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Showing posts with label Southern University. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Southern University. Show all posts
BATON ROUGE, Louisiana - There is no place like home for the Southern University men’s basketball team.
Southern rallied with a 12-5 run in the final six minutes, setting four team season highs, in a 73-68 victory over Loyola of New Orleans on Thursday afternoon at the F.G. Clark Activity Center.
The Jaguars (4-9) snapped a four-game losing streak and improved to 2-0 at home. The team set season highs in points (73), field goal percentage (.500), field goals made (29) and steals (10).
“We want to defend our home court all season long, with a realistic goal of winning 90 percent of our games here,” Southern first-year basketball coach Roman Banks said. “That’s a sign of a good program.
“Shooting 50 percent from the field was nice, and our guys stayed the course. We showed some discipline, and we didn’t panic when we were down. We made some mistakes, but we made enough plays. It was a good win for us.”
NEW ORLEANS — This year’s meeting between Grambling and Southern was hardly the most exciting in the 38-year history of the Bayou Classic.
Maybe the fans knew something beforehand. Only 40,175 of them filed into the Mercedes-Benz Superdome to watch Grambling pound Southern in the second half for a 36-12 win Saturday.
It was the smallest crowd in Bayou Classic history, and a far cry from 2000-04, when the average attendance was 70,198. The previous low was set last season, when 43,494 people came to the Superdome to watch the Jaguars lose 38-17 and finish with a 2-9 record, the worst in school history.
Baton Rouge, Lousiana -- Twenty-one months ago, when the Southern University System Board of Supervisors approved a three-year contract for Stump Mitchell, one of its members had a question.
Darren Mire, then the board’s vice chairman, wondered aloud why Mitchell’s contract included a $10,000 bonus for winning the Bayou Classic — the same amount Mitchell would receive for winning the Southwestern Athletic Conference title.
Greg LaFleur, then the school’s athletic director, had an easy answer. “Because if you don’t win that game, you’re liable to get fired,” LaFleur said with a laugh. Mitchell has coached in two Bayou Classics since then. Last year, Grambling thumped the Jaguars 38-17.
Baton Rouge, Louisiana - The first-game jitters should be gone by now. Roman Banks and his Southern men’s basketball team took care of that Friday with a season-opening win at home against Dillard (67-48).
The road-game jitters should be gone by now. Sure, the Jaguars might have lost at Texas A&M by 25 points, but they were outclassed, and they didn’t give up. The emotional roller coaster should be over now. Oh, Southern will undoubtedly go through the peak-and-valley routine many times between now and March, but it’s possible that nothing matches how Banks felt when he saw A&M coach Billy Kennedy on the sideline Sunday.
At 7 p.m. Thursday, when the Jaguars (1-1) face Rice at Tudor Fieldhouse in Houston, their minds should be centered on nothing more than basketball. Of course, it’s always supposed to be like that. But you had to forgive Banks for ...
Baton Rouge, Louisiana - Fresh off their most impressive win of the Stump Mitchell era, Southern football players returned to campus this week, reinvested and ready to prepare for the Bayou Classic. The big game, of course, is still nine days away; Southern and Grambling both have an open date Saturday.
Meanwhile, this week, between light practices and study halls, SU coaches spent part of their time evaluating recruits - the lifeblood of any program. “We’re trying to get a kicker, of course, and some defensive tackles to help our young guys that played as true freshmen on defense,” Mitchell said. Give the man high marks for recognizing the obvious.
In the offseason, Southern lost a very valuable player when place-kicker William Griswold, who made 15 of 20 field goals last season, withdrew from the university, citing, among other things, a fading interest in football.
Montgomery, Alabama -- It was there for the taking. But it was Southern, not Alabama State, that took it. The Hornets followed the formula that had spelled success all season. They forced four turnovers, they brought in the injured Greg Jenkins at quarterback to provide the spark. They even got 92 yards rushing from tailback Tim Clark.
But while Jackson State was demolishing Alabama A&M 34-6 -- giving ASU a berth in the Southwestern Athletic Conference Championship Game provided they won -- the Jaguars were weaving their own brand of voodoo magic.
Alabama State highlights vs. Southern University: Nov. 12, at Cramton Bowl in Montgomery. Watch game highlights and postgame interview with ASU coach Reggie Barlow. (Video courtesy ASU)
And when Brian McCann landed in the end zone from a yard out with nine seconds left, it was Southern, not Alabama State, that pulled out a 26-23 victory on Saturday afternoon in front of 8,255 stunned fans at the Cramton Bowl.
"It hurts," said Jenkins, who sparked the Hornets to 16 fourth-quarter points. "I'm ready to play right now, just to get that bad taste out of my mouth."
MONTGOMERY, Ala. - The moment of truth was at hand. Moments earlier, in what looked like another trademark collapse, the Southern football team fizzled on offense, made too many late mistakes on defense and gave away a fourth-quarter lead to Alabama State.
But before freshman quarterback J.P. Douglas led the Jaguars to a game-winning touchdown with 9 seconds left in a 26-23 thriller at the Cramton Bowl, he and his teammates had a short meeting with coach Stump Mitchell on the visitors sideline. So many times, the Jaguars had been in this spot before. So many times, they caved under pressure.
“Coach told us we needed to come together as an offense,” Douglas said. “He told us, remember all the times that we lost the close ones. Win this close one.’ “ They did. Southern took over at its own 27-yard line with 2:59 remaining.
MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Suspended two weeks for his role in a postgame brawl, Southern linebacker Jamie Payton was despondent. In losing his cool at the wrong time, he’d prevented himself from doing the one thing he loved most: playing football.
So when Payton returned Saturday in the Cramton Bowl, he played with passion. He tried to get the most out of every snap in a 26-23 upset win against Alabama State. It showed.
Though Payton and the Jaguars defense were sloppy in the fourth quarter, they made enough key plays to help Southern win - and for much of the sunny, mild afternoon, Payton was anything but mild. He led the charge, finishing with a team-high 10 tackles to go along with an interception and a 48-yard fumble return.
MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Last week, Southern football coach Stump Mitchell said he planned to use freshman J.P. Douglas as his starting quarterback for the rest of the season. He changed his mind, starting sophomore Dray Joseph when the team faced Alabama State in the Cramton Bowl on Saturday.
Before long, it didn’t matter. Out of necessity, Douglas came in - and that turned out well for Southern, which scored with 9 seconds left to top the Hornets 26-23.
Joseph suffered a concussion in the second quarter when, after throwing an incomplete pass, his smacked the hard artificial turf. He eventually returned to the visitor’s sideline and watched the game in warmups. Joseph completed seven of 16 passes for 72 yards before his exit.
MONTGOMERY, Ala. - It was a formula the Alabama State Hornets have used all season. Force turnovers on defense that lead to big plays on offense. Give up yards, but not points. Alabama State played the same card for the eighth time in 10 games. This time, the formula didn’t work.
Brian McCain’s 1-yard touchdown run with nine seconds left gave Southern an improbable 26-23 victory over the Hornets at the Cramton Bowl on Saturday afternoon. Improbable because the Hornets had scored 16 points in the fourth quarter to shake off a sluggish start. Improbable because the defense, one of the nation’s best at forcing turnovers, had forced three fumbles and intercepted a pass, doing its job to secure another victory.
Stunned as the final seconds ticked off the clock, the Hornets wept openly on the sideline and in their locker room, unable to figure out how they lost not only the game but quite possibly the Southwestern Athletic Conference East Division title as well.
GAME: Southern University Jaguars at Alabama State University Hornets WHEN: Saturday, November 12, 2011, 1:00 PM CT Venue: Cramton Bowl (19,500), Montgomery, Alabama Records: SOUTHERN (3-6, 3-4 SWAC); ALABAMA STATE (7-2, 7-1 SWAC) Radio: WVAS-FM 90.7, Jonathan Spells (play-by-play), Tony Fleming (analyst), Robb Taylor (sidelines), Jay Holcey (studio) INTERNET STREAMING VIDEO - Bamastatesports.comWVAS-FM 90.7 Live VideoLive Audio 2011 Alabama State Football Media Guide
THE GAME: The Alabama State Hornets will play their final conference game of the 2011 season when they host the Southern Jaguars. Saturday is the Black Out Game, and the Hornets are encouraging all fans to wear black. Saturday is also the Military Salute Game as we thank those who protect our freedom.
THE SERIES: Southern leads the series over the Hornets, 23-10. Last season, Alabama State ended a four-game losing streak to the Jaguars, winning in Baton Rouge 21-19. The teams have met twice in the SWAC Championship Game, with SU winning 20-9 in 2003, and Alabama State winning the title
game rematch, 40-35 in 2004.
LAST TIME OUT: Alabama State got back on the winning track, winning at Arkansas-Pine Bluff 28-12. Southern lost at Texas Southern, 29-15.
DE JA VU ALL OVER AGAIN?: For the second consecutive season, the Hornets enter their final SWAC game of the season with a possible SWAC Eastern Division title on the line. Last season, Alabama State’s win at Southern, combined with Alcorn State’s loss at Prairie View, clinched the East Title for the Hornets. This season, the scenario is similar. To win the East, Alabama State must
defeat Southern AND have Alabama A&M lose to Jackson State. If both the Hornets and Bulldogs win this week, AAMU must lose at Prairie View next Saturday for Alabama State to win the East.
SWEET HOME ALABAMA: The Hornets will play their final games of the 2011 season in the state of Alabama with home games this week vs. Southern and Tuskegee in the Turkey Day Classic Nov. 24. If the Hornets advance to the SWAC Championship, they would play in Birmingham’s Legion Field.
POLL POSITIONS: The Hornets moved back into the Sports Network/Fathead.com FCS Top 25, coming in at No. 23. Alabama State maintained its No. 2 position in the Urban Sports News Poll, while moving up in several other polls. The Hornets moved up one spot to third in the Heritage Sports
Radio Network poll, one spot to fourth in the Boxtorow.com Media Poll, and one spot to fifth in the Sheridan Broadcasting Network Poll.
NOTABLES
• The Hornets rushed for a season-high 149 yards against the Golden Lions,
the most by ASU since rushing for 212 yards vs. Alabama A&M on 10/30/10.
• RB Tim Clark posted career highs in rushes (10), rushing yards (106) and
touchdowns (three), becoming the first Hornet RB to top the century mark
since Andrew Pitts vs Alabama A&M on 10/30/10 (6-122).
• With three takeaways against Arkansas-Pine Bluff, the Hornets have forced
at least one turnover in 28 straight games (76 takeaways over that time: 31
fumbles/45 INTs).
• SS Markinley Saint Fort made career highs in total tackles (13), solo tackles
(10) and made his first career interception.
Baton Rouge, Louisiana -- Stump Mitchell recapped last week's loss to Texas Southern with two words: Riko Smalls. And in short, that was all Southern's second-year coach needed to say to get the point across in the wake of his team's 29-15 loss.
"He was the difference in the ballgame," Mitchell said of Smalls. "He led his team on a couple drives of more than 90 yards. He did it both with his legs and his arm." Indeed.
Smalls completed 26 of 39 passes and torched Southern's defense for 365 yards and three touchdowns. He also rushed for 71 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries. "In the secondary there's no question we got victimized this past game," Mitchell said, noting the Jaguars were without starting defensive back's LaMarkius Pettaway and Levi Jackson. "We played a couple guys who had not played before. That showed."
Baton Rouge, La. — Take a look around Southern University, and you'll see all the telltale signs. Grass is changing colors. Leaves have started to vanish. Short-sleeve shirts are the next to go. Football season is almost over, and on The Bluff, it's been mostly long and disappointing.
At 1 p.m. Saturday in Montgomery, Ala., when the Jaguars (3-6, 3-4 Southwestern Athletic Conference) face Alabama State in the Cramton Bowl, they'll be heavy underdogs against a strong, balanced team that's very much in the hunt for a SWAC title.
It's a meeting of two teams who have essentially traded places. A decade ago, Southern was one of the premier teams in black College Football; Alabama State was little more than an also-ran.
In fact, only two years ago, Hornets coach Reggie Barlow felt his seat getting a little warm. His program was dealing with scholarship losses and a ban from the SWAC Championship Game — just as Southern is now. Now, Alabama State is a powerhouse. Southern is an also-ran.
Houston, Texas -- Riko Smalls threw for a career-high 365 yards and three touchdowns and ran for a score to lead Texas Southern to a 29-14 victory over Southern in its home finale Saturday night at Delmar Stadium.
Smalls helped TSU (4-5, 2-5 Southwestern Athletic Conference) take a 15-0 lead in the second quarter with a touchdown pass to Richard Samuel and a touchdown run to go along with a two-point conversion rush.
Southern (3-6, 3-4) fought back, reducing the Tigers' advantage to 22-15 on J.P. Douglas' 24-yard touchdown pass to Michael Berry with 11:45 left in the third quarter.
HOUSTON, Texas — Moments earlier, they had scored swiftly and easily. They trailed Texas Southern by seven points in the third quarter. They had the Tigers pinned on their own 1-yard line. They had momentum. Then, almost as quickly, everything fell apart for Southern football team.
With a game-changing series that all but clinched a 29-15 victory on a cool, breezy Saturday night, Texas Southern changed everything.
In the finest game of his college career, TSU quarterback Riko Smalls capped a 10-play, 99-yard drive when he fired a 13-yard rope to receiver Joe Anderson, who made a sticky-fingered catch in the north end zone at rickety old Delmar Stadium.
HOUSTON — Southern’s football team played Texas Southern in rickety Delmar Stadium on Saturday for the second time in three years. In all likelihood, the Jaguars will never play there again.
Saturday’s game marked TSU’s final home game in Delmar, a 12,500-seat high school facility owned and supervised by the Houston Independent School District. Next fall, Texas Southern will move into an $85 million downtown stadium, which it will share with the MLS’ Houston Dynamo.
“This is bittersweet,” TSU Athletic Director Charles McClelland said. “This is a high school stadium, but it has served us well. We have a winning record here, and of course, we won a SWAC championship playing here. ... But we’re extremely excited to be moving into our new home.”
In doing so, Texas Southern leaves behind a high school facility that’s showing his age.
Baton Rouge, Louisiana -- If only the Southern football team had found a way to move the ball in the second half Saturday night, the Jaguars could have rallied to drop Prairie View and move into first place in their division. Could have.
If only the Southern offense had found a way to shut out Jackson State in the fourth quarter Sept. 17, the Jaguars would have defeated those hated Tigers at home, and maybe changed the course of both teams’ seasons. Would have.
If only the Southern football team hadn’t collapsed in the second half against Florida A&M, the Jaguars would have left Atlanta with the most important victory in Stump Mitchell’s time as coach. And instead of being 2-4 overall and 2-2 in conference play, they should have been 4-2 and 3-1 by now. Maybe even 5-1 and 4-0. Should have.
Baton Rouge, Louisiana - For the fourth time in Stump Mitchell's tenure at Southern, the Jaguars have a chance to do something they have yet to do under the second-year coach: win back-to-back football games. So far, the Jaguars have tried and failed on three different occasions.
SU (2-3, 2-1 Southwestern Athletic Conference) gets its next opportunity hosting Prairie View (3-2, 3-1) Saturday at 6 p.m. inside A.W. Mumford Stadium in Baton Rouge.
"There's a lot of things we haven't done. One being we haven't won two games in a row since I've been here," Mitchell said Monday, speaking to reporters on the SWAC's weekly coaches teleconference. "We can do that by winning this week."
ITTA BENA, Miss. — At least once before, they’d been burned on this play. They knew that at some point, they’d see it again.
So in the final minute of Southern’s sloppy-but-important 28-21 victory Saturday at Rice-Totten Stadium, with fans screaming, momentum shifting and Mississippi Valley State facing a fourth-and-9 it had to convert, defensive tackle Dexter James prepared for the most important play. He adjusted his face mask and placed one hand on the grass.
A few yards behind him, linebacker Jamie Payton took his place and stood firm. They prepared for anything, but they both had a sneaking suspicion. They watched for a screen.
Payton: “As soon as they snapped the ball and let the defensive line go through, I knew it had to be a screen coming from somewhere.”
ITTA BENA, Miss. — When the call came, quarterback J.P. Douglas expected it. Southern’s freshman backup knows the drill by now.
Saturday afternoon at Rice-Totten Stadium, in an ugly-but-important 28-21 win against Mississippi Valley State, the Southern offense was moving, but it often struggled to reach the goal line. The starter, Dray Joseph, mixed a handful of masterful moments with the occasional mistake.
And a vicious wind, coming in from the north and gusting to 20 mph, didn’t allow for many easy throws. But that didn’t really make a difference. Second-year coach Stump Mitchell has said all along he wants Douglas to play a little in every game — and in three of the past four weeks, he’d been true to his word. So when Mitchell told Douglas to hit the field at the start of the third quarter Saturday, Douglas said he knew what to do.
Baton Rouge, LA - It happened less than 20 minutes after Southern gave away yet another game, blowing a fourth-quarter lead and losing to an old rival for the second consecutive week.
It happened less than 20 minutes after the Jaguars failed yet again to play a complete game from the opening kickoff to the final whistle. This time, Saturday evening inside the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, they squandered a 16-point second-half lead and fell apart in a 38-33 loss to Florida A&M.
Less than 20 minutes after the teams exchanged handshakes, Stump Mitchell was behind a microphone, addressing a dozen or so reporters, trying to explain how Southern lost for the 12th time in his 15 games as coach.
The question was simple: You had so many Southern fans come to Atlanta, spend a good bit of money getting here, and obviously, they just watched another frustrating loss. Where do you stand, and what do you tell the Jaguar Nation?
ATLANTA — Down to their last chance, trailing Florida A&M by five points after giving up a fourth-quarter lead, the Southern football team hit the field with 3:27 remaining in a 38-33 loss at the Atlanta Football Classic.
The Jaguars huddled up. What did they say? “We’ve got to get it,” tailback Sylvester Nzekwe said. “The quarterback said, ‘We’ve got to get it.’ That was it.”
The quarterback, at that time, was sophomore Dray Joseph, who’d thrown for 182 yards and an interception in the first half. He was pulled late in the second quarter by second-year coach Stump Mitchell, who inserted freshman J.P. Douglas into action.
Then, after Southern’s offense managed only 2 yards in the third quarter, Joseph re-entered the huddle at the beginning of the fourth quarter. His team fell behind to Florida A&M, which erased a 16-point deficit to take that five-point lead late in the game. READ MORE
Baton Rouge, LA - Saturday night inside A.W. Mumford Stadium, at the end of a wild, intense, energetic college football game between two old rivals, Jackson State quarterback Casey Therriault took a knee.
Then he walked toward the visitors sideline, waving his arms in triumph. His team had survived and escaped with a 28-24 victory over Southern.
Moments later, near the 35-yard line, Jaguars senior safety Demetric Rogers shuffled toward the home sideline, peeling off his uniform, his eyes transfixed on the grass. He was heartbroken.
For his team, a promising second half had come and gone. Southern had chances to score more points, to hold off JSU, to pull out an upset victory. In the end, however, the Jaguars frittered too many of them away. The Tigers made them pay.
Baton Rouge, LA - Looking for unique circumstances? Saturday night, go ahead and take a peek inside A.W. Mumford Stadium. It’ll be a virtual treasure trove.
Sure, Southern and Jackson State - two old archrivals, two of the brand names in black college football - have faced each other 55 times. But they’ve never played in a game quite like this one.
This summer, Southwestern Athletic Conference presidents and commissioners voted to ban SU and JSU from their league’s championship game - after the NCAA made both teams ineligible for postseason play because of their continued poor showings on the Academic Progress Rate. Three months before the season began, the Tigers and Jaguars already knew they’d wind up ringless, no matter how well they played.
So go ahead. When Southern (1-1, 1-0) hosts Jackson State (2-0, 0-0) at 6 p.m. Saturday, feel free to call it the “IneligiBowl.”
BATON ROUGE, Louisiana - There is no place like home for the Southern University men’s basketball team. 
