I-AA play has been king in Virginia

Richmond and James Madison are in the top 5. Liberty is in the Top 25. Norfolk State and Hampton are knocking on the door. Even William and Mary is receiving votes in the national poll. Virginia's Division I-AA football - the Football Championship Subdivision, as the NCAA likes to call it - is thriving these days and threatening to take center stage this weekend, when No. 5 JMU hosts three-time defending national champion and top-ranked Appalachian State.

"I've always said that FCS football is the equivalent of the mid-major programs in Division I basketball," JMU coach Mickey Matthew said. "I think everyone would agree that we have as many good mid-major programs in Virginia as anywhere, and the same can be said for football. "There are quality programs in the state, and Old Dominion starting football will only enhance that."

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NSU Spartans vs. W&M Tribe

Two weeks into the College of William and Mary’s 2008 season, the Tribe sits at 1-1 after playing two radically different teams. Week one opponent North Carolina State University was an athletic, deep Bowl Championship Series program with which the College did well to compete. Last week, the Tribe pounded an over matched Virginia Military Institute squad. Tomorrow, the College will get its first chance to match up against comparable talent when the Norfolk State University Spartans come to town.

Norfolk State University and QB Dennis Brown can lay the cornerstone for a possible At-Large 1-AA Playoff Berth for the Spartans with a victory at CAA foe William and Mary, Saturday.

“We want to come out and make a big statement to our future opponents,” senior linebacker Michael Pigram said. Such a statement will not come easily. The Spartans went 8-3 a year ago and head into tomorrow’s matchup at 2-1 on the season. The squad received 23 votes in The Sporting News’ most recent Football Championship Series poll to the Tribe’s single tally. “We haven’t played them in quite some time, but we know their reputation,” Head Coach Jimmye Laycock said. “We’ve looked at a little bit of tape and they’re a very good football team.”

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SCSU's Long, Clemson's Korn have a past coming into the present

Malcolm Long would rather focus on the present and future with South Carolina State rather than the past. Yet to Upstate football fans, he remains well-known as the quarterback who led Gaffney High School to back-to-back state titles in 2005 and 2006 and victories in three of four high-profile games against state powerhouse J.F. Byrnes and former starting quarterback Willy Korn.

S.C. State QB Malcolm Long.

The rivalry between the two championship rich programs, as well the high-profile coverage given to the games (the 2006 regular-season game was aired nationally by Fox Sports) would forever link the “Mr. South Carolina Football” and Parade All-American. It also forged a level of mutual respect and friendship between Korn and Long which continues to this day. “Out of all the guys that I played against in high school, he’s definitely by far the best quarterback I went against,” Korn said.

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Alcorn outduels UAPB 13-3 to give Jones 1st victory

LORMAN, MS — Alcorn State quarterback Tim Buckley threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to Emmanuel Arceneaux in the second quarter Thursday night, and the Braves hammered out a 13-3 victory over Arkansas-Pine Bluff. The win, which didn't count in the Southwestern Athletic Conference standings, was the first for new Braves coach Ernest Jones and moved Alcorn to 1-3 on the season.

Alcorn's Taylor Richardson kicked a 37-yard field goal in the third quarter and another from the same distance in the fourth to give the Braves some breathing room on a night they were outgained 216-205 in total yardage.UAPB (0-4) scored in the first quarter on Carlos Reyes' 25-yard field goal. Buckley completed 9 of 18 passes for 118 yards with no interceptions. Arceneaux caught six balls for 79 yards.

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Attendance: 2,500 (11%) at Jack Spinks Stadium, Lorman, MS (Capacity: 22,500).

Pulley finding his niche at FAMU

Curtis Pulley stood in the middle of a crowd of players on the sideline his first day in a Florida A&M uniform, looking somewhat oblivious. A day later, he was under center directing the offense as if he was a seasoned veteran. Now, four weeks later, Pulley is raising eyebrows with the rapid pace at which he is getting comfortable in the Rattlers' offense. There is plenty of zing on his throws and he's speedy afoot.

"It fits my style perfectly," Pulley said. "The coaches are allowing me to run and they do a great job to put me in plays where the team will succeed. "I think there are some things that I still need to learn, but at the same time I feel confident enough to know I can go out there and call what coach (Lawrence Kershaw) asks me to do. I feel real comfortable in the offense right now."

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Confident QB takes command of Aggies

N.C. A&T AT HAMPTON
When: 6 p.m. Saturday
Where: Armstrong Stadium (17,000), Hampton, Va.
Records: A&T 2-1 overall, 0-1 MEAC; Hampton 2-1, 1-0

GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Carlton Fears: That's a name, not a complete sentence. Rest assured that N.C. A&T's new starting quarterback isn't afraid of very much. Thrust into action when Herbert Miller suffered a concussion at Norfolk State last week, Fears did make a couple of mistakes. He also showed off a strong arm and an undeniably confident approach that he'll take into his first NCAA start at Hampton on Saturday night.

"I was nervous on the sidelines," he admitted Wednesday. "But once you get in there, you lose the nerves and start playing ball. I believed I would bring us back." He nearly pulled it off, throwing for one touchdown and setting up another as the Aggies, down 20 points at the half, put a scare into the Spartans in an eventual 27-21 loss. "He's a go-getter," Aggies coach Lee Fobbs said. "He's an athletic guy who has a big arm. And, no, there is no fear on his part."

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SIAC To Make History

Tucker, GA – Sebrina Brunson will become the first female football official to work a regular season collegiate game in the history of the SIAC. Ms. Brunson, from Lithonia, Georgia, will serve as Line Judge in the Stillman vs. Tuskegee TV game in Tuscaloosa on Saturday, September 20, with kick-off at 5:00 PM CST. Sebrina Brunson is a graduate of Florida Atlantic University, in Boca Raton, Florida. She began officiating football on the Junior Varsity and Youth level in 1996 with her ex-husband as away of spending quality time together.

After a while she began perfecting her “craft” of officiating football as a female. “I focused on the rules and mechanics of the game and applied what I had read on the field.” In 2001, Ms. Brunson set her goal on officiating on the collegiate level and began attending college football camps with the MEAC and SIAC. In 2006, she became a reserve official in the SIAC and in 2007, while still on the reserve list officials with the SIAC; was afforded the opportunity to work the clock, while at the same time observing the on field mechanics of the Line Judge position.

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ASU Hornets hope off-week practices solve some problems

ASU AT UAB
When: 3 p.m. Saturday
Where: Legion Field, Birmingham
On the air: TV -- None;
Radio -- WVAS-FM 90.7

The last week has been one long problem-solving session for the Alabama State football team. Head coach Reggie Barlow and his staff spent several hours the day after the Hornets' 28-7 loss to Bethune-Cookman identifying all the problems that plagued the team in that game. Over the last seven days, they've methodically gone about the process of correcting.

"We've tried to be smart with the way we went about practice," Barlow said. "We focused on things that we wanted to fix, got out there, got it done and got off the field. We practiced four days, but they were all quick, hour-and-a-half practices that were focused. I think that was best for all of us." The short practices also allowed injured players time to heal and gave the team somewhat of a break after several consecutive weeks of practices and games.

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A&M foe craves its glory days

There was a time when Central State University had one of the better small-college football programs in the country. The Marauders, under former head coach Billy Joe, played in the NCAA Division II national championship game in 1983 and finished runner-up to South Dakota State.

Central State dropped down to the NAIA level, and Joe guided the Marauders to national championships in 1990 and 1992 and after he left to go to Florida A&M, Rick Comegy, currently the head coach at Jackson State, guided the team to another title in 1995. Al West, in his third season, was there when Joe laid the foundation. Saturday, Central State visits Louis Crews Stadium for a game against Alabama A&M, also winless.

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Alcorn Braves face UA-Pine Bluff on ESPNU

LORMAN, MS — Ernest Jones is ready to get his first win as an Alcorn State head coach. So what better way to get it than under the lights at Jack Spinks Stadium with a television audience watching? That’s exactly the scenario Jones hopes plays out when the Braves (0-3) take on Arkansas-Pine Bluff (0-3) in a primetime matchup at 6:30 p.m.(CST). The game will take place on ESPNU, which is available to subscribers of Dish Network and DirecTV.

“It’s great to have an ESPN football game right here at our own stadium in front of our alumni and fans,” Jones said. “It will be a great atmosphere with both teams looking for their first win. I’m looking for my first win as a coach and to get it on ESPN live for all our recruits is going to be awesome.” After a promising first game that saw them drop a close 34-28 decision to Southeastern Louisiana, the Braves have fallen on hard times the past two games — a 29-0 loss to Grambling (which did not count in the SWAC standings) followed by a 65-0 thrashing against Troy.

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Grambling soccer stuns Louisiana Tech

GRAMBLING, LA – A pair of goals in the final four minutes of regulation and a failed clear of a corner kick in the third minute of overtime allowed Grambling State to overcome a 2-0 deficit and defeat Louisiana Tech 3-2 in overtime Tuesday afternoon at the Lady Tiger Soccer Field. “(Grambling) was the better team today,” Tech head coach Kevin Sherry said. “They wanted it more. They played harder and deserved to win.”

Despite dominating possession and outshooting the Lady Tigers 30-14, a squad mostly made up of reserves in the last few minutes could not hold a 2-0 lead for Tech (4-2). Grambling (1-4) played with only 10 players the entire match. “I take full responsibility for this loss,” Sherry said. “I tried to rest my starters late in the game, and I shouldn’t have done that. That said, we kind of had this loss coming. We’ve gotten away with playing poorly the last two games, and it finally caught up with us.”

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FAMU Rattlers back to work

After four days away from the practice field, the Rattlers impressed coach Joe Taylor with an up-tempo workout Tuesday afternoon in preparation for Saturday's game against Howard. "I thought that the intensity was good," Taylor said. "I saw a lot of leadership from the captains. Overall I thought it was a good day." Quarterback Curtis Pulley took most of the snaps, as starter Eddie Battle left practice early for an appointment. Running back Philip Sylvester took reps after sitting out three days of practice last week. He was a little gimpy, but Taylor said he expects Sylvester to play Saturday.

Special teams continued to show improvement during field-goal drills, as Trevor Scott boomed one attempt after another over the upright. His only missed kick sailed to the right of the goalpost on a 47-yard try. He sent the second attempt straight through the uprights. Meanwhile, Taylor said kicker Troy Walker will miss practice until he straightens out his academic situation. Walker was the projected starter until he ran afoul in the classroom, leaving the kicking duties to Scott and Will Platt, who handles kickoff and punts.

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MEAC Notebook: Special-teams scoring helps boost Hampton

■ Hampton opened its MEAC season by rallying for a 38-27 win over Howard last week. The Pirates scored all of their points in the second half, and Kevin Teel returned kickoffs 87 and 90 yards for touchdowns. "Special teams are a key part of a football game, and if you want to win, they have to perform well," Coach Jerry Holmes of Hampton said.

■ Winston-Salem State has struggled with its kicking game, but it isn't alone. Hampton, Norfolk State and Delaware State are the only MEAC teams that have kicked field goals this season. WSSU had a chance to tie Savannah State with 23 seconds left Saturday, but Adnan Kljajic missed a 27-yard attempt when it banged off the left upright. In two games, Kljajic is 0 for 3 on field-goal attempts and 1 for 2 on point-after attempts.

Hampton is 3 of 4 on field-goal attempts, Norfolk State is 4 of 7, and Delaware State is 1 of 5. Florida A&M and S.C. State have yet to attempt a field goal.

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SWAC suffers through dismal non-conference schedule

For the most part, nonconference warm-ups are done for the 10 teams in the Southwestern Athletic Conference. Now, thank goodness, they start playing teams they can beat. This has not been a good year for football in the SWAC. So far, the league is 4-17 in nonconference games and all four wins were against Division II or NAIA schools - thank you, Texas College.

Troy's 65-0 win over Alcorn State on Saturday was one of 12 games decided thus far by more than three touchdowns and five were losses by at least 30 points. Arkansas-Pine Bluff, just two years removed from the SWAC Championship Game, has fallen to two Gulf South Conference teams in Monte Coleman's first season as head coach. Four teams remain winless and five have won just one game.

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WSSU ousts football assistant Calcutta

Caldwell cites the need to avoid distractions

Nicholas "Nick" Calcutta, the offensive coordinator at Winston-Salem State, has been fired. Calcutta had been suspended last week by Chico Caldwell, the school's athletics director, for using a racial epithet in a team meeting, according to several sources. Caldwell and Coach Kermit Blount wound not reveal the reasons for Calcutta's dismissal. "In the best interest of the football program, the team, the athletics department and the university mutual separation was the right thing to do," Caldwell said in a statement.

When reached by telephone, Caldwell later said that Calcutta wasn't fired, only that "he was no longer the offensive coordinator." Calcutta, 50, has been an assistant coach at several schools for the last 18 years, with most of those stops being at historically black universities. Among the schools at which Calcutta spent time were Howard, S.C. State, Savannah State, Delaware State and Tennessee State. Calcutta was in his second year as offensive coordinator at WSSU.

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SCSU Pough doesn’t want momentum derailed by Clemson Tigers

Orangeburg, S.C. -- In hindsight, South Carolina State head football coach Oliver “Buddy” Pough probably would have scheduled a different opponent. With the Bulldogs showing progress in their two straight victories, the last thing Pough wants to see is his team demoralized by a Football Bowl Subdivision team. Such a possibility exists in Pough’s mind with a Clemson University team he sees as a talent “mismatch” for S.C. State.















South Carolina State University head football coach Oliver "Buddy" Pough is the MEAC favorite to win the '08 conference title and automatic FCS playoff berth.

“The problem is they are in a bad spot for us,” Pough said Monday. “We’re starting to really build some momentum and it’s kind of a downer deal with this issue. I really want to go out and beat the starch out of somebody this week to really kind of keep us going. The last thing I’m looking for is to go into a situation as a double-digit underdog and that’s what we’ll be. Not only does Pough see the game as a difficult match up from a personnel standpoint, but an emotional one.

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Adrian has NSU Spartans surging

Pete Adrian, Norfolk State University head football coach is leading the Spartans ("we just want to compete") towards MEAC supremacy and a FCS playoff berth.

Norfolk, VA -- Strangely enough, we might be 18 or 20 years into the Pete Adrian Era at Old Dominion, had the Monarchs pulled the trigger on football back in the late 1980s. Instead, he glances across town as ODU's start-up takes shape while he builds a championship contender at Norfolk State — all without a trace of employee's remorse. A coaching lifer, the 60-year-old Adrian needed less than four years to turn a program that had become almost a punchline into one that again matters to alumni and fans, if not the entire Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.

The Spartans are 2-1 heading into Saturday's non-conference game at William and Mary, the first of a home-and-home arrangement with the Tribe, and Adrian is intrigued about what this meeting, and the coming years, could bring to the Spartans. It's why he wanted to come here when the job came open after the 2004 season. It's why he turned down Rhode Island, and overtures from others, last winter.

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Fourth-quarter letdown dooms Grambling at Northwestern State

GSU Coach Rod Broadway

NATCHITOCHES, LA — The final score will say that 12 points separated Grambling State and Northwestern State on Sunday. But all that really separated them was one yard. Trailing 17-13 early in the fourth quarter, the visiting Tigers faced third-and-goal from the NSU 1-yard line. After two questionable playcalls failed to put the ball in the end zone, Grambling was turned away without a score.

Grambling can forget the three touchdowns that followed — NSU took the ball and marched down the field on a game-clinching 99-yard touchdown drive, and the teams traded scores to make the final score 31-19. The game was decided at the goal line with 12:36 left on the clock. "That's pitiful," Broadway said. "That's bad football. ... When you get the ball to the 1-yard line and can't score you don't deserve to win. You don't deserve to win."

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Attendance: 8,752 (55%) at Turpin Stadium, Natchitoches, LA (Capacity: 15,971).

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SU hopes big win start of something special

Photo Gallery: Southern 49, MVSU 7

Running back Kendrick Smith scored his first career touchdown at Southern going backward. There are no style points for that — “My legs are the strongest thing on my body,” Smith said of getting turned around yet pushing defenders across the goal line — but they still put six points up on the scoreboard for that.

In this case, backward nevertheless means going forward. That 3-yard TD, like all of Southern’s 49-7 non-conference win over Mississippi Valley State on Saturday night in A.W. Mumford Stadium, is all about the breakthrough. Smith, a top-level recruit at Patterson High, had his first 100-yard game and his first touchdown since 2005, when he was at Coffeyville Community College. He sat out in 2006 and missed time with injuries as a reserve last season.

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(Clemson) Tigers welcome break in schedule (SCSU)

Another lower-division foe will give wounded Clemson a chance to work out more of its kinks

BULLDOGS AT TIGERS
WHO: S.C. State (2-1) at Clemson (2-1)
WHEN: 1 p.m. Saturday
WHERE: Memorial Stadium, Clemson
TV: None
RADIO: ESPN Radio 93.1 FM
LINE: None

CLEMSON, S.C. — The past two weeks, coach Tommy Bowden intended to take the ball if Clemson won the coin toss. Bowden traditionally has deferred, but with the new 40-second-clock rule, he figures the Tigers could gain an additional offensive series.
Clemson’s opponents have won the toss both times, however, so Bowden has yet to test his theory. However, he has a favorable schedule for another couple of weeks in which to squeeze in a few extra reps for his numerous newcomers.

“I’m glad we’ll have had three out-of-conference games before we’ll get into conference the rest of the way,” Bowden said. “It has really helped ... with the injuries we’ve had.” Clemson (2-1), which opened ACC play with a 28-9 win Saturday against N.C. State, faces a Football Championship Subdivision team for the second time with this week’s home game against South Carolina State. The Tigers thumped The Citadel 45-17 two weeks ago. This three-week stretch came at the perfect time.

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