game Ohio Valley Conference schedule, the Big Blue will play an eleven-game schedule including four games on their home turf, LP Field in Nashville, TN.

The “Classic” match-ups begin on Labor Day Weekend, September 4th with the John Merritt Classic in Nashville, TN against Alabama A&M (SWAC), then on to Memphis, TN, Sept. 11th against Jackson State (SWAC). On September 25th the Tigers travel to Atlanta, GA to face off against Florida A&M (MEAC) and on October 2nd to Indianapolis, IN to battle North Carolina A&T (MEAC).

In Ohio Valley Conference play, TSU will host Austin Peay State on September 18th in the annual Bikers’ game. Road trips to Southeast Missouri State and Jacksonville State follow on October 9th and 16th respectively. The Tigers end the month of October hosting Tennessee Tech on October 23rd, followed by an open date on October 30th. The Big Blue finishes their regular season schedule hosting Eastern Illinois for Homecoming on November 6th and finishing with road games at Tennessee Martin and Murray State on November 13th and 20th respectively.

Tennessee State University -Tentative 2010 Football Schedule
Date Opponent Location Time
9/4 Ala. A&M Nashville, TN 6 pm John Merritt Classic, LP Field
9/11 Jackson State Memphis, TN 6 pm So. Heritage Classic, Liberty Bowl
9/18 Austin Peay Nashville, TN 6 pm Bikers’ Classic, LP Field
9/25 Florida A&M Atlanta, GA TBA Atlanta Classic, Georgia Dome
10/2 N.Carolina A&T Indianapolis, IN TBA Circle City Classic, Lucas Oil Stadium
10/9 SEMO* Cape Girardeau, MO TBA
10/16 Jax State* Jacksonville, AL TBA
10/23 Tenn. Tech * Nashville, TN 6pm LP Field
10/30 O P E N
11/6 Eastern Illinois * Nashville, TN 5 pm, Homecoming, LP Field
11/13 Tenn.-Martin* Martin, TN TBA
11/20 Murray State * Murray, KY TBA

TSU gives transfer opportunity to shine

Tennessee State University DB Anthony Levine #6 and Ozzie Harrell #3 closing in on EKU receiver.

Former Ohio St. player is Tigers' new defensive star

Tennessee State needed help in the secondary. Eugene Clifford needed a place to play. It was a match made in football heaven. The Tigers were looking for an impact player to replace All-American cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. Who knew they would be able to find one so quickly? "As coaches, we knew what Eugene Clifford could do when he came here,'' TSU Coach James Webster said. "He was a five-star athlete coming out of Ohio. We knew he was going to be a dominant player for us and he was going to be an impact player."

Clifford, a safety who transferred from Ohio State, displays a hard-hitting physical style of play that is much different from the electrifying speed and quickness Rodgers-Cromartie provided. But the impact on the secondary has been the same. Opposing offenses would avoid Rodgers-Cromartie, seldom throwing the ball his way. Now it's Clifford who has their attention.

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Heffner spent time in weight room

Antonio Heffner is off-limits to the media this week because Tennessee State Coach James Webster doesn't want him bothered by questions about facing Eastern Kentucky. If only it were that easy to keep EKU's defense away from the TSU quarterback. It was against the Colonels that Heffner's 2007 season abruptly ended when he broke his leg trying to escape a heavy rush.

No. 25 TSU (3-0) faces EKU (1-2) in Saturday's Ohio Valley Conference opener at LP Field. And the Colonels might not recognize Heffner. Not only is he back on his feet, he is bigger and stronger than when they saw him last.It was the second straight year Heffner was seriously hurt. It inspired him to do whatever was necessary to change his bad luck. He hurt his shoulder the year before. After his leg healed last winter he headed for the weight room to become sturdier.

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Howard U. transfer athletes hit a wall with eligibility

Office of Compliance Receives Students, Parent Complaints

The Howard University football team has not only been battling opposing teams, but also the Howard University Compliance Office. The office ensures that student athletes meet NCAA requirements. Two football players and one parent have accused Chief Compliance Officer Altha B. Williamson of being unprofessional, rude and having a complete lack of care about their situations.

"Mr. Williamson told me he's going to do everything in his power to get me kicked out of Howard University," said Oscar Gonzales, a transfer student-athlete. The Hilltop contacted Williamson and he directed questions on the matter to the Office of the Provost. Gonzales enrolled at Howard in January for the spring semester. He transferred from Auburn University and signed a scholarship to be on the Bison football team. Gonzales thought everything was fine and that he would be able to play in the 2008 season. However...

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I-AA play has been king in Virginia

Richmond and James Madison are in the top 5. Liberty is in the Top 25. Norfolk State and Hampton are knocking on the door. Even William and Mary is receiving votes in the national poll. Virginia's Division I-AA football - the Football Championship Subdivision, as the NCAA likes to call it - is thriving these days and threatening to take center stage this weekend, when No. 5 JMU hosts three-time defending national champion and top-ranked Appalachian State.

"I've always said that FCS football is the equivalent of the mid-major programs in Division I basketball," JMU coach Mickey Matthew said. "I think everyone would agree that we have as many good mid-major programs in Virginia as anywhere, and the same can be said for football. "There are quality programs in the state, and Old Dominion starting football will only enhance that."

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NSU Spartans vs. W&M Tribe

Two weeks into the College of William and Mary’s 2008 season, the Tribe sits at 1-1 after playing two radically different teams. Week one opponent North Carolina State University was an athletic, deep Bowl Championship Series program with which the College did well to compete. Last week, the Tribe pounded an over matched Virginia Military Institute squad. Tomorrow, the College will get its first chance to match up against comparable talent when the Norfolk State University Spartans come to town.

Norfolk State University and QB Dennis Brown can lay the cornerstone for a possible At-Large 1-AA Playoff Berth for the Spartans with a victory at CAA foe William and Mary, Saturday.

“We want to come out and make a big statement to our future opponents,” senior linebacker Michael Pigram said. Such a statement will not come easily. The Spartans went 8-3 a year ago and head into tomorrow’s matchup at 2-1 on the season. The squad received 23 votes in The Sporting News’ most recent Football Championship Series poll to the Tribe’s single tally. “We haven’t played them in quite some time, but we know their reputation,” Head Coach Jimmye Laycock said. “We’ve looked at a little bit of tape and they’re a very good football team.”

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FCS (1-AA) Football: A major road to the NFL

When Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie was taken as the 16th pick of the NFL draft on Saturday, it was a fitting culmination of a journey that began on what might have looked like a bumpy, unpaved road to nowhere. Rodgers-Cromartie wasn't on the college radar when he was graduated from Lakewood Ranch High School in 2004. He decided to play for Tennessee State University, a Division I-AA program in Nashville.

Not a bad choice. Division I-AA may not be the big time, but it has a long history of pumping star players into the NFL. Many of the cornerbacks that signed with Division I-A schools that year will be watching Rodgers-Cromartie play football on Sunday this fall.

Doesn't matter where you play your college ball. As the list of Division I-AA alumni in the NFL proves, talent is a difficult secret to keep.

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