Therriault heeds JSU opportunity

Jackson, MS - Casey Therriault showed he is first rate at making the most of a second chance. Back on the football field after serving time for a manslaughter conviction, Therriault took full advantage of the opportunity afforded him at Jackson State and had a first year few in the Southwestern Athletic Conference will ever forget.

Last season, the Tigers’ 6-foot-5, 203-pound quarterback, was second in the Football Championship Subdivision with 3,436 yards passing and was third nationally in with 312.0 yards per game. He threw for a school record-tying 31 touchdowns while rushing for 10 more. His 3,600 yards in total offense was the best in the SWAC and second in the nation. Twice last season Therriault threw for five touchdowns and had seven 300-yard passing games. Additionally, he led the FCS in points responsible for with 23.1 points per game. The season culminated in his being selected 2010 SWAC Offensive Player of the Year -- he’s picked to win it again this year -- SWAC Newcomer of the Year, first team All-SWAC, a 2010 SBN All-American, 2010 Walter Payton Award and Conerly Trophy finalist.



What’s a guy to do for an encore?

“I don’t know,” Therriault said. “I planned for [success], but I really didn’t expect it. When you train and you work hard to have that kind of success on the field.

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College Football Performance Awards - MEAC Commissioner Dr. Dennis E. Thomas

Broadway ready to play

Greenboro, NC - Another coaching era has started at N.C. A&T. This time, Rod Broadway, who left Grambling State, has been charged with trying to resurrect one of the most underachieving programs in the MEAC.

N.C. A&T has gone a combined 25-66 since Bill Hayes was fired after the 2002 season. The Aggies were 1-10 last season, with losses to rivals Winston-Salem State and N.C. Central, and the Alonzo Lee era ended abruptly after only two seasons.

"Well if you keep replacing the same part on your car, and it still keeps breaking down, then that part might not be the problem," Broadway said of the task ahead. "What we're trying to do is find the root of the problem, make it better, so that the entire athletics department can be successful."

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Alabama A&M: Smith will return kicks for Bulldogs

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama - When Alabama A&M opens the season Saturday against Hampton in the Chicago Classic, redshirt freshman Montarius Smith will return punts and kickoffs.

Smith will be the Bulldogs' primary punt returner and he will be joined by freshman Reshaad DeJarnett on kickoff returns. Former Sparkman High standout Terrance Pride could also return kickoffs.

"None of them have played, but we believe they'll be OK," said defensive coordinator Brawnski Towns, who works with kick returners. "Hopefully, the lights won't be too bright for them and they'll step up."

The Bulldogs struggled returning kickoffs and punts last season. A&M was seventh in the Southwestern Athletic Conference in punt returns last season, averaging 7.7 yards, and was ninth in kickoff returns, averaging 15.1 yards per return.

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ECSU Vikings’ LB Dixon opens with career-high 17 tackles

Elizabeth City, NC - Elizabeth City State linebacker DeWitt Dixon is used to winning. In his high school career at Charlotte Independence, he was never on a losing side, going undefeated and winning a state championship each season.  Now a senior at ECSU, Dixon has that championship feeling again.

“We work way too hard to be second best or be second tier,” said Dixon as he and the Vikings prepare for Saturday’s Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association against Winston-Salem State.

Some of that confidence was born last week. Dixon recorded a career-best 17 tackles in a 28-21 overtime loss at No. 2 Delta State.



“I hate to dwell on almost beating the No. 2 team in the country,” said Dixon, who was named the CIAA Linebacker of the Week on Monday. “Yeah, we didn’t pull it off, but ...

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Challenge features standout defenders

Orlando, FL - The seventh annual MEAC/SWAC Challenge presented by Disney between Bethune-Cookman and Prairie View A&M should be quite an HBCU battle on Sept. 4 (ESPN, noon ET) at the Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium in Orlando, Fla. These two schools feature some terrific players, but the most talented players will be on the defensive side of the ball.

In fact, this black college classic boasts two of the best defensive players in the FCS. Bethune-Cookman's playmaking linebacker Ryan Lewis was chosen as the MEAC's preseason defensive player of the year, while Prairie View A&M's quick-footed cornerback Moses Ellis was selected as the SWAC's preseason defensive player of the year.



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B-CU's foe will be familiar

Daytona Beach, FL - Bethune-Cookman and Prairie View A&M have never met before on the football field. But neither team is likely to surprise the other when they open the season Sunday in Orlando in the MEAC/SWAC Challenge.

Mark Orlando, B-CU's offensive coordinator last year, is now the offensive coordinator at Prairie View. And Panthers assistant coach Prince Pearson is a cousin of B-CU head coach Brian Jenkins.

"When you coach long enough you encounter different scenarios," Orlando said. "And meeting your previous school in your first game is a little different."

With Orlando running B-CU's offense last year, the Wildcats were second in Football Championship Subdivision in scoring at 38.17 points per game. While Orlando brings his no-huddle spread offense to the Southwestern Athletic Conference school, B-CU has replaced him with another guru of the spread in former Toledo, Clemson and Syracuse offensive coordinator Rob Spence.

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