TALLAHASSEE, Florida - Florida A&M has been a steady football program over the years. The Rattlers are ready to take a shot at a MEAC title and FCS playoffs. Here is a sneak peak at the 2012 FAMU football squad.
2011: 7-4 overall;
5-3 tied for third in MEAC
Head coach: Joe Taylor 32-14-0 in fifth season at FAMU; 230-90-4 overall in 30 years. Taylor is the winningest coach in MEAC history and second winningest coach in Black College football behind Eddie Robinson.
Gone: Running back Lavonte Page (329 rushing yards, 13 touchdowns, one receiving score); quarterback Austin Trainor (877 passing yards, five touchdowns); wide receiver Kevin Elliott (41 receptions, 720 yards, five touchdowns); wide receiver Brian Tyms (38 receptions, 538 yards, three touchdowns); LB Greg Harvey (40 total tackles); defensive back/kicker Jarel Stewart (32 total tackles, three interceptions); linebacker Demarius Folsom (68 total tackles, eight tackles for loss, five sacks, one interception); kicker Trevor Scott (13/16 field goals, 44 yards long); offensive lineman Branden Curry, offensive lineman Anthony Shelley; defensive lineman Nicholas Hollinghead (37 total tackles, 12 tackles for loss, five sacks); defensive lineman Jerry Willis (27 total tackles, six tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks); linebacker John Williams (27 total tackles, three interceptions); linebacker Alvis Graham.
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Thursday, August 30, 2012
Geovonie Irvine does whatever it takes to get the job done
Irvine, a redshirt senior, can expect his number to get called more than ever before this season. He’s got just four games in front of the home crowd at O’Kelly-Riddick Stadium, the first on Saturday against CIAA foe Fayetteville State (6 p.m., WNCU-FM 90.7, nccueaglepride.com).
“He is a really dynamic football player,” NCCU coach Henry Frazier III said.
So Frazier plans on getting the football in Irvine’s hands by any means necessary.
Irvine (5-6, 161) is not very big, but he is very good. Last season, he led NCCU with 47 catches for 580 yards and five touchdowns. Irvine enters this season as NCCU’s fourth all-time leading receiver with 138 career catches for 1,920 yards and 13 touchdowns.
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TSU Men and women's golf schedules released
NASHVILLE, Tennessee - The Tennessee State University men and women's golf teams recently released the 2012-13 season schedules.The men's team will participate in nine tournaments this season while the women will compete in seven events.
Both squads will have their first opportunity to tee-off this weekend at the ASU Fall Golf Classic hosted by Alabama State, Sep.1-3.
Later in the month, the women will travel to the MSU Drake Creek Invitational (Sept. 16-18) and the SIUE Intercollegiate (Sept. 23-25) while the men's team will look to three-peat at the National Black College Hall of Fame Invitational in Atlanta, Sept. 28-30.
October will be a test of endurance for the relatively young men's team composed of four sophomores, two juniors and a lone senior. The month presents three consecutive weekends of play beginning October 7-9 with the Tigers traveling to Paris, Tenn. to participate in UT Martin's annual Skyhawk Classic.
The following weekend Tennessee State will visit Morganton, N.C. for the Donald Ross Intercollegiate before closing out the month at the F&M Bank Intercollegiate Tournament hosted by Austin Peay.
For the women, October will look slightly different, as the team's only tournament of the month will be the Charles Braun Jr. Intercollegiate (Oct. 28-30).
The men pick up competition again when they spring forward March 10, 2013 at the Grover Page Classic. The Tigers will conclude the month with the Bobby Nichols Intercollegiate (March 17-19) and the ASU Red Wolves Intercollegiate (March 31- April 2).
Also in March, women's golf will see action at the Murray State Invitational (March 3-5) and the Alabama A&M Classic (March 24-26).
April 14-16, the Tigers will play host as they swing away in the Big Blue Intercollegiate Tournament held in Old Hickory, Tenn.
COURTESY TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION
5 names to know in the football-rich CIAA
NORFOLK, Virginia - Basketball is still king in the CIAA, but with the resurgence of Winston-Salem State in football, the round ball’s crown has gotten a bit smaller. The Rams (13-1) rumbled through the conference undefeated and advanced to the NCAA Division II semifinals before losing to Wayne (Mich.) State 14-7. The Rams are preseason No. 9 nationally and favored to win their division, and their rise has elevated the entire league and expectations for 2012.As the season gets under way Thursday, five area players not named Tyron Laughinghouse could be the difference makers between their team hoisting the championship trophy or watching from the stands.
1. QB Kameron Smith, Winston-Salem State: The Rams are coming off their best season. Smith, a Garner High graduate, led a potent offense that averaged 39.6 points per game and 421.4 yards of total offense. While senior running back Nicholas Cooper – now with the Green Bay Packers – was terrorizing opponents on the ground, Smith was picking them apart through the air for a school record 2,706 yards and 33 touchdowns against just 10 interceptions. He is 21-3 as a starter, and his 147.7 passer rating was the best in the conference.
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From walk-on to dynamic running back, Carter enters final season at Morehouse
MARIETTA, Georgia - Talented athletes with a strong work ethic tend to get noticed. That wasn’t the case for David Carter.
Lightly regarded coming out of Sprayberry High School, the running back had to walk on to the football team at Division II Morehouse College — despite rushing for more than 3,000 yards during his career as a Yellow Jacket. To imply that Carter had something to prove to all of the programs that overlooked him would be an understatement.
“I definitely had something to prove,” he said about not being recruited, “and I’m thankful Morehouse gave me the chance to play football and extend my career.
“When I got here, my goal was to work hard to make the travel bus. But, to get the starting job was even better. I’ve worked as hard as I could since then to hold onto it and help my team win.”
Carter has completely changed his fortunes at Morehouse since walking on to the Maroon Tigers’ roster. In rushing for more than 1,000 yards as a freshman, he quickly earned a scholarship at the conclusion of the season.
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What led Oklahoma State to scheduling Savannah State
STILLWATER, Oklahoma — Riding on an Arkansas-bound bus with the Oklahoma State cross country team last fall, Dave Martin had football on the brain.
It wasn't the historic season that the Cowboys were in the midst of that he was thinking about but rather the season that was still a year away. The man who makes OSU's football schedule usually has contracts for nonconference games signed, sealed, delivered at least five years ahead of time, but last fall, he still needed one more nonconference game for a season that was less than a year away.
The situation was dire. Calls to dozens of schools hadn't panned out, but Martin had a promising lead on a program that might be more desperate to schedule a game than he was. It was on that bus ride that Martin first called Savannah State.
“Did we plan that?” he said of the scheduling scramble. “No.”
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It wasn't the historic season that the Cowboys were in the midst of that he was thinking about but rather the season that was still a year away. The man who makes OSU's football schedule usually has contracts for nonconference games signed, sealed, delivered at least five years ahead of time, but last fall, he still needed one more nonconference game for a season that was less than a year away.
The situation was dire. Calls to dozens of schools hadn't panned out, but Martin had a promising lead on a program that might be more desperate to schedule a game than he was. It was on that bus ride that Martin first called Savannah State.
“Did we plan that?” he said of the scheduling scramble. “No.”
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Winning football helping Winston-Salem State Rams off field
WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina - The best football season in Winston-Salem State history has provided a boost, and it's showing in Horns Club memberships but not yet in season-ticket sales.Membership in the $1,000 Horns Club, a separate fund-raising effort within the athletics department, has increased about 38 percent, according to figures provided by athletics director Bill Hayes. Before WSSU's first game last season, the Horns Club had 115 members. Now there are 159.
Season-tickets sales, however, are down slightly, from 462 in 2011 to 444 this year. WSSU, which finished 13-1 and reached the NCAA Division II semifinals in 2011, will open its season at 6 p.m. Saturday, with a home game against UNC Pembroke.
Joining the Horns Club does not give members season tickets but does give them special parking for games, a suite to use at Bowman Gray Stadium and other perks, including live music in a field-house suite during games.
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