WASHINGTON--T.J. Mitchell passed for 310 yards and three touchdowns to lead Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference three-time defending champion Hampton to a 31-24 victory over Howard in their season opener Saturday.
Mitchell completed 19 of 36 passes with no interceptions. Kevin Teel had four receptions for 110 yards and a touchdown. Jeremy Gilchrist added 93 yards and a touchdown on eight catches for Hampton (1-0, 1-0).
Brian Johnson completed 21 of 37 passes for 244 yards and two touchdowns for Howard (0-1, 0-1). He also ran for 79 yards on 14 carries. Jarahn Williams, who missed last season because of injury, had nine receptions for 101 yards in Howard coach Carey Bailey's debut.
With the score tied at 10, Hampton scored twice in a span of 3:22 early in the fourth quarter to take control.
Mitchell completed a screen pass to Van Morgan, who scampered 33 yards for a touchdown and a 17-10 lead with 11:36 remaining.
On the Pirates' next possession, Mitchell connected with Teel, who broke two tackles near midfield on a 78-yard touchdown reception for a 24-10 lead.
Karlos Whittaker, who rushed for 71 yards on 20 carries, scored on a 10-yard touchdown run that pulled Howard to 24-17 with 6:24 left.
Gilchrist's 21-yard touchdown reception from Mitchell gave the Pirates a 31-17 lead with 3:29 left.
Hampton 31, Howard 24
Team Stat Comparison
1st Downs 19 21
Total Yards 405 405
Passing 310 244
Rushing 95 161
Penalties 10-59 7-45
3rd Down Conversions 0-0 0-0
4th Down Conversions 0-0 0-0
Turnovers 1 0
Possession 26:27 33:33
Individual Leaders
Hampton Passing
C/ATT YDS TD INT
T. Mitchell 19/36 310 3 0
Howard Passing
C/ATT YDS TD INT
B. Johnson 21/37 244 2 0
Hampton Rushing
CAR YDS TD LG
K. Beverly 11 39 1 --
Howard Rushing
CAR YDS TD LG
B. Johnson 14 79 0 --
Hampton Receiving
REC YDS TD LG
J. Gilchrist 8 93 1 --
Howard Receiving
REC YDS TD LG
J. Williams 9 101 1 --
Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER Score
TD 09:09 Kevin Beverly 7 Yd Run (Carlo Turavani Kick) 7-0
FG 01:18 John Mendoza 23 Yd 7-3
SECOND QUARTER Score
FG 05:13 Carlo Turavani 20 Yd 10-3
THIRD QUARTER Score
TD 00:09 Jarahn Williams 1 Yd Pass From Brian Johnson (John Mendoza Kick) 10-10
FOURTH QUARTER Score
TD 11:36 Van Morgan 38 Yd Pass From Tj Mitchell (Carlo Turavani Kick) 17-10
TD 08:14 Kevin Teel 78 Yd Pass From Tj Mitchell (Carlo Turavani Kick) 24-10
TD 06:24 Karlos Whittaker 10 Yd Run (John Mendoza Kick) 24-17
TD 03:29 Jeremy Gilchrist 19 Yd Pass From Tj Mitchell (Carlo Turavani Kick) 31-17
TD 01:45 Arlandus Hood 16 Yd Pass From Brian Johnson (John Mendoza Kick) 31-24
Saturday, September 8, 2007
MEAC/SWAC week two updates
MEAC Scoreboard - Week 2- Sept. 8, 2007
Towson (2-0) 28 Final
@ Morgan State (1-1) 21
4:00 PM ET
Hughes Stadium , Baltimore , MD
Hampton (1-0) 31
@Howard (0-1) 24 Final
1:00 PM ET
Green Stadium, Washington, DC
Internet Live TV: http://www.broadcasturban.net/player/hubison/player.htm
NOTE: NEXT WEEK's FAMU vs. HOWARD GAME IN TALLAHASSEE WILL BE BROADCAST ON THE HOWARD INTERNET ADDRESS ABOVE (FREE TO VIEWERS).
South Carolina State (1-1) 24
@ Bethune Cookman (1-1) 13 Final
4:00 PM ET
Municipal Stadium , Daytona Beach , FL
Delaware State (2-0) 20
@ Florida A&M (0-2) 7 Final
6:00 PM ET
Bragg Memorial Stadium , Tallahassee , FL
Norfolk State (1-0) -Idle
North Carolina A&T (0-2) 7 Final
@ Prairie View A&M (2-0) 22
Angel City Classic
5:30 PM ET
Los Angeles Coliseum , Los Angeles , CA
Winston Salem (1-1) 21
@ Coastal Carolina (1-1) 28 Final
7:00 PM ET
Brooks Stadium , Conway , SC
SWAC Scoreboard - Week 2
Arkansas-Pine Bluff (1-1) 21
@ Alcorn State (0-2) 3 Final
Sept 6th
ESPNU live
Southern University (1-0) 23
@Mississippi Valley 3 Final
Chicago Football Classic
5:00 PM ET
Soldier Field , Chicago , IL
Grambling State (1-0) 10 Final
@ Pittsburgh (1-0) 34
12:00 PM ET
Heinz Field , Pittsburgh , PA
ESPN 360
North Carolina A&T (0-2) 7
@ Prairie View A&M (2-0) 22 Final
Angel City Classic
5:30 PM ET
Los Angeles Coliseum , Los Angeles , CA
Jackson State (0-2) 13
@ Tennessee State (1-1) 16 Final
Southern Heritage Classic
7:00 PM ET
Liberty Bowl , Memphis , TN
TV: FNS
Clark Atlanta 10
@ Alabama A&M (2-0, 0-0 home) 41 Final
7:30 p.m.
Alabama State (2-0) 21
@ Texas Southern (0-2) 10 Final
8:00 PM ET
Division I Independent - Scoreboard Week 2
St. Augustine 0
@North Carolina Central (1-1) 6 Final
6:00 PM ET
Johnson C. Smith 10
@ Savannah State (1-1) 24 Final
Prairie View A&M vs. North Carolina A&T
Prairie View A&M vs. North Carolina A&T
When/where: 4:30 p.m. Saturday; Los Angeles Coliseum.
Records: Prairie View A&M 1-0; North Carolina A&T 0-1.
Radio: 91.3 FM.
Series record: First meeting between the two schools.
What's at stake: A win in the Angel City Classic would give the Panthers only their second 2-0 start since 1964.
Prairie View update: The Panthers allowed 463 yards but got five sacks and forced four turnovers in a 34-14 win over Texas Southern. The special teams added a blocked field goal and solid efforts from P Pedro Ventura and SWAC special-teams player of the week K Brady Faggard.
Panthers to watch: QB Chris Gibson accounted for 226 yards of offense in the win over TSU. LB Zach East was named SWAC defensive player of the week after recording 13 tackles and a sack.
North Carolina A&T at a glance: The Aggies, who play in the Mideastern Athletic Conference, had just 216 yards and four turnovers in a lackluster 28-7 loss at Winston-Salem State. Lee Fobbs has yet to win in 12 games as Aggies coach. The Aggies have a 17-game losing streak.
Aggies to watch: RB Michael Ferguson had 64 yards rushing last week. Sophomore QB Herbert Miller threw for A&T's only score and is a productive runner.
When/where: 4:30 p.m. Saturday; Los Angeles Coliseum.
Records: Prairie View A&M 1-0; North Carolina A&T 0-1.
Radio: 91.3 FM.
Series record: First meeting between the two schools.
What's at stake: A win in the Angel City Classic would give the Panthers only their second 2-0 start since 1964.
Prairie View update: The Panthers allowed 463 yards but got five sacks and forced four turnovers in a 34-14 win over Texas Southern. The special teams added a blocked field goal and solid efforts from P Pedro Ventura and SWAC special-teams player of the week K Brady Faggard.
Panthers to watch: QB Chris Gibson accounted for 226 yards of offense in the win over TSU. LB Zach East was named SWAC defensive player of the week after recording 13 tackles and a sack.
North Carolina A&T at a glance: The Aggies, who play in the Mideastern Athletic Conference, had just 216 yards and four turnovers in a lackluster 28-7 loss at Winston-Salem State. Lee Fobbs has yet to win in 12 games as Aggies coach. The Aggies have a 17-game losing streak.
Aggies to watch: RB Michael Ferguson had 64 yards rushing last week. Sophomore QB Herbert Miller threw for A&T's only score and is a productive runner.
Alabama State at Texas Southern
Alabama State at Texas Southern
When/where: 7 p.m. Saturday; Alexander Durley Stadium.
Records: Alabama State 1-0; Texas Southern 0-1.
TV/radio: None; 90.9 FM.
Series record: Alabama State leads 11-9-2.
Last meeting: Texas Southern won 10-9 on Sept. 9, 2006.
What's at stake: Texas Southern can't afford to fall into an 0-2 hole in Southwestern Athletic Conference play, especially with road trips to Jackson State and Alabama A&M in the next three weeks.
Alabama State update: New head coach Reggie Barlow won his debut (24-19 over Jacksonville State), mainly on the arm of QB Chris Mitchell, who came off the bench to complete 10 of 11 passes for 206 yards and two touchdowns.
Hornets to watch: RB Jay Peck is productive as a runner and receiver. DT Clyde Holloway came off the bench and had three tackles for losses, including a pair of sacks and a forced fumble against Jacksonville State.
Texas Southern update: The Tigers had 463 yards of offense but fell to Prairie View 34-14 due in part to five turnovers and failing to score on four chances inside the red zone.
Tigers to watch: QB Tino Edgecombe set a school record with 31 completions against Prairie View. SS Lamar Herron had a team-high 10 tackles.
When/where: 7 p.m. Saturday; Alexander Durley Stadium.
Records: Alabama State 1-0; Texas Southern 0-1.
TV/radio: None; 90.9 FM.
Series record: Alabama State leads 11-9-2.
Last meeting: Texas Southern won 10-9 on Sept. 9, 2006.
What's at stake: Texas Southern can't afford to fall into an 0-2 hole in Southwestern Athletic Conference play, especially with road trips to Jackson State and Alabama A&M in the next three weeks.
Alabama State update: New head coach Reggie Barlow won his debut (24-19 over Jacksonville State), mainly on the arm of QB Chris Mitchell, who came off the bench to complete 10 of 11 passes for 206 yards and two touchdowns.
Hornets to watch: RB Jay Peck is productive as a runner and receiver. DT Clyde Holloway came off the bench and had three tackles for losses, including a pair of sacks and a forced fumble against Jacksonville State.
Texas Southern update: The Tigers had 463 yards of offense but fell to Prairie View 34-14 due in part to five turnovers and failing to score on four chances inside the red zone.
Tigers to watch: QB Tino Edgecombe set a school record with 31 completions against Prairie View. SS Lamar Herron had a team-high 10 tackles.
NCCU Eagles look to end St. Aug's string of success in Durham
By MIKE POTTER, The Herald-Sun
Coming off a shutout victory last week, N.C. Central is hoping to build momentum for a fourth straight winning football season. But to stay on the right track, the Eagles are going to need to end a jinx today.
Today at 6 p.m. at O'Kelly-Riddick Stadium, the Eagles (1-1) take on former CIAA rival St. Augustine's (0-1), which opened last week at home with a 22-9 loss to Mars Hill.
The Eagles, in their first season in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA) should be solid favorites against the Division II Falcons except for one thing: They haven't beaten St. Aug's at O'Kelly-Riddick Stadium since 1964.
Of course that has a lot to do with St. Aug's nearly 40 years without football until Coach Mike Costa began the revival in 2002. But the Eagles haven't beaten Costa in Durham yet.
Two seasons ago, the Falcons won 22-8 on homecoming day to ruin what otherwise would have been a perfect season. That was NCCU's last regular-season loss at home.
Rison, who is in his first season as NCCU head coach, was offensive coordinator last season when the Eagles held on to win 27-18 in Raleigh.
"Because of where we are and the fact that we're defending [Black College] national champions, if they beat North Carolina Central in our stadium, it would do a lot for their program," Rison said.
And aside from the rivalry, Rison said he has a lot of respect for Costa's program, especially the Falcons' defense.
"I have concerns about their whole defensive front," Rison said. "They're big, physical, they run well and they're veteran players. It may be the best defensive front we'll see all year. We need to find a way to slow down their pass rush."
Costa said he'd like to see the series continue regardless of any success NCCU has in the higher division.
"It's definitely a game we want to play," Costa said. "North Carolina Central was in the CIAA for a long time, and we still consider them part of the CIAA family. Both schools are right here in the Triangle and a lot of the kids know each other. I think the game is good for both programs."
Costa said one of his main concerns is the play of NCCU's sophomore quarterback Stadford Brown, who was a Black College All-American last season and is 12-2 as a starter.
"He can make a lot of plays," Costa said. "We're going to have to get pressure on him.
"We're going to have to avoid turnovers and do a good job in the kicking game."
NOTES -- The Falcons had 220 yards total offense against Mars Hill. Junior Brandon Franklin completed 11 of 32 passes for 132 yards with three interceptions and rushed for 38 yards in the game, while Tim Lovick caught five passes for 81 yards and returned two kickoffs for 43 yards. ... The Eagles lead the series 25-2-1. ... NCCU has three starters from Raleigh. Senior linebackers Derrick and Eric Ray and offensive tackle Azu Alaribe are Millbrook High graduates. ... Eagles kicker Brandon Gilbert, who is the school's all-time leading scorer and has hit 83 straight extra points, is listed as questionable, as is starting running back Jeff Toliver. ... The Eagles have won 13 straight games against CIAA teams.
Coming off a shutout victory last week, N.C. Central is hoping to build momentum for a fourth straight winning football season. But to stay on the right track, the Eagles are going to need to end a jinx today.
Today at 6 p.m. at O'Kelly-Riddick Stadium, the Eagles (1-1) take on former CIAA rival St. Augustine's (0-1), which opened last week at home with a 22-9 loss to Mars Hill.
The Eagles, in their first season in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA) should be solid favorites against the Division II Falcons except for one thing: They haven't beaten St. Aug's at O'Kelly-Riddick Stadium since 1964.
Of course that has a lot to do with St. Aug's nearly 40 years without football until Coach Mike Costa began the revival in 2002. But the Eagles haven't beaten Costa in Durham yet.
Two seasons ago, the Falcons won 22-8 on homecoming day to ruin what otherwise would have been a perfect season. That was NCCU's last regular-season loss at home.
Rison, who is in his first season as NCCU head coach, was offensive coordinator last season when the Eagles held on to win 27-18 in Raleigh.
"Because of where we are and the fact that we're defending [Black College] national champions, if they beat North Carolina Central in our stadium, it would do a lot for their program," Rison said.
And aside from the rivalry, Rison said he has a lot of respect for Costa's program, especially the Falcons' defense.
"I have concerns about their whole defensive front," Rison said. "They're big, physical, they run well and they're veteran players. It may be the best defensive front we'll see all year. We need to find a way to slow down their pass rush."
Costa said he'd like to see the series continue regardless of any success NCCU has in the higher division.
"It's definitely a game we want to play," Costa said. "North Carolina Central was in the CIAA for a long time, and we still consider them part of the CIAA family. Both schools are right here in the Triangle and a lot of the kids know each other. I think the game is good for both programs."
Costa said one of his main concerns is the play of NCCU's sophomore quarterback Stadford Brown, who was a Black College All-American last season and is 12-2 as a starter.
"He can make a lot of plays," Costa said. "We're going to have to get pressure on him.
"We're going to have to avoid turnovers and do a good job in the kicking game."
NOTES -- The Falcons had 220 yards total offense against Mars Hill. Junior Brandon Franklin completed 11 of 32 passes for 132 yards with three interceptions and rushed for 38 yards in the game, while Tim Lovick caught five passes for 81 yards and returned two kickoffs for 43 yards. ... The Eagles lead the series 25-2-1. ... NCCU has three starters from Raleigh. Senior linebackers Derrick and Eric Ray and offensive tackle Azu Alaribe are Millbrook High graduates. ... Eagles kicker Brandon Gilbert, who is the school's all-time leading scorer and has hit 83 straight extra points, is listed as questionable, as is starting running back Jeff Toliver. ... The Eagles have won 13 straight games against CIAA teams.
Wannstedt holds off naming starting QB
BY DALE GRDNIC, For The Patriot-News
PITTSBURGH - It's not called Division I-AA anymore, but Grambling State University --from the NCAA's Division I Football Championship Subdivision -- won't be taken lightly by Pitt in its game at noon today at Heinz Field.
The Panthers, 1-0 after beating Eastern Michigan last week, can't afford to look past Grambling because they'll have a freshman as the starting quarterback.
Either redshirt freshman Kevan Smith or freshman Pat Bostick will replace injured junior Bill Stull (thumb surgery).
"They've both done a good job," Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said. "They really have. I think we've tried to make it as difficult on them as possible, but I think it's important not to try to fool them. But you want to try to pressure them and give them some different looks.
"If you're going to face a freshman, you want to try to force them into making some bad plays. So, that's been our approach as far as our preparation has gone this week. And we've gone through each situation with each kid, and both of them have done a good job."
Wannstedt has noted that he will not name a starter until game time.
"But I'd like to see both of them play, to be quite honest with you," Wannstedt said. "Whether that will happen or not, who knows? But they've both prepared well, and we've pretty much split it down the middle from a rep standpoint in practice.
"And that's not ideal. You'd really like the starter to get about 70 percent of the work, and your backup 30. But under these circumstances, I think this is the best thing for the kids and the best thing for our team. And I'm happy with how it's gone so far."
Wannstedt added that he was cautiously optimistic that either Smith or Bostick would perform up to their capability just because others on the Pitt team have done that this season.
Pitt's quarterback, Wannstedt said, will face a 4-3 defense that pressures an offense.
Junior linebacker John Carter is Grambling's defensive leader, while senior tackles Jason Banks and Donald Williams also provide a push from up front.
When the Tigers run the ball they primarily use just one back, as Frank Warren ran for 143 yards on 30 carries and added four catches.
Grambling quarterback Brandon Landers completed 19 of 36 passes for 303 yards and four touchdowns in a in a 31-10 win against Alcorn State last week.
Wideout Reginald Jackson had six catches for 198 yards and two scores with a 69-yarder for one of them.
Clyde Edwards had three catches and the other two touchdown receptions.
"Grambling's receivers are very fast and quick, and very athletic," fifth-year senior cornerback Kennard Cox said.
"In their division, they have a lot of good athletes and a great quarterback. I think they're a little better team than Eastern Michigan with better athletes, even for a Division I-AA team. [But] I respect everybody I play, and we won't look past them." NOTES: Wannstedt said that every player is healthy and ready to play except redshirt sophomore TE John Pelusi, who banged up his shoulder last week against EMU, and he is listed as "day-to-day." However, he did not practice all week and isn't likely to play. ... Sophomore CB Aaron Berry is healthy now, but he will not start. Redshirt freshman Ricky Gary will start his second straight game. Berry is likely to play, though, when extra DBs are used.
The Panthers, 1-0 after beating Eastern Michigan last week, can't afford to look past Grambling because they'll have a freshman as the starting quarterback.
Either redshirt freshman Kevan Smith or freshman Pat Bostick will replace injured junior Bill Stull (thumb surgery).
"They've both done a good job," Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said. "They really have. I think we've tried to make it as difficult on them as possible, but I think it's important not to try to fool them. But you want to try to pressure them and give them some different looks.
"If you're going to face a freshman, you want to try to force them into making some bad plays. So, that's been our approach as far as our preparation has gone this week. And we've gone through each situation with each kid, and both of them have done a good job."
Wannstedt has noted that he will not name a starter until game time.
"But I'd like to see both of them play, to be quite honest with you," Wannstedt said. "Whether that will happen or not, who knows? But they've both prepared well, and we've pretty much split it down the middle from a rep standpoint in practice.
"And that's not ideal. You'd really like the starter to get about 70 percent of the work, and your backup 30. But under these circumstances, I think this is the best thing for the kids and the best thing for our team. And I'm happy with how it's gone so far."
Wannstedt added that he was cautiously optimistic that either Smith or Bostick would perform up to their capability just because others on the Pitt team have done that this season.
Pitt's quarterback, Wannstedt said, will face a 4-3 defense that pressures an offense.
Junior linebacker John Carter is Grambling's defensive leader, while senior tackles Jason Banks and Donald Williams also provide a push from up front.
When the Tigers run the ball they primarily use just one back, as Frank Warren ran for 143 yards on 30 carries and added four catches.
Grambling quarterback Brandon Landers completed 19 of 36 passes for 303 yards and four touchdowns in a in a 31-10 win against Alcorn State last week.
Wideout Reginald Jackson had six catches for 198 yards and two scores with a 69-yarder for one of them.
Clyde Edwards had three catches and the other two touchdown receptions.
"Grambling's receivers are very fast and quick, and very athletic," fifth-year senior cornerback Kennard Cox said.
"In their division, they have a lot of good athletes and a great quarterback. I think they're a little better team than Eastern Michigan with better athletes, even for a Division I-AA team. [But] I respect everybody I play, and we won't look past them." NOTES: Wannstedt said that every player is healthy and ready to play except redshirt sophomore TE John Pelusi, who banged up his shoulder last week against EMU, and he is listed as "day-to-day." However, he did not practice all week and isn't likely to play. ... Sophomore CB Aaron Berry is healthy now, but he will not start. Redshirt freshman Ricky Gary will start his second straight game. Berry is likely to play, though, when extra DBs are used.
Pough worries S.C. State might overlook Bethune-Cookman
By JEFFREY COLLINS
South Carolina State's Buddy Pough called last year's loss to Bethune-Cookman the worst defeat he has had in his more than five years as coach.
So his Bulldogs (0-1) will be ready for this weekend's Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference opener with the Wildcats (1-0), right?
Maybe not, with game sandwiched between two big-time teams in Air Force and South Carolina. "We put it between those two Division I games. It makes it even harder to get prepared for those guys. We better be thinking about Bethune," Pough said.
In other game Saturday involving South Carolina's smaller colleges, Coastal Carolina hosts Winston-Salem State.
In Daytona Beach, Fla., South Carolina State wants to start this MEAC season a little better than the last one. Bethune-Cookman beat the Bulldogs 45-21 in the 2006 opener, snapping a two-game losing streak in the series. Pough called it the worst loss he has ever had.
But Pough still worries about getting his team motivated. The Bulldogs lost to Air Force 34-3 in the first game South Carolina State has ever played against a team from the Football Bowl Subdivision, formerly Division I-A. An even bigger game against a Football Bowl Subdivision team looms next week when the Bulldogs play South Carolina.
"All of our intentions need to be directed to Bethune," Pough said.
The Wildcats opened their season with a 31-17 win over Jacksonville, running for 283 yards. Bethune-Cookman threw for 347 yards and five touchdowns in last year's win against South Carolina State.
In Conway, Coastal Carolina (0-1) again finds itself trying to bounce back from a disappointing loss to open the season when the Chanticleers face Winston-Salem State (1-0).
Last year, Coastal Carolina bounced back from a first game loss to earn its first playoff bid ever. This season, Bennett worries his team may be too young.
"If I'm Winston, I'm going, 'That's not the same Coastal Carolina team. Heck, Delaware State beat 'em — we can beat 'em,' " Bennett said.
The Chanticleers lost by a field goal in last season's opener against Elon, then won nine of their next 10. And in Coastal Carolina's brief five-year history, it has never opened a season with two losses.
The Rams are in the process of moving into the Football Championship Series, where they will play in the MEAC.
South Carolina State's Buddy Pough called last year's loss to Bethune-Cookman the worst defeat he has had in his more than five years as coach.
So his Bulldogs (0-1) will be ready for this weekend's Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference opener with the Wildcats (1-0), right?
Maybe not, with game sandwiched between two big-time teams in Air Force and South Carolina. "We put it between those two Division I games. It makes it even harder to get prepared for those guys. We better be thinking about Bethune," Pough said.
In other game Saturday involving South Carolina's smaller colleges, Coastal Carolina hosts Winston-Salem State.
In Daytona Beach, Fla., South Carolina State wants to start this MEAC season a little better than the last one. Bethune-Cookman beat the Bulldogs 45-21 in the 2006 opener, snapping a two-game losing streak in the series. Pough called it the worst loss he has ever had.
But Pough still worries about getting his team motivated. The Bulldogs lost to Air Force 34-3 in the first game South Carolina State has ever played against a team from the Football Bowl Subdivision, formerly Division I-A. An even bigger game against a Football Bowl Subdivision team looms next week when the Bulldogs play South Carolina.
"All of our intentions need to be directed to Bethune," Pough said.
The Wildcats opened their season with a 31-17 win over Jacksonville, running for 283 yards. Bethune-Cookman threw for 347 yards and five touchdowns in last year's win against South Carolina State.
In Conway, Coastal Carolina (0-1) again finds itself trying to bounce back from a disappointing loss to open the season when the Chanticleers face Winston-Salem State (1-0).
Last year, Coastal Carolina bounced back from a first game loss to earn its first playoff bid ever. This season, Bennett worries his team may be too young.
"If I'm Winston, I'm going, 'That's not the same Coastal Carolina team. Heck, Delaware State beat 'em — we can beat 'em,' " Bennett said.
The Chanticleers lost by a field goal in last season's opener against Elon, then won nine of their next 10. And in Coastal Carolina's brief five-year history, it has never opened a season with two losses.
The Rams are in the process of moving into the Football Championship Series, where they will play in the MEAC.
Savannah State seeks to avenge last season's loss to JCSU
By Noell Barnidge, Savannah Morning News
Savannah State's football team will play its first three home games, including today's 1 p.m. home opener against Johnson C. Smith, at Memorial Stadium because T.A. Wright Stadium is being renovated.
But the renovations don't stop there. SSU second-year coach Theo Lemon has spent this week's practices shuffling his roster and searching for playmakers after the Tigers' 47-7 loss at Morgan State last Thursday.
The most notable change for today's annual Joe Turner Classic is at running back, where freshman Antwan Edwards of Miami has replaced junior Reginald May of Macon as SSU's starting tailback.
"We're waiting for a guy who just makes that position his," Lemon said.
"We've got a stable right now. We're looking for a guy who just goes in there and really makes it happen. Right now, Antwan Edwards is the guy. It's his (job), and we'll see what happens at the end of this game."
Edwards ran for 13 yards on nine carries against MSU. May gained 8 yards on eight carries. Both performances were lackluster, along with senior fullback Jamie Beard's team-high 18 yards rushing on six carries.
SSU (0-1) ran for 29 yards without a touchdown on 32 carries compared to MSU's 233 yards and four touchdowns on 41 carries.
"There are no excuses about (last) Thursday night," Lemon said.
But there is plenty of blame to go around. As Lemon told his team earlier this week, "If you want to blame someone, look in the mirror."
The Tigers were 1-for-13 (8 percent) on third-down conversions against MSU.
SSU gained 15 yards of total offense in the first half, and 140 yards of total offense in the game, compared to the Bears' 345 yards of total offense in the game.
Too many penalties in opener
SSU starting quarterback JaCorey Kilcrease, a sophomore, was 9-for-19 passing for 111 yards and a touchdown. He was intercepted once.
Backup quarterback Greg McCrary, a freshman, was 0-for-4 passing. He was intercepted twice.
"Our confidence right now is in JaCorey," Lemon said. "We don't have any qualms or any hesitation if we have to play McCrary. But right now, looking at the tape, JaCorey probably played the most, and he played the best."
SSU was penalized 10 times for minus-115 yards. It was better than MSU's 13 penalties for minus-149 yards, but it is unacceptable to Lemon.
"We had too many mistakes," Lemon said. "We had too many guys that were doing a lot of bone-headed things. And I hate to use that phrase, but that's all (the mistakes) are. When you beat yourself it hurts the whole team. Whether it's holding or jumping off-sides or flagrant fouls, we have to settle down and just play Tiger football."
Division II JCSU (1-0) beat NAIA school Edward Waters, 24-0, on Aug. 25.
Last season, JCSU beat SSU 27-6 during the Golden Bulls' Homecoming. The Tigers own a 3-1 series lead.
"We need this win," said SSU strong safety Antwan Allen, a sophomore from Miami who made a team-high 10 tackles last Thursday.
Golden Bulls third-year coach Daryl McNeill coached SSU to its last winning season, 7-4, in 1998. His assistants, Steven Aycock and Jonathan Kelly, played for him at SSU.
JCSU quarterback Carl Richardson was 9-for-21 passing for 122 yards and a touchdown against Edward Waters. The 6-foot-2, 190-pound junior was intercepted twice. The Golden Bulls managed 62 yards rushing without a touchdown.
"I think (JCSU) will try to run the ball first," Allen said. "But when they see that they don't have success at running the ball then they will go to the air."
Savannah State's football team will play its first three home games, including today's 1 p.m. home opener against Johnson C. Smith, at Memorial Stadium because T.A. Wright Stadium is being renovated.
But the renovations don't stop there. SSU second-year coach Theo Lemon has spent this week's practices shuffling his roster and searching for playmakers after the Tigers' 47-7 loss at Morgan State last Thursday.
The most notable change for today's annual Joe Turner Classic is at running back, where freshman Antwan Edwards of Miami has replaced junior Reginald May of Macon as SSU's starting tailback.
"We're waiting for a guy who just makes that position his," Lemon said.
"We've got a stable right now. We're looking for a guy who just goes in there and really makes it happen. Right now, Antwan Edwards is the guy. It's his (job), and we'll see what happens at the end of this game."
Edwards ran for 13 yards on nine carries against MSU. May gained 8 yards on eight carries. Both performances were lackluster, along with senior fullback Jamie Beard's team-high 18 yards rushing on six carries.
SSU (0-1) ran for 29 yards without a touchdown on 32 carries compared to MSU's 233 yards and four touchdowns on 41 carries.
"There are no excuses about (last) Thursday night," Lemon said.
But there is plenty of blame to go around. As Lemon told his team earlier this week, "If you want to blame someone, look in the mirror."
The Tigers were 1-for-13 (8 percent) on third-down conversions against MSU.
SSU gained 15 yards of total offense in the first half, and 140 yards of total offense in the game, compared to the Bears' 345 yards of total offense in the game.
Too many penalties in opener
SSU starting quarterback JaCorey Kilcrease, a sophomore, was 9-for-19 passing for 111 yards and a touchdown. He was intercepted once.
Backup quarterback Greg McCrary, a freshman, was 0-for-4 passing. He was intercepted twice.
"Our confidence right now is in JaCorey," Lemon said. "We don't have any qualms or any hesitation if we have to play McCrary. But right now, looking at the tape, JaCorey probably played the most, and he played the best."
SSU was penalized 10 times for minus-115 yards. It was better than MSU's 13 penalties for minus-149 yards, but it is unacceptable to Lemon.
"We had too many mistakes," Lemon said. "We had too many guys that were doing a lot of bone-headed things. And I hate to use that phrase, but that's all (the mistakes) are. When you beat yourself it hurts the whole team. Whether it's holding or jumping off-sides or flagrant fouls, we have to settle down and just play Tiger football."
Division II JCSU (1-0) beat NAIA school Edward Waters, 24-0, on Aug. 25.
Last season, JCSU beat SSU 27-6 during the Golden Bulls' Homecoming. The Tigers own a 3-1 series lead.
"We need this win," said SSU strong safety Antwan Allen, a sophomore from Miami who made a team-high 10 tackles last Thursday.
Golden Bulls third-year coach Daryl McNeill coached SSU to its last winning season, 7-4, in 1998. His assistants, Steven Aycock and Jonathan Kelly, played for him at SSU.
JCSU quarterback Carl Richardson was 9-for-21 passing for 122 yards and a touchdown against Edward Waters. The 6-foot-2, 190-pound junior was intercepted twice. The Golden Bulls managed 62 yards rushing without a touchdown.
"I think (JCSU) will try to run the ball first," Allen said. "But when they see that they don't have success at running the ball then they will go to the air."
WSSU will start long run on road
By John Dell, Winston Salem Journal
Winston-Salem State will make its first road trip of the season today, ending up about 15 miles from the South Carolina coast, but won’t have a day at the beach.
WSSU - 1-0 after whipping rival N.C. A&T 28-7 - will play Coastal Carolina at 7 p.m. in Conway, S.C., in the first of six straight road games.
Coach Kermit Blount is trying to get the Rams to 2-0 for the first time since 2000, and he said he didn’t change much in practice this week.
“One of the things that we told the team after the game was that we have to play two times better going to Coastal Carolina than we did last week at Bowman Gray,” Blount said. “I think that our kids have bought into our commitment to be the best that we can possibly be when we play, and we’re looking forward to the challenge this weekend.”
Coach David Bennett of Coastal Carolina has some experience against WSSU. The teams met last season (Coastal won 31-12), and Bennett coached against WSSU twice when he was at Catawba. He also has seen film of WSSU’s game last week.
“That backfield with (Jed) Bines and (Monte) Purvis is very tough,” said Bennett, who is 3-0 all-time against Blount. “They have played together since they were at Parkland ... so we know that’s something we have to be ready for.”
Coastal Carolina’s big weapon on offense is wide receiver Jerome Simpson. At 6-3, he can go get the ball (123 career catches, 34 touchdowns), and devising a way to stop him will be a big challenge for defensive coordinator Mike Ketchum.
“I think the thing that we’ve got to do better this year is make plays in the secondary,” Blount said. “We hadn’t had the opportunity to make them thus far. We just didn’t make those plays last year, and we’re going to have to put pressure on the quarterback.”
One reason WSSU was so efficient against A&T was the steady play of the offensive line, which didn’t allow a sack. WSSU also had no turnovers.
Offensive lineman Bennie Barbour said: “I think we just came together as far as the offense. We had been working all week about not giving up any sacks, and we did that. We want to try and keep that promise to Monte this week also.”
Barbour said that WSSU will have to play better than it did last week to beat Coastal, which went 9-3 last season and made the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly I-AA) playoffs.
“I think what it’s going to take is we are going to have to play twice as hard this week as we played last week,” Barbour said. “Our coach has been talking about it all week. Coastal is a pretty good team, but I think we can beat them.”
Blount said that having two top running backs in Bines and Brandon McRae (85 yards rushing last week) has created healthy competition in practice.
“The key scenario is having all five guys up front play well and they played better last week,” Blount said. “But they can also get better, and we’ll need that to have an effective running game.”
The changes in the Rams’ offense from last season include more wide-receiver sets and a slot back (usually Rod Fluellen). Purvis completed nine passes to seven different receivers against A&T.
The ability to spread out the offense a little more should make the Rams’ running game more effective.
“This is a pretty hard-working group,” Blount said. “They understand they want to get better. We are going to have to play solid and not turn the football over.”
After beating the Aggies, the Rams face the possibility of a letdown, but Bines says that won’t happen.
“We talked about not having a letdown,” Bines said. “It’s another big game for us. We want to treat it like it is the A&T game. It’s not going to be as emotional as the A&T game was, but we want to go out there and get a win.”
Winston-Salem State will make its first road trip of the season today, ending up about 15 miles from the South Carolina coast, but won’t have a day at the beach.
WSSU - 1-0 after whipping rival N.C. A&T 28-7 - will play Coastal Carolina at 7 p.m. in Conway, S.C., in the first of six straight road games.
Coach Kermit Blount is trying to get the Rams to 2-0 for the first time since 2000, and he said he didn’t change much in practice this week.
“One of the things that we told the team after the game was that we have to play two times better going to Coastal Carolina than we did last week at Bowman Gray,” Blount said. “I think that our kids have bought into our commitment to be the best that we can possibly be when we play, and we’re looking forward to the challenge this weekend.”
Coach David Bennett of Coastal Carolina has some experience against WSSU. The teams met last season (Coastal won 31-12), and Bennett coached against WSSU twice when he was at Catawba. He also has seen film of WSSU’s game last week.
“That backfield with (Jed) Bines and (Monte) Purvis is very tough,” said Bennett, who is 3-0 all-time against Blount. “They have played together since they were at Parkland ... so we know that’s something we have to be ready for.”
Coastal Carolina’s big weapon on offense is wide receiver Jerome Simpson. At 6-3, he can go get the ball (123 career catches, 34 touchdowns), and devising a way to stop him will be a big challenge for defensive coordinator Mike Ketchum.
“I think the thing that we’ve got to do better this year is make plays in the secondary,” Blount said. “We hadn’t had the opportunity to make them thus far. We just didn’t make those plays last year, and we’re going to have to put pressure on the quarterback.”
One reason WSSU was so efficient against A&T was the steady play of the offensive line, which didn’t allow a sack. WSSU also had no turnovers.
Offensive lineman Bennie Barbour said: “I think we just came together as far as the offense. We had been working all week about not giving up any sacks, and we did that. We want to try and keep that promise to Monte this week also.”
Barbour said that WSSU will have to play better than it did last week to beat Coastal, which went 9-3 last season and made the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly I-AA) playoffs.
“I think what it’s going to take is we are going to have to play twice as hard this week as we played last week,” Barbour said. “Our coach has been talking about it all week. Coastal is a pretty good team, but I think we can beat them.”
Blount said that having two top running backs in Bines and Brandon McRae (85 yards rushing last week) has created healthy competition in practice.
“The key scenario is having all five guys up front play well and they played better last week,” Blount said. “But they can also get better, and we’ll need that to have an effective running game.”
The changes in the Rams’ offense from last season include more wide-receiver sets and a slot back (usually Rod Fluellen). Purvis completed nine passes to seven different receivers against A&T.
The ability to spread out the offense a little more should make the Rams’ running game more effective.
“This is a pretty hard-working group,” Blount said. “They understand they want to get better. We are going to have to play solid and not turn the football over.”
After beating the Aggies, the Rams face the possibility of a letdown, but Bines says that won’t happen.
“We talked about not having a letdown,” Bines said. “It’s another big game for us. We want to treat it like it is the A&T game. It’s not going to be as emotional as the A&T game was, but we want to go out there and get a win.”
SWAC’S puzzle yet to be solve
By Mike Marzelli, Pine Bluff Commercial
LORMAN, Miss. — Arkansas-Pine Bluff’s unorthodox victory over Alcorn State Thursday night was just another indication that the Southwestern Athletic Conference is still a week-to-week league.
Much like in 2006, when all five teams in the Eastern Division finished within one game of each other and the traditional powers in the Western Division surprisingly fell off the pace, the SWAC appears to be defined by parity and an unpredictable nature again this season. Case-in-point: the defending West champion Lions, the highest scoring team in the league last season, pulling the SWAC Offensive Player of the Year and using its defense to grind out a victory over the Braves.
Alcorn coach Dr. Johnny Thomas might say that the start of the season is merely a feeling-out period for each team as the league gauges who its powers will be. The Braves have started poorly in nearly every one of Thomas’ seasons, including a 1-4 start last season, but have never finished under .500 during his tenure.
Last season it was UAPB that limped out of the gates 1-3 before ripping off seven straight wins. Jackson State also turned things around from a fourth-place finish the year before to a division title run that finished just one game short of Alabama A&M.
What that means is that the SWAC season may not have started in earnest yet, but each week is now another piece to each team’s puzzle as they try to piece together the clearest picture they can of the weeks to come.
The games for Week Two:
Grambling State (1-0 1-0 SWAC) at Pittsburgh (1-0)
Appalachian State has made believers out of every small school in the country following its victory at Michigan, but for the majority of the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA) schools, that does not mean that they are ready to go out and grab their own piece of the Top 25.
Grambling looked like the Tigers of old in last week’s trouncing of Alcorn, then again the Braves didn’t look all that powerful against UAPB. Even if Grambling is heading back to glory under new coach Ron Broadway, there will be no glory against a Big East opponent on this night. The Tigers have no chance to win this game but they will at least leave Heinz Field with one victory for the SWAC, as the Pitt Marching Band has no idea what type of beating it is about to take. Pittsburgh 43, Grambling 14
Southern University (1-0) vs. Mississippi Valley State (1-0 1-0 SWAC) at Chicago
The Delta Devils have won two consecutive Chicago Classics, with both wins coming over UAPB. Meanwhile Southern brought the MEAC-SWAC Challenge home to the SWAC for the first time ever by beating Florida A&M last week. When combined, the two teams have played close games in five straight years, with three of those being decided by a touchdown or less.
Here’s where the questions begin to arise. Does Southern’s performance last week mean that the mighty Jaguars are back after two straight down years? Is Valley’s sluggish victory over UAPB an indication that the Devils will struggle this season or was it just the first step on the way up this season?
The former sounds good. Jags coach Pete Richardson is too proud to let his job fizzle away without a fight. Southern 30, Valley 16.
Prairie View A&M (1-0 1-0 SWAC) vs. North Carolina A&T (1-0) at Los Angeles
Traditionally a SWAC doormat, the Panthers have actually become quite formidable under Henry Frazier over the past few seasons. They are a physical, hard-nosed running team that excels on defense and in special teams. While they still struggle mightily to throw the ball, they don’t roll over for anyone, especially rival Texas Southern. PVU defeated the Tigers 34-14 in last week’s Labor Day Classic.
Nevertheless, that preceding paragraph was fairly meaningless when you consider the fact that North Carolina A&T hasn’t won a game since 2005. If Prairie View fancies itself as anything other than the Panther teams that lost an NCAA record 80 consecutive games in the 1990’s, it has no business whatsoever losing to the Aggies. Prairie View 31, North Carolina A&T 6.
Jackson State (0-1) vs. Tennessee State (0-1) at Memphis
Jackson State fell to Division II Delta State in last week’s opener and word out of the Mississippi capital is that the Tigers’ faithful, who just two weeks ago were overflowing with enthusiasm about coach Rick Comegy’s second campaign, have already begun to spit fire.
Last year this contest was decided when Tennessee State missed a game-tying extra point, picked up what had been a bad snap and tossed a stunning two-point conversion pass to win the game by a point. If that, or anything like it, happens to JSU again, Jackson may implode into the Earth. Jackson State 33, Tennessee State 24.
Alabama A&M (1-0) at Clark-Atlanta (0-2)
The Bulldogs scored 49 points in their season opener. Clark has averaged 10 points a game in two previous contests this season. Even the wild and crazy SWAC can’t get its hands on this one. Alabama A&M 49, Clark 10.
Alabama State (1-0) vs. Texas Southern (0-1 0-1 SWAC)
One of the great mysteries of this season is what will come out of Montgomery.
‘Bama State has a strong nucleus, led by tailback Jay Peck, and the early returns on new coach Reggie Barlow have been positive. What the Hornets need to do now is show what they can do, which shouldn’t be hindered in the slightest by the lowly Tigers. Alabama State 24, Texas Southern 9.
LORMAN, Miss. — Arkansas-Pine Bluff’s unorthodox victory over Alcorn State Thursday night was just another indication that the Southwestern Athletic Conference is still a week-to-week league.
Much like in 2006, when all five teams in the Eastern Division finished within one game of each other and the traditional powers in the Western Division surprisingly fell off the pace, the SWAC appears to be defined by parity and an unpredictable nature again this season. Case-in-point: the defending West champion Lions, the highest scoring team in the league last season, pulling the SWAC Offensive Player of the Year and using its defense to grind out a victory over the Braves.
Alcorn coach Dr. Johnny Thomas might say that the start of the season is merely a feeling-out period for each team as the league gauges who its powers will be. The Braves have started poorly in nearly every one of Thomas’ seasons, including a 1-4 start last season, but have never finished under .500 during his tenure.
Last season it was UAPB that limped out of the gates 1-3 before ripping off seven straight wins. Jackson State also turned things around from a fourth-place finish the year before to a division title run that finished just one game short of Alabama A&M.
What that means is that the SWAC season may not have started in earnest yet, but each week is now another piece to each team’s puzzle as they try to piece together the clearest picture they can of the weeks to come.
The games for Week Two:
Grambling State (1-0 1-0 SWAC) at Pittsburgh (1-0)
Appalachian State has made believers out of every small school in the country following its victory at Michigan, but for the majority of the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA) schools, that does not mean that they are ready to go out and grab their own piece of the Top 25.
Grambling looked like the Tigers of old in last week’s trouncing of Alcorn, then again the Braves didn’t look all that powerful against UAPB. Even if Grambling is heading back to glory under new coach Ron Broadway, there will be no glory against a Big East opponent on this night. The Tigers have no chance to win this game but they will at least leave Heinz Field with one victory for the SWAC, as the Pitt Marching Band has no idea what type of beating it is about to take. Pittsburgh 43, Grambling 14
Southern University (1-0) vs. Mississippi Valley State (1-0 1-0 SWAC) at Chicago
The Delta Devils have won two consecutive Chicago Classics, with both wins coming over UAPB. Meanwhile Southern brought the MEAC-SWAC Challenge home to the SWAC for the first time ever by beating Florida A&M last week. When combined, the two teams have played close games in five straight years, with three of those being decided by a touchdown or less.
Here’s where the questions begin to arise. Does Southern’s performance last week mean that the mighty Jaguars are back after two straight down years? Is Valley’s sluggish victory over UAPB an indication that the Devils will struggle this season or was it just the first step on the way up this season?
The former sounds good. Jags coach Pete Richardson is too proud to let his job fizzle away without a fight. Southern 30, Valley 16.
Prairie View A&M (1-0 1-0 SWAC) vs. North Carolina A&T (1-0) at Los Angeles
Traditionally a SWAC doormat, the Panthers have actually become quite formidable under Henry Frazier over the past few seasons. They are a physical, hard-nosed running team that excels on defense and in special teams. While they still struggle mightily to throw the ball, they don’t roll over for anyone, especially rival Texas Southern. PVU defeated the Tigers 34-14 in last week’s Labor Day Classic.
Nevertheless, that preceding paragraph was fairly meaningless when you consider the fact that North Carolina A&T hasn’t won a game since 2005. If Prairie View fancies itself as anything other than the Panther teams that lost an NCAA record 80 consecutive games in the 1990’s, it has no business whatsoever losing to the Aggies. Prairie View 31, North Carolina A&T 6.
Jackson State (0-1) vs. Tennessee State (0-1) at Memphis
Jackson State fell to Division II Delta State in last week’s opener and word out of the Mississippi capital is that the Tigers’ faithful, who just two weeks ago were overflowing with enthusiasm about coach Rick Comegy’s second campaign, have already begun to spit fire.
Last year this contest was decided when Tennessee State missed a game-tying extra point, picked up what had been a bad snap and tossed a stunning two-point conversion pass to win the game by a point. If that, or anything like it, happens to JSU again, Jackson may implode into the Earth. Jackson State 33, Tennessee State 24.
Alabama A&M (1-0) at Clark-Atlanta (0-2)
The Bulldogs scored 49 points in their season opener. Clark has averaged 10 points a game in two previous contests this season. Even the wild and crazy SWAC can’t get its hands on this one. Alabama A&M 49, Clark 10.
Alabama State (1-0) vs. Texas Southern (0-1 0-1 SWAC)
One of the great mysteries of this season is what will come out of Montgomery.
‘Bama State has a strong nucleus, led by tailback Jay Peck, and the early returns on new coach Reggie Barlow have been positive. What the Hornets need to do now is show what they can do, which shouldn’t be hindered in the slightest by the lowly Tigers. Alabama State 24, Texas Southern 9.
Alabama A&M Bulldogs are watchful
By REGGIE BENSON, Huntsville Times
A&M will try to avoid any chance of upset to Clark
Remember Texas Southern in 2005? How about Prairie View last season?
Alabama A&M was supposed to clobber both of those teams. Instead, the Bulldogs suffered letdowns and ended up losing to them.
Now, a week after Appalachian State shocked the world with its upset over Michigan, A&M will be trying to avoid an upset of similar proportions when Clark Atlanta, a former Division II rival in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, invades Louis Crews Stadium tonight in the Bulldogs' home opener. Kickoff is at 6:30.
Eleven years ago, Clark Atlanta came here and beat A&M 20-17 in triple overtime to spoil the grand opening of the stadium.
"Letdowns are always a concern," said A&M coach Anthony Jones, who reminded his team of that catastrophic loss earlier this week. "I can't speak for the team that we're playing. I know they have some talent. What I have to be concerned about is the team that I coach.
"We've done a lot of things to guard against a letdown. We've worked them hard. We've watched film. We've prepared them. We've done everything we could think of to guard against it and now our kids have to believe what we're saying."
A&M enters tonight's game 1-0 after its 49-23 romp over Tennessee State. Clark Atlanta is 0-2 after losses to Fort Valley State and West Georgia.
While Jones fears a letdown, he is also concerned about playing at home for the first time.
The Bulldogs have gone 4-1 at home each of the last five seasons, but even so, Jones says playing at home carries a certain amount of pressure.
"The excitement of playing at home for the first time is always a concern because you have a lot of distractions," he said. "You can lose focus and then you're in a dogfight."
See Texas Southern and Prairie View.
Texas Southern downed A&M 17-7 on homecoming a week after the Bulldogs had whipped Allen University. Prairie View held off A&M 13-7 a week after the Bulldogs clinched a berth in the Southwestern Athletic Conference championship game.
Jones admits Clark Atlanta has some formidable players.
Defensive end Curtis Jackson, a 6-foot-4, 245-pound senior from Lauderhill, Fla., has garnered some attention from NFL scouts. Meanwhile, quarterback Robert Coates is the Panthers' top playmaker.
"Jackson is special," Jones said. "He's a hard-working, relentless, physical kid that can run. Based on what I've seen on film, he's a heck of a football player. Their quarterback is very athletic and can make a lot of plays with his legs and he can throw the ball around and they've got some speed.
"Clark has some talent. If we do what we're supposed to do, we should be able to contain their big-play people. We should outnumber theirs and make some plays."
A&M will try to avoid any chance of upset to Clark
Remember Texas Southern in 2005? How about Prairie View last season?
Alabama A&M was supposed to clobber both of those teams. Instead, the Bulldogs suffered letdowns and ended up losing to them.
Now, a week after Appalachian State shocked the world with its upset over Michigan, A&M will be trying to avoid an upset of similar proportions when Clark Atlanta, a former Division II rival in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, invades Louis Crews Stadium tonight in the Bulldogs' home opener. Kickoff is at 6:30.
Eleven years ago, Clark Atlanta came here and beat A&M 20-17 in triple overtime to spoil the grand opening of the stadium.
"Letdowns are always a concern," said A&M coach Anthony Jones, who reminded his team of that catastrophic loss earlier this week. "I can't speak for the team that we're playing. I know they have some talent. What I have to be concerned about is the team that I coach.
"We've done a lot of things to guard against a letdown. We've worked them hard. We've watched film. We've prepared them. We've done everything we could think of to guard against it and now our kids have to believe what we're saying."
A&M enters tonight's game 1-0 after its 49-23 romp over Tennessee State. Clark Atlanta is 0-2 after losses to Fort Valley State and West Georgia.
While Jones fears a letdown, he is also concerned about playing at home for the first time.
The Bulldogs have gone 4-1 at home each of the last five seasons, but even so, Jones says playing at home carries a certain amount of pressure.
"The excitement of playing at home for the first time is always a concern because you have a lot of distractions," he said. "You can lose focus and then you're in a dogfight."
See Texas Southern and Prairie View.
Texas Southern downed A&M 17-7 on homecoming a week after the Bulldogs had whipped Allen University. Prairie View held off A&M 13-7 a week after the Bulldogs clinched a berth in the Southwestern Athletic Conference championship game.
Jones admits Clark Atlanta has some formidable players.
Defensive end Curtis Jackson, a 6-foot-4, 245-pound senior from Lauderhill, Fla., has garnered some attention from NFL scouts. Meanwhile, quarterback Robert Coates is the Panthers' top playmaker.
"Jackson is special," Jones said. "He's a hard-working, relentless, physical kid that can run. Based on what I've seen on film, he's a heck of a football player. Their quarterback is very athletic and can make a lot of plays with his legs and he can throw the ball around and they've got some speed.
"Clark has some talent. If we do what we're supposed to do, we should be able to contain their big-play people. We should outnumber theirs and make some plays."
FAMU QB says he'll be ready
Palm Beach Post Staff Report
Florida A&M senior quarterback Albert Chester II said he would be able to work through the pain in his throwing arm for the Rattlers' game today against Delaware State.
Chester did not practice Tuesday or Wednesday. He was pulled after three series against Southern in Saturday's 33-27 opening loss. He came back in the third and fourth quarter, but didn't last long. He was 14-of-23 passing for 150 yards, no touchdowns and an interception.
"I feel all right," Chester said after Thursday's practice. "I just feel like it's something I'm going to have to suck up if I want to do something. If the game was today, I'd be ready to go."
Florida A&M senior quarterback Albert Chester II said he would be able to work through the pain in his throwing arm for the Rattlers' game today against Delaware State.
Chester did not practice Tuesday or Wednesday. He was pulled after three series against Southern in Saturday's 33-27 opening loss. He came back in the third and fourth quarter, but didn't last long. He was 14-of-23 passing for 150 yards, no touchdowns and an interception.
"I feel all right," Chester said after Thursday's practice. "I just feel like it's something I'm going to have to suck up if I want to do something. If the game was today, I'd be ready to go."
Southern-MVSU Matchups
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Southern SS Glenn Bell
7 tackles, 1 FR, 1 INT
Bell, Southern’s top tackler last season, recovered a fumble in the end zone in the first quarter and kept Florida A&M from getting back in the game with an interception in the end zone early in the fourth quarter of the Jaguars’ 33-27 victory a week ago. He’s feisty and determined and the defense counts on him not just for plays, large and small, but also to be one of its emotional pillars.
MVSU NT Ronald Green
7 tackles, 0.5 sacks
Green, a 6-foot, 320-pound junior nose tackle, is a load. He was a first-team All-SWAC selection last season and a member of The Sports Network’s preseason All-American third team. Green, who had 57 tackles and five sacks last season, can plug up the middle and allow the Delta Devils to bring their speedy guys from the outside, or from all over in their blitz packages.
WHO HAS THE EDGE?
Quarterbacks: SU
Running backs: SU
Offensive line: Valley
Wide receivers: SU
Tight ends: Valley
Defensive line: Valley
Linebackers: SU
Defensive backs: SU
Kickers: Valley
Kick returners: Valley
Intangibles: SU
Coaching: SU
PREDICTION
Both teams were expected to be rebuilding this season and were ranked in the middle of the pack in their SWAC divisions, but both scored impressive opening wins. Valley displayed nice defense in bottling UAPB last week, while Southern came together on offense and defense in the second half. Valley’s hope is for that defense to again cause problems. But expect the Jaguars to continue their coalescence today.
Southern 36, Valley 12
-- Joseph Schiefelbein
Southern SS Glenn Bell
7 tackles, 1 FR, 1 INT
Bell, Southern’s top tackler last season, recovered a fumble in the end zone in the first quarter and kept Florida A&M from getting back in the game with an interception in the end zone early in the fourth quarter of the Jaguars’ 33-27 victory a week ago. He’s feisty and determined and the defense counts on him not just for plays, large and small, but also to be one of its emotional pillars.
MVSU NT Ronald Green
7 tackles, 0.5 sacks
Green, a 6-foot, 320-pound junior nose tackle, is a load. He was a first-team All-SWAC selection last season and a member of The Sports Network’s preseason All-American third team. Green, who had 57 tackles and five sacks last season, can plug up the middle and allow the Delta Devils to bring their speedy guys from the outside, or from all over in their blitz packages.
WHO HAS THE EDGE?
Quarterbacks: SU
Running backs: SU
Offensive line: Valley
Wide receivers: SU
Tight ends: Valley
Defensive line: Valley
Linebackers: SU
Defensive backs: SU
Kickers: Valley
Kick returners: Valley
Intangibles: SU
Coaching: SU
PREDICTION
Both teams were expected to be rebuilding this season and were ranked in the middle of the pack in their SWAC divisions, but both scored impressive opening wins. Valley displayed nice defense in bottling UAPB last week, while Southern came together on offense and defense in the second half. Valley’s hope is for that defense to again cause problems. But expect the Jaguars to continue their coalescence today.
Southern 36, Valley 12
-- Joseph Schiefelbein
SU Thomas tackles new position
By JOSEPH SCHIEFELBEIN, Advocate sportswriter
Southern vs. MVSU
WHEN: 4 p.m. today.
WHERE: Soldier Field (61,500),
ChicagoTV: None
RADIO: KQXL-FM, 106.5.
RECORDS: Southern 1-0 (0-0 SWAC), MVSU 1-0 (1-0 SWAC).
LAST MEETING: Southern won 31-14 in Baton Rouge last season.
SERIES: Southern leads 29-9
CHICAGO — Trent Thomas is defining what it is to be a good teammate before everyone’s eyes.
He didn’t ask to be a left tackle. He’s probably about 30 to 50 pounds too light and two or three inches shorter than the prototype for the position. And he had no experience playing what, with center, is one of the most important positions on an offensive line.
Yet there he was a week ago starting and there he will be again today for Southern University.
“Man, I just want to win a championship,” said Thomas, who said he is on pace to graduate with an electrical engineering degree in December 2008. “It doesn’t matter where you have me. Wherever you need me.”
If Southern, which plays Mississippi Valley State at 4 p.m. today at Soldier Field in the Chicago Football Classic, is to win the Southwestern Athletic Conference title for the first time since 2003, that will happen because the Jaguars are left with guys like Thomas, guys who want to be there.
The Jaguars (1-0) were whittled into this predicament by losing 15 players, most because of academic problems, since spring practice. Five of those were offensive linemen. Though only one of those was a tackle, the shifting and mixing and matching inside meant Thomas was not going to spend his senior season where he’d always been, at tight end.
Just days into preseason camp, Thomas got moved inside. Then, the move was a precaution, a just in case. Trent still held to the idea he’d be a tight end, at least most of the time. But as it became clear that, with the first three already not in camp, that two more would no longer be with the team this season, it also became clear that Thomas was going to be a left tackle. Because that’s what the team needed.
“I was kind of bitter about it at first,” said Thomas, the kind of student-athlete who is used to losing sleep to balance all he does. “I was like, ‘Man, I don’t want my senior season to be like that.’ Then I was like, ‘I’m not really worrying about myself. I’m trying to help my team out.’ ”
Thomas’ parents, Alphonso and Darlene, meanwhile, were upset.
“Were they? Man!,” Thomas said.
They felt their son was better at tight end, and they worried about him being undersized. Their son was, in essence, paying for the mistakes of others.
“They’re all right (now),” Thomas said. “They told me as long as I feel all right, they were going to be behind me 100 percent.”
Thomas and junior Evan Alexander entered this season as the only true tight ends on the roster. While SU produced the Southwestern Athletic Conference’s top tight end last season in Brian Washington (236 yards, a team-best seven touchdowns), the transition from offensive coordinator David Oliver to Mark Orlando, meant a pure tight end wasn’t as much of a necessity.
Alexander got more work in the backfield, and Thomas, out of dire need, moved to the line.
“People thought I was a little crazy when I moved Trent to offensive tackle,” SU coach Pete Richardson said. “What I was trying to do was get the best players we have on our football team to help us out.
“He and Alexander are probably two of the finest athletes we have on the field. We wanted to get them on the field.”
And so, Thomas became a left tackle three days into preseason camp.
No. 84 is now No. 52.
“We did that early enough (in camp) to build confidence up in him, because he’s an individual who is very intelligent, will learn the system and will do what you tell him,” Richardson said. “He’s done an outstanding job for us.”
The first few days felt strange.
“It was kind of different,” said Thomas, who has four career catches for 43 yards, including three grabs for 39 yards and a touchdown against Texas Southern in 2005. “I’d never blocked in a two-point stance. I’d always been in a three-point stance, taking off. That was a big adjustment, also blocking noseguards. Oh, and pass blocking. I wasn’t used to kicking back and pass blocking.”
Thomas, who was once second-team all-district at tight end and defensive end in Beaumont, Texas, said going against defensive end Vince Lands — another player undersized for his position but a scholar, an athlete and a guy who comes hard all the time — helped him develop.
Lands, who is 6-foot-1, 250 pounds, is also a good example of ends commonly found in SWAC. In other conferences, a player like Lands would be a linebacker.
That’s why, with SWAC play starting today for SU against Valley (1-0, 1-0 SWAC), Thomas being undersized from the NFL or major college football standards isn’t so much a detriment.
Thomas is 6-2, 248. That’s down 2 pounds from when he came to camp. Initially, coaches talked to him about bulking up to 270 or so.
“I feel I’m comfortable at this size right now,” said Thomas, who nevertheless insisted on changing his number to one in the 50s. “As long as I can move like I want to and still have my strength, I want to stay at this size.”
Thomas was happy with the reshuffled line’s debut in a 33-27 win over Florida A&M a week ago.
“They figured we’re young, kind of inexperienced, we’ve been moving around a lot and we might not be as physical,” Thomas said. “We showed them this past week.”
Thomas’ season, his approach, could be emblematic of the entire unit.
“It doesn’t matter how big you are,” Thomas said. “It’s how you bring it.”
America’s Music: Where the Game Is Just a Warm-Up for the Band
Photo: The Marching Storm, Prairie View A&M University’s marching band, performing at halftimeBy BEN RATLIFF, The New York Times
HOUSTON — At four blasts of a drum major’s whistle, the Marching Storm, Prairie View A&M University’s 250-piece marching band, invaded the football field at Reliant Stadium here in columns spread evenly across 80 yards. It was halftime at the annual Labor Day Classic that pits Prairie View against Texas Southern University, and for many in the stadium it was the most important part of the game.
The joke about black-college football games in the South is that the crowd patterns are the reverse of the norm. The fans talk, flirt and eat during the first two quarters, then return to their seats to scrutinize the marching bands through their eight-minute shows at halftime.
The Marching Storm has had brushes with mainstream attention over the years. It has appeared in television commercials and in a Dallas Cowboys halftime show with Destiny’s Child. Yet it remains a source of local pride, uncontrolled by corporate interests; its budget is about a third of the football team’s. Along with other bands from historically black colleges and universities, or H.B.C.U.’s, it is an example of a robust vernacular American musical form that serves a social function and isn’t aiming at commercial success. It is one of many, all over this country.
And sadly, Prairie View A&M’s football team hasn’t been much to watch. Though it has improved recently, the team lost 80 games in a row during the 1990s, an N.C.A.A. record. The marching band is a different story.
In 20 years, principally through the work of the band director, George Edwards, and the majorette director, Margaret Sherrod, the Marching Storm has risen into the first rank of marching bands among H.B.C.U.’s. It pioneered a popular innovation with its drum section, in which the drumline puts on its own dynamic mini-show, and became widely imitated for its outgoing, high-stepping style.
“Especially in the last six years, the Marching Storm has been one of the top three bands in H.B.C.U. football,” said John Posey, a marching-band historian and publisher of Urban Sports News, a Texas-based monthly magazine that covers professional and college sports. “I consider them to be almost a miracle.”
But on a day in mid-August, they weren’t. “How many times I tell you to watch? Trombones, you dragging!” The scene was the band room of the Prairie View campus, 45 minutes northwest of Houston, during the first week of a summer boot camp. The director, Mr. Edwards — a compact, intense man addressed as Prof and characterized by most band members as an approachable, humorous but exacting father figure — was breaking in the band, including a pile of foggy freshmen. His concern was the coming halftime show at the game against Texas Southern, Prairie View’s biggest rival.
Mr. Edwards called for the national anthem, and darted around the big room as he listened to it, conducting accents for the trumpets, listening for pitch problems and signaling for smoother long-tones. He contained himself until the last curdled note.
“I’m gonna call security!” he howled. “Overblowing and not listening!”
Next he ordered the drumline — snares, tenor drums, bass drums, cymbals and the five-drum wraparounds known as quints — to start a cadence leading into the “Entertainment Tonight” theme song, the band’s fanfare. The line, which its members call the Box, was a little soggy, and Mr. Edwards stopped it in the middle. “Play the music! Play it!,” he shouted, his bald head blooming with sweat. “Gonna sound like that when you go to T.S.U.?” He let the players squirm for a moment. “It’s a new day, babe. New day.”
Tenfold Growth
Prof Edwards became band director at Prairie View in 1984, when the band’s roster was a meager 25. He had come up through the excellent Florida A&M University band in the late 1960s as a saxophone player and drum major, and took the Texas job on the condition that the school would increase the students’ band scholarships. It did, and the band has since grown tenfold.
It has taken a generation, but Texas is now full of Marching Storm alumni who direct high school bands; those directors and their bands attend Prairie View games and study halftime videos, bootlegged and sold, or viewable for free at Web sites like marchingsport.com.
But of course the band is more than just a band. Playing in it increases the motivation to succeed in school. (Students with a grade point average under 2.0 aren’t permitted to travel with the band.) It helps pay the bills. (A Prairie View education, including housing, costs about $6,000 a semester; band scholarships average around $2,000 a semester.) It helps students form a family in an isolated place. It makes them perfectionists. Ultimately, it can give them lifelong direction. A lot of old-heads, or upperclassmen, in the Marching Storm say they want to teach music or become band directors themselves.
“We do have personality clashes,” said James Durant, a saxophone player who became the band’s mascot, a panther. “If you put a television camera inside the band hall, following around members every day, you’d have the most-watched show in America. But the minute you put on a uniform, and walk out of the tunnel into a stadium, you are at war, and you’re not gonna go it alone.”
Of more than a hundred historically black colleges nationwide, Prairie View A&M University is among the oldest, founded in 1876. (Historically black does not mean exclusively black; currently there are two white students in the Marching Storm.) Most black college bands are “show style,” with different marching techniques and greater freedom of motion than the more military “corps style” marching bands of many other colleges. And within black college bands, the Southern ones are a breed unto themselves, fusing hot percussion and pyrotechnics with a balanced, rounded ensemble sound. (Mr. Edwards disapproves of loud, straining bands.)
“We have the great drumline and the high caliber of music,” said Tory Randle, a mellophone player in the band. “Up North, they’re just pretty. We’re mean, too.”
Black college bands began salting their repertory of marches and alma mater songs with radio hits in the 1960s, even adapting Motown dance routines. That trend escalated in the 1970s, the prime years of Stevie Wonder and Earth, Wind and Fire. Later the bands covered hip-hop songs, their versions dominated by sousaphones and bass drums, their movements sometimes echoing popular dances from videos.
But especially since Southern hip-hop blew up commercially around 2001, the influence has started to go the other way. Now popular culture seems to be feeding off marching bands. In the last few years, especially, dozens of rappers and pop performers, including Kanye West, OutKast and the Ying Yang Twins, have recorded or performed with H.B.C.U. marching bands.
The success of the 2002 film “Drumline,” about a drummer in an innovative Southern marching band, probably helped propel show-style bands toward if not into the mainstream. It is thought around Prairie View that the band in the movie is based on the Marching Storm, although a few other top bands could make a similar claim.
In 1989 the Prairie View drumline introduced a new drums-only feature sequence, which usually includes a kind of circus gymnastics: throwing drums around, drummers carrying one another upside-down by the calves, walking and playing in pairs like a push-me-pull-you. And in 1994 the Box began rotating sections of its drumline during the routine, so that snare drummers weren’t always up in the front.
Amid the rampant trash-talking between supporters of different black college bands, Prairie View’s pioneering of this modern drumline feature seems to have become accepted history.
“If any other band tells you that they started that,” said Skip Wilson, an alumnus of the Box who now helps direct it, “I’ll eat a bug. And I’ll let you choose the bug.”
The Moves
The same day of the calamitous “Star-Spangled Banner,” the band played at an early-evening pep rally in the school gym. The campus and the land around it — the three-traffic-light town of Prairie View, the flat country between Houston and Austin — lay hot and quiet, but the gym was packed and raging. The Box played a cadence as the entire band filed in through the tunnel, “poppin’ 90s” (legs raised to 90-degree angles, as opposed to the heel-to-toe glide of corps-style marching), marching eight-to-five (eight long strides for every five yards). The house exploded at the band’s hype song:
P.V.U. is the place to be
Ain’t never gon’ stop
We’re the Marching Storm and we’re gon’ keep this here on lock
We’re the best at what we do
Keep playing, making all the moves
And anybody that wants some
We ready, we ready
They went into “Swamp,” a funk vamp. The cymbal players twirled their instruments around their heads, and then the band, freshmen and old-heads, tall, short, fat and thin, put down their instruments and danced, stretching their bodies into S shapes.
Funk keeps marching-band culture current. But most new radio hits are not very difficult to play, and Mr. Edwards regards them warily. He teaches marching band as a music department class, and his mandate both on and off the field is to teach musicianship.
“It really has gotten so bad, to where you have to go back and play old-school songs,” he said, “because that’s where your music is. If you play something hip and sound horrible,” he laughed, “who cares, man?”
So he pushes them through his arrangement of John Coltrane’s “Giant Steps,” the fast-tempo jazz étude, which changes chords every other beat: murder on the sousaphones. And the band’s classics, too: the national anthem, the P.V.U. song (adapted from Sibelius’s “Finlandia”), old marches like “Purple Carnival.” Roaming the halls of the performing arts building, he growls theory quizzes at the music majors.
On Sept. 1, the morning of game day, the band looked wrung out.
The night before, the Marching Storm had battled Texas Southern University’s Ocean of Soul band at the Texas Souther gym. The event was cooked up as a money-raiser, and the bands split the proceeds. (The bands do not benefit from regular game revenues.) The show brought the Marching Storm about $9,000, pretty much the cost of the trip: six buses to Houston, a meal for 250.
Still, it was good public relations, and local hip-hop stations plugged the show heartily. This battle of the bands didn’t end with a winner — it was a double-sided pep rally, basically — but it excited the crowd. The band had gotten back to campus and into bed after midnight, ordered to report for early practice at 9. Now members were straggling on to the field, many late and hungry. The drill piece had problems: when the band formed the shape of the United States, some of the clarinets were drifting from Texas to California. Mr. Edwards levied fines, ordered pushups. By 11, eight hours before game time, the heat was oppressive. A mellophone player ran, panting, to fill his allotted space, somewhere around Los Angeles.
“I don’t think you’re ready,” Mr. Edwards said with practiced condescension, speaking to the band in a huddle. “But I’m not going to go through the show again.”
Halftime Arrives
After all that, halftime at the stadium felt almost anticlimactic.
Following the four drum majors’ introductory flourish, the band ran its drills perfectly through Earth, Wind and Fire’s “Can’t Let Go.” The Box improved on its routine. Both bands played Soulja Boy’s new “Crank That.”
But playing in the stands at intervals through the game, the Marching Storm gleamed. At one point its spooky version of Miles Davis’s “All Blues” — a blues hymn for 250 — was stepped on by the Ocean of Soul, which started up with some hip-hop before the peaceful song was done. Mr. Edwards went to have a word with the opposing band director.
Later the same thing happened, this time with a beautiful result. The Marching Storm started Rihanna’s summer hit “Umbrella,” and quickly, the Ocean of Soul responded in kind.
Neither side backed down. Out of sync, they both kept playing the same song, and the stadium rang with massed trumpet shouts imitating “Brella-ella-ella.” It was overwhelming, a wave of charisma. Footage of the “Umbrella” battle was online within hours. Providentially, Prairie View won the football game, 34-14.
HOUSTON — At four blasts of a drum major’s whistle, the Marching Storm, Prairie View A&M University’s 250-piece marching band, invaded the football field at Reliant Stadium here in columns spread evenly across 80 yards. It was halftime at the annual Labor Day Classic that pits Prairie View against Texas Southern University, and for many in the stadium it was the most important part of the game.
The joke about black-college football games in the South is that the crowd patterns are the reverse of the norm. The fans talk, flirt and eat during the first two quarters, then return to their seats to scrutinize the marching bands through their eight-minute shows at halftime.
The Marching Storm has had brushes with mainstream attention over the years. It has appeared in television commercials and in a Dallas Cowboys halftime show with Destiny’s Child. Yet it remains a source of local pride, uncontrolled by corporate interests; its budget is about a third of the football team’s. Along with other bands from historically black colleges and universities, or H.B.C.U.’s, it is an example of a robust vernacular American musical form that serves a social function and isn’t aiming at commercial success. It is one of many, all over this country.
And sadly, Prairie View A&M’s football team hasn’t been much to watch. Though it has improved recently, the team lost 80 games in a row during the 1990s, an N.C.A.A. record. The marching band is a different story.
In 20 years, principally through the work of the band director, George Edwards, and the majorette director, Margaret Sherrod, the Marching Storm has risen into the first rank of marching bands among H.B.C.U.’s. It pioneered a popular innovation with its drum section, in which the drumline puts on its own dynamic mini-show, and became widely imitated for its outgoing, high-stepping style.
“Especially in the last six years, the Marching Storm has been one of the top three bands in H.B.C.U. football,” said John Posey, a marching-band historian and publisher of Urban Sports News, a Texas-based monthly magazine that covers professional and college sports. “I consider them to be almost a miracle.”
But on a day in mid-August, they weren’t. “How many times I tell you to watch? Trombones, you dragging!” The scene was the band room of the Prairie View campus, 45 minutes northwest of Houston, during the first week of a summer boot camp. The director, Mr. Edwards — a compact, intense man addressed as Prof and characterized by most band members as an approachable, humorous but exacting father figure — was breaking in the band, including a pile of foggy freshmen. His concern was the coming halftime show at the game against Texas Southern, Prairie View’s biggest rival.
Mr. Edwards called for the national anthem, and darted around the big room as he listened to it, conducting accents for the trumpets, listening for pitch problems and signaling for smoother long-tones. He contained himself until the last curdled note.
“I’m gonna call security!” he howled. “Overblowing and not listening!”
Next he ordered the drumline — snares, tenor drums, bass drums, cymbals and the five-drum wraparounds known as quints — to start a cadence leading into the “Entertainment Tonight” theme song, the band’s fanfare. The line, which its members call the Box, was a little soggy, and Mr. Edwards stopped it in the middle. “Play the music! Play it!,” he shouted, his bald head blooming with sweat. “Gonna sound like that when you go to T.S.U.?” He let the players squirm for a moment. “It’s a new day, babe. New day.”
Tenfold GrowthProf Edwards became band director at Prairie View in 1984, when the band’s roster was a meager 25. He had come up through the excellent Florida A&M University band in the late 1960s as a saxophone player and drum major, and took the Texas job on the condition that the school would increase the students’ band scholarships. It did, and the band has since grown tenfold.
It has taken a generation, but Texas is now full of Marching Storm alumni who direct high school bands; those directors and their bands attend Prairie View games and study halftime videos, bootlegged and sold, or viewable for free at Web sites like marchingsport.com.
But of course the band is more than just a band. Playing in it increases the motivation to succeed in school. (Students with a grade point average under 2.0 aren’t permitted to travel with the band.) It helps pay the bills. (A Prairie View education, including housing, costs about $6,000 a semester; band scholarships average around $2,000 a semester.) It helps students form a family in an isolated place. It makes them perfectionists. Ultimately, it can give them lifelong direction. A lot of old-heads, or upperclassmen, in the Marching Storm say they want to teach music or become band directors themselves.
“We do have personality clashes,” said James Durant, a saxophone player who became the band’s mascot, a panther. “If you put a television camera inside the band hall, following around members every day, you’d have the most-watched show in America. But the minute you put on a uniform, and walk out of the tunnel into a stadium, you are at war, and you’re not gonna go it alone.”
Of more than a hundred historically black colleges nationwide, Prairie View A&M University is among the oldest, founded in 1876. (Historically black does not mean exclusively black; currently there are two white students in the Marching Storm.) Most black college bands are “show style,” with different marching techniques and greater freedom of motion than the more military “corps style” marching bands of many other colleges. And within black college bands, the Southern ones are a breed unto themselves, fusing hot percussion and pyrotechnics with a balanced, rounded ensemble sound. (Mr. Edwards disapproves of loud, straining bands.)
“We have the great drumline and the high caliber of music,” said Tory Randle, a mellophone player in the band. “Up North, they’re just pretty. We’re mean, too.”
Black college bands began salting their repertory of marches and alma mater songs with radio hits in the 1960s, even adapting Motown dance routines. That trend escalated in the 1970s, the prime years of Stevie Wonder and Earth, Wind and Fire. Later the bands covered hip-hop songs, their versions dominated by sousaphones and bass drums, their movements sometimes echoing popular dances from videos.But especially since Southern hip-hop blew up commercially around 2001, the influence has started to go the other way. Now popular culture seems to be feeding off marching bands. In the last few years, especially, dozens of rappers and pop performers, including Kanye West, OutKast and the Ying Yang Twins, have recorded or performed with H.B.C.U. marching bands.
The success of the 2002 film “Drumline,” about a drummer in an innovative Southern marching band, probably helped propel show-style bands toward if not into the mainstream. It is thought around Prairie View that the band in the movie is based on the Marching Storm, although a few other top bands could make a similar claim.
In 1989 the Prairie View drumline introduced a new drums-only feature sequence, which usually includes a kind of circus gymnastics: throwing drums around, drummers carrying one another upside-down by the calves, walking and playing in pairs like a push-me-pull-you. And in 1994 the Box began rotating sections of its drumline during the routine, so that snare drummers weren’t always up in the front.
Amid the rampant trash-talking between supporters of different black college bands, Prairie View’s pioneering of this modern drumline feature seems to have become accepted history.
“If any other band tells you that they started that,” said Skip Wilson, an alumnus of the Box who now helps direct it, “I’ll eat a bug. And I’ll let you choose the bug.”
The MovesThe same day of the calamitous “Star-Spangled Banner,” the band played at an early-evening pep rally in the school gym. The campus and the land around it — the three-traffic-light town of Prairie View, the flat country between Houston and Austin — lay hot and quiet, but the gym was packed and raging. The Box played a cadence as the entire band filed in through the tunnel, “poppin’ 90s” (legs raised to 90-degree angles, as opposed to the heel-to-toe glide of corps-style marching), marching eight-to-five (eight long strides for every five yards). The house exploded at the band’s hype song:
P.V.U. is the place to be
Ain’t never gon’ stop
We’re the Marching Storm and we’re gon’ keep this here on lock
We’re the best at what we do
Keep playing, making all the moves
And anybody that wants some
We ready, we ready
They went into “Swamp,” a funk vamp. The cymbal players twirled their instruments around their heads, and then the band, freshmen and old-heads, tall, short, fat and thin, put down their instruments and danced, stretching their bodies into S shapes.
Funk keeps marching-band culture current. But most new radio hits are not very difficult to play, and Mr. Edwards regards them warily. He teaches marching band as a music department class, and his mandate both on and off the field is to teach musicianship.
“It really has gotten so bad, to where you have to go back and play old-school songs,” he said, “because that’s where your music is. If you play something hip and sound horrible,” he laughed, “who cares, man?”
So he pushes them through his arrangement of John Coltrane’s “Giant Steps,” the fast-tempo jazz étude, which changes chords every other beat: murder on the sousaphones. And the band’s classics, too: the national anthem, the P.V.U. song (adapted from Sibelius’s “Finlandia”), old marches like “Purple Carnival.” Roaming the halls of the performing arts building, he growls theory quizzes at the music majors.
On Sept. 1, the morning of game day, the band looked wrung out.
The night before, the Marching Storm had battled Texas Southern University’s Ocean of Soul band at the Texas Souther gym. The event was cooked up as a money-raiser, and the bands split the proceeds. (The bands do not benefit from regular game revenues.) The show brought the Marching Storm about $9,000, pretty much the cost of the trip: six buses to Houston, a meal for 250.
Still, it was good public relations, and local hip-hop stations plugged the show heartily. This battle of the bands didn’t end with a winner — it was a double-sided pep rally, basically — but it excited the crowd. The band had gotten back to campus and into bed after midnight, ordered to report for early practice at 9. Now members were straggling on to the field, many late and hungry. The drill piece had problems: when the band formed the shape of the United States, some of the clarinets were drifting from Texas to California. Mr. Edwards levied fines, ordered pushups. By 11, eight hours before game time, the heat was oppressive. A mellophone player ran, panting, to fill his allotted space, somewhere around Los Angeles.
“I don’t think you’re ready,” Mr. Edwards said with practiced condescension, speaking to the band in a huddle. “But I’m not going to go through the show again.”
Halftime Arrives
After all that, halftime at the stadium felt almost anticlimactic.
Following the four drum majors’ introductory flourish, the band ran its drills perfectly through Earth, Wind and Fire’s “Can’t Let Go.” The Box improved on its routine. Both bands played Soulja Boy’s new “Crank That.”
But playing in the stands at intervals through the game, the Marching Storm gleamed. At one point its spooky version of Miles Davis’s “All Blues” — a blues hymn for 250 — was stepped on by the Ocean of Soul, which started up with some hip-hop before the peaceful song was done. Mr. Edwards went to have a word with the opposing band director.
Later the same thing happened, this time with a beautiful result. The Marching Storm started Rihanna’s summer hit “Umbrella,” and quickly, the Ocean of Soul responded in kind.
Neither side backed down. Out of sync, they both kept playing the same song, and the stadium rang with massed trumpet shouts imitating “Brella-ella-ella.” It was overwhelming, a wave of charisma. Footage of the “Umbrella” battle was online within hours. Providentially, Prairie View won the football game, 34-14.
------------
15 Minute NY Times VIDEO of Interview with PVAMU BAND (clink video at left of page at link): http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/08/arts/music/08band.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&ref=music
15 Minute NY Times VIDEO of Interview with PVAMU BAND (clink video at left of page at link): http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/08/arts/music/08band.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&ref=music
S.C. State savoring chance to avenge B-CU's '06 rout
Photo: SCSU RB Will FordBy SEAN KERNAN, Daytona News-Journal
DAYTONA BEACH -- Bethune-Cookman beat South Carolina State through the air last year, its quarterback tying a school record with five touchdown passes in a 45-21 rout in Charleston, S.C.
So how have the Wildcats (1-0) approached this season, and what type of preparations have the Bulldogs (0-1) made for today's Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference opener for both teams at Municipal Stadium?
The Wildcats and their veteran coach Alvin Wyatt have made it known B-CU intends to go back to the roots of the Wyatt- bone -- an option-based offense -- this season.
The Bulldogs prepped for the Wildcats in part by scheduling major Division I opponent Air Force last week. Longtime Falcons head coach Fisher DeBerry is gone following his retirement after last season, but new coach Troy Calhoun, realizing the majority of his players were recruited to run the option, has kept the triple-option as the base of the playbook even though he has added more versatility.
Asked if playing Air Force would help South Carolina State's preparation for facing the only MEAC team that employs the triple option, Pough said: "Let's hope so. There are some similarities."
Pough and the Bulldogs won't have to contend with Jarod Rucker, the quarterback who matched B-CU's record for TD passes in one game. Rucker bypassed his last year of eligibility to get started in law school at Florida International. The only way Pough will see Rucker again in a Wildcat uniform is if he watches the game tape, and judging from his comments this week, that wasn't something he was looking forward to doing.
"I don't quite know what happened last year," Pough said. "We were up 14-0. Heck, I don't know. I've been afraid to watch the tape. Coach (Wyatt) did a nice job of adjusting. They got behind and it was almost like they got mad. They came out and beat the starch out of us. "
B-CU changed things up offensively and went to an air attack after getting down 14-0. The result was 45 unanswered points for B-CU in a game Pough agreed was his worst conference loss in five seasons at South Carolina State.
After a successful 31-17 debut against non-scholarship Division I-AA Jacksonville in which quarterback Jimmie Russell and fullback Justin Brannon each eclipsed the 100-yard rushing mark, the Wyattbone is off to a running start this year.
Is a steady diet of Wyattbone on the menu today?
"It's not a set thing," Wyatt said. "It's whatever the defense wants to give us."
One thing he knows for certain is the 4 p.m. game is going to be a challenge for the Wildcats.
"It's a rivalry-type atmosphere when we play those guys," Wyatt said. "They're a very good-looking football team. I'm sure that's why they were picked to be in first place (in the preseason poll of MEAC coaches and sports information directors). (South Carolina State) and Hampton are just loaded up with talent. They have more talent than anyone else in the conference."
Today's Game
WHO: S.C. State (0-1) at Bethune-Cookman (1-0)
WHERE: Municipal Stadium
KICKOFF: 4 p.m
RADIO: WELE 1380-AM
SERIES: South Carolina State leads 26-18-1
ETC.: This is the MEAC opener for both teams.
Tennessee State hopes score not close
By MIKE ORGAN, Tennesseean
TSU (0-1) VS. JACKSON STATE (0-1)
SOUTHERN HERITAGE CLASSIC
Where: Liberty Bowl, Memphis
Time: 6 p.m.
TV: SportSouth
Radio: 560-AM
Last meeting: TSU 31, JSU 30, OT (2006)
Key matchup: TSU RB Javarris Williams vs. JSU LB Marcellus Speaks. Williams earned back his starting position by rushing for 123 yards on 20 carries last week. Speaks had a monster game against Delta State, recording 10 tackles, including three for losses.
Two-point run won 2006 Classic
TSU (0-1) VS. JACKSON STATE (0-1)
SOUTHERN HERITAGE CLASSIC
Where: Liberty Bowl, Memphis
Time: 6 p.m.
TV: SportSouth
Radio: 560-AM
Last meeting: TSU 31, JSU 30, OT (2006)
Key matchup: TSU RB Javarris Williams vs. JSU LB Marcellus Speaks. Williams earned back his starting position by rushing for 123 yards on 20 carries last week. Speaks had a monster game against Delta State, recording 10 tackles, including three for losses.
Two-point run won 2006 Classic
Brandon Williams' father James, a lieutenant colonel in the Army, had to be proud of the maneuver his son made last year, thrusting himself backward and landing in the end zone to score on a two-point conversion.
It looked like a scene from Full Metal Jacket and helped Tennessee State beat Jackson State 31-30 in overtime.
Williams, a fullback from Memphis, and the Tigers (0-1) are hoping such late-game heroics aren't necessary tonight at 6 at the Liberty Bowl when they face Jackson State (0-1) again in the Southern Heritage Classic.
If the Tigers are able to get up on JSU, like they did last week against Alabama A&M, they intend to stay up instead of collapsing.
"I went down to block, I got popped and I fell," Williams said of the 2006 catch he made of a pass from backup quarterback Richard Hartman, who was scrambling after mishandling the snap for an extra-point kick. "I looked up and saw Hartman roll out, and I knew to roll out, get in the flats, and wait for him to throw it."
Hartman tossed the ball to Williams, but Williams wasn't in the end zone. He backpedaled, then threw himself across the goal line.
"I hope it doesn't come down to a play like that this year," Williams said. "Our offense has worked hard to be more consistent this week than last week."
Breakdown on offense
TSU collected 382 total offensive yards in the 49-23 loss to Alabama A&M last week, but after Chris Johnson's 12-yard touchdown catch pulled the Tigers to within 14-13 early in the second quarter, the offense sputtered. The first team failed to score another TD.
Coach James Webster blamed the breakdown on an influx of newcomers on the unit and expects better execution tonight.
"We had seven new starters on offense," Webster said. "I've said since we were in camp that we're going to be better as we go on because we've got so many new starters. It's going to take time for that to jell. That's why I'm not down on this football team at all."
JSU stumbled as well last week, losing at home to Delta State 27-15. JSU's offense was without Ohio State transfer tailback Erik Haw and Southern Miss transfer Cody Hull did not play.
Haw had an ankle injury, and there were questions about Hull's academic eligibility. Both are expected back tonight.
"It hurt us not to have Erik," said JSU Coach Rick Comegy. "Both Haw and Hull do a good job of running the ball for us, but they also bring good leadership to the field."
It looked like a scene from Full Metal Jacket and helped Tennessee State beat Jackson State 31-30 in overtime.
Williams, a fullback from Memphis, and the Tigers (0-1) are hoping such late-game heroics aren't necessary tonight at 6 at the Liberty Bowl when they face Jackson State (0-1) again in the Southern Heritage Classic.
If the Tigers are able to get up on JSU, like they did last week against Alabama A&M, they intend to stay up instead of collapsing.
"I went down to block, I got popped and I fell," Williams said of the 2006 catch he made of a pass from backup quarterback Richard Hartman, who was scrambling after mishandling the snap for an extra-point kick. "I looked up and saw Hartman roll out, and I knew to roll out, get in the flats, and wait for him to throw it."
Hartman tossed the ball to Williams, but Williams wasn't in the end zone. He backpedaled, then threw himself across the goal line.
"I hope it doesn't come down to a play like that this year," Williams said. "Our offense has worked hard to be more consistent this week than last week."
Breakdown on offense
TSU collected 382 total offensive yards in the 49-23 loss to Alabama A&M last week, but after Chris Johnson's 12-yard touchdown catch pulled the Tigers to within 14-13 early in the second quarter, the offense sputtered. The first team failed to score another TD.
Coach James Webster blamed the breakdown on an influx of newcomers on the unit and expects better execution tonight.
"We had seven new starters on offense," Webster said. "I've said since we were in camp that we're going to be better as we go on because we've got so many new starters. It's going to take time for that to jell. That's why I'm not down on this football team at all."
JSU stumbled as well last week, losing at home to Delta State 27-15. JSU's offense was without Ohio State transfer tailback Erik Haw and Southern Miss transfer Cody Hull did not play.
Haw had an ankle injury, and there were questions about Hull's academic eligibility. Both are expected back tonight.
"It hurt us not to have Erik," said JSU Coach Rick Comegy. "Both Haw and Hull do a good job of running the ball for us, but they also bring good leadership to the field."
Test time for Towson, Morgan State University
Photo: MSU Chad Simpsonby Ken Murray, Baltimore Sun
Big-play threats have local rivals feeling defensive
One week after Morgan State toyed with Savannah State, the Bears find out if their revamped secondary can withstand a precision passing game.
One week after Towson University was vulnerable to the option pitch in a tight win, the Tigers find out if they can hold up against a power running game.
Two weeks into the season, it's show-and-tell for Morgan and Towson in their annual turf battle for bragging rights. Both teams have a lot to prove in a 4 p.m. kickoff today at Hughes Stadium.
"I think this is the best team Donnie's had since he became head coach," Towson coach Gordy Combs said of Morgan's Donald Hill-Eley. "This is his sixth year and I think that's what it takes to change the culture when a new coach comes in."
Hill-Eley hasn't started 2-0 in any of his five previous seasons at Morgan. He has a chance today if the Bears can defuse the prolific passing attack of Towson quarterback Sean Schaefer, who had the eighth 300-yard passing game of his 22-game college career last week.
It is a daunting challenge for a team that finished last in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference in pass defense a year ago.
"Our biggest matchup is that Gordy has a great quarterback, a great receiving corps and is able to throw the ball around," Hill-Eley said. "We've shored up our secondary. This will be a good test for us."
The key additions to Morgan's defensive backfield are safeties Gary Albury and Willie Hardemon, and cornerback Darren McKahn.
Towson's receiving corps is loaded with three top seniors (Demetrius Harrison, Dayron Arnold and Paul Perry) and junior Marcus Lee. In a 20-10 win over Central Connecticut State, the Tigers found another playmaker in 6-foot-9 Tommy Breaux (Randallstown), who had seven catches for 109 yards.
Morgan's tallest cornerback is 6-3 Dakota Bracey, who expects to line up opposite Breaux at some point.
"I've never played anybody that tall," Bracey said. "I played basketball, though, and I'm ready for jump balls. I can get up there, too."
Towson's challenge, meanwhile, is to stop Morgan tailback Chad Simpson, who rushed for 142 yards in the opener, a 47-7 win over Savannah State.
"He has the great ability when he's in the open field to make you miss," Combs said. "He's quick, and their offensive line is very much improved."
Towson won last year's meeting 30-2, beating a Bears team that had nine academic suspensions, according to Hill-Eley. The Tigers have dominated the series, winning 14 of the past 16. Combs is 8-2 against the Bears, 2-2 away from Towson.
"We see each other around [town]," Towson linebacker John Webb said. "It's kind of nice to have bragging rights."
This game is about more than territorial bragging rights, though. It's an indication of which school is most ready to make the leap to the Division I Championship Subdivision playoffs. Both teams have playoff aspirations.
"If we can beat Towson, it's going to get these wheels rolling," Bracey said. "It's all about momentum."
• NOTES // In two career games against Morgan, Schaefer has averaged 9.62 yards per pass attempt, but he's also thrown five interceptions. ... Although Towson center Austin Weibley was replaced by Nick Bradway after having trouble with shotgun snaps last week, Weibley will start against Morgan. ... Tigers wide receiver Hakeem Moore, who dislocated his ankle in the opener, had surgery and is out for the season.
Friday, September 7, 2007
MEAC/SWAC Scoreboard-Week 2
MEAC Scoreboard - Week 2- Sept. 8, 2007
Towson (1-0)
@ Morgan State (1-0)
4:00 PM ET
Hughes Stadium , Baltimore , MD
Hampton (1-0) 31
@Howard (0-1) 24 Final
1:00 PM ET
Green Stadium, Washington, DC
Internet Live TV: http://www.broadcasturban.net/player/hubison/player.htm
South Carolina State (0-1)
@ Bethune Cookman (1-0)
4:00 PM ET
Municipal Stadium , Daytona Beach , FL
Delaware State (1-0)
@ Florida A&M (0-1)
6:00 PM ET
Bragg Memorial Stadium , Tallahassee , FL
Norfolk State (1-0) -Idle
North Carolina A&T (0-1)
@ Prairie View A&M (1-0)
Angel City Classic
5:30 PM ET
Los Angeles Coliseum , Los Angeles , CA
Winston Salem (1-0)
@ Coastal Carolina (0-1)
7:00 PM ET
Brooks Stadium , Conway , SC
SWAC Scoreboard - Week 2
Arkansas-Pine Bluff (1-1) 21
@ Alcorn State (0-2) 3 Final
Sept 6th
ESPNU live
Southern University (1-0)
@ Mississippi Valley (1-0)
Chicago Football Classic
5:00 PM ET
Soldier Field , Chicago , IL
Grambling State (1-0) 10 Final
@ Pittsburgh (1-0) 34
12:00 PM ET
Heinz Field , Pittsburgh , PA
ESPN 360
North Carolina A&T (0-1)
@ Prairie View A&M (1-0)
Angel City Classic
5:30 PM ET
Los Angeles Coliseum , Los Angeles , CA
Jackson State (0-1)
@ Tennessee State (0-1)
Southern Heritage Classic
7:00 PM ET
Liberty Bowl , Memphis , TN
TV: FNS
Clark Atlanta
@ Alabama A&M (1-0, 0-0 home)
Alabama State (1-0)
@ Texas Southern (0-1)
8:00 PM ET
Division I Independent - Scoreboard Week 2
St. Augustine
@North Carolina Central (1-1)
6:00 PM ET
Johnson C. Smith 3
@ Savannah State (0-1) 10 4th Qtr.
4:00 PM ET
Guest Band: Miles College Golden Bears 2007
AAMU Licea kicks back after strong debut
By REGGIE BENSON, Huntsville Times
Nobody would have blamed Jeremy Licea if he had been a little wary when Alabama A&M traveled to Tennessee State last Saturday night.
After all, LP Field served as a house or horrors for Licea last season.
Making his first career start, Licea had two extra points and a field goal blocked, though A&M won 27-20.
The Bulldogs didn't need any field goals from Licea this time, but the sophomore made all seven of his extra points as A&M whipped TSU 49-23.
"That was a much better start," Licea said. "Hopefully, I can keep it up."
Actually, Licea rebounded nicely last season from his early problems, but it took him practically the whole year.
His problems started before he signed with the Bulldogs. During Christmas of 2005, Licea learned he was diabetic. Over the next eight months, he lost about 50 pounds, dropping him to 130 pounds.
Licea lost valuable strength along with the weight.
"There were a lot of things he had to adjust to," A&M coach Anthony Jones said. "He came straight from high school and we had to use him the very first ballgame. He had been sick and lost a bunch of weight. He had to get used to kicking off the ground. He had to get used to bigger bodies, which means he had to get the ball up higher.
"We felt like we had signed a good kicker in Jeremy, but in a perfect world, he probably would have been redshirted. We didn't have that luxury."
Licea struggled the following week against Grambling when he missed another extra point, but he bounced back and kicked a 20-yard field goal in overtime in a 30-27 win.
After that, he only attempted one more field goal the rest of the regular season, but Licea improved dramatically on extra points. After making only 12 of 18 through A&M's first six games, he made 13 of his last 14.
"I've always been very accurate," Licea said. "I've lost strength, but I've still got my accuracy."
Licea proved that in last year's Southwestern Athletic Conference title game. He made three field goals to help A&M beat Arkansas-Pine Bluff 22-13.
"I got some opportunities and I took advantage of them," said Licea, who reported for fall practice weighing 147 pounds. "It felt really good because people were doubting me the whole year. To come through felt really good."
Licea's resilience impressed Jones.
"Once we set his limits, he kept working and made some big pressure kicks when we absolutely had to have them," he said. "We wouldn't have beaten Grambling without him. We wouldn't have won the SWAC championship without him. He's proved his value to this football team."
Nobody would have blamed Jeremy Licea if he had been a little wary when Alabama A&M traveled to Tennessee State last Saturday night.
After all, LP Field served as a house or horrors for Licea last season.
Making his first career start, Licea had two extra points and a field goal blocked, though A&M won 27-20.
The Bulldogs didn't need any field goals from Licea this time, but the sophomore made all seven of his extra points as A&M whipped TSU 49-23.
"That was a much better start," Licea said. "Hopefully, I can keep it up."
Actually, Licea rebounded nicely last season from his early problems, but it took him practically the whole year.
His problems started before he signed with the Bulldogs. During Christmas of 2005, Licea learned he was diabetic. Over the next eight months, he lost about 50 pounds, dropping him to 130 pounds.
Licea lost valuable strength along with the weight.
"There were a lot of things he had to adjust to," A&M coach Anthony Jones said. "He came straight from high school and we had to use him the very first ballgame. He had been sick and lost a bunch of weight. He had to get used to kicking off the ground. He had to get used to bigger bodies, which means he had to get the ball up higher."We felt like we had signed a good kicker in Jeremy, but in a perfect world, he probably would have been redshirted. We didn't have that luxury."
Licea struggled the following week against Grambling when he missed another extra point, but he bounced back and kicked a 20-yard field goal in overtime in a 30-27 win.
After that, he only attempted one more field goal the rest of the regular season, but Licea improved dramatically on extra points. After making only 12 of 18 through A&M's first six games, he made 13 of his last 14.
"I've always been very accurate," Licea said. "I've lost strength, but I've still got my accuracy."
Licea proved that in last year's Southwestern Athletic Conference title game. He made three field goals to help A&M beat Arkansas-Pine Bluff 22-13.
"I got some opportunities and I took advantage of them," said Licea, who reported for fall practice weighing 147 pounds. "It felt really good because people were doubting me the whole year. To come through felt really good."
Licea's resilience impressed Jones.
"Once we set his limits, he kept working and made some big pressure kicks when we absolutely had to have them," he said. "We wouldn't have beaten Grambling without him. We wouldn't have won the SWAC championship without him. He's proved his value to this football team."
Southern QB Lee shines on game day
Photo: Bryant Lee completed 22 of 29 passes, 215 yards and one TD in last week's 33-27 win over Florida A&M University.
By Joseph Schiefelbein, Advocate sportswriter
Players would rather be considered a “gamer,” than a “practicer.”
And being a “gamer” is where Southern sophomore quarterback Bryant Lee falls.
“He’s a nonchalant individual,” SU coach Pete Richardson said. “He’s not going to say a lot. The thing about him, you watch him practice and you swear he can’t play.
“But you put him out there and all of a sudden the lights go on. That’s all you’re looking for.”
Lee was 22-for-29 for 215 yards and a touchdown and ran for 50 yards and another TD Saturday while being named Southern’s MVP in the Jaguars’ 33-27 victory over Florida A&M in Birmingham, Ala.
Southern (1-0) opens Southwestern Athletic Conference play against Mississippi Valley State (1-0, 1-0 SWAC) at 4 p.m. Saturday in the Chicago Football Classic at Legion Field in Chicago.
“People said, ‘Were you surprised?’,” Richardson said. “Well, he got the MVP in the Bayou Classic and came right back and got it in the other game. I expect him to get it this game, too.”
Lee is getting comfortable with his reputation. Just don’t make too much of the easy-going manner.
“I care,” said Lee, who used to come after practice to throw when he was deep on the depth chart and didn’t get many practice reps last season. “I’m laid-back in a way. But once game time is on, I’m ready. I’ve always been that way.
“I get excited. It’s just me being me, really. I’m a jokester, but I get on (players), too.”
Teammates enjoy Lee’s demeanor. As it is, senior left tackle Trent Thomas said fifth-year senior quarterback J.C. Lewis, third on the depth chart, is even more easy-going.
“I like Bryant Lee,” senior running back Darren Coates said. “To me, he’s a great kid. He clowns a lot. We have fun. That’s what the game is about, having fun.
“He’s a great competitor. He loves the game. He’s going to give it all he’s got, every play. He’s cool. He knows when to fire it up and when to relax.”
Richardson said being a fiery leader will come.
“You have to learn that part,” Richardson said. “Once you get the experience, you earn that. Eventually, that will come.
“He did a good job of commanding the football team and orchestrating our offense. As long as he does that and stays away from the street committee, he’ll be alright.”
Sleepy Jaguars
Richardson said he had worries about his young team prior to Saturday’s 33-27 win over Florida A&M.
“I was concerned because, really, we had a tired football team,” Richardson said. “We got up on Saturday morning and you can say, ‘Go to bed,’ but when you have an experienced football team, a lot of them didn’t get a lot of sleep that night. Especially the inexperienced. They’re excited about it, and they’re not going to go to sleep.
“What helped us a great deal was opening up and scoring that touchdown (Coates’ 90-yard run on the first play).”
How’s Valley’s QB?
Saturday’s game will match two sophomore starting quarterbacks, and neither played in last season’s meeting.
Richardson got his first look at Valley’s Paul Roberts, who was 15-for-27 for 153 yards and one touchdown (but was sacked four times), on film of Valley’s 16-9 win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
“I think he’s a good quarterback,” Richardson said. “He throws the ball well. As far as progressions, he’s patient.”
“They have a great offense,” SU strong safety Glenn Bell said. “They have a young quarterback who really surprised me, who stepped up. They have a great running back, a great offensive line. It’s going to be a nice challenge.”
SU relies on WR depth
Starters Gerard Landry, Del Roberts and Juamorris Stewart had 12 of Southern’s 22 catches Saturday. But Clevan White, backing Roberts at “Y,” had three catches for 23 yards and RaShon Jacobs, behind Landry at “X,” had two catches for 34 yards.
“It kind of came to fruition, where you saw where the depth was needed and it helped out,” SU wide receivers coach Eric Dooley said. “Those guys who worked on the second team worked as hard as those guys on the first team, and they stepped up when they needed to.”
By Joseph Schiefelbein, Advocate sportswriter
Players would rather be considered a “gamer,” than a “practicer.”
And being a “gamer” is where Southern sophomore quarterback Bryant Lee falls.
“He’s a nonchalant individual,” SU coach Pete Richardson said. “He’s not going to say a lot. The thing about him, you watch him practice and you swear he can’t play.
“But you put him out there and all of a sudden the lights go on. That’s all you’re looking for.”
Lee was 22-for-29 for 215 yards and a touchdown and ran for 50 yards and another TD Saturday while being named Southern’s MVP in the Jaguars’ 33-27 victory over Florida A&M in Birmingham, Ala.
Southern (1-0) opens Southwestern Athletic Conference play against Mississippi Valley State (1-0, 1-0 SWAC) at 4 p.m. Saturday in the Chicago Football Classic at Legion Field in Chicago.
“People said, ‘Were you surprised?’,” Richardson said. “Well, he got the MVP in the Bayou Classic and came right back and got it in the other game. I expect him to get it this game, too.”
Lee is getting comfortable with his reputation. Just don’t make too much of the easy-going manner.
“I care,” said Lee, who used to come after practice to throw when he was deep on the depth chart and didn’t get many practice reps last season. “I’m laid-back in a way. But once game time is on, I’m ready. I’ve always been that way.
“I get excited. It’s just me being me, really. I’m a jokester, but I get on (players), too.”
Teammates enjoy Lee’s demeanor. As it is, senior left tackle Trent Thomas said fifth-year senior quarterback J.C. Lewis, third on the depth chart, is even more easy-going.
“I like Bryant Lee,” senior running back Darren Coates said. “To me, he’s a great kid. He clowns a lot. We have fun. That’s what the game is about, having fun.
“He’s a great competitor. He loves the game. He’s going to give it all he’s got, every play. He’s cool. He knows when to fire it up and when to relax.”
Richardson said being a fiery leader will come.
“You have to learn that part,” Richardson said. “Once you get the experience, you earn that. Eventually, that will come.
“He did a good job of commanding the football team and orchestrating our offense. As long as he does that and stays away from the street committee, he’ll be alright.”
Sleepy Jaguars
Richardson said he had worries about his young team prior to Saturday’s 33-27 win over Florida A&M.
“I was concerned because, really, we had a tired football team,” Richardson said. “We got up on Saturday morning and you can say, ‘Go to bed,’ but when you have an experienced football team, a lot of them didn’t get a lot of sleep that night. Especially the inexperienced. They’re excited about it, and they’re not going to go to sleep.
“What helped us a great deal was opening up and scoring that touchdown (Coates’ 90-yard run on the first play).”
How’s Valley’s QB?
Saturday’s game will match two sophomore starting quarterbacks, and neither played in last season’s meeting.
Richardson got his first look at Valley’s Paul Roberts, who was 15-for-27 for 153 yards and one touchdown (but was sacked four times), on film of Valley’s 16-9 win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
“I think he’s a good quarterback,” Richardson said. “He throws the ball well. As far as progressions, he’s patient.”
“They have a great offense,” SU strong safety Glenn Bell said. “They have a young quarterback who really surprised me, who stepped up. They have a great running back, a great offensive line. It’s going to be a nice challenge.”
SU relies on WR depth
Starters Gerard Landry, Del Roberts and Juamorris Stewart had 12 of Southern’s 22 catches Saturday. But Clevan White, backing Roberts at “Y,” had three catches for 23 yards and RaShon Jacobs, behind Landry at “X,” had two catches for 34 yards.
“It kind of came to fruition, where you saw where the depth was needed and it helped out,” SU wide receivers coach Eric Dooley said. “Those guys who worked on the second team worked as hard as those guys on the first team, and they stepped up when they needed to.”
BCU Neufville runs again
By BRENT WORONOFF, Daytona Beach News Journal
DAYTONA BEACH -- As a former walk-on, Paul Neufville never took his college football career for granted, but one year ago the Bethune-Cookman receiver learned first hand about the fine line that could separate success and misfortune.
Neufville was having the game of his life against South Carolina State. He caught five passes for 102 yards -- including a 34-yard touchdown -- in the first half alone. He added a 10-yard sideline catch on the Wildcats' first drive of the second half. Then later in the drive, he ran a 5-yard out route, and his right leg gave out on him.
A month later, the senior was on the operating table, undergoing reconstructive knee surgery for a torn anterior cruciate ligament.
Neufville's season was over, but he didn't give up on his career. Even though his five years were up, he applied for a medical redshirt year and began working harder than he ever had in his life.
"I started rehabbing the day after surgery," he said. "I worked hard all summer."
By late spring he was making cuts again. He participated in preseason drills not knowing if the NCAA would clear him to play.
"I played less than 30 percent of the season (last year), so my chances were good," Neufville said. "But I had it in the back of my mind, 'What if I don't get the year back?' So I just practiced hard and prepared for the worst. That kept motivating me."
On Aug. 31, the day before B-CU's season-opener against Jacksonville, Neufville received his clearance. He caught four passes for 37 yards against JU. And now the sixth-year senior says his knee feels fine, and he is ready to complete what he started one year ago against S.C. State.
The Wildcats will host the Bulldogs in a conference game Saturday at 4 p.m. at Municipal Stadium.
"This receiving corps is better than any receiving corps we've had in my four years here," Neufville said. "And our running game is better with (running backs) Justin Brannon and our new freshman (Brian Sumlar). I don't know how they're going to stop us this year."
The Bulldogs couldn't stop the 'Cats' passing game last year. Jarod Rucker passed for 367 yards and five touchdowns, including two each to junior Stephon Walker and senior Eric Weems, as B-CU won 45-21.
"Rucker and I worked all summer (in 2006) on the passing game," Neufville said. "And before the game, Coach (Alvin) Wyatt told us we were going to air it out, so get ready. They were playing us man. I think they didn't respect the receivers and we exposed that to them."
But no matter what the Bulldogs tried, they couldn't stop the Wildcats' passing game. B-CU had trouble duplicating that success the rest of the season, however.
"When we lost Paul and Jonathan Summers (for two games), that's when everybody just chopped us man-to-man, knowing that we didn't have the experienced receivers to get off the ball," Wyatt said. "(Neufville) is a super athlete. He's an exciting football player, a kid that just needs the opportunity to get out there and finish up without any injuries. He has the speed. He has the size. I think he's a next-level type of player."
Neufville earned his degree in business management and is going for his Masters. He said his coursework in transformative leadership is helping him develop as a leader on the team. But the example he set of not giving in to adversity is more important than any words he could tell his teammates.
"Last year was tough," he said. "But I didn't let it bother me, because I knew God didn't lead me this far to let me down. I'm real happy to be back with the team, and I'm really looking forward to this game."
DAYTONA BEACH -- As a former walk-on, Paul Neufville never took his college football career for granted, but one year ago the Bethune-Cookman receiver learned first hand about the fine line that could separate success and misfortune.
Neufville was having the game of his life against South Carolina State. He caught five passes for 102 yards -- including a 34-yard touchdown -- in the first half alone. He added a 10-yard sideline catch on the Wildcats' first drive of the second half. Then later in the drive, he ran a 5-yard out route, and his right leg gave out on him.
A month later, the senior was on the operating table, undergoing reconstructive knee surgery for a torn anterior cruciate ligament.
Neufville's season was over, but he didn't give up on his career. Even though his five years were up, he applied for a medical redshirt year and began working harder than he ever had in his life.
"I started rehabbing the day after surgery," he said. "I worked hard all summer."
By late spring he was making cuts again. He participated in preseason drills not knowing if the NCAA would clear him to play.
"I played less than 30 percent of the season (last year), so my chances were good," Neufville said. "But I had it in the back of my mind, 'What if I don't get the year back?' So I just practiced hard and prepared for the worst. That kept motivating me."
On Aug. 31, the day before B-CU's season-opener against Jacksonville, Neufville received his clearance. He caught four passes for 37 yards against JU. And now the sixth-year senior says his knee feels fine, and he is ready to complete what he started one year ago against S.C. State.
The Wildcats will host the Bulldogs in a conference game Saturday at 4 p.m. at Municipal Stadium.
"This receiving corps is better than any receiving corps we've had in my four years here," Neufville said. "And our running game is better with (running backs) Justin Brannon and our new freshman (Brian Sumlar). I don't know how they're going to stop us this year."
The Bulldogs couldn't stop the 'Cats' passing game last year. Jarod Rucker passed for 367 yards and five touchdowns, including two each to junior Stephon Walker and senior Eric Weems, as B-CU won 45-21.
"Rucker and I worked all summer (in 2006) on the passing game," Neufville said. "And before the game, Coach (Alvin) Wyatt told us we were going to air it out, so get ready. They were playing us man. I think they didn't respect the receivers and we exposed that to them."
But no matter what the Bulldogs tried, they couldn't stop the Wildcats' passing game. B-CU had trouble duplicating that success the rest of the season, however.
"When we lost Paul and Jonathan Summers (for two games), that's when everybody just chopped us man-to-man, knowing that we didn't have the experienced receivers to get off the ball," Wyatt said. "(Neufville) is a super athlete. He's an exciting football player, a kid that just needs the opportunity to get out there and finish up without any injuries. He has the speed. He has the size. I think he's a next-level type of player."
Neufville earned his degree in business management and is going for his Masters. He said his coursework in transformative leadership is helping him develop as a leader on the team. But the example he set of not giving in to adversity is more important than any words he could tell his teammates.
"Last year was tough," he said. "But I didn't let it bother me, because I knew God didn't lead me this far to let me down. I'm real happy to be back with the team, and I'm really looking forward to this game."
North Carolina A&T goes to L.A. seeking relief
N.C. A&T, riding a 17-game skid, meets Prairie View A&M, once home to an 80-game losing streak.
By Rob Daniels, Greensboro News-Record
This may be an omen, you know. The N.C. A&T football team is trying to break a 17-game losing streak, and who stands in the Aggies' way? The winner of all losers, of course.
From 1989-98, Prairie View A&M set a record for ineptitude so grand it's nearly twice as long as its nearest, um, competitor: 80 in a row.
When the Aggies and the Panthers face off in the second Angel City Classic Saturday at the Los Angeles Coliseum (5:30 p.m. EDT), A&T will discover it's playing a very reasonable facsimile of a Division I-AA/NCAA FCS football team. It took them a while, but the Panthers, who beat SWAC rival Texas Southern in their opener, can compete.
In retrospect, the Panthers' streak was somewhat understandable. The school didn't have a full-time athletics director until 1998. Immediately before then, the post was held by a full-time professor who doubled as an assistant track coach.
Prairie View (Texas) surpassed Columbia's NCAA mark of 44 consecutive defeats in November 1994 with a 70-20 homecoming loss to Division II Tarleton State, and the Panthers kept on going. But to their credit, they didn't disband the program or even drop in classification.
By Rob Daniels, Greensboro News-Record
This may be an omen, you know. The N.C. A&T football team is trying to break a 17-game losing streak, and who stands in the Aggies' way? The winner of all losers, of course.
From 1989-98, Prairie View A&M set a record for ineptitude so grand it's nearly twice as long as its nearest, um, competitor: 80 in a row.
When the Aggies and the Panthers face off in the second Angel City Classic Saturday at the Los Angeles Coliseum (5:30 p.m. EDT), A&T will discover it's playing a very reasonable facsimile of a Division I-AA/NCAA FCS football team. It took them a while, but the Panthers, who beat SWAC rival Texas Southern in their opener, can compete.
In retrospect, the Panthers' streak was somewhat understandable. The school didn't have a full-time athletics director until 1998. Immediately before then, the post was held by a full-time professor who doubled as an assistant track coach.
Prairie View (Texas) surpassed Columbia's NCAA mark of 44 consecutive defeats in November 1994 with a 70-20 homecoming loss to Division II Tarleton State, and the Panthers kept on going. But to their credit, they didn't disband the program or even drop in classification.
Eventually, a joint effort of alumni and the supervisory Texas A&M University System helped ease the Panthers into the mainstream. The university voted in 2003 to initiate a student athletics fee of up to $300 per student per academic year. That's not as hefty as A&T's figure of $376, but it provided a start. Prairie View's football spending ranked eighth in the 10-team SWAC in 2005-06, the most recent year for which such records are available.
In 2004, the school hired Henry Frazier III, who had done a reclamation job at Division II Bowie (Md.) State, as its coach. While the Panthers haven't contended for the SWAC title, they did manage three wins a year ago, and Frazier said they were fewer than 10 plays from being 8-2.
That's a common lament of teams that suffer close losses, but it does suggest the Panthers have liberated themselves from the joke rotation of late night talk-show hosts.
A&T doesn't want to get any closer to that level than it already is. The Aggies' string is in a 13th-place tie on the NCAA's list of ignominy, but only three defeats short of fifth. The Aggies just passed Siena, which lost 16 in a row from 1994-96. On the horizon stands Canisius, which suffered 24 consecutive defeats before ending the fourth-longest skid Oct. 13, 2001. The Golden Griffins won at Siena that day. By January 2004, both programs were gone, conveniently sacrificed in the name of cost-cutting.
There's no threat of that at A&T, but the Aggies are undeniably tired of this line of discussion. To stop it, they'll need at least one big special-teams play, a turnover-free afternoon and more consistent blocking than they displayed in last week's season-opening loss at Winston-Salem State. That defeat was still more competitive than any game they played last year.
A crowd of 25,000 is expected for the contest, which is run jointly out of Los Angeles and Texas and which seeks to expose Southern California to Historically Black Colleges and Universities, few of which are west of the Mississippi.
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