Alabama A&M striving for top

By REGGIE BENSON, Huntsville Times

Grambling history, present give 'Dogs worthy goal

GRAMBLING, La. - When Anthony Jones was named the football coach at Alabama A&M six years ago, he wanted his program to emulate the program that Eddie Robinson had built at Grambling.

The Tigers, who have won more Southwestern Athletic Conference championships than any team in league history, have long been the measuring stick among black college programs.

Under Jones, the Bulldogs have been the league's best team the last five years. A&M has appeared in the SWAC Championship Game three times in that span and finally won it last season by beating Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

Despite the success, Jones and A&M have struggled against Grambling. Jones is 2-5 against the Tigers, several of the losses being blowouts - with two of them coming in the SWAC Championship Game. Over the past four years, the teams have split four meetings.

"When I first came here, that was the program I wanted my program to aspire to be," Jones said. "We're close, but we're not there yet."

Jones will try to get his program a little closer tonight when No. 23 A&M visits Grambling at Robinson Stadium. The Bulldogs are 3-0 overall and 1-0 in league play. The Tigers are 1-1 and 1-0. Kickoff is at 6 and the game will be televised on a tape-delayed basis on ESPNU at 9.

Some are calling tonight's game a preview of the SWAC Championship Game. Jones disagrees.

"It's still early," he said. "Anything can happen. We're playing well, they're playing well. But the season is still young."

A&M has easily disposed of its first three opponents, having outscored Tennessee State, Clark Atlanta and Mississippi Valley State by a combined score of 135-47. Meanwhile, Grambling whipped Alcorn State 31-10 before falling at Pittsburgh 34-10.

After watching the film, Jones seems sold on the Tigers.

"This will be our toughest test to date," he said. "This is a good football team. They can beat you in all three phases of the game. We feel the same way.

"If everybody shows up to play, it's going to be a hell of a football game."

Jones said the outcome will be decided on three things: turnovers, big plays and special teams.

"Turnovers are always a premium," he said. "When you start turning the ball over, you shorten the field for the opposing offense and you give them opportunities to score. That changes the complexion of the game.

"We have been a big-play offense. They have been a big-play offense in the past and they still have some of those people on their team. Big plays are always going to be a big deal. Special teams will be a key factor. Who's going to have field position due to special teams and who's going to get points due to special teams?"

Tonight's game is Grambling's home opener. It is also the Tigers' first home game since Robinson died earlier this year. Those factors haven't been lost on Jones.

"It's going to be a tough situation for us to go into," he said. "I'm sure the crowd is going to be loud and supportive, but we'll be ready."

Grambling coach Rod Broadway expects nothing less.

"This will be a great challenge for us," he said. "We're looking forward to playing this game. It will give us an indication of what we can accomplish in this conference."

Today's games in the SWAC

Huntsville Times

Today's games

Arkansas-Pine Bluff (1-2) at No. 7 Southern Illinois (3-0); McAndrew Stadium, Carbondale, Ill., 1:30 p.m.

The Golden Lions, who played in the SWAC Championship Game last season, have been the most disappointing team in the league. QB Chris Wallace, the preseason SWAC Player of the Year, did not play in Saturday's 12-10 loss to Alabama State and was pulled a week earlier against Alcorn State. RB Martell Mallett and Mickey Dean, considered the best tandem in the league, have combined for just 179 yards and one TD behind a rebuilt OL that has allowed 17 sacks. Defensively, UAPB has been terrific, allowing a SWAC-best 9.5 ppg.

SIU is averaging almost 46 points and 440 ypg. The Salukis whipped UAPB 48-16 a year ago.

Prediction: Southern Illinois 30, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 10


Jackson State (1-2, 1-0 SWAC) at Mississippi Valley State (1-2, 1-2); Rice-Totten Stadium, Itta Bena, Miss., 4 p.m.

The Tigers got in the win column last week by beating Texas Southern. JSU QB Jimmy Oliver appears to have settled in after splitting time with Trae Rutland during the Tigers' first two games. Defensively, JSU has been dominating, allowing just 16.7 points and 202.7 ypg.

The Delta Devils have been outscored 68-20 since their 016-9 season-opening win over UAPB, including 50-7 in the second half. MVSU is averaging just 12 points and 199.7 ypg in total offense, while allowing 25.7 points and 407.3 ypg.

Prediction: Jackson State 24, Mississippi Valley 14


Tennessee State (2-1) at Southern (3-0); Mumford Stadium, Baton Rouge, La., 6 p.m.

Southern is 3-0 for the first time since 2003.

The Jaguars, led by Darren Coates, Brian Threat and Kendrick Smith, are averaging 199.3 yards per game on the ground and 391.7 yards in total offense.

Defensively, the Jaguars are allowing only 11.7 ppg and 265.7 ypg.

TSU has won two straight by a total of four points since being pounded 49-23 by Alabama A&M in its opener.

Tigers QB Antonio Heffner is averaging more than 200 yards passing. RB Javerris Williams has 317 yards rushing.

Prediction: Southern 28, Tennessee State 24

No. 23 Alabama A&M (3-0, 1-0) at Grambling (1-1, 1-0); Robinson Stadium, Grambling, La, 6 p.m.; tape-delay at 9 p.m. on ESPNU.

A&M is averaging 45 points and 519 yards per game and has been particularly dominant in the second half, having scored 35 points in the second half in wins over Tennessee State and Mississippi Valley State. QB Kelcy Luke has 10 TD passes after having 16 all of last season. RB Ulysses Banks has 342 yards rushing and 3 TDs.

GSU has had a week off since losing 34-10 at Pittsburgh. The Tigers, under new coach Rod Broadway, are averaging 20.5 ppg and 359 ypg. QB Brandon Landers has thrown for 458 yards and 5 TDs. Defensively, GSU is allowing 22 ppg and 288 ypg.

Prediction: Alabama A&M 28, Grambling 24


Alcorn State (0-3, 0-2) at Alabama State (3-0, 2-0); Cramton Bowl, Montgomery, 7 p.m.

Reggie Barlow has the Hornets off to a 3-0 start for the first time since 2004. ASU, picked to finish last in the Eastern Division, has done it with a strong running game and a stout defense. RB Jay Peck leads the league in rushing with 349 yards and two TDs. The Hornets' defense is allowing only 13 ppg and 237 ypg.

This is Johnny Thomas' worst team at Alcorn State. The Braves are averaging a paltry 4.3 ppg, which is the lowest in the country, and 228.7 ypg. Injuries have hampered QBs Chris Walker and Tony Hobson, and the Braves' running game has been ineffective. ASU's lone bright spot has been WR/KR Nate Hughes, who leads the league in all-purpose yards, averaging 188.7 ypg.

Prediction: Alabama State 28, Alcorn State 3


Texas Southern (0-3) at UTEP (1-2); Sun Bowl, El Paso Texas, 7:05 p.m..

The Tigers have been abysmal under coach Steve Wilson, who is 4-32 in his fourth season. TSU has struggled offensively, averaging just 10.3 ppg, while allowing 27.7 ppg.

UTEP, led by former Alabama coach Mike Price, is coming off of a 29-24 loss to New Mexico State. The Miners are averaging 21.7 ppg and 323.7 ypg, while giving up 26.7 ppg and 497 ypg.

Prediction: UTEP 31, Texas Southern 7


Last week: 5-0

Season: 12-6

Reggie Benson

UAPB vs. Southern Illinois

By Robert Crow, the southern

Salukis eye 4-0 start

CARBONDALE - The numbers seem to say it all.

A 3-0 record for No. 6 Southern Illinois, compared to 1-2 for Arkansas-Pine Bluff. SIU has scored 137 points, the Golden Lions 40. Last year, the Salukis pulled away in the second half and cruised to a 48-16 win at Pine Bluff.

And then, there's two - as in, the number of games until the Salukis host Youngstown State. And with today's game against UAPB and next week's contest at Indiana State as those two games, it seems like the Salukis may not receive a serious challenge before that key matchup with YSU.

But SIU is trying not to think that way. Otherwise, today's game may become more of a challenge than the Salukis hope for.

"It's kind of tough, but you can't let that happen," SIU quarterback Nick Hill said. "That's when people sneak up on you. Pine Bluff is a team that can do that to you."

The Golden Lions nearly did that last year, putting a brief scare into the Salukis. UAPB took a 10-7 lead early in the second quarter, and were within five points early in the third quarter, before the Salukis scored the game's final 27 points.

Whether the Golden Lions will be able to put another scare into the Salukis, however, remains to be seen.

UAPB's defense has been superb for much of this season, allowing just 10.3 points per game. But no offense the Golden Lions have faced has been as explosive as the Salukis'.

Hill is playing better than at any point during his two-year career as a starter. He should also get a boost from the probable return of tailback John Randle, who missed last week's game with a high ankle sprain. Randle is the anchor in a deep, explosive backfield, one that has seen six different running backs score touchdowns this year.

"All of our backs that we've got right now, we can all do damage," said running back Lucien Walker, who caught a touchdown last week. "We've got a lot of utility and versatility in our backs."

But much like in the Salukis' 44-10 win over Southern Utah last weekend, today could give SIU's defense another chance to shine.


The Salukis have forced turnovers at an incredible rate this season, averaging four takeaways a game. If the Salukis can force one turnover today, they'll match the number of turnovers they had all of last season.

"If we can continue on that pace, we're going to win a lot of football games," SIU coach Jerry Kill said. "?I've got to give credit to our coaches and players. They've been talking about it, they've been preaching it, they've been teaching it, and it seems like the players listen to what you emphasize."

Kill said he believes the Salukis are significantly better in certain phases than at the same point last year. But there's still plenty of work to do, and the Salukis expect to see even more improvement this week.

With Gateway Football Conference play starting next week, and a potentially huge game against Youngstown looming the week after that, that improvement could be necessary.

"It's a big week, because we've got to get better," Kill said. "We've got to get better every week, and we feel like we have so far. We played better at Southern Utah, but we still have a long, long way to go to be the kind of team we want to be."

MVSU Delta Devils try new approach

By David Brandt, Clarion Ledger

Mississippi Valley State sophomore quarterback Paul Roberts sits on a bench after practice and takes off his helmet. Underneath is a haircut that is interesting to say the least - it's a mohawk with Roberts No. 1 shaved into the side of his head.

Look across the field and there's junior tight end Abner Brown, who also has the same strange homemade mohawk. His is complete with a spiderweb shaved into the side.

Roberts admits they both look ridiculous. He's still not quite sure what possessed them to do it.

"It seemed like a pretty good idea at the time - something to get us going for this week," Roberts said. "Coach (Willie Totten) has been treating this like a normal game. But we all sense a little something different this week."

Such is the feeling at MVSU, where the Delta Devils have tried a little bit of everything over the years to break a 12-game losing streak against rival Jackson State.

MVSU hosts Jackson State at 4 p.m. today at Rice-Totten Stadium in Itta Bena.

There's a certain amount of goofiness attached to Roberts' and Abner's mohawks, but Totten also said he appreciates the two players because it represents the loose demeanor of the team.

Instead of last year's veteran roster, the Delta Devils have a large swath of freshmen and sophomores on this team. That just might work to MVSU's advantage.

"It's impossible to walk around campus and not understand how important this game is," Totten said. "But at the same time, this is a pretty calm group. Some of the guys are so young, I'm not sure if they understand the magnitude. But that might be good, because they won't be pressing."

Freshman Ronald Brewer, who rushed for 146 yards last week against Alabama A&M, admitted he was stunned at how psyched everyone was for today's game.

"It's actually a lot of fun, but it's been pretty crazy," Brewer said. "Everywhere you go, people are talking about it. I'm not sure what I expected, but I know it's been bigger than I thought it would be."

Last year, Jackson State beat MVSU 29-24 when the Delta Devils had arguably their most talented team since the mid-1980s. Loaded with veterans, Totten hyped the game because he figured his team had the talent to finally pull off a win.

And early on, it appeared he was correct. MVSU jumped out to a 10-0 lead and beat Jackson State in almost every offensive statistic. But by the end of the night, it was the same old frustration and result.

This year, he's keeping the big game more low-key with his players. And who knows? Maybe something like a couple of mohawks will be the missing ingredient.

"There's always been some sort of jinx surrounding this game," Totten said. "For some reason Jackson State has had our number lately. Who can say what will turn the tide in our favor? We've just got to be opportunistic when we get our chances."

TSU season receives kick-start

by MIKE ORGAN, The Tennessean

TENNESSEE STATE (2-1) AT SOUTHERN (3-0)
Where: A.W. Mumford Stadium, Baton Rouge, La.
Time: 6 p.m.
Radio: 560-AM
Last meeting: Southern 19, TSU 18 (1996)
Key matchup: TSU QB Antonio Heffner vs. Southern DE Vincent Lands. Heffner, a dual threat, has thrown for 638 yards and three touchdowns and run for 123 yards and a touchdown. Lands was the Southwest Athletic Conference defensive player of the week after making eight tackles, including three sacks, in Saturday's 12-2 win over Prairie View A&M.

Field goals key Tigers' two wins

Tennessee State has produced some outstanding football players at a number of different positions with one exception — kicker.

Of the 115 former Tigers who have gone on to the NFL, every position has been represented except kicker. That is what makes Eric Benson, a junior kicker, so peculiar.

Benson's boots have led TSU (2-1) to both of its wins this season and he could play a key role again tonight when the Tigers play at Southern (3-0) in Baton Rouge, La.

"Right now, I don't know that anybody in the country is kicking better than Benson,'' TSU Coach James Webster said. "I don't want to jinx the guy, but he's kicking real well. He's kicking kickoffs real well, he's kicking field goals and extra points real well."

In fact, Benson is a perfect 4-for-4 on field-goal attempts.

Game winners

Benson's 35-yarder in the rain with no time left lifted the Tigers to a 16-13 win over Jackson State on Sept. 8. And his career-long 43-yarder at Austin Peay on Saturday with nine seconds remaining, sent the game into overtime. Benson then kicked an extra point, giving TSU a 33-32 win.

He was named the Ohio Valley Conference specialist of the week, making him the first kicker from TSU to receive the honor since 1999.

Benson's performance so far has been what he assured Webster he was capable of after a mediocre season last year, when he was plagued by back problems.

"When he came to camp he came with confidence,'' Webster said. "He said, 'Coach, I'm ready this year.' He had a so-so year last year. His back was hurting him but he toughed it out."

Benson spent the summer at home in Rowlett, Texas, working more intensely on his kicking than ever before.

It helped him to handle the pressure that has come with the kicks he's attempted in TSU's two wins.

No longer a head case

"I've not always been reliable in those situations,'' Benson said. "Coaches here have always called me a head case, especially when I was younger. I think I've grown up and matured and haven't let things bother me as much."

Benson said Webster and special teams coach Canute Curtis teased him in the past about not being able to handle the stress that comes with being put in such a pivotal position. But they've had nothing but praise for him this year.

"They're backing off now and it feels good to know I have overcome that,'' Benson said.

Benson is one of just seven kickers in the Football Championship Subdivision — and the only one in the OVC — who has attempted at least four field goals and made every one.

"I know that from 45 yards and in I can hit, and if I had to, I can hit from 50 and in,'' he said.

It is comforting for TSU's offensive players to know that if a drive stalls in the opponent's territory that they still are likely to get three points.

"It's great knowing your hard work is going to pay off,'' quarterback Antonio Heffner said. "It makes you that much more determined to get the offense in field position so that Benson will have the opportunity to make a kick."

Howard at Eastern Michigan

BY JEFF ARNOLD, Ann Arbor News

It's EMU's turn for a I-AA foe
Eagles say they aren't taking Howard lightly

Carey Bailey understands the inspiration that many of his I-AA coaching brethren may draw from a certain season-opening victory by Appalachian State.

But the first-year Howard University head coach isn't buying it.

While Bailey can appreciate the aftershocks the Mountaineers' 34-32 win over then No. 5-ranked Michigan left among lower-division programs like his, he won't allow his team to think it has anything to do with its preparations for today's road test at Eastern Michigan.

"To us, this is just the next game on our schedule,'' Bailey said earlier this week. "I try and not get into the whole I-AA versus I-A thing. This is just another game for us to try and go out and execute. It doesn't matter who we're playing. We have to do that if we hope to win.''

Eastern Michigan (1-2) represents the lone I-A opponent for the Bisons (0-2), who are coming off a 30-17 loss at Florida A&M.

Howard, which posted a 6-6 record last season while competing in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, traveled to Rutgers in 2006, filling out a schedule comprised with the likes of Coppin State, Delaware State and North Carolina A&T.

And despite the differences in Eastern Michigan's weekly level of competition, coach Jeff Genyk refuses to consider Howard anything less than another challenge the Eagles have to contend with.

After all, Eastern's last I-AA test resulted in a 31-28 home loss to Eastern Illinois in 2005.

And with I-AA programs more than holding their own this season between Appalachian State's win at Michigan Stadium, Southern Illinois' victory over Northern Illinois and The Citadel remaining close with Wisconsin for three quarters, Genyk knows Howard will bring a competitive mentality into today's game.

Not to mention a spread

offense that possesses the ability to put points on the board and that will test Eastern's young secondary.

"You have to prepare very well for these games,'' Genyk said. "These teams are generally feeling (how other I-AA teams have fared) and realize that, 'Hey, we've got 63 scholarships, Eastern Michigan's got 85 - so what? Let's go steal one.' ''

When: 3:30 p.m.

Where: Rynearson Stadium, Ypsilanti, Mich.

Records: Bison 0-2; Eagles 1-2.

Still Stinging: After staying close with Hampton in the season opener, the Bison gave a dispirited performance last week at Florida A&M. Howard surrendered more than 300 rushing yards in the 30-17 loss, 222 of them by freshman tailback Philip Sylvester. Brian Johnson completed 12 of 16 passes for 126 yards for the Bison, five of them to Jarahn Williams, including both touchdowns. Endor Cooper led Howard with 13 tackles, including 3 1/2 for losses.

Breaking Ground: This the first time the schools have met, and the Bison will be the first MEAC team to play in Rynearson Stadium.

NCCU-N.C. A&T will meet as I-AA foes for the first time

Today's game live on Internet streaming broadcast at 6:30 p.m. at: http://www.jarvistv.com/NCCU .


By MIKE POTTER, The HERALD-SUN

First-year N.C. Central head football coach Mose Rison said earlier this week he didn't want to be a part of history.

But he and his 3-1 Eagles can't help it.

When they put their three-game winning streak on the line tonight at 6:30 p.m. against historic arch-rival N.C. A&T (0-3) at Greensboro's Aggie Stadium, it will be the Eagles' first game as a Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA) against another team from the FCS.

That will be some good history the Eagles, and perhaps for both schools.

What Rison doesn't want to do is be part of breaking the Aggies' 19-game losing streak, currently the longest among FCS teams.

Although it wasn't likely to happen at any rate, he doesn't want the Eagles to be taking the Aggies lightly.

"They will be the best football team we have played this season," said Rison, whose team has played four NCAA Division II teams so far. "We just have to make sure our guys don't get caught up in the hype."

Aggies coach Lee Fobbs said his team desperately wants to end the losing streak, no matter what team turns out to be N.C. A&T's unfortunate victim.

"It's tough on the coaches, but it's tougher on the kids," Fobbs said. "I'm really proud of our guys. But they dropped their heads after they played so hard last week [in a 59-14 loss to Hampton].

"The staff and our kids have learned that the only way we can get this thing turned around is to get our chins up and get ready to practice hard every day. The important thing is that the kids love to play football."

Fobbs, who is looking for his first win with the program in his second season, said he knows all about how big tonight's game is for both schools.

"It's real important because it's the next game on our schedule," Fobbs said. "I know the rivalry dates back quite a few years. It's great for our area, and it's a game the fans really want to see. It's college football at its best. It's a big-time ball game in a lot of ways."

Indeed it is an ancient rivalry, going all the way back to a 13-13 tie at O'Kelly-Riddick Stadium in 1924. N.C. A&T leads the series 45-28-5.

Since 1945, the game has been contested every year except 1993 and last season. Both times, N.C. A&T administrators were trying to get away from playing a game against a Division II team.

The teams have split their last four meetings, all at N.C. State's Carter-Finley Stadium. And three of them were worth double the price of admission. In 2002, the Eagles recovered from a 27-0 deficit after the first quarter to win 33-30 in overtime, the second largest comeback in Division II history. After the Aggies rolled 25-0 in 2003, they won 16-15 the next year on Carlos Davalos' 50-yard field goal. It was almost déjà vu in 2005, but the Aggies missed their last-second field-goal attempt and NCCU survived 23-22.

The Aggies' leading rusher is junior tailback and Northern High alumnus Michael Ferguson. Ferguson is averaging 114.3 yards per game, but is still looking for his first touchdown of the season.

N.C. A&T's junior right tackle Juan Williams is a Durham native who played at Garner High. Also on the Aggies' roster are Corey Hairston, a junior wide receiver out of Hillside; and sophomore defensive end Woodrow Scrivens and freshman linebacker Jamal Wardlaw from Riverside. The Eagles have no players from Greensboro.

NOTES -- The Aggies won 48-0 the last time the teams met in Greensboro back in 1991. NCCU's most recent win in Greensboro was a 38-19 romp in 1987, in the final game for legendary Eagles quarterback Earl "Air" Harvey. …NCCU has no new injuries after kicker Brandon Gilbert and running back Jeff Toliver were declared out for the season. …A&T's injury list includes running backs Demerick Chancellor (shoulder, out) and Reginald James (shoulder, out), strong safety Brandon Jackson (knee, out), defensive back Brandon Long (knee, questionable), quarterback Herb Miller (knee, questionable), cornerback Simeon Platt (ankle, questionable), linebacker Robert Russell (back, probable) and defensive lineman Tyre Glasper (elbow, probable).

KEYS TO THE GAME

Can the Eagles move the ball consistently?

That question may be answered early in the game. The Eagles have been sleepily effective ever since the final period of their season-opening loss to Albany State. Tim Shankle's triple-digit rushing total last week was a very good sign, and quarterback Stadford Brown has been able to handle going for the little play instead of the big one. Middle linebacker Andre Thornton and defensive back Marques Ruffin are A&T's big weapons.

Will NCCU's defense continue to dominate?

There aren't many teams in the country that would turn down Eagles cornerback Craig Amos, and Derrick Ray has been a big-play guy at linebacker. But the Aggies' players were recruited to play Division I-AA football while the Eagles' veteran standouts were recruited at the Division II level. N.C. A&T running back and Northern High alumnus Michael Ferguson is hungry for the end zone.

What about the intangibles of the rivalry?

"Throw out the records" and all the other clichés fit. This is one of the most bitter rivalries in college sports. For over a generation, a win over N.C. A&T could make the Eagles' season. But now the shoe is on the other foot with the Eagles up and the Aggies down. If the Eagles don't play well early, their rivals' 19-game losing streak could be in jeopardy.

The Pick

N.C. Central 26, N.C. A&T 14

NCCU Eagles Marching Band

NCAT: Misery loves company

NCCU vs. NCAT game broadcast available on Internet streaming live video at 6:30 p.m. at: http://www.jarvistv.com/NCCU/.

By Rob Daniels, Greensboro News and Record

Misery loves company and the N.C. A&T Aggies have plenty when it comes to college football losing streaks.

When you have lost 19 consecutive football games, as the N.C. A&T Aggies have, it's easy to think you're alone in misery. Particularly when you know your streak is the longest of the 236 teams in the college game's top two divisions.

But NCAA football is a large beast that encompasses 629 schools, from the giants of Ohio State and Texas and -- it has been alleged -- Notre Dame all the way to Huntingdon College of Montgomery, Ala., at which 96 of the 371 men enrolled this year are on the football team.

So fear not. There are other depositories of distress -- even if they're in the relative anonymity of Divisions II and III. A&T is but one of a half-dozen teams with 18 or more consecutive losses entering this weekend's play. They're not even the most downtrodden of Aggies.

Collectively, the Sliding Six-Pack has lost 117 consecutive games by an average score of 42-10. Only eight of the games in question have been decided by fewer than 10 points; 25 have been by 50 or worse.

In ascending -- or is that descending? -- order, here are the teams most desperate to win this week.

18: HIRAM COLLEGE

Div. Streak PF PA Avg.

III 18 189 782 10-43

The Terriers of Hiram, Ohio, could have it worse. They haven't won since Oct. 1, 2005, and they managed only a touchdown in that one. Their 7-2 victory over Earlham came in the middle of a stretch in which they failed to score more than seven points in seven games. By the time they got the hang of the offense, it didn't matter. When they scored 38 vs. Kenyon, they gave up 41.

The Division III school of 900, situated 41 miles east of Cleveland, is renowned for its poetry review, which has been published since 1966. Perhaps the Terriers should avert their eyes from the most recent issue, which includes Shaun Hand's "The End of the World."

But then again, the schedule might be kind to them. Today's opponent, Manchester College of North Manchester, Ind., just broke its own 10-game losing streak with a victory over -- you got it -- Earlham.

Location: Hiram, Ohio

Famous alum: James A. Garfield, 20th president of the United States

Cool fact: Guarantees students that their tuition won't increase

19: N.C. A&T

Div. Streak PF PA Avg.

I-AA 19 213 744 11-39

The Aggies face N.C. Central (3-1) at 6:30 p.m. today, seeking to avoid becoming the fifth team in the 30-year history of I-AA football to drop 20 games in a row. For now, the list is confined to Prairie View A&M (80), Columbia (44), St. Francis of Pennsylvania (30) and Canisius (24). The Aggies' streak is tied for the longest in MEAC history with Delaware State's run of futility in 1997-99.

Coach Lee Fobbs, whose administration was preceded by considerable player attrition after George Small's dismissal in late 2005, has twice lost his starting quarterback to knee injuries, but he has not soured on his bunch. Understandably, Fobbs is tiring of questions about how he'll keep his players motivated as the defeats mount.

"Everybody asks me that every week," he said after Saturday's 59-14 loss to Hampton, the three-time MEAC champion. "These guys love playing football. (Victory) is going to come for us. We've got the right guys out there. They bust their tails every day in practice. You haven't seen these guys quit. They work their fannies off every day."

Location: Greensboro

Famous alum: Jesse Jackson, civil-rights leader

Cool fact: Four freshmen initiated sit-in movement, Feb. 1, 1960

19: OKLAHOMA PANHANDLE STATE

Div. Streak PF PA Avg.

II 19 149 1009 8-53

Also known as the Aggies, Oklahoma Panhandle has struggled more than A&T's Aggies. Of their 19 straight defeats, six have come by 60 or more points. That includes an ignominious run in 2005 in which the Division II team lost to Nebraska-Omaha 71-0, Pittsburg State 70-0 and Texas State 75-7. The coach of that team, Ryan Held, saw more points scored against his players in those three games than in any of his four full seasons as a Nebraska linebacker.

Their closest brush with victory during this streak was a 28-24 loss to Bacone College of Muskogee, Okla., on Oct. 16, 2006. The Warriors, who entered the game 0-5, won while being outgained by 145 yards in total offense.

Maybe today's the day. The Aggies' foe, the Blue Jays of Tabor College in Hillsboro, Kan., are 0-2.

Location: Goodwell, Okla.

Famous alum: Billy Bob Thornton, actor

Cool fact: Is closer to Juarez, Mexico, than it is to portions of its own state

20: BECKER COLLEGE

Div. Streak PF PA Avg.

II 20 301 845 15-42

A Division II school, Becker is winless in its football history, which began in 2005. The school began playing the sport for the same reason football is started on many campuses: It's considered a means of boosting male enrollment. According to the U.S. Department of Education, the school was straight out of a 1960s bubble-gum pop song -- two girls for every boy -- in 2005-06.

The campus is not without an athletics heritage, however. Just outside the Weller Academic Center, there's a marker commemorating the spot of the first perfect game in what is now called major league baseball. John Lee Richmond of the Worcester team known as the Worcesters, Ruby Legs or Brown Stockings, according to different accounts, beat Cleveland 1-0 on June 12, 1880.

Maybe the vibes haven't translated to the football team just yet, and that might be because Becker is actually made up of two campuses, one in Worcester, Mass., and another in Leicester, six miles away. The Hawks athletics department operates in Leicester; Richmond's feat occurred in Worcester.

They go to Newton, Mass., today to play Mount Ida (1-2).

Location: Leicester, Mass.

Famous alum: Colleen Barrett, president, Southwest Airlines

Cool fact: John Hancock signed the school's charter in 1784

20: LEWIS & CLARK

Div. Streak PF PA Avg.

III 20 178 742 9-37

Not even a brush with death can stop the Pioneers of Portland, Ore., from trying to break their streak.

After the fourth game of the 2005 season, a 55-24 setback to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps of Claremont, Calif., the Division III Pioneers had lost their past nine games by an average score of 53-12. Citing a lack of healthy linemen and the resulting threat to the safety of the remaining players, the season was halted.

Shortly thereafter, the school's president convened an 18-member study group to determine the program's feasibility on a campus of 2,641 students.

"As a whole, the inventory taken of Lewis & Clark students has shown a sincere desire for football on campus," the report said. "While LC may currently attract independently minded students, it appears as if the students themselves, while independent, still want and need opportunities to be brought back together on campus."

A competitive renaissance isn't necessarily imminent -- the Pioneers lost to the Sagehens of Pomona College 36-6 last week -- but the team does get a break this weekend before returning to action at the University of Chicago next week.

Location: Portland, Ore.

Famous alum: Monica Lewinsky, White House intern

Cool fact: Declines to participate in U.S. News college rankings system

21: ST. ANSELM

Div. Streak PF PA Avg.

II 21 196 846 9-40

Art has unintentionally imitated life at St. Anselm, a Division II school in Manchester, N.H. In November, the college will host a local youth play titled "Miss Nolan Has a Field Day." It's about an elementary school football team trying to break a 12-game losing streak.

As for the Hawks, they're coming off a 71-21 loss at the hands of Assumption, and they play today at Pace University of Pleasantville, N.Y. But they haven't lost the support of their community. The student activities board has a director of spirit, and home games remain popular.

"It's usually a good time," said Maura Leahy, a junior political science major from Wakefield, Mass. "Unfortunately, (the Hawks) usually lose a bit of steam in the third quarter. We'd like to have a winning football team, but we take what we have."

Location: Manchester, N.H.

Famous alum: Mark Sullivan, director, U.S. Secret Service

Cool fact: Host of presidential debates in 2008

The long road trip continues for WSSU Rams

By John Dell, Winston Salem Journal

Since starting its climb to the Football Championship Subdivision two years ago, Winston-Salem State has held its own against teams from the MEAC - with one exception.

S.C. State pummeled WSSU 35-6 at Bowman Gray Stadium last season. It was the most decisive loss to a MEAC team since the Rams left Division II.

WSSU will get a chance to redeem itself when it plays S.C. State at 6 p.m. today at Dawson Stadium in Orangeburg.

Coach Kermit Blount of the Rams says he doesn’t consider last year’s loss to S.C. State a blowout because the game was close at halftime. Two turnovers by the Rams in the second half opened the door for the Bulldogs.

The Rams, who won’t be eligible for the MEAC championship until 2010, are 2-1 overall this season and 2-0 against MEAC teams after last week’s 19-17 win against Morgan State.

“I’m not surprised about the performance,” Blount said of the win against Morgan State. “I knew we had a good group of young men, and it does feel good to be where we are record-wise, but at the same time, it is a very long season.”

Today’s game will be WSSU’s third in a stretch of six straight road games, but Blount says he doesn’t mind being away from home and that playing on the road gets his team’s attention.

“On the road we can control our team a little better,” he said. “It’s more regimented, and I think that’s a plus.”

S.C. State is 1-2 and coming off a 38-3 loss to No. 17 South Carolina. The other loss also was to a team in the Football Bowl Subdivision, 34-3 to Air Force in a season-opener. S.C. State’s win was a MEAC victory at Bethune-Cookman.

Coach Buddy Pough’s Bulldogs will be making their home debut.

“We have been from the Rocky Mountains down to the Atlantic Ocean already this season, and we get a chance to finally come back to Orangeburg to the friendly confines of Bulldog Stadium in front of our home fans,” said Pough, who is in his sixth season at S.C. State and has a 41-19 record.

After two games against FBS teams (formerly Division I-A), it might appear as if things would be easier for the Bulldogs today. Pough doesn’t see it that way.

“We would like to come back and play someone really easy, but you don’t see that with Winston-Salem State,” Pough said. “They are playing really well on defense and offense this year. Last year, they were more defensive with the ability to score a point or two, but this year, it’s going to be a different story and a tough football game for us.”

The Rams lost running back Brandon McRae to a broken wrist last week, and Jed Bines suffered a high-ankle sprain. Bines has missed practice all week and is listed as probable.

Rod Fluellen, who has moved back to tailback where he was a reserve last season, will start in place of Bines. There’s a chance freshman Nic Cooper could play, but Blount is hoping to redshirt him this season. As a precaution, however, Cooper will be in uniform for tonight’s game.

“It’s still a day-to-day thing with Jed,” Blount said Thursday. “We’ll have to wait and see (today) if Jed can go.”

Last week, WSSU’s defense allowed Morgan State’s Chad Simpson to rush for 221 yards on 41 carries. This week, the Rams will have to try to stop Will Ford, a sophomore who gained 117 yards on 17 carries against South Carolina.

Defensive coordinator Mike Ketchum says that stopping the run is always important.

“They had a heck of a running back at Morgan State, and now we’ll see another good one at South Carolina State,” Ketchum said. “So there’s no letup in this league.”

Quarterback Cleveland McCoy leads the S.C. State offense. He’s a fifth-year senior and three-year starter, and he has passed for more than 3,000 yards and rushed for more than 1,000 in his career.

Blount was an assistant at S.C. State for four seasons before coming to WSSU in 1993, and he knows that playing in Orangeburg isn’t easy.

“This is a different kind of group of players that we are going to play this weekend as they are very good and very physical, most definitely one of the best teams in the MEAC,” Blount said. “Certainly we will have to be on the top of our game to win.”

Blount called last week’s win a good measuring stick of how far his program has come. Another win against one of the top teams in the MEAC would be another step forward.

“The thing that we want to do is not so much about the wins and losses,” Blount said, “it’s more about being competitive and building a Division I football program.”

SCSU's Marching 101 to play NFL halftime

Photo: S.C. State band members Shion Randolph, center, and Darryl Broome, right, perform Sunday during the 2007 Palmetto Invitational Band Classic in Charleston.

VIDEO: http://www.thestate.com/colleges/story/174132-a173840-t19.html

The South Carolina State Marching 101 band played Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia a week ago. On Sunday, the band goes pro.

To the NFL that is.

The NFL Atlanta Falcons will host the Carolina Panthers for their 2007 home opener at the Georgia Dome. The Marching 101 will perform during halftime.

The game begins at 4:15 p.m. and will air on the FOX network.

The Marching 101 could return to perform in the Georgia Dome in January 2008 if selected to participate in the annual Honda Battle of the Bands Invitational Showcase. Vote for the SC State Marching 101's inclusion as one of the nation's Top 10 Historically Black College and University bands at www.hondabattleofthebands.com. Voting concludes on Friday, Nov. 2, at 12 a.m. EST.

S.C. STATE Marching 101 Band
Director: Eddie Ellis
Members: 320
Drum majors: Michael “The Rock” Williams, Quinton “The GQ Model” Turner, Shane “The Professor” Walcott, LaTrondrick “The Rookie” Hunter, Tariq “Pretty Boy” Miller, Jonathan “Oh My God” Whitfield, Fernandez “The Kid” Brown
Style: High step, also known as “chair step” or “ankle-knee”
Claim to fame: They memorize all their sheet music

S.C. State band director Eddie Ellis has directed high school and college bands since 1975.

He joined the Marching 101 three years ago after working as a band director at Morris Brown College. You might remember the Morris Brown band from the 2002 movie “Drumline,” a film Ellis believes brought attention to marching band culture.

“It’s an art form. That movie has had a tremendous impact on the entire band world — regardless of style.”

And style is what makes the Marching 101 unique, Ellis said. This season, the S.C. State band will play mostly hip-hop and rhythm and blues, “but we may go back and do some ’70’s stuff. We try to do something everyone would enjoy.”

“Up for the Dogs,” the S.C. State fight song, and selections from James Brown, Earth, Wind and Fire, and the hit “Bartender” by hip-hop and R&B artist T-Pain are on their list.

Shane “The Professor” Walcott, a senior criminal justice major at S.C. State, is one of seven drum majors. He says the Marching 101 will bring a distinctive, up tempo and aggressive style to every performance. "We’re gonna do what we do best. It’s going to be an exciting show.”

Charles seizes opportunity with SU Jaguars

By JOSEPH SCHIEFELBEIN, Advocate sportswriter

Tennessee State at Southern
WHEN: 6 p.m. today.
WHERE: A.W. Mumford Stadium (25,500).
TV: Tape-delay (3:30 p.m. Sunday, CST).
RADIO: KQXL-FM, 106.5.
RECORDS: Southern 3-0, Tennesee State 2-1.
LAST MEETING: Southern 19, Tennesee State 18, 1996.
SERIES: SU leads, 23-10-2.


The attrition to Southern University’s defensive line — losing five players for a variety of reasons in the offseason — didn’t change the way junior tackle Dwayne Charles was going to go about his business.

“I seized the moment,” Charles said. “It was my time to get out there and work hard to earn a spot. I didn’t want it just given to me. I didn’t want anybody saying anything. I wanted to earn everything I got.”

Charles had already spent the 2005 season away from any football field because he was a nonqualifier. And he was a backup with just 12 tackles in four games last season. So, really, if the other guy didn’t want it anymore, that had nothing to do with Charles, because he sure did.

Charles, who already has 13 tackles in three games, will try to continue to get better as Southern (3-0) hosts Tennessee State (2-1) at 6 p.m. today in A.W. Mumford Stadium.

“He fought to get in the position he is, and he’s taken advantage,” defensive coordinator Terrence Graves said. “He committed himself to the weight room in the winter, spring and summer. He’s like night and day from last fall to this fall.”

This is the way his father and mother raised him: You do things for yourself.

His father, Darrell, was a defensive end and tight end who had starred at St. Martinville High School and went on to Oklahoma University, which finished third in the nation in 1979 and won the ’80 Orange Bowl. After a knee injury derailed his football career, Darrell Charles returned to south Louisiana, married Ellena and started a family.

“I have those two to thank for everything,” Charles said.

From Darrell, who works offshore — 14 days on, 14 off — Dwayne learned this, “He never pushed me, even though I was always a big kid (and everyone knew Darrell as a football star). I was proud of him. He never forced me to play football. He told me, ‘Whatever I do, give it all I’ve got, and that will be my decision.’”

From Ellena, who is a custodian at a middle school, Dwayne learned this, “My mom always told me, ‘Never quit. Always go hard, you never know who’s watching. Leave it all out on the field.’”

Charles, who has an older sister and a younger brother, was always a big kid. He said he wasn’t comfortable following his dad’s path at St. Martinville.

Instead, Charles created his own at Lafayette High where three-sport athlete (football, basketball and track, where he was a top discus thrower). A team captain of both the football and track teams. A Class 5A All-State first-team selection at linebacker. A three-year starter playing offensive line, defensive end, defensive tackle and linebacker — with 88 tackles as a senior.

That’s why being a nonqualifier in 2005 and, thus, unable to play or even practice, was so hard and maybe made him work a little harder.

“I was just so happy my first year (playing last season),” Charles said. “I just wanted to be eligible, so I could contribute. I’d never had to sit out a year before. Just sitting out that year really got me focused. With my parents supporting me and coaches pushing me, I maintained the grades.”

Charles faced what most nonqualifiers face that first season: trying to get acclimated to the college game, both physically and mentally, while trying to get used to playing after a year away from football.

Graves said Charles had to get stronger and he had to get bigger at the same time. Charles was 250 pounds when he arrived as a true freshman and was up to 280 last season. Graves had recruited Charles to play on the defensive line, and the increase in size made going to tackle the natural choice.

“I never thought Dwayne would ever play linebacker, because in high school Dwayne was 250-to-255 pounds, but he was so athletic that they played him at middle linebacker,” Graves said. “So what you do is you recruit those type of guys and add 20-to-25 pounds and now you have a very athletic defensive lineman.”

Charles’ game, as that of many nonqualifers often does, zoomed in the spring. He had settled into one position. The time off the bench and being at practice and in the film room gave him a good feel. And the weight room made him stronger.

Making a difference, Charles said, was “getting in the weight room, conditioning, trying to get better every day, giving it all I’ve got for the defense, the team.”

Coaches took notice. A buzz developed.

“The kid who really played well in the spring was Charles. He really came on,” head coach Pete Richardson said.

This preseason camp, with tackles Alston Smith and Isaiah Thomas not returning for different reasons, Charles and veteran tackle Joseph Selders (14 tackles) started to develop a chemistry inside. That progress has continued.

“He’s a joy to have around in the program,” Graves said. “He and Joe Selders really work well together, push one another. He’s a natural leader by action.”

Charles, a business management major, said he’s planning on earning a fourth season of eligibility, getting back the season he lost.

“He’s a mature individual,” Richardson said. “He likes to play. He likes to play football.”

Southern University Human Jukebox Band

B-CU to see some familiar faces at NSU

By BRENT WORONOFF, Daytona Beach News Journal

The way Bobbie Williams remembers it, one day three Bethune-Cookman assistant football coaches were on campus, the next day they weren't.

It happened shortly after the 2004 season when B-CU defensive coordinator Pete Adrian was named head coach at Norfolk State and he took three other assistants -- Kirk Mastromatteo, Mark DeBastiani and Jeff Parker -- with him.

"One day they were here, the next day they were gone," said Williams, B-CU's All-Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference free safety. "They did what they had to do. We were fine without them."

When the Wildcats face the Spartans at Norfolk State today, Williams said it will be just another conference game. But the numbers say otherwise. Since Adrian has been at Norfolk, the two teams have played two dramatic nailbiters that were decided by a total of three points.

And Williams saved the victory for the 'Cats both times. In 2005, he pushed Brandon Books out of bounds as the Norfolk quarterback tried to run in a two-point conversion that would tie the score in the fourth overtime. Williams' stop gave B-CU a 63-61 marathon victory.

Last year, Williams intercepted Casey Hansen's pass with 1:45 left to clinch the Wildcats' 22-21 triumph. It was Williams' third pick of the day.

"It's just a coincidence that every time we've played them I've had one of my best games," Williams said.

Photo: BCU All-American Safety Bobbie Williams

B-CU quarterback Jimmie Russell has also had two straight outstanding games against the Spartans, but unlike Williams, he doesn't see Norfolk State as just "a regular opponent."

"This one has added incentive because of the circumstances involved," Russell said.

Two years ago, B-CU coach Alvin Wyatt refused to shake hands with Adrian after the game. The following offseason, the two head coaches, who had worked together for eight years, smoothed over their differences.

"These guys are my best friends," Wyatt said this week of his three former assistants. "We've been through a lot of wars together, and we understand each other."

That familiarity is one of the reasons the past two games have been so closely contested, the coaches say.

"Just as they know how we think, we know how they think," Adrian said.

"We kind of know what the other is going to do," Wyatt agreed.

In such a game, Wyatt said, the difference usually comes down to a turnover or a crucial special teams play.

But the focus is on offensive and defensive playmakers, such as Williams and Russell and Norfolk State quarterback Hansen and linebacker Maguell Davis. And while the coaching staffs know each other so well, when it comes to familiarity in personnel, the edge goes to the Spartans.

For example, when Adrian watches Russell on film, he sees the same quarterback he saw every day on the practice field three years ago.

"He's the kind of guy you might stop eight plays in a row, but on the ninth play he might be standing in the end zone," Adrian said. "The kid is a great competitor, and he's always been a great competitor."

Playing with a knee brace last week to protect a strained medial collateral ligament, Russell rushed for three touchdowns and accounted for 177 yards of total offense as the Wildcats trounced Savannah State 45-13.

Photo: BCU QB Jimmie Russell

This week the stakes are higher as the Wildcats try to halt a four-game MEAC losing streak that began last season, and the Spartans try to take a step forward after finishing 4-7 the past two years.

B-CU (2-1) at Norfolk State (1-1)

KICKOFF: 4 p.m.
RADIO: WELE (1380 AM)
va2WHERE: Dick Price Stadium, Norfolk, Va.
KICKOFF: 4 p.m.
RADIO: 1380-AM
RECORDS: Bethune-Cookman 2-1, 0-1 MEAC; Norfolk St. 1-1, 0-0
SERIES: B-CU leads 12-5

PLAYMAKERS: B-CU -- QB Jimmie Russell, Sr., has six of the Wildcats' seven rushing touchdowns and has accumulated 508 yards of total offense; WR Joe Singleton, Jr., has six catches for 126 yards (21 ypc); FS Bobbie Williams, Sr., leads the 'Cats with 25 tackles and has one interception. LB/DE Josh Balloon, Sr., has five tackles for losses. Norfolk State -- QB Casey Hansen, Sr., has passed for 353 yards with two interceptions and no TDs; RB Daryl Jones, Sr., has rushed for 163 yards and two TDs; LB Maguell Davis, Sr., has two tackles for losses and an interception.

ETC: This is Norfolk State's first game against a Division I-AA team. The Spartans beat Division II Virginia State 33-7 in Week 1 and were overwhelmed by nationally-ranked Division I-A Rutgers 59-0 last week. B-CU has won nine straight over Norfolk, but the past two by just a combined three points.

DID YOU KNOW: This is the second time this season that B-CU is playing a MEAC opponent that had played against a Division I-A squad the previous week.The 'Cats met South Carolina State the week after the Bulldogs played at Air Force and are now playing Norfolk the week after the Spartans played at Rutgers.

BCU Marching Wildcats

Photo Gallery: FAMU smashes Howard Bison

FAMU Marching 100

QUICK SLANTS: Alabama A&M at Grambling State

Photo: GSU DB DeMichael Dizer #29 versus Pittsburgh Panthers

By Nick Deriso, The Monroe News Star

NOT FLASHY, BUT SOLID

First-year Grambling coach Rod Broadway’s style isn’t flashy. In fact, it’s sometimes almost boring.

A sample: “Don’t try to make plays that are not in your area,” Broadway told the team this week. “Take care of your responsibility.”

But that kind of solid, foundation-building approach is finding a home in the Southwestern Athletic Conference, despite the lingering reputation of flamboyant character/coaches like Marino Casem, Archie Cooley and Melvin Spears.

After all, it could be argued that both participants in the most recent SWAC title games (Alabama A&M’s Anthony Jones and Arkansas-Pine Bluff’s Mo Forte) were proponents of this assignment-oriented approach — as are recent championship coaches like Charlie Coe and Pete Richardson.

DON’T MISS IT
When Grambling plays Alabama A&M this Saturday, it will be one of just three home games in 2007, the second consecutive season that’s happened.

Over the past 25 seasons at Robinson Stadium, GSU has held as few as three home games on 10 other occasions.

But it’s not the shortest home slate ever.

Under former coach Doug Williams in 2001, the Tigers played just two games in Grambling — going 2-0 over Alabama A&M and Texas Southern.

GSU then played four home contests in 2002-05.

Still, playing so few times in front of the locals puts additional pressure on the team to perform well, something first-year Grambling coach Rod Broadway is well aware of.

“I’ve heard so much about the atmosphere here,” Broadway said. “I’m excited for our fans and our football team. Hopefully, we can go out and represent the university and the athletic department well.”

Grambling has posted undefeated home records nine times (1983, ’89, ’91, ’93-94, 2000-02, and ’05) since “The Rob” opened in September 1983. Its only winless campaign at the stadium was in 2004.

ENEMY LINES: A&M
Alabama A&M, coming off its first-ever SWAC championship in 2006, returns 13 starters — including dual-threat quarterback Kelcy Luke.

That led preseason league voters to predict a return to the title match, which has also featured A&M in 2000, ’02 and ’05. Each previous time, however, the Bulldogs fell to this week’s foe, Grambling.

“We’ve got some demons to face,” said A&M coach Anthony Jones. “We’ve got to get ourselves ready to face a good football team on the road. (First-year Grambling coach Rod) Broadway has them playing well in all three phases of the game.”

Always a defensive-minded squad, A&M has emerged as a scoring threat in 2006 — averaging a league-leading 45 points a game so far in wins over Tennessee State, Clark-Atlanta and Mississippi Valley.

That’s helped the Bulldogs open a season at 3-0 for the first time since 1966, according to the SWAC.

“They’re the conference champions, and have played in a number of championship games,” Broadway said. “You don’t play in that many conference championship games without doing a good job. It’s going to be a great challenge.”

Freshman Ulysses Banks has run for 314 yards in the past two games alone, while the underappreciated Luke — still largely unknown, despite leading A&M to consecutive nine-win seasons — is throwing for 293 yards a game.

“He’s a leader, and he’s proven to be a winner,” Jones said of Luke. “I’m blessed to have him on our team.”

Grambling holds a 12-4 lead in a series that dates back to 1941. A&M recorded a shutout in that first meeting; Grambling held the Bulldogs scoreless the last time this league game was held at Robinson Stadium, in 2005. There were 44 years between the second and third games of this series, held in 1945 and then ’89. A&M has been an annual opponent since it joined the SWAC in 1998.

“We’re excited to play the conference champions,” Broadway said. “You can never underestimate the heart of a champion. That means they will not give up, and they’ll be there until the last whistle. That’s where we have to get our guys.”

SWAC ATTACK
VIEW FROM SOUTHERN
Once again, Southern had its troubles with Prairie View — though the Jaguars were able to avoid the overtime upset that defined their 2006 season.

The defense overcame a series of offensive mishaps, including as many as six dropped passes, to win 12-2.
“I don’t know if it’s what they did or what we did to ourselves,” Southern coach Pete Richardson said.

Photo: Texas Southern vs. JSU was played in monsoon.

OFF THE SNIDE
Jackson State has finally gotten its first win of the season, besting Texas Southern 28-7 in a rain-soaked contest.

JSU finished 2006 on a 1-4 slide, then opened this year 0-2.

“We needed a win bad,” said coach Rick Comegy. “We haven’t had one in a while. Hopefully that will lead us back to the hopes and dreams we had for the season.”

Wilbon and McNabb on target regarding black QB's

If you sports-aholics don't read anything interesting today, the following article published by Michael Wilbon is worth every second of your time. I heard the dumb interviews this morning on ESPN with Vince Young and and Jason Campbell on the McNabb statements. Their response were weak and silly, and shows how they are currently blinded by NFL dollars. Sorry guys, come join the real world and open your eyes and ears after the next loss for the Titans or Redskins, respectively. Then you will know the real deal! Campbell is only one interception away from hearing the wolf cries from the Redskin faithful who are never satisfied unless they are in the Superbowl. It's time the guys learn their history....
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McNabb Displays His Accuracy

By Michael Wilbon, The Washington Post

Thankfully, Donovan McNabb had the guts to stand tall in the pocket with critics trying to knock his head off. Thankfully, McNabb, at 30, has some sense of the NFL beyond his own participation. Most celebrity athletes talk only when paid to talk, and usually about something benign if not downright useless.

McNabb, however, had something very real to say in a conversation with James Brown of HBO. He said black quarterbacks are under more scrutiny and criticized more harshly than white quarterbacks. Why this has become a hot-button topic I have no idea. It's not like McNabb called anybody a racist or a bigot. He said that black quarterbacks face more criticism than white quarterbacks, than Peyton Manning or Carson Palmer, just to name two. And he's right, just as black politicians or entertainers or writers are scrutinized more closely, whether it's professionally or driving home in the middle of the night from work.

Anybody who doubts McNabb needs only to walk around one of the upper-concourse areas of Lincoln Financial Field late in a game when, as several white friends have told me, the frequent use of the word "nigger" preceding McNabb's name during a losing performance is so casual it sickens them. Rex Grossman, just to name one white quarterback who has to deal with daily criticism, doesn't have to be on the wrong end of that kind of hateful venom, even though he'll never be half the quarterback McNabb has been.

All quarterbacks are criticized; it's the nature of the business. Joe Montana, John Elway, Brett Favre . . . they've all faced it, especially in this age of nonstop talk and analysis. Quarterback is the most important position, the most high-profile position in American sports, and nothing else comes close. The praise and criticism are both extreme to the point of absurdity.

McNabb has a $100 million contract and those Chunky Soup commercials for one reason: he's a quarterback. Most NFL players are completely unrecognizable out of their jerseys, but McNabb is so well known his mother has her own commercial success.

Undeniably, this is progress. It was unimaginable 20 years ago when Doug Williams led the Redskins to a Super Bowl victory. Williams might as well have been a Martian that Super Bowl week, as reporters crowded around him to ask how he felt about making history. Remember, Warren Moon is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but no NFL team would draft him out of the University of Washington in 1978, even though he led his team to the Rose Bowl. It wasn't enough. Scouts tried to talk him into changing positions so that some team would draft him, but he wouldn't and went to Canada. He had to leave this country to play quarterback professionally.

Black quarterbacks have come a long, long way. Just seeing James Harris and Williams play in the 1970s brought black folks to tears. I'm elated that I can't even name all the black players who play quarterback these days. The Jacksonville Jaguars ended last season with three. Vince Young, two years ago, was drafted ahead of Matt Leinart, and JaMarcus Russell, this spring, was drafted ahead of Brady Quinn. Leinart and Quinn are prototypical, perhaps even stereotypical, white, in-the-pocket, Golden Boy quarterbacks.

So the days of owners being afraid to draft black quarterbacks or coaches being afraid to play them seems long gone.

But that doesn't mean the criticism or scrutiny is the same on the outside. For the most part, people younger than 30 could not care less, largely because they don't know the history of any sport beyond last week, and sadly this includes sportswriters and players. But there are plenty of people older than 30, people who don't even examine what they're saying.

Is this a huge deal? No, probably not. But that doesn't mean it doesn't exist, and McNabb simply stated that. He didn't say it angrily, he didn't say he wanted to take up arms and attack The Man. He just said black quarterbacks are scrutinized and criticized more than their white frat QB brothers -- in other ways, too. As my friend Tony Kornheiser points out, black franchise quarterbacks also have been criticized by black fans and players for not being "black enough" and being too close to white ownership.

What really annoys me is that some young black quarterbacks don't seem to have any idea of the context of the issue. Don't get me wrong, it was great to hear Tennessee's Young and the Redskins' Jason Campbell (two kids who played quarterback in the South) say they hadn't faced any particularly stinging criticism. It's yet another sign of great progress. But there also was a naivete about their comments, especially Young's, when he said the notion of black quarterbacks dealing with unfair criticism is "not my fight to fight."

Of course, it isn't. Harris, Joe Gilliam, Marlin Briscoe, Moon and Williams, among others, fought it so that Young wouldn't have to. They changed positions and missed out on playing time and left the country so that this wouldn't be an issue in 2007. And for Young to say something that self-absorbed, that ignorant of the history of the men who made it possible for him, is disappointing to the extreme. Young is obliged to those men, the same way Tiger Woods is obliged to Charlie Sifford and Lee Elder and Calvin Peete. Difference is, Tiger says so every chance he gets. Tiger knows who fought the fight for him. Young, sadly, doesn't. Somebody should get in his ear and make sure he understands . . . before he takes the field again.

Vince Young hasn't heard the boos, hasn't heard the ugly and vicious catcalls that address his heritage and color . . . not yet anyway. He led the University of Texas to a national championship and presented himself as everything the position of quarterback demands. He got to the NFL and at Tennessee has in short order been exactly what a team wants in a young franchise quarterback.

But it's not always going to be kisses and candy. It wouldn't be if Young were white, either. Very likely one day, he's going to read something, see something, hear something that lets him know that there's a gap between progress and conditions being the same. And his instinct will be, quite naturally, to pick up the phone and call somebody who's been through what he's going through, somebody like McNabb, whose words might make a little more sense to him then.

Timing is a problem for UAPB Golden Lions

By Beck Cross and Nick Walker, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Scheduling a home-and home series against Football Championship Subdivision powerhouse Southern Illinois might have seemed like a good idea when the contract was finalized almost three years ago, but the matchup probably couldn’t come at a worse time for Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

UAPB, which dropped to 1-2 in Southwestern Athletic Conference play with a lastminute 12-10 loss last Saturday to Alabama State, won’t have the luxury of playing a nonconference cupcake when it travels to Carbondale, Ill., on Saturday to face the Salukis.

Southern Illinois (3-0 ), which defeated UAPB 48-16 last year at Golden Lion Stadium, is ranked No. 6 in the collegesportingnews. com coaches’ poll and seventh in The Sports Network Top 25 Football Championship Subdivision poll.

The Salukis, who are coming off a 44-10 victory at Southern Utah, are averaging 440 yards of offense and 46 points per game.

UAPB has struggled offensively with 197. 3 yards and 13. 3 points per game.

“We’re happy to have the opportunity to compete against the sixth-ranked team in the country,” UAPB Coach Mo Forte said. “We’re the only team [in the SWAC ] that can say that this week.

“ When I look at the film I know they’re an outstanding football team, but I feel pretty good about this game.”

The nonconference schedule doesn’t get any easier next week. UAPB travels to Las Cruces, N. M., to take on New Mexico State, which is the higher subdivision of Division I.

Bright side

With a break here or there, Arkansas-Pine Bluff easily could be 3-0 rather than 1-2. In the season opener at Mississippi Valley State, the Golden Lions had first-andgoal opportunities twice in the second half but came away empty on both possessions in a 16-9 loss. Last week against Alabama State, the Golden Lions were flagged for defensive holding four plays before the Hornets scored on fourth-and-10 with 41 seconds to play to pull out a 12-10 victory. Defense doing part Arkansas-Pine Bluff’s defense is the primary reason why UAPB has had a chance to win all three of its games.

The Golden Lions lead the Southwestern Athletic Conference in scoring defense (10. 3 points per game ), rush defense (43. 0 yards per game ) and total defense (213. 0 yards per game ). Defensive end Ledarious Anthony has anchored the defense with 28 total tackles, including 8 tackles for losses and 1 a conference-leading 5 / 2 sacks. Anthony’s sack total is more than any Golden Lion had last year. “This will be their biggest test, but the way they’ve been playing, I feel really good about them,” UAPB Coach Mo Forte said. “They just get better each week, and they started out pretty darn good.”

Moore still starter

Junior Johnathan Moore, who started at quarterback for Arkansas-Pine Bluff last week against Alabama State while Chris Wallace was recovering from the flu, will remain the starter against Southern Illinois. Moore completed 8 of 25 passes for 83 yards and was the team’s top rusher with 14 carries for 27 yards. “Chris has been back at practice and has played really well,” Coach Mo Forte said. “He seems to have a lot of energy, so it’s nice to have both quarterbacks.”

Extra points

Arkansas-Pine Bluff’s special teams blocked two extra point attempts and a punt last week against Alabama State.... Southern Illinois has averaged 50. 3 points per game in its past four games in Carbondale, Ill.... The Salukis are ranked nationally in three categories. SIU is third in turnover margin (2. 67 ), fourth in scoring offense (45. 7 points per game ) and sixth in passing efficiency (172. 66 ).

WSSU Rams' tailback depth to be tested

Photo: Winston-Salem State's Jed Bines (1) suffered a high-ankle sprain against Morgan State.

By John Dell, Winston Salem Journal

McRae out for season with broken wrist; Bines questionable for Saturday

With the exception of minor bumps and bruises, Winston-Salem State’s football players stayed healthy through their first two games of the season.

That all changed in Saturday’s 19-17 win over Morgan State, and the Rams played the second half without their two top running backs, Brandon McRae and Jed Bines.

McRae, the team’s leading rusher last season with 623 yards, suffered a broken wrist and is out for the rest of the season.

Bines suffered a high-ankle sprain in the first quarter and did not return. He is questionable for Saturday’s game at South Carolina State.

Coach Kermit Blount said that adjusting to the injuries this week will be a primary focus heading into Saturday’s game.

“We’ll know by (today) or Thursday if Jed can get back on the field,” Blount said. Bines missed practice Monday and yesterday and is wearing a protective boot on his left ankle.

Bines said he hasn’t missed a game because of an injury since his senior year at Parkland in 2002, and plans to play Saturday. He did miss all of last season because he was academically ineligible.

“It’s getting better by the day, and I’ve been doing a lot of treatments with our trainer (Darrell Turner),” Bines said of his ankle. “I think the way it stands now is, I’ll try to run on it a little bit on Thursday to see how it responds.”

Blount sounded optimistic that Bines, who needs just 18 yards to reach 3,000 for his career, could return this week.

“It’s going to be hard to keep him out because he’s such a competitor, and I know he wants to play,” Blount said.

With Bines and McRae sharing time, the tailback position was one of the Rams’ strongest assets. That’s no longer the case.

Rod Fluellen, who was a reserve tailback last season but was moved to slotback this season, will likely be the starter on Saturday even if Bines can play.

Fluellen moved to tailback in the second half against Morgan State but had just 10 carries for 20 yards.

Blount said that freshman Nic Copper, one of the Rams’ top signings who was expected to redshirt this season, will travel to Orangeburg on Saturday. Copper, 6-0 and 220 pounds, starred for Clinton High School where he ran for more than 2,000 yards as a junior. Cooper hasn’t played this season but has excelled on the scout team during practice.

“It’s kind of up in the air to see how things play out this week in practice,” Blount said.

Blount said that the rest of his team is healthy.

“This is going to be probably a more physical game than the Morgan State game,” Blount said, “so we’ll need to be a full strength.”

VIDEO:

Freshman Mitchell is center of attention at WSSU after his winning kick

Photo: Matt Mitchell made his first two field-goal attempts of his career.

By John Dell, Winston Salem Journal

Matt Mitchell finds all the attention a little overwhelming.

“I’ve never done a TV interview before,” he said yesterday during Winston-Salem State’s weekly press conference. “I really don’t know what to say.”

Mitchell, a freshman kicker from Belmont, prefers to let his right foot do the talking.

He made the first two field-goal attempts of his college career Saturday as WSSU beat Morgan State 19-17. His second field goal, a 24-yarder with 4/10ths of a second to play, won the game.

“Maybe I’ll get used it,” Mitchell, smiling, said of his sudden popularity.

Coach Kermit Blount of the Rams couldn’t help but poke fun at Mitchell’s first shot at a TV interview.

“You weren’t nervous were you Matt?” Blount said. “Well, get used to it, because you are going to have to do more of these.”

Mitchell has noticed fellow students paying him more attention.

“People I haven’t ever talked to before have come up to me and said ‘nice kick,’” Mitchell said.

From Shawn Thomas to Ashton Oakley to Matt Hind to Chad Oakley, the Rams have had successful kickers in recent seasons. But Chad Oakley graduated in the spring, forcing the Rams to break in a new kicker.

Blount and his staff set their sights on Mitchell, a 6-0, 190-pounder who also played some safety at South Point High School. He came in with WSSU’s latest class of recruits and so far has been the most valuable. As a high-school senior, he made 6 of 8 field-goal attempts, with his longest a 53-yarder.

Mitchell said he had two offers, a half scholarship at Lenior-Rhyne and a full scholarship at WSSU. He decided on WSSU, but not just because of football.

“What made me want to come here was they have an animation program I liked, and I would be the starting kicker,” said Mitchell, who wants to get into cartoon animation after graduation.

Mitchell also kicks off, and he isn’t afraid to throw his body around. Offensive coordinator Nick Calcutta said that Mitchell’s big hit on an unsuspecting Morgan State player during a kickoff is one to remember.

“I saw this guy coming out of the corner of my eye, so I just braced myself and ended up hitting him pretty good, and he flew up in the air,” Mitchell said.

Mitchell didn’t celebrate after the hit. He simply walked back to the sideline.

“He’s just a quiet kid,” Calcutta said. “He loves playing the game and loves being here. He’s a great competitor, but those TV guys have their work cut out for them trying to get him to talk because it’s like pulling teeth with him.”

Calcutta said it’s an asset having a kicker who isn’t high-maintenance. “He’s able to block a lot of distractions out,” Calcutta said.

Mitchell has had to adjust to place-kicking without a tee, as he did in high school, and Blount has been easing ease him into the role. Mitchell didn’t attempt a field goal in WSSU’s first two games but was perfect on his extra-point attempts.

On Saturday, Mitchell’s first field goal was perfect from 38 yards. However, he had an extra-point attempt blocked in the fourth quarter after a missed assignment on the line.

On the winning field goal, holder Justin Sherrod handled a high snap, but got the ball down, and Mitchell made the kick easily.

As for the celebration, Mitchell jumped up twice. That was it.

“I was more nervous on the first kick because it was my first attempt and it was from 38,” Mitchell said.

One of the traditions that the Rams have is selecting one player to give a short speech to the team during pregame preparations. Running back Jed Bines said that Mitchell was selected before the game against Coastal Carolina but didn’t say much.

Now, standing in front of his teammates and getting them fired up should be easier.

“I can’t ever think of anything to say,” Mitchell said.

“I want it to be good, so the guys will be excited.”

NSU Spartans Host Bethune-Cookman in MEAC Opener

NORFOLK, Va. – Norfolk State University hosts Bethune-Cookman University at 4 p.m. Saturday at Dick Price Stadium in the 60th annual Fish Bowl Classic. The game represents the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference opener for the Spartans.

NSU (1-1) returns home after suffering a 59-0 defeat at the hands of Rutgers (Division I FBS No. 11 AP/Coaches Poll) last Saturday. The Wildcats are 2-1 overall, 0-1 in the MEAC after a 45-13 win at Savannah State last week. B-CU also boasts a 31-17 non-conference win over Jacksonville on Sept. 1, but lost 24-13 to South Carolina State in its MEAC opener on Sept. 8.

The Porte Towne Magic! Singers will perform the National Anthem as part of the "Portsmouth Shows its Spartan Spirit" promotion. The Porte Towne Magic! Singers are the signature music performing ensemble for Portsmouth Public Schools. They are composed of three different groups: singers, jazz band and orchestra.

The game can be heard live in the Hampton Roads area on WNSB Hot 91.1 FM.

Bethune-Cookman is 2-1 overall after a 45-13 win at Savannah State on Saturday.
Quarterback Jimmie Russell had his second three-touchdown performance of the season,
scoring three times on the ground. Russell accounted for 177 total yards (65 rushing, 112 passing). B-CU scored on its first three possessions and led 24-0 at halftime.

FOLLOWING THE GAME
Radio: Ross Gordon (play-by-play) and Terence Green (color) will have the call for
NSU on Hot 91, WNSB 91.1 FM.

Internet: Log onto www.nsu.edu/athletics and click the ‘Listen Live’ link to hear the
audio stream of the game.

Live Stats: Live play-by-play statistics are available on Bethune-Cookman’s athletic
web site, www.bccathletics.com.

THE SERIES
• Bethune-Cookman holds a 12-5 edge in the all-time series with Norfolk State.
• The Wildcats have won the last nine meetings between the teams, but the last two games have been decided by a total of three points. B-CU claimed a 22-21 win last year in Daytona Beach, and squeezed past the Spartans 63-61 in four overtimes in the last meeting at Dick Price Stadium in 2005.
• NSU’s last win over B-CU was a 21-7 decision in 1997, NSU’s fi rst year in Division I. Thatwas NSU head coach Pete Adrian’s fi rst year as defensive coordinator at B-CU.

A&T's injured QB might play sooner

Greensboro News-Record

The N.C. A&T Aggies, entirely overdue for some good news, got it this week when quarterback Herb Miller learned he will probably return to action this season after all.

Miller suffered a knee injury in the season's second game, a 22-7 loss to Prairie View A&M in Los Angeles. The ailment was originally believed to be comparable to the one that ended his 2006 campaign in late October, but new tests this week offered a more positive diagnosis. He will now be in uniform for Saturday's home game with N.C. Central and could return to action shortly thereafter.

Redshirt freshman Shelton Morgan will start for the second straight game against the Eagles and will seek to improve on last week's performance, a 9-for-28 showing that featured two second-half interceptions against Hampton.

Miller became a team leader during the offseason, when he returned to the field four months after surgery that was supposed to keep him out for twice that long. He sustained his most recent injury when his cleats got caught in the turf at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

A&T (0-3) is seeking to break a 19-game losing streak, the longest run of futility in the NCAA's two highest football classifications.

-- Rob Daniels