Today's SWAC Football Reviews

ASU Hornets can secure spot in SWAC title game with win today over Southern

Alabama State (6-3, 5-3 SWAC) at Southern (2-7, 1-6), Radio - WVAS-FM 90.7 (Montgomery)

Following last week's wild win over Jackson State -- a game in which Jackson State was flagged 17 times for 143 yards, resulting in an expletive-filled tirade from its coach that drew a one-game suspension -- Alabama State can secure its spot in the SWAC title game this week.

The Hornets (6-3, 5-3 SWAC) meet a Southern squad (5:30 p.m.) that has struggled under first-year coach Stump Mitchell, particularly on defense. In each of its six conference losses, Southern (2-7, 1-6) has allowed 27 points or more.

Jackson State vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff

Jackson State (6-3, 4-3 SWAC), UAPB (5-4, 4-3 SWAC), 3:30 p.m. ET at Golden Lion Stadium, Pine Bluff, Arkansas, Radio: JSU Network (WHLA-95.5 FM, Jackson), Yahoo Internet Radio: JSU vs. UAPB .

Jackson State's chances of winning the SWAC East and traveling to Birmingham for the conference title game are hanging on by the thinnest of threads.

A loss at Pine Bluff seals the once high-flying Tigers' fate. They won't win the East. A win and JSU will anxiously await the final score of the Alabama State-Southern game. If the Jaguars pull the upset, the Tigers will have a chance to claim the East crown with a win over Alcorn State.

That said, the most intriguing storyline heading into the game is the absence of coach Rick Comegy, who was suspended by the SWAC for his profane criticism of officials last week. Comegy said the coordinators will handle head coaching duties, but who makes the tough calls: Kick a field goal or go for it on fourth? And what about calling timeouts?

Braves to face Panthers

Alcorn State (5-4, 4-3 SWAC) at Prairie View A&M (5-4, 4-3 SWAC) 2:00 p.m. ET,

It’s a position that every school in the SWAC East division wants to be in, but right now, only Alcorn State can say the magic words. “We control our destiny.”

With Alcorn’s win over Alabama A&M and Jackson State’s loss to Alabama State last week, the Braves move to the head of the class in the East division. A win in their final two games means the Braves (5-4, 4-3 SWAC) will advance to the SWAC championship game for the first time ever.

Battle of have-nots when A&M and MVSU get together

HUNTSVILLE, Al. - Alabama A&M usually is a contender for the Southwestern Athletic Conference East Division title. The Bulldogs have won four East Division titles under coach Anthony Jones and won the school's lone SWAC championship in 2006.

This season, Jones and company will be lucky to escape the East Division cellar. "We're seeing and feeling what it's like to be on the other side of the stick," Jones said. A&M (2-7, 1-6) will try to stay out of the East Division cellar when it takes on Mississippi Valley State (0-9, 0-8) Saturday at 1 p.m. in Greenville, Miss. The Bulldogs, mired in a five-game losing streak, will try to avoid losing to the Delta Devils, who have lost 10 straight games dating back to last season when they fell to A&M 17-12.

READ MORE, CLICK EACH TITLE.

SU Jaguars cannot hold off UAPB Golden Lions in SWAC rout

Waving their hands toward the sky, running toward the west sideline at A.W. Mumford Stadium after halftime Saturday night, Southern football players felt the way they wanted to feel.

At the time, they were tied with visiting Arkansas-Pine Bluff. In the first half, they had showed passion, emotion and a stronger game plan, and they felt confident that their first Southwestern Athletic Conference win in the Stump Mitchell era was a mere 30 minutes away.

They were wrong. The Golden Lions used a dominant third quarter to pull away for a 41-23 victory, burning the beleaguered SU defense for big play after big play.

Too many mistakes hold Jaguars back

Saturday night in A.W. Mumford Stadium, for the second consecutive Southwestern Athletic Conference game, the Southern football team was left to lament all the times it turned the football over, all the times it committed a game-changing penalty, all the little things it failed to do.

Saturday night, all those mistakes helped Arkansas-Pine Bluff leave town with a 41-23 victory, handing SU its third straight loss in the process. The Jaguars had four turnovers, nine penalties and a handful of hiccups on special teams.

Jaguars see glimpses of hope

Receiver Curry Allen sat down at a table after Saturday night’s 41-23 loss to Arkansas-Pine Bluff, trying to put in words what went wrong and even more importantly, how the Southern offense can recover. His answer was simple: stop trying so hard.

“We’ve been playing uptight, not really playing our game,” said Curry, a redshirt senior. “We have to relax and go out there and have fun.

Making the Fixes

There were plenty of mistakes to go around during Arkansas-Pine Bluff’s 41-23 SWAC win over Southern University Saturday night, but most came in the first half for the Golden Lions.

Arkansas-Pine Bluff helped set up an early Southern field goal with a punt interference penalty. Another Southern field goal was set up when wide receiver Raymond Webber lost a fumble deep in UAPB territory, and quarterback Josh Boudreaux later tossed an interception.

But it all came together in the second half as Boudreaux and Webber led the UAPB rally that saw it outscore the Jaguars 28-10 after a halftime tie.

READ MORE, CLICK TITLE.

Dog days winding down at SU camp

By Louisiana standards, Wednesday was downright comfortable, one of those rare August days where you could stand outside and not have your internal faucet turned on by the heat and humidity. It was a day where the undershirt could stay pretty dry.
The comfort didn’t escape the notice of Southern football coach Stump Mitchell.

“I think God has taken better care of them than I am,” Mitchell said, nodding towards his Southern University football players who were making their way back to the locker room after Wednesday afternoon’s practice. “We’ve had some pretty nice weather. We’ve had a breeze and if I had to, I would not have ordered the breeze. He’s taking care of them and giving them exactly what they need.”

READ MORE, CLICK TITLE.

Southern's Mitchell eyes options at quarterback

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — As Southern University’s first-year football coach, Stump Mitchell gets plenty of questions. Usually, they’re of the let’s-get-to-know-this-guy variety. What will his program be like? How does he plan to attack a defense? And, naturally, can his team beat Grambling in four months? But as training camp draws near — the Jaguars are 13 days away from their first practice, but who’s counting? — Mitchell often is hit with one of the old preseason favorites.

Who will be the starting quarterback? Speaking at the Southwestern Athletic Conference media day Tuesday, Mitchell said he thinks he has the answer. But he’s not about to call the race when the gates haven’t opened yet. “I think it will be (Jeremiah) McGinty, but I don’t know,” Mitchell said. “Whoever plays quarterback, we’re going to win. That’s the bottom line.” The Jaguars head to training camp without a proven quarterback for the first time since 2007, when then-sophomore Bryant Lee edged Warren Matthews for the starting job.

READ MORE, CLICK TITLE.

MEAC/SWAC Challenge getting new AstroTurf at Citrus Bowl

The Florida Citrus Bowl is getting a quick makeover--grass is out and new AstroTurf is going in with completion due by September 1, 2010 -- just in time for the MEAC/SWAC Challenge. This year's event features Southern University Jaguars vs. Delaware State University Hornets on Sept 5. However, it took the embarrassment of last year Capital One and the Champs Sports Bowls, respectively, for the City Fathers to make a $1.5 million investment to improve the aging venue.

Apparently, after the 30th Florida Classic between Bethune-Cookman University Wildcats vs. Florida A&M University Rattlers, the City decided to replace the turf with fresh sod. But after heavy rains hit the Orlando area, the Miami (FL) Hurricanes and the Wisconsin Badgers did more slipping and sliding on the loose sod in the Champs Bowl (Dec. 29) than either team wants to remember. Penn State and LSU didn't fare any better in their January 1, 2010 showdown in the Capital One Bowl.

Since the Big Ten, ACC and SEC want no parts of the Mud Bowl when Florida gets a deluge of heavy rains, City Officials had no choice but to upgrade.

Bethune-Cookman University and Delaware State University will have the upper hand on Florida A&M University and Southern University with the new AstroTurf surface. B-CU is receiving new Field Turf on its home field at Daytona Beach Memorial Stadium with installation to be completed by Sept 1.

DSU has TenCate Thiolon Field Turf at its 7,193 seat Alumni Stadium. FAMU and Southern home stadiums, Bragg Memorial and A.W. Mumford Stadiums, currently have natural grass surfaces that can become a dust or mud bowl in late October based on the erratic Louisiana and North Florida weather patterns.

The Jaguars new coach Stump Mitchell is attempting to raise the necessary funds to replace the surface at Mumford Stadium with new Field Turf.

The 31st Florida Classic rivalry between Bethune-Cookman and Florida A&M is scheduled for November 20, 2010. This year's event is expected to be a sellout with the Wildcats sporting a new head coach in former Rutgers position coach, Brian Jenkins. The Rattlers are coached by Joe Taylor who is in his third season at FAMU.

New Beginning for Southern Jaguars Football

Southern University Coach Lyvonia ‘Stump’ Mitchell: "Football games aren’t won in that September, October and November. They’re won in that spring and summer workout programs," Mitchell said. “That’s something the guys are going to have to understand. But that’s all secondary to getting their butts to class.”

Stump has big shoes to fill

Wednesday marked a new day in Southern's football rich history. A day the school hadn't seen in 17 years. At 9:30 that morning, inside the J.S. Clark Administration Building, when new Jaguars coach Stump Mitchell stepped to the podium and adjusted the microphone to fit his 5-foot-9 frame, a new era begun. It was the first time a football coach other than Pete Richardson had addressed the schools administration and alumni in almost two decades. It was Mitchell's first time on campus. As a matter of fact, it was the first time Mitchell had ever seen the campus.

To be clear, leadership atop the SU football program changed hands not because Richardson was 6-5 the past two seasons with consecutive losses in the Bayou Classic. Not because he had gone ringless since 2003, by far his longest drought without a Southwestern Athletic Conference championship during his time. But because he wasn't producing at, well, a Pete Richardson-like pace. From 1993-2009, Richardson stockpiled a hefty 134-62 record, claiming five SWAC titles and four Black College National Championships. Three of those championships came in a three-peat from '97-99. Since then, things changed.

Mitchell begins to woo critics

Complaints? Concerns? Criticism? Even before Stump Mitchell became Southern University’s new football coach, he heard about them all. Oh, did he hear about them. Over the phone. Over the Internet. From overhead, down below and every other angle. Mitchell said he heard all the stories about upset fans: about the crowd that said his hiring was an outright tragedy, about the groups of alumni who threatened to not renew their season tickets, about the people who said he’ll wind up begging for work in a few years.

To sum it up, Southern’s choice of Mitchell wasn’t roundly accepted. In time, he said, he will win over the critics. “That’s another thing I have to do, and I understand that,” he said. “I’m excited to be here. And trust me: You all are going to be excited to have me here. That’s just the bottom line. I came here to do a job, and I’m going to get the job done.” Mitchell started the campaign that first day, attempting to pound out the dents in his armor, doing his best to please the crowd. He said that as a high-school recruit, he simply wasn’t tall enough or strong enough to earn a scholarship offer from Southern. Heck, he barely earned a scholarship offer from anywhere.

Mitchell says it starts in classroom

He rose from his chair, walked toward the lectern and adjusted the microphone to suit his 5-foot-9 frame. He rested his hands on either side of the wooden box. All the while, a smattering of Southern University fans, alumni and faculty members clapped, quietly and politely. Then Stump Mitchell started to speak. He praised his predecessor, Pete Richardson, noting all the success Richardson had in 17 seasons. “I don’t have to create history,” he said. “I just to have to try to repeat history.” Then Mitchell got to brass tacks.

A mere 14 seconds into his first public speech as the Jaguars’ new football coach, he outlined what seemed to be his first priority within the program. It had little to do with recruiting, video equipment, or so much as a new set of hip pads. “More than me trying to repeat history is the players on this football team,” he said. “(They) have to try to repeat history — not necessarily on the football field, but in the classroom. “I’ve got problems coming in here. I’ve got 12 guys who are trying to learn a new system who won’t be able to participate in spring ball. That’s a problem. We’ve got to fix that. It’s got to start with discipline.”

Southern introduces Mitchell as new coach

Ricky Diggs was thrilled. No, Southern University officials weren’t there to introduce him. Alumni weren’t there for him. None of the fans had come to inspect Diggs, size him up, to judge for themselves if he was a good fit for the program. On Wednesday morning, those people gathered on the second floor of the J.S. Clark Administration Building to see and hear Stump Mitchell, who, at long last, addressed a crowd as Southern’s new head football coach.

Still, Diggs sat quietly, a few feet to Mitchell’s right. A full head of snow-white hair sat atop his head. He wore a sharp suit, a fedora and a grin that doesn’t come with a price tag. This wasn’t his day. But it sure felt like it. More than 30 years ago, Diggs was a running backs coach at The Citadel, where a certain 5-feet-9 ball of energy — Mitchell — was on his way to becoming the school’s all-time rushing leader. “He’s a far better person than he’s ever been as a football player. That comes across immediately,” Diggs said. “Sometimes people can put on a façade. And eventually, their true colors are going to show. But Stump was always the same.”

READ MORE, CLICK EACH BLOG TITLE.

READ RELATED ARTICLES:
Southern set to introduce Mitchell today
SWAC sweeps top honors for SBN All-America team
SWAC sweeps top honors for SBN All-America team
Shreveport to host SWAC baseball tournament
Southern set to introduce Mitchell today
Mitchell accepts SU offer, heads to BR

SU choice Mitchell prepares to lead Jaguars

Thursday night, across the nation, millions of people chugged champagne and threw confetti, preparing for the new decade. Stump Mitchell sat in a room by himself on the East Coast, ostensibly working two jobs at once. At the moment, he is the assistant head coach and running backs coach of the Washington Redskins. Next week, he is in line to become the new head coach at Southern University. He can’t come out and say that exactly. But he’s certainly preparing that way.

On New Year’s Eve, Southern offered the position to Mitchell, who has spent the last 11 seasons as an NFL assistant coach but only three as a college head coach. Mitchell can’t say yes to the offer until next week; the Redskins finish their season Sunday at San Diego, and after that, he must meet with team management. “I can’t accept the job until I talk with our legal counsel,” he said. “I will get that opportunity next week. Then, everything should occur like we want it to.” In the meantime, he has started to put a plan in place.

READ MORE, CLICK BLOG TITLE.

READ RELATED ARTICLES:
SU picks NFL vet Mitchell
Williams backs out of Southern coach search
SU seeks momentum change vs. Chicago St.
Southern DB House named All-American
Southern wraps up interview process
Southern interviews Williams
2 more on LaFleur's list