By David Brandt, Clarion LedgerTHE JSU GAME
What: Jackson State (1-2, 1-0 SWAC) at Mississippi Valley (1-2, 1-2)
When: Saturday, 4 p.m.
Radio: JSU Network (WOAD-1300 AM)
ITTA BENA — After watching three weeks of dropped passes and bad reads, Willie Totten's voice is beginning to turn hoarse.
The Mississippi Valley State football coach has dealt with the offensive problems the best he knows how. Sometimes he yells and gets in players' faces. Sometimes he pleads. Sometimes he says nothing and lets his assistants take a crack at motivation.
But with the Delta Devils stuck in a two-game losing slump and archrival Jackson State waiting for them on Saturday, Totten has come to this conclusion: Nothing he says can make the players execute on game day.
"I've said all there is to say on the subject. All of the coaches have. When we start making plays, we'll start winning games again," Totten said. "Instead of watching someone else make the plays, our guys have to want to make that play themselves. It's something that has to come from within."
MVSU (1-2 overall, 1-2 Southwestern Athletic Conference) is a much different team than a year ago, when it fielded a veteran nucleus including senior quarterback Aries Nelson, linebacker Tyler Knight and wide receiver Tyrone Timmons that led the Delta Devils to consecutive 6-5 seasons.
This year, Totten looks on the field and sees a bunch of young faces. And when one of the freshmen or sophomores is screwing up, the only people to replace them are usually more freshmen and sophomores.
That's part of the reason the MVSU offense has scored just 12 points per game and had less than 200 total yards per game through the season's first three weeks.
"Every time we get something going, we do something to shoot ourselves in the foot," Totten said. "Sometimes it's penalties. Sometimes a missed block. We're missing that continuity."
But with that considerable frustration has also been a dose of encouragement because of several promising young players.
One of them is quarterback Paul Roberts (6-foot-2, 196 pounds), a sophomore from St. John in Gulfport who played sparingly as a true freshman. So far this season, he's thrown for 367 yards, three touchdowns and most importantly - no interceptions.
"I may be young, but if I'm on the field I'm expected to get the job done," Roberts said.
Roberts' favorite target has been tight end Abner Brown, a junior college transfer from Daytona Beach, Fla., who's caught 12 passes for 130 yards and a touchdown.
Running back Ronald Brewer, a redshirt freshman from Germantown, Tenn., also turned heads last week when he racked up 146 rushing yards on just 21 carries against Alabama A&M last week.
A compact 5-foot-10 and 210 pounds, Brewer - at least for now - has won the starting spot from junior Johey Hargrett, who led the Delta Devils with 698 rushing yards last season.
"It's kind of hard to keep Brewer off the field when he's running for those big gains," Totten said. "I think that's the first time since I've been here that we've ever had a guy rush for 100 yards against A&M."
Brewer's breakout performance was a bright spot in an otherwise disappointing 45-14 loss to Alabama A&M, the defending SWAC champion. The Delta Devils trailed just 10-7 at halftime before falling apart in the second half.
"We weren't tired - we just stopped executing," Totten said. "We turned the ball over a few times and showed our youth. Some of our guys are learning what's expected at the college level."
And now, many on this young MVSU team are learning about the intense buzz created in the Delta when JSU comes to town.
Even Totten admits that if Valley wins this game, many fans will consider the entire season a success even if the team never wins another game.
It's been 12 years since MVSU took a victory from Jackson State.
