Alcorn State Braves Releases 2011 Football Schedule

The Alcorn State Brave football schedule for the upcoming 2011 season is official with the Braves playing ten opponents and four of these games are being played in Jack Spinks Stadium in Alcorn State, MS.

The Braves are opening up the season September 3, 2011 against Grambling State in the Port City Classic in Shreveport, LA at 6:00 PM. In the past this was known as the Red River Classic. The Braves are the home team in the battle against the G-Men.

The Braves will then travel to Little Rock, Arkansas on the September 10th, to face Arkansas Pine Bluff at 6:00 PM. Both Grambling and UAPB defeated the Braves in 2010.

The Braves will come home to face in- state rival Mississippi Valley State on the 17th at 4:00 PM in the first home opener at Jack Spinks Stadium.

The Braves will go on the road for two straight games, facing defending SWAC champion Texas Southern on the 24th in Houston at 1:00 PM and Alabama State on October 1st in Montgomery.

Homecoming will be October 22nd, after two straight open weekends, hosting Concordia College at 2:00 PM. The Braves will close out October by facing Southern University in Baton Rouge, LA at 6:00 PM, on the 29th.

The Braves play two straight at home opening up November against Alabama A&M on the 5th at 2:00 PM and then hosting Prairie View on the 12th, also now tentatively scheduled for 2:00 PM.

The Braves will close out the regular season by meeting arch rival Jackson State on the 19th in the Capital City Classic scheduled for 1:00PM in Jackson, MS.

ASU 2011 Football Schedule

9/3, vs. Grambling State,Port City Classic, Shreveport, LA 6 p.m.
9/10 at Arkansas Pine Bluff, Pine Bluff, AR, 6 p.m.

9/17 vs. Mississippi Valley State, HOME, 6 p.m.

9/24 at Texas Southern, Houston, TX, 1 p.m.

10/1 at Alabama State, Montgomery, AL

OPEN

10/22 vs. Concordia College, HOMECOMING, 2 p.m.

10/29 at Southern, Baton Rouge, LA, 6 p.m.

11/5 vs. Alabama A&M, HOME, 2 p.m.

11/12 vs. Prairie View A&M, HOME, 2 p.m.

11/19 at Jackson State, Capital City Classic, Jackson, MS, 1 p.m.

Notes:  All HOME games played at Jack Spinks Stadium

By Alcorn State Media Relations

Prairie View Bowling Places Second At FAMU Classic

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - The Prairie View A&M bowling team returned to the lanes this past weekend and put forth a strong showing as they finished second in the FAMU Classic.

Prairie View A&M jumped out to a 4-1 record in Baker Set after the first day of tournament play as they beat Alabama State (702-600), Jackson State (720-664), Florida A&M (692-641) and Florida State (729-696). Their lone loss came at the hands of Sam Houston State as the No. 5 ranked team in the nation defeated them 674 to 629.

After a solid opening day, day two wasn’t as successful for the Lady Panthers in team format as they began with a heartbreaking two-pin loss to Sam Houston State (918-916). The Lady Panthers bounced back with wins over Alabama State (880-736) and FAMU (789-786) before dropping the last two matches to Florida State (1001-837) and Jackson State (822-773) for a 2-3 mark.

Going into the third and final day of competition, the Lady Panthers were seeded second overall and began bracket competition against top-seeded Sam Houston State. Playing in a 4-of-7 Baker format, the Lady Panthers fell 4-2 to SHSU and dropped into the loser’s bracket. Prairie View A&M bounced back and knocked off FAMU 4-2 and advanced to the championship match versus Sam Houston State once again. Unfortunately, the Lady Panthers couldn’t overcome their nemesis as SHSU defeated them 4-2 to win the championship.

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UAPB Golden Lions and UTEP Miners kickoff 2010 campaign at the Sun Bowl

The UTEP football team opens its 93rd season at home Sept. 4 against Arkansas-Pine Bluff. While UTEP hasn’t won a home opener since 2007, they are 3-3 in season openers during the coach Mike Price era. The Miners come off a 2009 season in which they were 4-8 overall and 3-5 in Conference USA. UTEP has never faced the Golden Lions before. The Miners who play in the Football Bowl Subdivision don’t have to look too far to know that playing a team in a lower division can still be a challenge.

“New Mexico State beat us a couple of years ago and beat Pine Bluff by only three points so I’m the most concerned with us,” said Price. “I want to see us play to our best against every team and play the best we can every time we come out. Its just different colored uniforms, it doesn’t matter if its Pine Bluff or Fayetteville (University of Arkansas) you have to play the best you can.”



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Orphans: Damaged floor leaves MVSU basketball without home court

As the countdown to practice draws near, Mississippi Valley State University’s Sean Woods is a Division I basketball coach with no court to practice on.

The floor in MVSU’s basketball gym, the Harrison HPER Complex, was seriously damaged because of a leak in the roof, so the playing surface must be replaced, Woods said. The school will have to fix the roof before a new surface goes down, and that apparently won’t happen before the Delta Devils begin practice Oct. 15.

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Ex-Rams hero Jones now coaching SU linebackers

For seven long seasons, Southern football coach Stump Mitchell ran on the rock-hard turf at Busch Stadium, earning his reputation as a fan favorite in St. Louis. But as former NFL players go, he’s not the most beloved in St. Louis history. In fact, Mitchell’s not even No. 1 on his own coaching staff. That honor belongs to his linebackers coach, Mike Jones.

Yes, that Mike Jones.

If you’ll recall, he’s the guy who made perhaps the most famous tackle in Super Bowl history — wrapping his arms around Kevin Dyson, dropping him 1 yard short of the goal line as time ran out in Super Bowl XXXIV, preserving a 23-16 win for the St. Louis Rams. “He told us about the stop. He said he missed the tackle, but he really made it,” strongside linebacker Gary Chatman said. “He’s a good linebacker coach and a cool, good guy.”



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Cole driving Texas Southern on road to relevancy‎

His is a typical football coach's office. Awards and plaques all over the place. Photos of former players, like Texans wideout Jacoby Jones, on the wall. And of course, all the standard equipment for watching game highlights.

In the corner, to the right of Johnnie Cole's large desk at Texas Southern University, there is a bookshelf stocked with helmets from the stops along his college coaching career.

The headgear comes in an assortment of colors, a mixed bag of logo designs and school names spanning the alphabet from A to T (Alabama State to Tennessee State). Whether it was with the Jaguars, Tigers or Dragons, Cole has been successful at each stop along his coaching journey.

As he enters his third season at TSU with an overall losing record (10-13), Cole is working on a new success. Turning around a program takes time, and although TSU hasn't turned, it is turning with Cole, a former TSU quarterback, at the wheel.

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Jackson State Tigers try out Air Raid attack

The Air Raid offense has arrived at Jackson State. The team had an impromptu scrimmage Monday that featured several different formations and personnel, characteristics of the new pass-happy Air Raid scheme offensive coordinator Earnest Wilson is installing. The team aligned in 10 different formations during the 28-play scrimmage. Plays included sets out of the shotgun, the regular I-formation and two three-back formations.

Some plays had as many as four receivers, some had as few as one. There were two tight ends used, one tight end and none. There were up to three running backs or none at all. QB Dedric McDonald and transfer Casey Therriault continued their fight for the starting role. McDonald, who is still first in the rotation, passed for 59 yards, hitting 4 of 8 attempts (two drops). Therriault passed for 33 yards and completed 6 of 7 attempts. Also, six receivers caught a total of 10 passes from the top two QBs. "The offense is doing a real fine job," coach Rick Comegy said.

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SU names former Jaguars' Olympian Interim Track & Field Coach

Southern University has announced that former two-sport athlete and 2008 USA Olympian, Brian Johnson, has been named Interim Head Track & Field Coach. Johnson takes over after the resignation of interim head track coach, Tinnequo Lightfoot-Ross.

Ross had just completed her 10th year at Southern University and her first as interim head track & field coach. She took over the program after the long illness, and death of long-time SU Track Coach, Johnny Thomas. She previously served as an assistant coach for eight years.

"With our cross country student-athletes reporting next week, we needed to have someone in place as soon as possible", says Greg Lafleur, SU Athletic Director.

Johnson qualified for his first Olympic Team with his runner-up finish at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials, where he posted his best jump of the year. His 2007 season was highlighted by wins at Baton Rouge and Rethymno, where he had his best mark of the season of 8.31meters/27-3.25. He is currently the #2 ranked long jumper in the US, and 9th worldwide.

Johnson enjoyed a banner season in 2006, highlighted by victories at the AT&T USA Indoor and Outdoor Championships, and ending the season ranked #3 in the U.S. by Track & Field News.

Three years after suffering a devastating knee injury, the former Southern University All-American became a world class long jumper when he captured the 2005 USA Indoor title, later that summer Johnson placed third at the USA Outdoor Championships with a leap of 8.09m 26-6.5. That effort qualified him for a spot on the Team USA roster for the 2005 World Outdoor Championships in Helsinki, where he barely missed qualifying for the final.

Johnson earned his degree in Political Science in 2003 from Southern University and A&M College. His wife, Pamela, is also a Southern U. graduate and they have a son, Kobe.

READ MORE SU SPORTS @ http://gojagsports.cstv.com

Southern QBs to toss new balls

When he arrived at Southern University six months ago, first-year coach Stump Mitchell started to assess and review almost everything within the football program. Eventually, he even inspected the footballs themselves. Mitchell changed those, too.

When the Jaguars report for fall camp Aug. 3, they’ll break in a new set of footballs — the result of a new deal brokered between Mitchell and Wilson Sporting Goods Co., the Chicago-based firm that manufactures game balls for the NFL, not to mention thousands of other high school and college programs.

Mitchell said he made the move with two things in mind — quality and efficiency. “We’ve got to cut expenses around here. Everything is in cost-cutting mode at Southern,” Mitchell said. “So I had an opportunity to let our quarterbacks throw the Wilson. They liked it, and we just made the switch.” In recent years, SU had deals with Nike and Spalding, but the team was only allowed so many footballs per season. “With Wilson, we can get as many balls as we need,” he said. “The opportunity was afforded to me, and it worked out.”

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Alabama A&M football standout killed in Bessemer bike club shooting

Alabama A&M University head football Coach Anthony Jones said he is shocked at the early-morning shooting death of football standout Maurice Thomas. "I think the kind of player he was, was exemplified in the way he played and the longevity of his career," Jones said today. "I think a lot of people didn't know the kind of person he was because people can't see under the helmet. He was a young man who worked hard and believed in his teammates, his friends and his family. He was a kid you can count on."

Thomas, 23, of Bessemer and two other men were shot about 3 a.m. inside the Getties Boyz Club, a biker bar, on 22nd Street and First Avenue North.



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