Why State Fair Classic between Prairie View A&M, Grambling State won't be short on offense

DALLAS, Texas -- Points are going to be plentiful when Prairie View A&M and Grambling State meet in the State Fair Classic at the Cotton Bowl on Saturday.

The matchup, which starts at 4 p.m., features two of the Southwestern Athletic Conference's best offenses.

Prairie View A&M is second in scoring with 29 points per game and second in total offense, averaging 415.2 yards per game. Grambling is right behind the Panthers in both categories with 28.4 points per game and 339 yards of total offense.

Grambling's offense is led by Dallas native DeVante Kincade, the reigning SWAC offensive player of the week, who passed for 278 yards and three touchdowns in a 31-20 win against Clark Atlanta last week in Chicago.

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Win, or fade: starting with homecoming tilt against Alabama A&M, only SWAC games remain for Southern

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana -- Southern has entered the high-stakes arena of Southwestern Athletic Conference football, where one loss can signal the end of your postseason aspirations.

All of Southern’s six remaining games are against SWAC teams, starting with a homecoming matchup against Alabama A&M (2-3, 2-0) at 6 p.m. Saturday.

The margin for error is minimal for Southern (2-3, 0-1) and other SWAC schools at this stage of the season. Its most experienced players are intimately aware of that fact.

“The good thing about it is we’ve got enough seniors on this football team who have been through the fire,” Southern coach Dawson Odums said. “They understand what it’s all about.”

This is senior quarterback Austin Howard’s fourth time entering this dance, and he has seen all the ways it can unfold.

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Alcorn State holds off ASU rally

MONTGOMERY, Alabama -- Alcorn State once again showed why it was picked to win the SWAC East, beating Alabama State 24-10 at ASU Stadium on Thursday.

The Hornets (0-5, 0-2 SWAC) only had 10 yards of total offense in the first half.

Hornets running back Ezra Gray finished with 12 carries for 124 yards and a touchdown of 59 yards.

Here were Alabama State's top performers on Thursday:

1. Ezra Gray, So., RB: Finished with 12 carries for 124 yards and a touchdown (59). Also caught two passes for 30 yards.

2. Trevor Vincent, Sr., P: Punted eight times for an average of 39.6 yards, including a career-best 68-yard punt.

3. Dennis Roberts IV, Jr., DB: Led the ASU defense with seven tackles with two for loss.

Alcorn State (4-2, 2-0) led 24-0 at halftime, gaining 330 yards of total offense in the first half. The Braves won their fourth straight meeting with the Hornets.



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Grambling State cleaning up growing penalty problem

GRAMBLING, Louisiana – Head coach Broderick Fobbs and Grambling State have experienced just about everything a team could over the last couple of seasons.

In a new experience for players and coaches this past Saturday playing at historic Soldier Field in Chicago, the Tigers ventured further out into uncharted territory.

Grambling amassed 17 penalties for 181 yards in its 31-20 victory over Clark Atlanta, drawing attention to a problem that’s been metastasizing through five games this season.



“I’ve never been in that situation before,” Fobbs said. “That’s not our character. We’ve never been that type of team. I’m not going to sit up here and blame the officiating, but there were some things that were questionable. At the end of the day, you have to play the game and you have to do things the right way. We just didn’t.

“We didn’t play well. I didn’t think that we came ready to play, I didn’t think we played with any passion, I didn’t think we played hard the entire game. It’s one of those situations where it just wasn’t our day.”

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HBCU Football Judgment Day Schedule - Week 6

FRIDAY, October 6, 2017

MEAC
Morgan State at South Carolina State, 7:30 PM,  TV:ESPNU

SATURDAY, October 7, 2017

MEAC
North Carolina Central at Howard , 1 PM
Delaware State at North Carolina A&T, 1 PM
Florida A&M at Norfolk State, 2 PM
Hampton at Savannah State 2 PM

OVC
Tennessee State at ,Eastern Kentucky, 6:00 PM

SWAC
Alcorn State 24, Alabama State 10
Grambling State vs. Prairie View A&M at State Fair Classic, Dallas, TX, 5 PM
Alabama A&M at Southern, 7 PM
Mississippi Valley State at Arkansas Pine Bluff, 7 PM
Texas Southern at Kennesaw State, 7 PM

OTHER CONF.
Cheyney at Lock Haven, 1 PM
University of God's Chosen at Edward Waters, 3 PM
Texas Wesleyan at Texas College, 8 PM

SIAC
Miles at Central State (OH), 1 PM
West Virginia State at Kentucky State, 1:30 PM
Lincoln (MO) at Albany State, 2 PM,  Live Video  
Langston at Lane, 2 PM
Tuskegee vs. Morehouse, Columbus, GA, 2 PM, TV: ASPIRE  
Fort Valley State at Clark Atlanta, 4 PM

CIAA
Livingstone at Saint Augustine's, 1 PM
Shaw at Fayetteville State, 1 PM
Virginia State at Elizabeth City State, 1 PM
Johnson C. Smith at Winston-Salem State, 1:30 PM
Chowan at Bowie State, 4 PM
Virginia Union at Lincoln (PA), 5PM



All Game Times in Eastern Time Zone

from THE EDITOR: FAMU On Track to Have Winning Season

TALLAHASSEE, Florida -- By all account and in spite of the recent negative coverage by the Tallahassee Democrat, FAMU is on its way to its first winning season since Joe Taylor was head coach in 2011. At the beginning of this season I counted six games that the Rattlers should win. They are games against Texas Southern, Savannah State, Norfolk State, Hampton, Morgan State, and Howard. Just one upset along the way and FAMU could have a 7-4 season! So far, FAMU is on schedule having defeated Texas Southern at home and Savannah State away. Given Howard’s upsurge, the Bethune Cookman game at the end of the season may be the game that determines whether FAMU has a winning season. That is, if FAMU wins the games they are predicted to win and that streak should continue on Saturday.

Norfolk State had its first win of the season against Delaware State University last week at home, outscoring the Hornets 17-14. Like FAMU, they ended last year’s season 4-7. I should point out that their head coach, Latrell Scott, was one of the coaches considered for the position now held by Alex Wood. The Spartans are eager to win on Saturday and start a streak that’s not in the loosing column. They lost the first game of the season at home in a close game to Division II Virginia State. That was followed by a close loss at home to FCS William & Mary. Playing their third game away the Spartans were manhandled by FCS James Madison, 75-14. The Spartans are likely viewing FAMU as a game they could win.

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McCullum Rounds Out Florida A&M Men's Basketball Staff

 Robert McCullum 
Head Men's Basketball Coach
FAMU Rattlers

TALLAHASSEE, Florida – Florida A&M men’s head basketball coach Robert McCullum announced the hiring of his basketball staff today. McCullum will be joined in guiding the Rattler program by Carlos Briggs and Jarrett Stephens. McCullum also added Patrick Benson as director of basketball operations. McCullum takes over the Rattlers with an emphasis on building a solid program and the coaching staff will play a major role in that effort.

“It’s a long time coming, but yet we ended up with a group of guys well suited to revitalize the basketball program. Each guy brings different experiences. Combined, I am very confident about their abilities to help elevate the program.

Briggs is no stranger to collegiate coaching, having coached for more than 18 years. Prior to FAMU, Briggs served for two seasons as an assistant coach for McLennan Community College, helping the Highlanders achieve two conference championships, one national tournament bid, and two top ten finishes in the rankings (No.9 in 2016; No.7 in 2017).

In his time before MCC, Briggs served as an assistant coach at Trinity Valley Community College, helping lead the Cardinals to a conference championship, an appearance in the NJCAA Sweet 16, and a No. 4 ranking at the end of the 2015 season.

Briggs also worked as an assistant coach at the University of Detroit – Mercy from 2007-2012. During his time at UDM, he was instrumental in helping the recovery of program – building the program to the point of securing berths in the NCAA and NIT tournaments.

McCullum values the breadth of Briggs’ experience. “Briggs is clearly the veteran of the staff. Over 20 years experience, with nine of those years as head coach outside Detroit. He took his team to three appearances in the JuCo national tournament. He attained one Final Four appearance in 2001 and his teams also enjoyed a stretch of being ranked No.1 in the country. A native of Detroit, with Midwest ties, he played at Baylor and has vast recruiting experience and is well respected. He is already making his presence felt landing quality recruits for the program, “ McCullum said.

Stephens has been coaching and training high school, college, and professional basketball players for 20 years. He has coached for USA Basketball and has trained more than 30 NBA players and over 40 professional international players. Some of these players include Jalen Rose, Amar’e Stoudemire, Rodney Hood, Thaddeus Young, Moe Harkless, Cameron Payne, Skal Labissiere, and Jonathan Isaac. Stephens comes to FAMU from IMG Academy where over the last two years he was the Associate Head Coach of the Varsity National Team. Last season they achieved a record of 28-2 and participated in the Dick’s National Championship.

“Stephens spent the last three seasons as a lead instructor at IMG Academy. There he thrived in the development of athletes. He assisted college and NBA players who trained to improve. He was involved in training and development. He has HBCU ties working at Clark-Atlanta and Lemoyne-Owen Memphis. He is a Cleveland native with ties to the south and the ability to teach on the floor and complements Briggs in recruiting and coaching,” McCullum said.

Patrick Benson is enterin his first season as the Director of Operations for the Rattlers. He spent the previous four years as a student manager for the University of Oregon Men’s Basketball team, for two of which he was the Head Manager. While with the University of Oregon, the Ducks went to the NCAA Tournament four times, reaching one Elite Eight and the Final Four this past season. He spent this past summer working for the Hoop Group as a Head Runner for their elite level summer basketball camp in Reading, PA. Patrick was born and raised in Portland, OR.

McCullum feels that Benson is a vital part of the organization. “I watched Patrick grow and develop from head manager to student-assistant in three years. He has an unbelievable work ethic. He will be the youngest on our staff, but a good addition to our chemistry,” McCullum said.

FLORIDA A&M UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS MEDIA RELATIONS