SSU opens with Division II Albany State

Macon, GA - First-year coach Steve Davenport wants his Savannah State Tigers to look ahead. They certainly don’t want to stare in the rear-view mirror against today’s 5 p.m. season-opening opponent Albany State in the Music City Classic at Henderson Stadium in Macon.

Davenport, an assistant running back coach at Alabama-Birmingham last season, inherits a 1-10 squad playing in its inaugural season in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. Eight of the losses a year ago were by 31 or more points. But he says that’s a past that doesn’t need to be revisited.

Savannah State (0-0) vs. Albany State (0-0)

When: today, 5 p.m.

Where: Henderson Stadium, Macon

TV/radio: No TV/WHCJ 90.3 FM

“We feel good about what we have going on,” said Davenport during a teleconference call with the media. “We have 19 seniors, the most they’ve had here in a while, and they’ve shown tremendous leadership. Obviously, it’s been rough and tough around here, but the day I met those kids, I told them we weren’t going to worry about the past. We’re focused on the present and future.”

Quarterback A.J. DeFilippis, defensive back Darren Hunter and running back Justin Babb have been providing the senior leadership. DeFilippis, a Benedictine graduate, will ...

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ASU coach Reggie Barlow preps hornets for Mississippi Valley

GREENWOOD, Mississippi -- The Alabama State University football team held a one-hour walkthrough practice at Pillow Academy Friday afternoon as Saturday's 2011 season opener at Mississippi Valley State approaches tomorrow at 5 pm.

The game can be heard live on 90.7 WVAS-FM in Montgomery and can be seen live over the internet free of charge on www.swac.org. Hornets Football Gameday Central on www.bamastatesports.com will have links for live stats, live radio and live video.

The Hornets departed Montgomery shortly after 8:30 a.m. Friday to a rousing sendoff by the ASU campus students, faculty, staff, band and cheerleaders. After arriving around 2:30 p.m., the Hornets departed to the nearby school for practice.

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Alabama State at
Mississippi Valley State

Saturday, Sept. 3
5 p.m.

(live links will be active prior to kickoff)

Live Stats

Listen Live on 90.7 WVAS FM

Watch Live Online Free of Charge on SWAC TV

Alabama State Game Notes

2010 Hornet Stats

2010 Delta Devils Stats

2011 Hornet Football Media Guild

WSSU appears loaded … on paper

Winston Salem, NC - Winston-Salem State is expecting to contend for the CIAA football title and will find out starting today if its expectations are realistic. WSSU will open with a CIAA game at Elizabeth City State's Roebuck Stadium at 6 p.m.

Coach Connell Maynor of WSSU seems to have it all — depth, speed and experience after an 8-2 finish in his debut season. But he's quick to point out that, despite how things look on paper, it's what's done on the field that counts.

"We have a veteran team coming back, and we'll be ready to go," said Maynor, who returns 18 starters. Quarterback Kameron Smith, running back Nic Cooper and wide receivers Tehvyn Brantley and Dominique Fitzgerald are weapons on offense.



"I'm so excited about the season getting started," Brantley said. "We are tired of playing against our defense. I mean, it's hard when we have the best offense and the best defense and you have to play against each other all the time in practice. It gets old…."

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Fayetteville State, UNC-Pembroke set for Saturday's Two Rivers Classic

Fayetteville, NC - Tonight at Nick Jeralds Stadium, Fayetteville State will host UNC-Pembroke in the third installment of the Two Rivers Classic. The Braves have won the first two meetings, capturing a 41-34 triumph in double overtime at FSU in 2009 and rolling to a 39-0 shutout last season in Pembroke. Yet heading into tonight's game, the Broncos may be position to turn the tides. Here are five storylines to keep an eye on.

Can the Fayetteville State defense contain Travis Daniels?



UNC-Pembroke coach Pete Shinnick is expecting a stellar senior season from Daniels, a lightning bolt of a tailback who will be the catalyst of the Braves offense. Daniels is looking to move past a disappointing 2010 campaign. Shinnick said earlier this week he has sensed renewed focus and greater dedication from Daniels, who hopes to recapture the form he had as a sophomore. Proof of Daniels' explosive potential came at Jeralds Stadium in the inaugural Two Rivers Classic in 2009, when he tore through the Broncos defense for 213 yards and two touchdowns.

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Sterile turning into vocal leader for Lincoln defense

LOWER OXFORD, PA -- The hoarse voice and strained vocal chords are just the latest indication how much Brucelee Sterile has developed into a vocal leader for the Lincoln University football squad.

"I lost my voice screaming and preaching to the team that we are going to be winners this season," Sterile said recently as the Lions' prepare for their season opener on Saturday at archrival Cheyney.

"I take this seriously. If you don't have someone watching and pushing, you won't reach your full potential."

The senior linebacker is getting an awful lot of personal recognition heading into the 2011 campaign, but Sterile is much more interested in helping orchestrate a breakout season at Lincoln, which reinstituted football in 2008 after a 47 year hiatus. Sterile and 18 other seniors were the program's first recruiting class since the 1950s.

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A huge test: Vikings face one of CIAA favorites in home opener

Elizabeth City, NC - Elizabeth City State has watched the film. The Vikings know they left a lot of plays and, perhaps, the program’s biggest-ever win on the field in Cleveland, Miss., last week.

But that was last week and ECSU has to prove whether the 28-21 overtime loss at Delta State was a fluke, or if the Vikings are truly contenders in the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association.

“The attitude is upbeat,” ECSU coach Waverly Tillar said. “They talked about Delta State on the bus, but by the time we got to the North Carolina line, the talk was about the next game. The attitude is they feel they can win.”

The test of that attitude comes today when ECSU hosts ...

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KEYS: A leader emerges at Southern

Baton Rouge, LA - Stunned beyond belief.

That’s how the Southern football coaches felt. It was Friday night, some eight days before the Jaguars’ season opener Saturday in Nashville, Tenn., against Tennessee State. The campus had emptied out. Most students were headed home, fast asleep or out on the town.

At 10 p.m., SU coaches were milling about the A.W. Mumford Field House, preparing for a scrimmage. There, they stumbled upon Jamie Payton and 10 of his fellow linebackers, who’d stayed late to watch more film.

“Unbelievable,” defensive coordinator O’Neill Gilbert said. “Friday night, after a hard practice, most guys want to go eat pizza and do whatever college kids do. Friday night, they were up here with Jamie Payton.”

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Grambling, Alcorn State coaches have long history

Shreveport, LA - You know all the old favorite sayings, don’t you? Life has a funny way of coming full-circle. The more things change, the more they stay the same. Stuff along those lines. Sometimes, they’re overused. Sometimes, they’re right on the money.

Clearly, Saturday’s game in Shreveport is a case of the latter.

At Independence Stadium, Grambling and Alcorn State will square off in the latest chapter a long-running, old-fashioned football rivalry. They’ll kick off the season in a game that will give the winner an early leg up in the Southwestern Athletic Conference standings.



In other words, this meeting feels like old times.

“Even back in the good old days, Alcorn was always that first game for Grambling,” Grambling coach Doug Williams said. “I think that’s the way it should be.”

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TSU RB running by foes

Nashville, TN - Following a summer practice in 2007, TSU’s freshman running back Danté Thomas left an unforgettable first impression with position coach Kevin Mashack.

Thomas, who just transferred from the Naval Academy Prep school, joined the rest of the TSU team for summer camp, but Mashack noticed Thomas looked slow and questioned why the program offered him scholarship to begin with.

It wasn’t until the second week of camp, according to Mashack, until he discovered the main cause for Thomas’ struggles. His cleats.

“I see him on the table taking off his cleats with skin hanging off his feet,” Mashack recalled. “But he didn’t complain. He didn’t say a word. He didn’t want us to think that he just got here and that he was already hurt.”

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DSU opens new era of high expectations

DOVER -- The Delaware State football team hopes it will be able to begin to erase the stigma of three consecutive losing seasons when it begins a new era under coach Kermit Blount in its season-opener at Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Va., today.

(L) Coach Kermit Blount and (R) Derek Carter, Athletic Director

Blount, who spent 17 years as the coach of Winston-Salem State, is certainly ready to see if his Hornets are ready to respond to all of the changes in their football program since last winter.

"I'm really, really excited right now, probably a little bit of butterflies, but it's a good thing that [today] is here," Blount said. "We've been tackling each other for the past three-and-a-half weeks and I think it's time now for our guys to actually get on the field and compete against somebody else."

Delaware State and VMI are both coming off 3-8 seasons in 2010, but both have high expectations heading into a new season that kicks off at 1:30 this afternoon at Foster Stadium. This will be the first meeting between the schools.

2011 VMI Football Virtual Guide

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Georgia State hammers Clark Atlanta

Atlanta, GA - Georgia State hoped to see good things from its new quarterback, revamped rushing attack and rebuilt defense in its season opener against Clark Atlanta.

Bo Schlechter threw three touchdown passes in his first start, including two to Albert Wilson, with nary a turnover. Donald Russell led a rushing attack with two touchdowns, and the defense intercepted two passes in a 41-7 victory Friday night at the Georgia Dome.



Russell, a transfer from Kentucky, scored the first two times he touched the ball on runs of 20 and 3 yards to lead the offense. Coach Bill Curry wanted to see improvement in the area because the Panthers averaged a meager 123.3 yards per game last season.

"Donald makes a difference when he carries the ball," Curry said of Russell, who had 56 of the team's 146 rushing yards. And that difference? "I believe it's downhill running," Russell said. "Ive been taught at my previous school to get the yards I can get, that's good enough."

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Attendance: 26,273 @Georgia Dome

Chicago Classic is homecoming of sorts for AAMU's Jackson

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama - Tony Jackson thought his football career was over. After Alabama A&M completed spring practice, Jackson, who has longed for a career in acting, received a call about becoming an extra in "Good Deeds," one of Tyler Perry's upcoming movies also starring Gabrielle Union.

"I jumped all over it and decided I was done with football," he said. "I was going to pursue an acting career."

After completing the project in late July, Jackson, who graduated in May with a degree in exercise science, got a chance to talk with Perry. He encouraged him to finish his football career.

"He told me if I had a year left to play, I should go ahead and play," Jackson said. "He told me acting would always be there."

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CMU opens season with a victory over South Carolina State

Mount Pleasant, MI - There are plenty of labels or mottos that can be used to describe the 2011 season opener for the Central Michigan football team. But, really, all of that is just sugarcoating what can be labeled an ugly win.

Still, for a team looking to separate itself from its 3-9 record in 2010, the Chippewas will take a win any way they can. On Thursday, it came in the form of a 21-6 win over Football Championship Subdivision opponent, South Carolina State, at Kelly/Shorts Stadium.

“It was a win,” CMU coach Dan Enos said. “We didn’t play that well at times but we did what we had to do to win.” Coming into the season, Enos was hopeful to see the Chippewas (1-0) improve on their rushing offense and turnover margin.

Neither of those made a drastic step forward as CMU amassed just 88 rushing yards and lost the turnover battle 2-0, on a pair of Ryan Radcliff interceptions.The game lacked many big plays, as 20 punts were kicked in the contest and 15 possessions lasted just three plays or less.

Things started quickly for CMU, as the Chippewas scored on the opening possession, just four plays into the game. Radcliff used a play action fake and then hit junior Cody Wilson on a 45-yard touchdown pass that put CMU up 7-0 less than two minutes into the game.

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Four XU runners in top 10 at Mississippi College Opener

 Matt Pieri 

CLINTON, Miss. -- Xavier University of Louisiana got top-10 finishes from Matt Pieri and Kwame Jackson in the men's race and Zahri Jackson and Catherine Fakler in the women's race Thursday at the Mississippi College Opener cross country meet.

Zahri Jackson and Fakler, in their collegiate debut, became the first XU females to run 4,000 meters in less than 17 minutes.

Yazmin Ramirez set the previous 4K mark of 17 minutes in 2010.

Xavier edged Loyola by two points for third place out of 11 men's teams.
The Jacksons are freshman siblings.

Pieri, in his 12th top-10 finish for the Gold Rush, ran 5,000 meters in a career-best 16:55.71 to place eighth. Kwame Jackson was ninth in 16:56.61.

Grambling's Darwin Price won the men's race in 15:48.61, but West Florida had the next four finishers and won the team title with 21 points, 72 fewer than runner-up Mississippi College. Xavier scored 114 points and finished ahead of four teams from the NCAA Division I Southwestern Athletic Conference.

Results:  Men    Women  

By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
VISIT: XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA
VISIT: XULAATHLETICS

New coach Henry Frazier likes the fact his Eagles never quit in 48-0 loss to Rutgers

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Henry Frazier felt that coming to Rutgers to take on a BCS opponent would give him a good idea about the players he would be coaching in his first season at North Carolina Central.

While the 48-0 loss wasn’t what he was looking for, Frazier was more than happy with what his Eagles showed. They never quit. They played hard and the mistakes they made can be corrected in plenty of time for next week’s game against Central State in Cleveland.



“My boys played hard, they played with class and they didn’t quit,” Frazier said after the Eagles’ first game as a Football Championship Subdivision team. “From a defensive standpoint I thought we did very well. Rutgers earned every point on our defense. On offense we can’t giveaway points like we did.”

Rutgers got two first-half touchdown runs from highly touted freshman halfback Savon Huggins and the Scarlet Knights defense broke the game open with two touchdowns in a 45-second span in spoiling Frazier’s debut on Thursday night.

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Taylor warns FAMU Rattlers to keep focus against Fort Valley

Tallahassee, FL - Twenty points is all Fort Valley State managed to score in nine previous games against Florida A&M. And the scouting report the Rattlers received earlier this week doesn't indicate FVSU is a major threat turn the tables.

But the things that aren't normally in scouting reports that are major concerns for FAMU as it goes through its final days of preparation to open the season against the Wildcats. Coach Joe Taylor has been reminding his players that sloppy play would only benefit FVSU, a Division II team that will come into Bragg Stadium with Division I transfer Antonio Henton at quarterback.

Nothing would please Taylor more than to see his team score a shutout, and do it with as few mistakes as possible.

"We always tell these guys that before you can learn how to win you've got to learn how not to lose," Taylor said during the team's first weekly news conference Tuesday."

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NCCU overwhelmed in 48-0 loss to Rutgers

Piscataway, N.J. -- In its first journey as a full-fledged member of the Division 1 FCS, North Carolina Central University experienced a few bumps in the road Thursday night.

The Eagles managed only 120 total yards, committed four turnovers and nine penalties in a 48-0 loss to Rutgers at High Point Solutions Stadium before 40,061. It was the first shutout suffered by NCCU since Winston-Salem State claimed a 47-0 win in 2003.

The Eagles were a “re-classified” member of the NCAA’s Division 1 since 2007, meaning they were not eligible for bowl games, statistics were not recognized by the NCAA and players could not receive post-season awards. They were also “provisional members” of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) operating with similar constraints to the NCAA.

Rutgers is now 8-0 against MEAC opponents, defeating Morgan State three times, Norfolk State and Howard twice each and NCCU.

The one-sided loss was brightened by a guaranteed $400,000 NCCU received from Rutgers for playing the game. The Scarlet Knights were selected to finish last in the BigEast by the conference coaches in the pre-season poll.

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CIAA Preview

The skinny

What's new: The conference shrunk to 12 teams in May when Saint Paul's announced it was cutting its athletics program. Teams scrambled to fill the hole left in their schedules. Virginia Union and St. Augustine's played each other last week to fill the void.

Who's new: Kevin Grisby, formerly the head coach at Saint Paul's, is now the defensive coordinator at Virginia Union. There are no new head coaches. Some of the league's biggest names from a year ago are now in the NFL. Virginia Union OT David Mims signed with the Chiefs, and Fayetteville State RB Richard Medlin joined the Patriots. St. Augustine's RB Walter Sanders, the conference's 2010 offensive player of the year, signed with the Ravens, but he was cut.

Top five players: Elizabeth City State QB Creven Powell, Chowan WR Robert Holland, Virginia State P Billy Rudd, Fayetteville State DB Andre Lyles, Shaw DB Darnell Evans.

Preseason offensive player of the year: Elizabeth City State QB Creven Powell

Preseason defensive player of the year: Fayetteville State defensive back Andre Lyles

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Chowan Routs Livingstone in Football Season Opener

Happy days at Chowan

MURFREESBORO, N.C. – “It's just one game,” said head coach Tim Place. True. When that one game is a 43-7 thumping, however, there is cause for optimism for the Chowan University football program.

The Hawks held the Blue Bears of Livingstone College to only 12 yards of total offense as they picked up their first win of the 2011 season in convincing fashion Thursday night. This marks the first opening day win for Chowan since a 16-13 victory over Randolph-Macon College in 2005.

The Hawks tallied 310 first half yards, with 178 of them coming through the air from quarterback Cameron Stover. Stover opened up the scoring for Chowan with a six yard touchdown pass to Kevin Hodrick at the 9:17 mark of the first quarter. The Hawks dominated the opening drive, going 79 yards in 15 plays.

After a slow-moving quarter and a half, the Hawks exploded midway through the second frame offensively. Ryan Murphy nailed a 23 yard field goal with 7:40 left in the quarter to give the Hawks a 9-0 lead. Livingstone fumbled the ensuing kickoff to give the Hawks the ball at the Blue Bears 21 yard line. Only a minute and five seconds later, Adrian Ferns plowed into the goal line with a one-yard touchdown run to open up a 16-0 lead.

Chowan then forced a three-and-out and began the following drive at the Livingstone 46 yard line. After two first downs, Cameron Stover found Michael Satterwhite for a 27 yard touchdown pass to bring the score to 22-0 with 4:02 remaining in the half.

On the next Livingstone drive, Patrick Charles intercepted a Levon Stanley pass and returned it to the LC 33 yard line. The Hawks stayed on the ground for their ensuing drive, and Elliot Smalls capped it with a 13 yard scoring run to open the game wide open at 29-0.

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Checking in on Alabama State University stadium construction

MONTGOMERY, Alabama -- As the first footprints of Alabama State University’s future football stadium begin to surface, it’s hard not to be taken back by the canyon-like crater hiding behind mounds of sand on the far side of campus.

Even in the stadium’s current barebones state, the 50-foot deep, 20-acre wide hole that sits on the site serves as an indicator of just how big the stadium will be.

The 8-story stadium, set to be completed by fall 2012, will seat 30,000 people and will be easily visible from I-85. Once completed, it will be the biggest stadium in the River Region.

“This stadium will be unlike any other stadium in the country and will have significant impact on the Hornet community,” said Kippy Tate, ASU’s vice president of buildings and grounds. “Its all about enhancing the game day experience for the fans.”

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Howard alum Gary Harrell looks to reverse the Bison’s downward trend

Washington, D.C. - If anyone knows how far the Howard football program has fallen, it’s first-year Coach Gary Harrell. As a 5-foot-7 wide receiver, he helped lead the Bison to an 11-1 record and the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs in 1993. Since 1999, though, Howard has had only two winning seasons and is coming off a 2010 campaign in which a win over Division II Lincoln was its only victory.

So it’s no surprise that Harrell has one word on his mind: redemption.

“It’s not just redemption toward the other schools in our conference, it’s redemption for ourselves, getting back to the way we play at Howard University, getting back to our tradition,” said the 39-year-old Harrell, who had a brief stint with the New York Giants. “This is the job I’ve been praying for, been preparing myself for, to be the head coach at Howard University, to be in charge of leading this program in a different direction.”

Harrell still owns the Howard record for career receptions and is known around campus as “The Flea,” the nickname he earned as a player because of his size and tenacity.



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From Bowie High to Bowie State Football

Bowie, MD - Tropical Storm Irene was just a memory, having passed through Bowie more than 24 hours earlier.

The sky was mostly blue with a slight wind blowing the small markers on the top of the goalposts on the football field at Bowie State University on Monday afternoon.

About 50 yards behind one end zone students were unloading their cars in preparation for the fall semester.

Inside the football stadium the Bulldogs of Bowie State were preparing for their first game of the season, a non-conference contest at Assumption on Saturday in Worcester, MA.

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North Carolina A&T Names Sanchez Head Baseball Coach

Head Baseball Coach Joel Sanchez
(Courtesy: NC A&T Sports Information)

GREENSBORO, N.C. - North Carolina A&T Director of Athletics Earl Hilton announced the appointment of Joel Sanchez to be the new head baseball coach. Sanchez joins the Aggie family with extensive coaching and playing experience on the collegiate and professional levels.

"Coach Sanchez has what I call 'championship experience,'" said Hilton. "He spent numerous years learning what it takes to win championships on a consistent basis. We are excited about blending his winning knowhow with what we believe is already an outstanding baseball program."

Prior to joining N.C.A&T, Sanchez held the assistant baseball coaching position at Daytona State College for one season in 2011.

The bulk of Sanchez's coaching success came during his eight seasons (2001-08) at Bethune-Cookman University, where he served as the head assistant under ­Mervyl Melendez. During his stint at B-CU, the Wildcats earned seven MEAC Championships, and earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Regional each time.

Sanchez's coaching experience is not limited to college baseball. He served as the minor league pitching coach for the Gulf Coast League Nationals, the rookie-level minor league affiliate of the Washington Nationals in 2010; and the Vermont Lake Monsters, the short-season level-A affiliate of the Nationals in 2009. He was responsible pitching staff of each team.

As a player, Sanchez played professionally with the Ciudad Juarez of Chihuahua, Mexico from 1997-1999. He was a two-year letterman at New Mexico State University, where he earned his bachelor's degree in psychology in 1998.

Sanchez replaces Keith Shumate, who resigned in July after 15 seasons with the Aggies. Austin Love will remain as an assistant for the program.

Courtesy: NC A&T Sports Information

Elko blends in just fine with Delaware State Hornets' mission

QB Nick Elko
(Photo Courtesy: Mike Baker)

Nick Elko will be the starting quarterback for the Hornets in their season opener Saturday at 1:30 p.m. at Virginia Military Institute

Dover, DE - Being a white quarterback in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, made up of historically black colleges, doesn't faze Nick Elko, who says he's just one small part of the team at Delaware State University.

Besides, he said, it's not like he's the first white player to ever put on the Hornets' uniform. "When I first came in to Delaware State I thought about it, but it is what it is," Elko said. "I mean, I like it, I feel accepted, and it's just normal for me. It's really no big deal."

That's the way preseason MEAC offensive player of the year Justin Wilson sees it. Elko and Wilson have been working together the past three seasons and have developed a close bond during that time.

"We've always had that chemistry since Day One," Wilson said. "We have different signals that we do [on the field] and all that so we're fine with it. Elko's a really good quarterback and he'll get to show it this season."

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Rutgers/NCCU Gameday: Scarlet Knights host North Carolina Central in season opener

Rutgers vs. North Carolina Central Eagles
Tonight, 7:30 p.m.
High Point Solutions Stadium, Piscataway
TV: ESPN3.com
Radio: 1450-AM, 710-AM, 97.5-FM

THE STORYLINES

1. Has Rutgers’ offensive line improved enough to make it through a game against an FCS opponent without yielding a sack? Norfolk State, a MEAC school like N.C. Central, recorded three sacks in last year’s opener against the Scarlet Knights — which should have been an immediate tip off to how much the unit would struggle that season. In allowing an NCAA record 61 sacks, Rutgers gave up at least one in all 12 games in 2010. The good news/bad news: Four of those O-line starters are back, but the return to a pro-style offense is supposed to help. N.C. Central, with five returning defensive starters, doesn’t have a player who recorded more than two sacks last season. A sack-free performance should be possible.



2. How much of heralded true freshman running back Savon Huggins will we see — especially with North Carolina waiting in nine days?  Huggins will get his share of playing time and may even start. He might get enough carries to flirt with 100 yards rushing in his collegiate debut, too. But don’t expect to see the wraps taken off Huggins just yet. It’s too soon. This is one of those games where the coaches want to get Huggins just enough of a feel for game action without revealing too much. It’s even possible, if the game is lopsided, that redshirt freshman Jawan Jamison will wind up with the most carries of all the tailbacks — almost all after halftime. It may be the only time this season that happens

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