IT'S SHOWTIME: Grambling, ULM game fraught with expectations

Monroe, LA - Grambling coach Doug Williams said he's not a fan of playing this game. ULM coach Todd Berry said he and his team are excited to play, but acknowleged the pressures that the program and the university are under to put on a good "event."

These are just some of the questions that are surrounding Grambling's and ULM's second meeting in school history.

"We really don't have an advantage going to ULM," Williams said. "Eddie Robinson felt like he never had anything to gain by playing Louisiana Tech, (ULM) or LSU, and that's when we could compete with anybody in the country. ULM is an (FBS) school now with more scholarships."

But with all the hullabaloo of game week now over, it comes down to Saturday's 6 p.m. kickoff in Malone Stadium.

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Southeastern Louisiana To Battle Savannah State In Home Opener

HAMMOND, LA – The Southeastern Louisiana University football team officially opens its 2011 home schedule on Saturday when it faces Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference member Savannah State at Strawberry Stadium.

Kickoff is at 7 p.m. The game can be heard in the Hammond area on KSLU-FM (90.9) and on the internet at www.LionSports.net. The game is also being televised on a tape-delayed basis by the Southeastern Channel (Charter Cable Channel 18 in Tangipahoa, St. Tammany, Livingston, and St. Helena Parishes; Charter Cable Channel 17 in Washington Parish). A live video steam, courtesy of the Southeastern Channel, is available at www.LionSports.net.

Southeastern (0-1), which is 8-0 in home openers since re-instating the program in 2003, returns to action after a 47-33 setback at Tulane in its season-opener last week in the Superdome. The Lions amassed 419 yards total offense and 26 first downs against the Green Wave.

Brian Young threw for 249 yards in a starting role for Southeastern with Brandon Collins catching a game-high nine passes for 94 yards. Carl Pearson caught four passes in his collegiate debut for the Lions while seniors Simmie Yarborough and Kory Theodore also grabbed four passes.

Yarborough, Southeastern's all-time leader in receptions (172) and touchdowns (27), gained 58 yards for the Lions and moved to within 286 yards of Felton Huggins' school-record of 2,345 yards from 2003-05.

Zeke Jones paced the Lions' rushing attack with 65 yards and a pair of touchdowns – increasing his career total to 15 TD runs and tying him with Ellis Johnson (1961-64) and Ray Perkins (2003-04) for fifth in school history.

Defensively, Tay Alford and freshman Marice Sutton led the Lions with seven tackles each with Robert Alford and Ricky Irvin recording six each.

Southeastern kicker Seth Sebastian booted a pair of field goals (30 and 38 yards) to extend his streak to 11 consecutive field goals made dating back to last season while redshirt freshman Jordan Wells returned eight kicks for 224 yards – the second-best single-game total in both categories in school history.

The meeting with Savannah State (0-1) is the first on the gridiron between the two schools and Southeastern's first against a current member of the MEAC.

SSU fell to Division II Albany State, 37-34, last week in the Music City Classic in Macon, Ga. The Tigers trailed 19-3 at halftime before a furious second-half rally fell short as ASU scored the game-winning touchdown with 19 seconds remaining.

Quarterback A.J. Defilippis completed 15-of-34 passes for 315 yards and three TDs for SSU with Brian Lackey catching three passes for 115 yards and a touchdown. Dylan Cook and Simon Heyward each caught three passes for the Tigers, who gained 382 yards total offense.

Tickets are available from the Southeastern Athletic Ticket Office at (985) 549-5466 or on-line at www.LionSports.net.

By Southeastern Louisiana University Media Relations

WATCH GAME: 7:OO PM - CLICK HERE

Xavier Nuggets sweep at Alcorn State for first road win of season

LORMAN, Miss. — Xavier University of Louisiana's women's volleyball team won 25-16, 25-14, 25-21 Friday at Alcorn State for its second three-set victory in as many days and first road victory of the season.

"We did great," Xavier coach Christabell Hamilton said. "I gave our players the game plan after watching Alcorn play Dillard the other night. Then they went out and carried out the game plan. Our hitters stepped up, our defense was solid, and Alex (Alexandra Rencher) was much more comfortable as our setter than she was the last two matches.

"All around we played well. We never faced any serious deficits. We were in front most of the match. It was good to get a win on the road."

The Gold Nuggets (3-2) will play Mississippi Valley at 3 p.m. Saturday at The Barn. It will be Xavier's fourth match in five days.

Alcorn State, an NCAA Division I member, is 1-7 and winless in two home matches. The Lady Braves are 5-155 since the start of the 2005 season.

Xavier, an NAIA member, has 11 victories in four seasons against NCAA Division I. The Nuggets have won four straight against Alcorn dating to 2004.

Box score

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

Saturday's HBCU Games on ESPN3, SWAC TV and ESPNU

CLICK LINK TO ESPN3--HERE

ALL GAMES ARE LIVE -- ESPN3 MAY ALSO BE VIEWED ON "REPLAY GAME" LATER...

1:00 PM EDT Norfolk State vs. West Virginia #19 - ESPN3

4:00 PM EDT South Carolina State vs. Bethune-Cookman - ESPN3

5:00 PM EDT Murray State vs. Mississippi Valley State - ESPN3

5:45 PM CT  Alcorn State at University of Arkansas Pine Bluff - SWAC TV (Click HERE)

7:00 PM EDT Morgan State vs. Bowling Green - ESPN3

7:00 PM EDT Grambling State vs. Louisiana-Monroe (Exclusive)- ESPN3

7:00 PM EDT Southeastern Louisiana vs. Savannah State (Live Streaming Video at www.LionSports.net).

10:30 PM EDT South Carolina State vs. Bethune-Cookman (Tape) ESPNU

South Carolina State coach respects B-CU

DAYTONA BEACH, FL -- South Carolina State coach Buddy Pough has tried to play down the magnitude of today's 4 p.m. matchup with Bethune-Cookman.

WHERE: Municipal Stadium
KICKOFF: 4 p.m.
Cable TV: 10:30 p.m., ESPNU (tape)
Internet TV: ESPN3 LIVE@ 4 p.m.
RADIO: WELE (1380 AM)
RECORDS: S.C. State 0-1, 0-0 MEAC; B-CU 1-0, 0-0
COACHES: S.C. State, Buddy Pough, 10th year (76-30); B-CU, Brian Jenkins, second year (11-2)

"I think we've got to look at it as a regular-season conference game and let things play out as they will," Pough said of the teams' Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference opener at Municipal Stadium. "There are good enough teams in the conference that probably neither one of us will get through unscathed."

But B-CU coach Brian Jenkins describes the contest as a heavyweight fight, "like Ali-Frazier."
Neither coach's comments should be taken at face value, however. To Jenkins, all the games are heavyweight fights. "Every game is a big game," he said. "Our first game (a 63-14 rout of Prairie View A&M on Sunday) was a big game. To us, all our opponents are the same. We prepare for them the same."

That may not be true of S.C. State, however ...

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Lane at Clark Atlanta

Atlanta - The Dragons, fresh off their first win in nearly three years, are back on the road this week. This time, they're in Atlanta for their SIAC opener against Clark Atlanta at 6:00 p.m.

Clark Atlanta won both teams' opener in 2010 at Lane Field 20-6 after scoring a couple of touchdowns in the fourth quarter to break a tie. The Dragons appear to have an improved offense this season after racking up 307 total yards last week in their win at NAIA Edward Waters College.

Quarterback Alan Ferguson completed 18 of 20 passes for 157 yards while rushing 12 times for 51 yards. Cordero Cooper was Ferguson's main target, catching nine passes for 67 yards.

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Stillman travels to Samford

TUSCALOOSA, AL - Teddy Keaton, Stillman’s first-year head coach, didn’t invoke the “24-hour rule” after the Tigers opened the season last week with a 16-13 win over nationally-ranked Shaw University. Keaton didn’t want his players to forget about it. He wanted them to enjoy the victory and remember how it was earned.

“Of course, you want to enjoy the victory, but we’ve still got work to do,” Keaton said. “We’re trying to get our kids to understand winning is a habit. We want our kids to expect big plays, expect to catch the ball, expect to do things the right way." “Yes, in a way they’re riding the momentum, but we’ve tried to calm them down as much as we can. We’ve got a bigger challenge this week against a (Football Championship Subdivision) team.”

Samford, coached by former Auburn quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Pat Sullivan, opened its season last week with a 31-17 loss to Georgia Southern.

Kickoff tonight is at 6 p.m.


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