Stopping TSU's run key for Southern

Baton Rouge, Louisiana - As well as Southern University's defense has played this season — Stump Mitchell, the boss himself, has conceded that the defense has given SU a chance to win almost every game — the Jaguars do have a weakness. They're suspect against the run.

Mitchell knows it. Defensive coordinator O'Neill Gilbert knows it. They've lived through it. And Southern fans have watched it, sometimes with frustration. When the Jaguars are forced to slow down a robust ground game, the results aren't often pretty.

Tennessee State gained 342 rushing yards. Prairie View gained 161 rushing yards. Mississippi Valley State: 230. Arkansas-Pine Bluff: 298. You get the idea. With that in mind, SU's next Southern (3-5, 3-3 Southwestern Athletic Conference) faces Texas Southern (3-5, 1-5) at 6 p.m. Saturday at Delmar Stadium in Houston — and if the home team can establish its potent rushing attack early, the Jaguars' bus ride home to Baton Rouge won't be much fun.

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GWU Runnin' Bulldogs Run Past Virginia State, 34-13

Boiling Springs, North Carolina -- Kenny Little ran for a career-high 153 yards and two touchdowns, and Ricky Rhodes added 114 yards as Gardner-Webb dominated the ground game in a 34-13 win over Virginia State.

Gardner-Webb (4-5) won its third game in a row and ran for a season-high 296 yards on 50 carries. The Runnin' Bulldogs hosted a Thursday night game in Spangler Stadium for the first time in school history - on a night that saw the weather deteriorate with cold, rainy conditions by game's end.

The Runnin' Bulldogs held Virginia State (5-5) to minus-25 yards rushing in the game, the fewest allowed in a game since Davidson rushed for minus-36 yards in 1985. The Trojans did have some success throwing the football, with Jarred Battle completing 25-of-48 passes for 282 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions.

Gardner-Webb went up 14-0 early in the second quarter and led 14-3 at the break before Virginia State answered with 10 points in the third quarter to trim the lead to 14-13. The Runnin' Bulldogs ran off 20 unanswered points from there, with Little's 72-yard touchdown run on a third down play with 10:06 left breaking the game open for good.

Little opened the scoring with 51 seconds left in the first quarter, darting in and out of tackles for a nine-yard touchdown on a fourth-and-one play. Ivan Toomer set up the scoring drive, intercepting a Battle pass and returning it 54 yards to the Virginia State 31-yard line.

Browning capped a 74-yard march by calling his own number from one yard away, giving the 'Dogs a 14-0 lead with 9:16 to play before the half. Virginia State answered with a 25-yard field goal from William Rudd with 4:33 on the second quarter clock, the first of two short field goals for Rudd in the game.

The Trojans used a ball-control passing attack to score its only touchdown of the game, hitting several underneath routes on a 14-play, 80-yard drive that resulted in a 13-yard scoring pass from Battle to Timothy Paulk with 7:19 to play in the third quarter. The Trojans ran the football just once in the drive, which cut the 'Dogs lead to 14-10.

Another long drive, this time 10 plays for 64 yards, and with only one running play called - led to Battle's final field goal of the night to trim the lead to 14-13 with 50 seconds to play in the third.

Trever Austin answered with a 26-yard field goal of his own with 12:57 to play in the game for a 17-13 Gardner-Webb lead, and Little put the game away with his 72-yard dash - the longest of his career. Browning added another one-yard touchdown plunge with 7:04 to play after a Gianni Olivas interception - and Austin capitalized on another Olivas interception with an 18-yard field goal for the final margin with just over two minutes to play.

Gardner-Webb piled up 443 yards of total offense, averaging 6.2 yards per play in the game - which started with sunny skies and 62 degree weather and ended with a steady rain and temperatures in the low 50s.

Little's effort was encouraging, as he gained his 153 yards on just 15 carries after missing the past two weeks with an injury. He and Rhodes combined to give Gardner-Webb a pair of 100-yard rushers in the same game for the second time in 2011. The 100-yard game was Rhodes' second in the past three weeks.

Alonzo Winfield collected a career-high nine total tackles (five solo), 1.5 tackles for loss and a sack to go with a pass break up to pace the defensive effort. Marty Patterson added seven tackles and Toomer recorded a season-high six hits (five solo), an interception and three pass break ups in a solid performance.

Virginia State had 257 yards of total offense. Battle's favorite receiver was Paulk, who caught seven passes for 44 yards. Alan Anderson had six catches for 85 yards and Corey Young hauled in six for 78 yards.

Jeremy Pruitt, the CIAA's leading tackler, posted a game-high 14 stops (five solo) and 2.5 tackles for loss to pace the Trojans' defensive effort.

Gardner-Webb will remain at home and return to Big South play next week, as it hosts league title contender Stony Brook at 1:30 on Saturday, November 12. Virginia State's season is complete.

BOX SCORE (PDF)

Courtesy: Gardner-Webb

Battle tosses for 282 yards in VSU loss

VSU aired it out for a season high 282 passing yards in a 34-13 loss to the Bulldogs of Gardner-Webb University on Thursday, in Spangler Stadium. Junior quarterback, Jarred Battle completed 25 of 48 pass attempts and threw a 13 yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver, Timothy Paulk for a touchdown.

The Bulldogs rushed for 4 touchdowns and gained 296 total yards on the ground. VSU threw 3 interceptions and had a total of -3 rushing yards. The Trojans went into the half down 14-3 by two rushing touchdowns by the Bulldogs offense. Senior kicker, William Rudd made a 25-yard field goal late in the second quarter, scoring VSU's only points of the first half.

The Trojans made a statement on their first drive of the second half, by forcing a punt on defense and then scoring on a 14-play, 80-yard drive.

Battle connected with Timothy Paulk from 13 yards out cutting the Bulldog lead to 14-10 with 7:12 left in the third quarter. Battle made 10 completions on that drive hooking up with five different Trojan receivers. The Trojans cut the lead to within a single point later in the third quarter as Rudd made his second field goal of the night, scoring from 26 yards out with under a minute remaining in the quarter.

GWU extended their lead on their next possession, by nailing a 26-yard field goal with 12:57 in the fourth quarter, pushing the score to 17-13.

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WSSU's Williams started at UNC Pembroke

Winston Salem, North Carolina -- Wide receiver Jamal Williams of Winston-Salem State will be on familiar turf Saturday. Williams, a former star at UNC Pembroke, will be on the visitors' sideline this time when the Rams close the regular CIAA season with a game against the Braves at Grace P. Johnson Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 2 p.m.

"I'll have a lot of emotions going back there to play a game," said Williams, a redshirt junior who was UNCP's leading receiver in 2008 and 2009.

Williams said there were no hard feelings when he left UNC Pembroke and that he has found a home at WSSU. He missed two games earlier in the season because of sore ribs but was back on the field for last week's 21-14 victory against Shaw.

That win moved the Rams, who are ranked No. 7 in the Division II coaches poll, to 9-0 and gave them a chance at their first unbeaten regular season since 1978. Williams said he doesn't have any close friends still on the Braves but that he does keep up with how they are doing. "I hear things through the grapevine," he said.



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Beyond the bluff: Southern University football legacy

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana (NBC33) — The Southern University football program has seen its better days. This year the Jags are 3 and 5 leaving fans longing for the glory days. From 1993-2003 Southern football was a SWAC powerhouse winning five titles.

We caught up with members of the 1993 SWAC Championship team to get there perspective on being a champion and what it will take to turn a season around.

"2011 LSU tiger team, that was Southern University 1993 team. We had depth. We had size. We had speed. We had talent, and we had swagger," said Virgil Smothers, former Southern University right defensive end, " We knew we were good."

Members of the 1993 Southern University football team say they'll always remember winning the Southwestern Athletic Conference Championship. "We were always prepared. Preparation is no just on the field it's in the film room. We study film. We study their tendencies. We went in the weight room. We work out. We prepare like a well oiled machine," said Smothers.

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Gamble comes up a winner for Johnson C. Smith University

LaQwesha Gamble

Charlotte, North Carolina -- LaQwesha Gamble plans on going out with a bang. The Johnson C. Smith senior power forward was named all CIAA after the leading the Golden Bulls to a 26-5 record last season. She is a preseason all-conference pick by league coaches. However, she expects to do even better than last season’s 11.5 points and 10.1 rebounds per game.

“Out of all the awards I have received, the all CIAA award means the most to me,” she said. “It’s one of the toughest conferences to play in, therefore it means the most.”

Gamble has been a force to be reckoned with since high school in Winter Haven, Fla. At Winter Haven High, she was named Miss Florida Basketball and led the Blue Devils to the 2005 4A state championship. Gamble had no intentions of playing basketball, however. She used the sport as way to stay in shape between volleyball and track seasons.

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JCSU WOMEN'S BASKETBALL SHOWS DEPTH IN 63-51 EXHIBITION LOSS TO UNC-WILMINGTON

Wilmington, NC - The Johnson C. Smith University women's basketball team made their public debut for the season with a resilient 63-51 exhibition loss to the Seahawks of UNC-Wilmington on Wednesday evening inside the Trask Coliseum. UNCW is a NCAA Division I institution competing out of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA).

Senior preseason All-American guard LaQwesha Gamble (Winter Haven, FL) had the most offensive production in the first half. Gamble had a team-high six points, three steals, and three rebounds (all offensive) at the break. Fellow senior guard Terrica Jones (Raleigh, NC) shot two-of-six from the field for five points in the first period. Both Gamble and Jones started along with three other seniors: forward April Smith (Auburn, AL), guard Ashley McGee (Milwaukee, WI), and guard Terran Quattlebaum.

Shooting rust was apparent as J.C. Smith only made seven-of-37 shot attempts (18.9%) in the opening half. UNCW held a 30-19 lead at halftime, shooting 44.8% (13-29) from the floor.

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Mississippi Valley heads to Mobile to play South Alabama

ITTA BENA, Mississippi -- Practice has had a different feel this week for Mississippi Valley State. And second-year Valley head coach Karl Morgan could get use to this. Coming off its first win in Morgan's two-year tenure, the Delta Devils have had "more pep in their step", he said during an interview.

Valley defeated Texas Southern 12-9 last Saturday to halt its 19-game losing streak, the second-longest in NCAA Football Championship Subdivision. They also snapped a 22-game SWAC losing streak.

"It was big to finally get the monkey off our back because it was validation for all the hard work we had put in," said Morgan. "We do have to get better on offense and continue not to give up big plays on defense to have a chance to start us a win streak now."

The Delta Devils (1-8) didn't have long to celebrate as they face a short week of practice because they travel to Mobile, Ala., Thursday to face South Alabama. The Jaguars (5-3) are in the process of making the transition from FCS to Football Bowl Subdivision.

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Defensive front getting job done for FAMU

Tallahassee, Florida -- The Florida A&M defensive secondary has been stealing the ball and grabbing headlines for a few weeks now. Meanwhile, the trio on the front line has gone about its business quietly — sacking quarterbacks and stopping running backs who dare to challenge them.

"We don't mind not getting the publicity and stuff," said defensive end Nicholas Hollinghead. "We just come in and work hard every day. We already know going into the season that to have a good defense you have to have a good line. We do a good job of getting after it every day."

That might sound like self-praise, but at least it's not brash talk. Between Jerry Willis, the other end, Hollinghead and nose tackle Padric Scott they have a combined 10 sacks, with Hollinghead and Willis making three and a half each.

Throw in the effort of the four linebackers in the Rattlers' 3-4 defense and they account for another 10 sacks. As a team FAMU is eighth in the MEAC in total defense, but third in sacks with 23 for a loss of 112 yards. It also leads the league in red zone defense.



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