Alabama State struggles under center in loss to Texas Sourthern

Alabama State's game Saturday against Texas Southern looked a lot like August practices at Hornet Stadium. Three quarterbacks shuffled duties. No one appeared to want the job. When the musical chairs ended, it was Texas Southern who left Cramton Bowl singing, claiming a 21-7 victory over the Hornets.

Devin Dominguez, Demetric Price and Rashard Burkette took snaps for the Hornets and each struggled to find any rhythm in an offense that generated just 149 total yards.

Alabama State University Athletics - Turnovers, Bad Field Position ...

MONTGOMERY, AL — Curtis Thomas’ 59 yard interception return for a score put the final touches on a Texas Southern 21-7 win over Alabama State University in a Southwestern Athletic Conference game.

For the second game in a row, the Hornets’ offense struggled with five turnovers and continually had bad field position.

TSU’s defense was stellar the whole game and after forcing ASU to punt on their first possession, William Osbourne returned the punt 39 yards to set up TSU’s first offensive possession from the ASU 19 yard line. From there it only took two plays for Martin Gilbert to cover the 19 yards, with the scoring run coming from 12 yards out as TSU took a 7-0 lead a little over two minutes into the game.

COMMENTARY: ASU-Texas Southern matchup more than a game for ...

Johnnie Cole wants to beat Alabama State today. That much, the Texas Southern head coach doesn't hide. Calling it a game of "personal" importance in several interviews, Cole has made no secret of the fact that today's meeting between his Tigers and ASU carries more than just SWAC ramifications for him.

How personal, and how important the game is though, is something Cole's trying to keep to himself. And he's used all the right words, saying he'd be happy with a 3-0 win and reminding everyone of the great friends he still has in Montgomery.

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Attendance: 12,182

Tuskegee Rebounds, Holds off Texas Southern

A week after being manhandled at home by Albany State, Tuskegee got back on track, outlasting FCS foe Texas Southern 21-14 at Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Alabama Saturday.

Although Martin Gilbert rushed for 121 yards on 19 carries for TSU (1-3) against the 25th-ranked Golden Tigers (3-1), it was Nykeem Barton outdueling Arvell Nelson that was the heart of the game.

Barton smashed through the goal-line stands of TSU for all three Tuskegee touchdowns that combined for just four total yards. The third score, in the fourth quarter, proved to be the game-winner.

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Attendance: 5336

A&M investigates Thomas' eligibility

HUNTSVILLE, Al. - Alabama A&M conducted an internal investigation late last week on the eligibility of wide receiver Demetrius Thomas, The Times has learned.

Thomas, a transfer from Marshall, apparently spent four or five days at Texas Southern, sources said, before coming to A&M last month. A&M coach Anthony Jones said he couldn't comment on the matter Sunday and Monday. Sources say Thomas is the reason Jones and Texas Southern coach Johnnie Cole got in a heated exchange after the Tigers whipped the Bulldogs 32-9 on Saturday. Sources also say Jones and Cole reached a mutual agreement that Thomas, a 6-0, 170-pound redshirt sophomore from Mobile, wouldn't play Saturday. Thomas didn't make the trip with the team and wasn't made available to the media on Monday during Jones' weekly press conference. He also didn't practice Tuesday.

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Alabama A&M University Bulldogs Fight Song

STAND UP AND CHEER
CHEER LOUD AND LONG FOR DEAR OLD NORMAL
FOR TODAY WE RAISE
THE MAROON ABOVE ALL OTHERS

OUR NOBLE TEAM IS NOW FIGHTING
IS FIGHTING TO HARD TO WIN THE FRAY
WE'VE GOT TO WIN! WE'RE SURE TO WIN!
FOR THIS IS DEAR OLD NORMAL'S DAY

FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!

FCS teams optimistic about early upsets

Prairie View, TSU see chance to prove ability

Jacksonville State inspired Football Championship Subdivision programs across the country when it stunned Mississippi in a 49-48 double-overtime victory last Saturday at Oxford, Miss. Later that evening, North Dakota State outlasted Kansas 6-3 in Lawrence, Kan., to gain another upset for the FCS.

Today, Texas Southern and Prairie View A&M will have their shot at shocking the Football Bowl Subdivision establishment. TSU will face Connecticut at 11 a.m. in East Hartford, Conn.; Prairie View will take on Southern Mississippi at 6 p.m. in Hattiesburg, Miss.

First USM home game today

The Southern Miss football team holds its home opener at 6 p.m. today against Prairie View A&M, trying to bury last week’s disappointing 41-13 loss at South Carolina. USM has never lost to an opponent from the SWAC, but the Panthers are the best team that the league offers after a 9-1 season in 2009 and a season-opening 16-14 win over Texas Southern.

Southern Miss players admit that Ole Miss’ loss to another FCS team, Jacksonville State, last week has been a refresher on what can happen when you don’t play your best against a lesser opponent. The Golden Eagles went 6-0 at home last season, and have an eight-game home winning streak going.

UCONN FOOTBALL: Huskies eager for home opener

STORRS, CT — Following up last weekend’s season-opener at Michigan to Saturday’s game with Texas Southern is a little like going from playing Carnegie Hall to the local fair in consecutive weeks for the UConn football team. Then again, beggars can’t be choosers. The Huskies are fairly lucky to have landed anyone at all for today’s home-opener at Rentschler Field (noon, SNY).

Northeastern, an old Yankee Conference rival from UConn’s Division I-AA football days, was the original opponent. But when it abruptly ended its football program last December it left UConn coach Randy Edsall scrambling to fill the open date.

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Texas Southern's mission: to compete with UConn

As with most games between teams at college football's highest level and those one step below, this one should be a mismatch. Just as the players on the Connecticut sideline will realize quickly Saturday they aren't playing the likes of Texas or Texas Tech, those on the Texas Southern sideline at Rentschler Field will undoubtedly see they aren't facing Concordia.

It can be as much a negative for the favorite as a positive. Overconfidence often arises from the Goliath in these games, leaving David with one or two shots at a huge upset. Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) teams annually knock off one or two of the big boys, proving the task at least isn't impossible.

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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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Ex-TSU star Narcisse works way into CFL Hall of Fame

The origin of Don Narcisse's career is not one of a typical Hall of Famer. Before racking up 919 catches and 12,366 yards in the Canadian Football League, Narcisse's destiny on a football field was relegated to halftime.



"My mom didn't want me to play any sports,," said Narcisse, who grew up in Port Arthur. "She wanted me to be in the marching band. In junior high school I went out and tried out for football, while she thought I was trying out for the band. She was worried about me since I was a small kid and I also had a heart murmur, but it all worked out."

Narcisse, who played for the Saskatchewan Roughriders from 1987 to 1999, will be inducted into the CFL Hall of Fame today. But as the family prepared to leave for this week's events, Dorothy Narcisse, Don's mother, died of complications from congestive heart failure at the age of 73. "My mother was a great person," Narcisse said. "She never met a stranger. She was so proud of her kids. I wouldn't have accomplished any of my goals without her."

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New Dynamo, Texas Southern Football Stadium to Open June 2012

Texas Southern University president Dr. John M. Rudley and athletic director Charles McClelland are the key drivers behind the shared new Houston Dynamo Soccer/TSU football stadium. The Tigers total lifetime investment -- $2.5 million. Sweet deal!!

HOUSTON, TX - Tim Leiweke, president and CEO of Anschutz Entertainment Group, co-owners of Major League Soccer Houston Dynamo, told FOX 26 Sports Wednesday the team's new downtown soccer-specific stadium will open in June of 2012. This is the first time Dynamo ownership has been able to nail down when the stadium will officially open.

"We're going to move in by June of 2012," said Leiweke. "So the paperwork is being wrapped up. Every agreement is being signed. We're out (Wednesday night) starting to sell the naming rights. Our bids are in. Our design is done. We hired a construction team. We hired a project manager.

"This is a $110 million dollar project. We've have a cost-certainty on budget. Now we get on with the task of making sure that we protect the best interests of the Dynamo and Texas Southern University."



The project will be financed with an estimated $75 million from Dynamo ownership. The city of Houston and Harris County are providing $10 million each, that will be funded by taxes generated by the stadium complex. The city (Houston) is providing the land which cost around $15 million.

TSU athletic director Charles McClelland said the school has entered the project as a co-tenant and will make a one-time payment of $2.5 million for the full use of the new stadium.

“We’re gonna have our own locker rooms. We’re gonna share the sales for concessions, on ticket sales so it’s gonna be the home of the Texas Southern University Fighting Tigers,” said McClelland.

Other than the Labor Day Classic with SWAC champions Prairie View A&M University Panthers, TSU has been a transient program for over 30 years. The Tigers currently play their home football games at a high school stadium.

The Labor Day Classic is played at the NFL's Houston Texans Reliant Stadium which has a seating capacity of 71,500.

Upon completion of the "unnamed" Dynamo/TSU stadium, the Tigers will become the envy of the Southwestern Athletic Conference as co-tenant of this 22,000 seat state-of-art facility with luxury suites. A rail line will literally run right next to the stadium that will have fan friendly in terms of concessions and restrooms, and parking and access.

The stadium will be located deep within downtown Houston, in the East End on prime real estate as the Dynamo and the TSU Tigers continue their quest to cement their programs in the hearts of Houston sports fans.

There is certainly a brighter day ahead for TSU with Coach Johnnie Cole's timely resurrection of the Tigers football program.

TSU resides in the 10th largest television market in the U.S., and has the 8th largest population. This is a good, fertile market for high school athletes and musicians to fuel the Tigers showcase Ocean of Soul Marching Band and athletic programs. One could accurately say--the sky is the limit on how good the Tigers can become with their new digs.



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Texas Southern Tigers aim for Labor Day Classic

Troy reserve QB Parker transferring to Texas Southern

Dantavious Parker, 5-11/208 quarterback from Columbus High School (Miami, Florida), narrowed his choices to TSU and Florida A&M, Coach Blakeney said.

Rising junior quarterback Dantavious Parker is transferring to Texas Southern University, Troy University head coach Larry Blakeney confirmed Wednesday night. But Blakeney left the door open for Parker, a dynamic threat at quarterback, to return. “He has the opportunity to come back if he gets there and doesn’t like what he sees,” Blakeney said. “I told him that.”

Parker played as a reserve for the past two seasons behind Levi Brown, but broke his right (non-throwing) collarbone in Troy’s first scrimmage this spring on a running play. He was competing with juniors Jamie Hampton and Greg Jenkins and redshirt freshman Corey Robinson for the starting spot, but the injury knocked him out for the spring. Coaches said they have narrowed the race down to two with Hampton and Robinson as the frontrunners.

“I met with him and talked to his mama more than once or twice about this,” Blakeney said. “We talked about his education and what he means to this team as a leader and a player, but he couldn’t get past the chance of wanting to be a starting quarterback. Texas Southern and coach (Johnnie) Cole told him he had a good chance to compete to be a starter. “We couldn’t guarantee him that he had that chance, but I’ll say this. He is a special kid and I hate to lose him.”



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USC, UCLA Recruit Signs With Texas Southern

Houston,Texas - Defensive end Marquis Jackson, who had verbally committed to play college football at USC, told FOX 26 Sports Tuesday he signed scholarship papers to play at Texas Southern University. Jackson, who played junior college football at the College of the Canyons in Santa Clarita, California in 2008, did not play last season. By choosing to play for the Tigers Jackson will not get the opportunity to be reunited with his twin brother, Malik, who has played defensive end for the Trojans for the past two years.

Jackson said the fact that USC has been placed on probation by the NCAA had nothing to do with his decision. "I just signed to Texas Southern University, I signed my commit letters," said Jackson. "The things that are going on at SC had no influence on my decision. I felt like TSU was the best place for me." Jackson had originally committed to play at UCLA before switching to USC and then ultimately signing with TSU. "It felt like home," Jackson said. "I felt the love. I felt the family connection. I'm from Cali and I thought it was time for a change.

Jackson has three years of eligibility left to play college football. He is a 6-4/222 Rivals 2-star DE transfer from College of the Canyons/Birmingham Senior H.S., Van Nuys, CA.

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Texas Southern to California students & student-athletes: Come on down

SACRAMENTO, CA -
State funding cuts and tuition increases are forcing California students to look out of state when it comes to attending college. Texas Southern University brought a team of enrollment workers to Sacramento Wednesday for a mini-orientation camp for incoming students. They were able to arrange class schedules and sign up for students housing and financial aid according to TSU vice-president of enrollment Hasan Jamil.

Jamil said the number of California students attending TSU has grown over the last few years because tuition at the University of California and California State University have jumped. Last year the two school systems raised fees by 32 percent and CSU is considering bumping them up by another 10 percent. "I think it's a loss for California to lose these bright students," Jamil declared. "If they do not have access to higher education, what are these students going to do? They're options are limited. And California's workforce is going to suffer."



Shantell Phillips of Elk Grove was excited to learn TSU is offering her a $40,000 scholarship. When she adds in a grant and money from the school's work-study program, her father will only have to pay $110 a year for her to go to school. "Words just explain how this makes me feel. I'm just so happy," Phillips said.

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Things looking up at Texas Southern University

Texas Southern University athletic director Charles McClelland has released a statement that Texas Southern and Prairie View A&M will play the 2010 Labor Day Classic at 4 p.m. Sept. 5 at Reliant Stadium. The game had been originally set for Sept. 4.

If the 2009-10 sports season is an indication, the turnaround of Texas Southern's athletic program is gaining steam. TSU's campaign officially ended last week when the baseball team fell in the semifinals of the Southwestern Athletic Conference tournament. The Tigers set a school record for total wins (30) and conference wins (18) en route to capturing the SWAC's Western Division title.

The baseball team's season capped a year full of notable accomplishments for TSU. The football squad finished 6-5 for its first winning season since 2000. The men's basketball program improved to 17-16 from 7-25 the year before, advancing to the SWAC tournament final and falling one win short of its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2003. The softball team went 21-20 for its first winning season since 2002 and first Western Division title since 2000.

The Tigers faltered in some areas, notably women's soccer and the track and field programs, but Charles McClelland sees encouraging signs heading into his third year as athletic director. “The ironic theme is that approximately 90 percent of our student-athletes will be returning for next year's competition, so we're a young athletic program and a program that has made tremendous strides,” McClelland said. “We're extremely happy and positive about the direction that (we're heading in) after only two years.”

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An idea whose time has come at TSU

Few main stream sports fans know that Super Bowl Champion Michael Strahan All-American smile was developed on the playing fields of Texas Southern University, where he ruled the SWAC, recording 41.5 career sacks. The NFL's all-time sack leader and future hall of famer is a native of Houston, Texas and played 15 NFL seasons for the New York Giants.

You know the saying about not remembering history and our being condemned to repeat it? Well, Texas Southern University hopes that remembering some of its glorious football history might help it relive it. Tigers greats will gather tonight to celebrate the inaugural class of the Texas Southern Football Hall of Fame. The idea, pushed by TSU coach Johnnie Cole, a TSU legend and almost certain future inductee, is long overdue.

TSU All-American defensive tackle, the late Ernie Holmes, a two-time Super Bowl winner and an anchor of Pittsburgh's "Steel Curtain" defense, pose with Super Bowl trophy and Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Chuck Noll. The two-time All Pro played for the Steelers from 1972-77, and spent part of the 1978 season with New England before retiring. Holmes, an ordained minister, lived on a ranch in Wiergate, Texas and died at age 59 in a car crash in January 2008. As part of a famous front four that included "Mean" Joe Greene, L.C. Greenwood and the late Dwight White, "Ernie was one of the toughest players to ever wear a Steelers uniform," Steelers chairman Dan Rooney said in a statement. "At his best, he was an intimidating player who even the toughest of opponents did not want to play against."

“This is something I've dreamed about for years,” said Cole, who played quarterback at TSU from 1982-86 and returned as coach in 2008. “Over the years, a lot of former athletes had said they felt that the school had forgotten about them, and I always felt this would be one way to pay tribute.

“There are so many wonderful people, so many great football players, who have done so much for the university and so much in life that needed to be acknowledged. Before you know where you're going, you got to know where you come from.” Local sports fans are not as familiar with the grand history of TSU football as we should be. Any university would be proud to honor such a distinguished group as this first class. All 15 of the players who will be celebrated tonight at the Westin Galleria were All-Americans. The group spans five decades of TSU football.

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Southern Jaguars salvage split with Texas Southern Tigers

Late in the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader at Lee-Hines Field, Southern first baseman Frazier Hall disappeared into foul territory, jogging toward a small cranny between Texas Southern’s dugout and bullpen. Unaware teammates soon found him near the wall, doubled over, writhing in apparent pain. It seemed that the 83-degree temperature, grouped with humid air, a sunny sky and no wind, made for bad conditions in Hall’s stomach. He overheated and lost his breakfast. Undeterred, however, Hall declined to leave the game.

Contrary to a theory that floated through the stands, Hall wasn’t nauseated by the Jaguars’ play — even though they were fairly sloppy in a split with the Tigers, losing the first game 6-4 and winning the second game 9-3. In two games, they committed nine errors, stranded 13 runners and hit .258 as a team, showing lack of discipline in many at-bats.

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Jackson State outlasts Texas Southern in OT

Garrison Johnson and Tyrone Hanson combined for 14 points in overtime to help Jackson State ease past Texas Southern in a televised SWAC contest at Health & PE Center in Houston Monday. Johnson hit two three-pointers and two free throws for eight of his game-high 27 points for Jackson State (14-11, 12-1). Hanson made four free throws and a layup for six points in the overtime contest that was aired live on ESPNU. He finished the game with 18 points.

Texas Southern's DeAndre Hall kept TSU close with six of his 14 points in the extra period. TSU sent the game into overtime when Marc Ellis hit the second of two free throws to knot the game at 53-53 with :08 left. Seconds earlier, Johnson had nailed another trey to give Jackson State a brief 53-52 edge. Phillip Williams added 12 points for Jackson State, which shot just 38.2 percent from the floor, but made 10 of its 28 three-point tries.

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Texas Southern Extends McClelland's Contract

Texas Southern University athletic director, Charles McClelland (L) and President, John Rudley, Ph.D.

The Board of Regents at Texas Southern University approved a contract extension on Friday for Tigers athletics director Charles McClelland. McClelland told FOX 26 Sports TSU has given him a two-year extension that ties him to the school until Dec. 31, 2014. "I am ecstatic about the confidence that (TSU) President (John) Rudley has in my abilities to continue to lead this Texas Southern University athletics program to achieving our goals," McClelland said.

"President Rudley and the Board of Regents have shown this commitment to me personally and I want to show my commitment to Texas Southern and its alumni that I am here for the long haul." TSU hired McClleland in 2008 when he signed his original five-year contract. He has three years to go on that deal before his extension kicks in. On McClelland's watch TSU has flourished on the field of play and in the all-important arena of raising money. "Over the past two years we have generated over $825,000 in corporate sponsorships and in-kind gifts," McClelland said. "We proposed a new student fee that was approved by the students that generates approximately $2.2 million a year which goes into the TSU athletics budget."

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As clock winds down, teams jockey for SWAC seeding position

Time is working against virtually every team in the Southwestern Athletic Conference except for Jackson State, and this weekend will have huge implications on the season-ending standings. Each team has seven games remaining except for Prairie View A&M (12-9, 7-3) and Texas Southern (11-11, 7-3), which have eight left. The weekend is huge for the two Houston programs as they get their home shots at JSU. If the Tigers go 0-for-2 on the trip, PVAM and TSU could pull into a three-way tie atop the conference, if they can also dispose of Grambling State (6-13, 4-7), which is making its Houston trip and attempting to hold off Southern (4-18, 2-9) for the last spot in the SWAC Tournament.

Arkansas-Pine Bluff (8-14, 8-3) quietly sits in the best position this weekend with road games at Southern and winless Alcorn State, who are a combined 2-20 in SWAC play. It beat reigning league champion Alabama State (9-13, 6-5) for the first time in five tries on Monday, and put the Hornets in a must-win situation against in-state rival Alabama A&M on Saturday.

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Texas Southern Football to Play at UConn in 2010

The University of Connecticut football team had a hole in its schedule for next season when Northeastern abruptly dropped its football program this month. Texas Southern has filled the vacancy. The Huskies will host FCS Texas Southern, out of the Southern Athletic Conference, on Saturday, Sept. 11, a week after a season-opening game at Michigan. It will be the home opener at Rentschler Field for the Huskies.

Coach Johnnie Cole's Texas Southern Tigers went 6-5 this season and expects to lose only four starters heading into the 2010 season.

UConn has tried to have a single FCS game on the schedule every year and was playing regional FCS teams including Rhode Island, Maine, and Hofstra in recent seasons. Northeastern was due to be next, but ended up folding instead. Hofstra also dropped its football program. Schedules are set years in advance and the Huskies had to struggle to find a team with an open date and willing to go on the road early in the season. UConn’s non-conference schedule for 2010 is at Michigan, at Temple and home against Texas Southern, Buffalo and Vanderbilt.

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Texas Southern hiring Nick Van Exel as assistant

Former NBA guard Nick Van Exel is being hired as an assistant coach for Texas Southern University, a Houston television station reported. Van Exel retired in 2006 after 14 years in the NBA. He spent his first five years with the Los Angeles Lakers and also played for Denver, Dallas, Golden State, Portland and San Antonio.

"I said I was going to retire in '06, take two years off and try to get into coaching," Van Exel told KRIV-TV. "It didn't work out as planned. "So here I am my fourth year retired, couldn't sit around in the winter this time. Coach (Tony) Harvey brought me on the staff. It's going to be something exciting."

Nickey (Nick) Maxwell Van Exel --Beyond the Glory...