NCCU adjusts to life without its star kicker

Jaymes Powell Jr., The News & Observer

DURHAM - Unfortunately, N.C. Central's football plan has to change.
As NCCU coach Mose Rison prepares to lead the Eagles into Saturday's Urban League Football Classic at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., against Elizabeth City State, he'll have to do so without perhaps his best weapon -- his kicker.

NCCU senior kicker Brandon Gilbert, the school's all-time leading scorer with 234 points, was declared out for the season last week after a painful left quadriceps injury failed to subside.

That's an issue for Rison, because the former New York Jets receivers coach knew coming into the season that the Eagles' offense would be limited, and that NCCU would have to get by with great defense and stellar kicking.

"Instead of kicking a 30-yard field goal, now I'll take a shot on fourth-and-8 to get a first down," said Rison, after noting that NCCU's offense has been struggling.

The Eagles (2-1) have won their past two games, 17-0 and 6-0, respectively. Gilbert would have been a great help Saturday when the Eagles scored one touchdown, had two missed field goals by backup Taylor Gray and had to rely on a last-second defensive stand to win the game.

Gilbert is something of a living legend at NCCU. The kicker booted last-second field goals in both of the past two CIAA title games, giving the Eagles the championship.

Since the kicking game is often a struggle in black college football, Gilbert said he realizes his place in Eagles' history.

"I've had a great career so far. It's something that I never would have imagined. But that's how it ended up," said Gilbert, who was 2-for-3 this season and is hoping for a medical redshirt. "[But] this is a big deal to me, because I don't think I've missed a game since I've been playing football. It's new to me ... but it's gotten to where it's unbearable for me to play."

The Eagles, who have moved on to the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA), won the CIAA last year by beating the Vikings (0-2), so playing them again could be emotional, Rison said.

Returning to Giants Stadium with his own team in tow is a matter of pride for the coach. Longtime NFL coach Jimmy Raye, now the Jets' running backs coach, told Rison -- a first-time head coach -- to just relax because football is football.

"He said he was excited about us coming to town this weekend ... he said just continue coaching hard and do a good job. He's been a mentor of mine for a long time," Rison said.

"Having an opportunity to play in that venue, the fact that I've coached in that stadium, that's a great atmosphere."

Alabama A&M notebook

Huntsville Times

Martin likely to sit out again this week

Alabama A&M will likely be without running back Max Martin for the third straight week and possibly longer, coach Anthony Jones said Tuesday afternoon.

Martin, who played at Bob Jones High School and transferred to A&M from Alabama inJanuary, has been unable to play this season pending some issues with the NCAA and it doesn't appear he will play anytime soon.

"I got a phone call today saying the NCAA needed more information," Jones said. "What? I don't know. That's all I know."

Jones had hoped Martin would be available for Saturday's Southwestern Athletic Conference opener against Mississippi Valley State. But it doesn't appear he will be.

"Is he eligible? No," Jones said. "Am I frustrated about it? Yes, but there's nothing I can do about it."

Jones said when A&M officials find out what information the NCAA wants, they will try to get it to them as quickly as possible.

"I'm waiting for the NCAA to get back to our people," he said. "Once that happens, we'll try to get it done and wait for the NCAA to give us its ruling."

Jones said he was given no time frame as to when the NCAA would rule on Martin's status.

Jones praises Pearl:Jones heaped heavy praise on offensive coordinator Cedric Pearl on Monday.

Pearl, who was given the job during the spring after Stanley Conner left to become the head coach at Benedict College, has A&M's offense playing as well as it ever has during Jones' tenure.

Through two games, the Bulldogs are averaging 45 points and 529 yards per game.

"Coach Pearl is doing an excellent job," Jones said. "He's my eyes upstairs. Our communication is excellent. He understands the game plan and he's making some great suggestions and ideas."

Totten praises A&M: Mississippi Valley State coach Willie Totten said Monday that his team will be in for a heck of a battle Saturday night when it takes on Alabama A&M at Louis Crews Stadium. Totten says the Bulldogs are doing things he's never seen them do before.

"We're going against the best team in our conference in the Eastern Division," Totten said. "They are doing a lot of exciting things offensively and they're always good on defense. This is the best I've seen A&M look this early.

"They have a lot of speed on defense and they're more balanced offensively. They're throwing the ball extremely well and they run the ball extremely well. We've got to be polished this week."

Reggie Benson

AAMU Bulldogs hope they're on solid footing

By REGGIE BENSON, Huntsville Times

It's been a few years since the Alabama A&M men's soccer team was a national contender. Coach Salah Yousif, who has longed to get A&M's program back to national prominence like it was in the late 1970s and early 1980s, says this could be the year.

With a number of starters and key lettermen returning, Yousif says the Bulldogs could field one of their better teams in quite some time.

"This could be my best team in the last four or five years," said Yousif, whose team is 1-3 with all three losses by one goal, including a pair of 3-2 losses at fifth-ranked Santa Clara and San Francisco, respectively.

"We've got 11 starters back and they're all very talented players. The only thing slowing us down right now is injuries. Once we get healthy, we should be in good shape."

MfanaFuthi Bhembe and Mosito Ranko are A&M's top returning players.

Bhembe led the Bulldogs with 16 points, including a team-high seven goals. Ranko finished with 12 points, including five goals. Yousif also highlighted goalkeeper Paul Musoke and defenders David Kimbugwe and Mutumba Ssemagulu.

"Bhembe is one of our most outstanding players," Yousif said. "Paul is outstanding and David and Mutumba are very, very good.

"Mosito and Jabulani (Selumane) are coming back from knee surgery, but they're very important parts of our team. We're not in full force yet, but once we get there, we're going to be a force to be reckoned with."

The Bulldogs picked up their first victory of the season last weekend, beating Georgia Southern 3-0 in the Mercer Tournament, before falling 1-0 Sunday to the University of California-Riverside.

"I'm excited about this season," said Yousif, who has compiled a 217-96-19 record entering his 20th season at A&M, including Division II national championships in 1977 and 1979.

"We're looking forward to better things."

Southern QB Lewis quits team

By JOSEPH SCHIEFELBEIN, Advocate sportswriter

Southern fifth-year senior quarterback J.C. Lewis has left the team, head coach Pete Richardson confirmed Tuesday.

Lewis met with Richardson on Monday afternoon, two days after Lewis stayed on the bench for the second straight game. SU did not practice Monday, returning to the practice fields Tuesday without Lewis for the first time since he came to school in 2003.

“He decided it’s in his best interests that he doesn’t want to play anymore,” Richardson said.

Known for his cool demeanor, Lewis was Southern’s top starter the last two seasons and was one of two team captains last season.

However, Lewis missed two games after suffering from concussions and, after regaining his starting role Nov. 4 (after two appearances off the bench), he injured his shoulder making a block in the second quarter and never played in a game again.

After the shoulder injury, Bryant Lee came off the bench to lead a 34-17 win over Texas Southern and since has gone 3-1 as a starter, winning his last three starts, including two this season.

“He was one of the most courageous quarterbacks to ever play here,” SU offensive coordinator Mark Orlando said of the culmination of hits Lewis took. Lewis was also sacked 28 times in nine games in 2005.

Lewis’ departure brings an end to a career that was once so full of promise.

Lewis finishes as the school’s sixth-best all-time passer, with 3,667 yards (335-for-536, 62.5 percent, with 30 touchdowns to 16 interceptions). Early last season, he seemed poised to reach the top three by the end of his career.

He threw for 558 yards and seven touchdowns in the first two games last season, with the Jaguars starting 2-0. But Lewis suffered from big blows in the next two games, starting with Prairie View, and threw seven interceptions and two touchdowns in those two games, both losses.

Lewis graduated with a bachelor’s degree in May and returned to pursue graduate studies in mathematics this fall.

Class conflicts limited Lewis’ availability in the spring, and faced with choosing between Lee, Lewis and a fast-closing Warren Matthews, SU’s staff left the quarterback derby open. However, after Lewis did not attend any of the summer sessions or the voluntary conditioning, Richardson said in late July, on the eve of preseason camp, that Lee and Matthews would be the only contenders.

Lewis was a solid third choice, but his lack of mobility didn’t help, considering the team was moving to an offense based on the quarterback running.

“I thought he did an outstanding job for us, but it boils down to competition,” Richardson said. “He lost a lot of time in the spring and really wasn’t fit when he came back. It was just a matter of him making a decision for himself.”

Matthews, who saw his first collegiate action running in the season opener but has yet to throw a pass, is No. 2 behind Lee. SU also has redshirt freshman Gary Hollimon and junior C.J. Byrd, who returned to practice early this month after being out since a late July car accident.

“It hurts us from the aspect of depth,” Richardson said. “But our quarterbacks are gaining experience. The more they play, the better understanding of the system they get and the better they’ll be.”

Williams to have surgery
Sophomore Tremaine Williams, a special teams player and reserve cornerback, will have surgery on his right knee, Richardson said, and likely is out for the season.

Williams, who did not practice or play as a nonqualifier last season, had one tackle this season. He was injured covering a kickoff with 5:58 remaining in the third quarter of a 23-6 win over Mississippi Valley State in Chicago.

Richardson said the school would look into the possibility of obtaining a medical redshirt for this season for Williams.

Bridges doesn’t qualify
Southern true freshman guard Brian Bridges will be a nonqualifier this season, Richardson said. As such, Bridges will not be able to practice or play. He can become eligible as a sophomore but will have to earn a fourth season if he maintains satisfactory academic progress.

Bridges practiced with the team in the first few weeks of preseason camp as the NCAA Clearinghouse had yet to render a decision on his eligibility.

Including Bridges, four of SU’s five offensive linemen signees are not initially eligible. The only one to qualify is late signee Leslie Davis, a tackle.

Notes
Lee did not practice Tuesday to rest a sore ankle. He’s expected to practice today. Both SU and PV have three-game winning streaks dating to winning their season finales last season. Scouts from the Philadelphia Eagles and Buffalo Bills attended practice Tuesday. Southern is seeking to become 3-0 for the first time since winning the first seven games of 2003, when the Jaguars went 12-1 and won SWAC and black college national titles.

Around the SWAC

By JOSEPH SCHIEFELBEIN, Advocate sportswriter

Grambling

In normal seasons, Grambling coach Rod Broadway would rather an off week later in the schedule. But given that this is his first year and his team is coming off a 34-10 loss at Pittsburgh, three weeks in is fine.

Broadway had previously lamented he didn’t know his team well enough after 15 days of spring practice and then preseason camp.

“We’ve learned a little bit,” Broadway said. “We have a base to build on now. This is definitely a good time to have it. We have to get better.”

Broadway said former starting QB Larry Kerlegan, who has yet to play this season, will play against defending SWAC champ Alabama A&M, on Sept. 22. Kerlegan could be at QB, WR or RB. Grambling held Pitt to 119 rushing yards on 35 carries.

Alabama A&M

A&M, which averaged 23.8 ppg last season and has been known for its defense, is averaging 45.0 ppg — seventh best nationally — despite replacing three offensive linemen, two tailbacks, two fullbacks and three of four receivers.

Senior QB Kelcy Luke, the SWAC Offensive Player of the Week, threw for a career bests of 301 yards and four TDs in a 41-10 rout of Division II Clark Atlanta on Saturday. Plus, sophomore Ulysses Banks, the nation’s top kickoff returner last year, ran for a school-best 211 yards and two TDs.

“Kelcy is the anchor,” A&M coach Anthony Jones said. “We have some speed and we have some big-play capability.”

A&M wide receivers coach Roger Totten spent the last four seasons as an assistant with his brother Willie, the head coach at Mississippi Valley State. Willie Totten said, “I blame a lot of people for that,” but would not go further.

“To lose him was very, very crucial for us,” Willie Totten said. “But we have to move on.”

Willie Totten said he hasn’t spoken to his brother since Roger’s departure in June, but the silence wasn’t unusual. The two were competitors with Roger Totten at UAPB and Alcorn State.

“That’s normally how we operate. We never talk during football season,” Willie Totten said.

Arkansas-Pine Bluff

Senior quarterback Chris Wallace, last season’s SWAC Offensive Player of the Year, got pulled in the third quarter of a 21-3 win Thursday at Alcorn State.

Junior Johnathan Moore, who was 5-for-10 for 64 yards and a touchdown, relieved Wallace and went 8-for-18 for 67 yards and a TD.

UAPB coach Mo Forte said Monday he’d use practice to determine this week’s starter.

The offensive line, with three to four new starters, remains a concern. The unit gave up 10 sacks (six on Moore, four on Wallace) Thursday after allowing four the week before.

“Any time your offensive line is struggling, your entire offense is struggling, and certainly our quarterback was struggling,” Forte said. “We’re not able to establish our running game like we have in the past.”

So far, Martell Mallett has 93 yards and one TD on 25 carries and Mickey Dean 39 yards on 17 carries.

Alcorn State

Alcorn (0-2) has just 13 points so far. Last season, the Braves had 20 points in an 0-2 start but finished 6-5. Tony Hobson, the planned starter, didn’t play against UAPB after injuring two fingers in practice Tuesday. Sophomore Tim Buckley (2-for-2, 18 yards) started, but was pulled for veteran Chris Walker (12-for-24, 164 yards and two INTs), who had a thigh bruise.

Jackson State

Sophomore Eric Perri, whose overtime kick beat Southern last season, made a school-record 50-yard field goal (after hitting a 44-yarder earlier) in a 16-13 loss to Tennessee State.

SWAC officials

Harold Mitchell Sr. has been named the interim coordinator of football officials. Mitchell replaces Gil Marchman. Mitchell will coordinate the scheduling, training and supervision of all the conference’s football officials.

THE RATING GAME

1. Alabama A&M

Defending champ continues to impress with big-play offense

2. Southern

Surprising running game has grounded SU’s early success

3. Grambling

Tigers put in solid effort at Pittsburgh, now get week off

4. Alabama State

Two straight long trips: at TSU on Saturday, now at UAPB Thursday

5. Arkansas-Pine Bluff

Ugly win at Alcorn; offensive line has to get better quickly

6. Prairie View

Making it happen in all phases: offense, defense, special teams

7. Jackson State

Comegy feels good entering SWAC play, but JSU 1-6 in last 7

8. Miss. Valley State

Defense may be good; but offense will hold back Valley

9. Texas Southern

Tigers have been in games, but still looking for first win

10. Alcorn State

Went 6-3 after 0-2 start last season, but injuries troubling

THE BIG GAME

Prairie View at Southern

6 p.m. Saturday at A.W. Mumford Stadium

Prairie View, which has been resuscitating its program, could make a statement with back-to-back wins over Southern for first time since three in a row from 1962-64. SU, which blew a two-TD, fourth-quarter lead in losing to PV for the first time since 1971, can’t afford to let the Panthers steal early-season momentum for the second straight season. Home opener for SU should be big draw after impressive 2-0 start.

Confident PVU comes to town undefeated

By JOSEPH SCHIEFELBEIN, Advocate sportswriter

The last time Prairie View was 2-0 came in 2004 in its first two games under Henry Frazier III. That start, though, came to a crashing halt in the Reliant Astrodome in Houston, where Southern blasted the Panthers, 42-12.

“My first year, we were 2-0 and it didn’t matter,” said Frazier, who used that film, which he said showed the physical dominance of Southern, as teaching and motivational tools early on for his program. “Coach (Pete) Richardson and his staff don’t care about us being 2-0.”

Prairie View finds itself back at the same juncture, at 2-0 again, as the Panthers (2-0, 1-0 Southwestern Athletic Conference visits Southern (2-0, 1-0) at 6 p.m. Saturday in the Jaguars’ home opener.

Prairie View was last 3-0 in 1964, when the team went 9-0 and was the SWAC and black college national champion.

That’s also the last year PV had won consecutive games over Southern — winning three in a row from 1962-64.
“It’s the most experienced team he’s had,” Richardson said. “Individuals are buying into the system offensively and defensively. He’s got them excited and they’re playing hard. It’s a matter of them continuing to grow.”

Both teams want to find out how good they are and a showdown game like this will tell much.

Prairie View’s 2-0 start came against Texas Southern, which is 4-31 under Steve Wilson, and North Carolina A&T, which has now lost 18 consecutive games.

Southern, after going 2-0 and falling through a trap door of a 1-5 slide, isn’t taking any game for granted.

“It would be safe to say (PV is better), but we have a lot of football left to be played,” said Frazier, 13-21 at Prairie View.

“We do have better athletes. They’re in better shape. They understand the system a little better.”

Memories of Prairie View players gleefully taunting Jaguars after PV scored its first win over SU since 1971 serve as cautions for Southern.

“They understand what happened,” Richardson said. “There’s no personal vendetta. Our thing is to find a way to win. We know they’re improved.”

Prairie View didn’t follow up that stunner over SU, though.
The Panthers, 2-1 after that win, won just one more game.

Although PV had the best total defense and scoring defense in the SWAC, the Panthers’ weaknesses in special teams and the passing games hurt, leaving them with a 3-7 mark (after a promising 5-6 in 2005).

“Our guys showed we can play with the best in the conference,” said Frazier, whose team finished the season with a 13-7 win over eventual SWAC champion Alabama A&M.

Frazier said his staff harped on eight plays in the offseason, challenging players, “Are you working as hard as you can?”

Of PV’s seven losses, five were by a touchdown or less, including three games by three points and one by four.

The Panthers returned 55 lettermen and 16 starters for this season.

“They see we were right there,” Frazier said. “Now we have to finish what we started.

“We’ve laid out the plan as coaches. … We’ve got to ride it, see what happens. It’s going to be fun.”

Panthers honored

The Sports Network named Prairie View’s Val Ford as its Football Championship Subdivision national special teams player of the week for his returning of two blocked punts for touchdowns and making a tackle for a safety Saturday in a 22-7 win over North Carolina A&T. Previously, Ford was named the SWAC specialist of the week and Ford and Riante Jones, who blocked the two punts as well as a field-goal try, were College Sporting News’ national special teamers of the week.

The prediction: SCSU vs. SC

Hawgs Illustrated.com

South Carolina State (1-1) at South Carolina (2-0) 7:00 PM GamePlan

Why to Watch: While the world will gloss over this game as an easy blowout for South Carolina, it's a game of historic and symbolic significance, as it's the first time the two programs have ever faced each other. The historically black South Carolina State will get its first shot at the big boys just a few miles down the road. On the field, the Gamecocks get a breather after a 16-12 win at Georgia that made an SEC East statement. With a trip to LSU next week, and a chance to make some thunderous national noise, SCSU will be used to as a scrimmage to make everything is working well. The Bulldogs lost to Air Force 34-3 in the season opener before beating Bethune-Cookman 24-13.

Why South Carolina State Might Win: Talk about your letdowns, after beating Georgia and with LSU ahead, you'll have to forgive everyone around the USC program if the bags are already packed for Baton Rouge. Considering how much the offense struggled in the first two weeks, that could be a major mistake. Another big problem is a Gamecock run defense that's allowing 190 yards per game. The Bulldogs don't throw, but they can certainly run.

Why South Carolina Might Win: SCSU won't be able to throw for more than 100 yards on the Gamecock secondary, so as long as the front seven is actually trying, it should be able to tee off. How bad are things for the Bulldog passing game? The pass protection has been non-existent, which has caused the quarterbacks to scramble, which has added up to 178 passing yards combined in the first two weeks.

Who to Watch: If South Carolina has any dreams of beating LSU, it needs Blake Mitchell and the passing game to be able to open things up more than they were able to against Georgia. Mitchell was fine at controlling the tempo and making the short to midrange throws, but 20 of 31 for 174 yards isn't going to cut it next week. Even at the expense of appearances, USC has to throw and keep throwing just to get Mitchell, who was suspended for the season opener, more live reps.

What Will Happen: South Carolina will need about 20 minutes to wake up, and then it'll be over by halftime.

CFN Prediction: South Carolina 38 ... South Carolina State 0 ... Line: No Line