Southern Mississippi 52, Alcorn State Braves 0

Davis fuels rout

HATTIESBURG, MS - Austin Davis directed the Southern Miss offense with efficiency Saturday night against Alcorn State, finding everyone of his playmakers with ease in the first game of the season. With his biggest target, DeAndre Brown, standing on the sideline in jeans, Davis picked apart the Alcorn State defense as every key player on the Golden Eagles offense had several opportunities with the ball in their hands.

"What Austin has done is he's doing a better job of managing the offense," coach Larry Fedora said. "He's got a fresh understanding of what we want him to accomplish. He's going to take the open receiver because he's reading the coverage to see where it should go." Southern Miss cruised to a 52-0 victory over the SWAC team from Lorman before a record crowd of 36,232 at M.M. Roberts Stadium.

Collins: character will show on film

First-year Alcorn State head football coach Earnest Collins Jr. has much better memories from his first visit to Roberts Stadium than the ones he and his Braves carried back to Lorman on Saturday night. In 2007, Collins was defensive backs coach for Central Florida when the Knights left Hattiesburg with a Conference USA victory over Southern Miss. Saturday night was a completely different story, as the Golden Eagles struck early and often, handing the Braves a 52-0 thumping before the largest crowd in stadium history - 36,232 - in the season opener for both teams.

"I'm a realist," said Collins, who was associate head coach/defensive coordinator for the Braves last season. "The first part is, we didn't execute like we should have. The second part is, to put it bluntly, we were outmanned." Collins paused, offering a possible third part.

Photo Gallery: USM-Alcorn

Schools, fans honor McNair

Roars reverberated at Roberts Stadium Saturday well before the University of Southern Mississippi and Alcorn State University lined up in the historic first meeting between the intrastate rivals. Damion Fletcher’s picture, looming from the big board over the south end of the stadium, revved up the Black and Gold faithful every time. The U.S. Army’s parachutist team turned the crowd into children, with eyes turned to the sky and fingers pointing at the smoky, red swirls following the Black Daggers descent into the stadium.

But the most poignant applause came during a video tribute to the late Steve McNair, the Mount Olive native who rose to national prominence while quarterbacking the Braves and whose summer football camp was an annual fixture on the USM campus. McNair, who went on to become a standout in the National Football League with the Tennessee Titans and Baltimore Ravens during a 13-year career, was shot and killed on July 4 in Nashville. Thousands attended a memorial service a week later at USM’s basketball arena, Green Coliseum.


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Mississippi State 45, Jackson State 7

Dogs deliver

Hungry Mississippi State fans waited nine long months for Dan Mullen's coaching debut. Then, they had to wait about 30 extra minutes because of lightning that accompanied a pre-game rainstorm. That's not all. They then had to wait another two sluggish quarters before Mullen's Bulldogs carried through on his preseason vow: "THIS is going to be exciting." Finally, it was. Here's some of what we can take from State's 45-7 victory over Jackson State in the first-ever meeting between a Southeastern Conference team and one from the Southwestern Athletic Conference.

Great idea. All tickets were sold. Tail-gating fans jammed this lovely, old campus. State got what it wanted, a capacity crowd and a relatively easy victory. Jackson State earned the biggest payday in school history. This was a no-brainer. Let's do it again. Next time, JSU, bring a long snapper.

JSU was over-matched with SEC foe Mississippi State Bulldogs. Coach Comegy had no answers for Bulldog attack before full house of 54,232 fans.

QB Rutland struggles but keeps job

The saga surrounding Tray Rutland continued Saturday as Jackson State lost 45-7 to Mississippi State at Scott Field. The JSU quarterback was named the starter last week despite coach Rick Comegy having named redshirt freshman Dedric McDonald the No. 1 the previous two weeks. Rutland's performance was fairly consistent with what fans have seen over the past few years. There were flashes of brilliance, like his 52-yard pass to Keenan Tillman and a 32-yarder to Carlos Everett. Then there was the interception to Corey Broomfield, who returned it 43 yards for a touchdown. Rutland threw a touch pass down the middle of the field when he should have put more arm into the pass.

He completed 8 of 19 passes for 132 yards with two interceptions and zero touchdowns. Rutland led JSU with 46 rushing yards on 14 carries. "I thought (he) was spotty," JSU coach Rick Comegy said. "He made some good calls and some good checks ... but I know Tray Rutland has a better football game in him than what he displayed today. There's a lot we got to talk about from an offensive point of view."

Kareem Copeland's Talking Points

Special teams meltdown. There's a sure-fire way to take yourself out of a game when playing up a division - poor special teams play. That's exactly what Jackson State put on the field on Saturday. JSU found out only this week that long snapper LaDarius Kimp, who was a late addition to camp, was not eligible. So, receiver Cedric Dixon was forced into action with just two days practice, coach Rick Comegy said.

Dixon, who just returned from an injury to practice this week, had three snaps on punts that never got six inches off the ground. Punter Brett Bennett had to dive on two, giving MSU the ball inside JSU's 25-yard line both times. Fortunately for JSU, the Bulldogs only came away with seven points after missing a field goal on the second miscue. The question is: Why hadn't another long snapper been prepared if Kimp's paperwork wasn't submitted and his status was in doubt?What happened to the GP?

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I-40 Show Down: NCAT Aggies vs WSSU Rams

North Carolina A&T 19, Winston Salem State 10

Aggies start Lee era with statement win

Alonzo Lee built a reputation as an aggressive defensive coordinator in 12 seasons coaching in the MEAC. Turns out Alonzo Lee the head coach is even more aggressive. Senior quarterback Carlton Fears passed for 131 yards and ran for 78 and a touchdown to lead N.C. A&T's offense during a 19-10 victory over Winston-Salem State in Lee's debut as the Aggies' head coach Saturday night at Bowman Gray Stadium. It wasn't that close.

The Aggies' offense left some scoring chances on the field. They missed a field-goal attempt, saw another field-goal try blocked, got stopped on a fourth-and-3 gamble at the 8 and let the first-half clock run out 2 yards short of the end zone. "I thought we moved the ball well, but we've got to get better in the red zone," Lee said. "We were in the red zone too many times where we did not come up with points. We've got to work on it. We're going to go back to the drawing board and find our best red-zone plays and get better." On this night, the Aggies didn't need those points because their defense was flat-out dominant. A&T grudgingly surrendered just 90 total yards, had four sacks and recovered two fumbles.

Photo Gallery: N.C. A&T 19, Winston-Salem State 10

Aggies beat Rams 19-10

N.C. A&T won the backyard battle with Winston-Salem State, mainly because it had fewer mistakes. The Aggies won 19-10 in front of a sellout crowd of 22,000 at Bowman Gray Stadium. Coach Alonzo Lee of the Aggies, making his debut, built his reputation on defense as an assistant coach. That trait has carried over because the Aggies held the offensive-stagnant Rams to just 90 yards. The Rams' defense, spending way too much time on the field, tired in the fourth quarter and the Aggies took advantage. Coach Kermit Blount of the Rams summed it up best: "The bottom line is we can't turn the ball over and we can't keep our defense out there as long as we did."

The game was tied at 10 going into the fourth quarter, but the momentum swung toward the Aggies after a bad snap on a punt by long-snapper Rodney Taylor of the Rams. Pinned deep in their own territory punter Landon Thayer had to fall on a bad snap that nearly sailed all the way over his head. The Aggies took over on the Rams' 10 and after the defense held again; freshman place-kicker Patrick Courtney made a 25-yard field goal for a 13-10 lead with 7:54 left. The way the Rams' offense was going, the field goal was enough.

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Arkansas-Monticello 27, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 3

Arkansas-Pine Bluff had put together a couple of lengthy drives. Mickey Dean was finding small holes to dart through. And, most importantly, it was keeping ultra-dangerous Scott Buisson from finding creases to run or pass through. No, the first half of Saturday’s season-opener against Arkansas-Monticello didn’t go exactly as planned for the Golden Lions. But there were enough positives to go into halftime with upbeat spirits and a three-point lead. But that’s when time seemed to travel back to last year’s loss to the Boll Weevils, when UAPB lost its starting quarterback and a series of turnovers led to Buisson making big plays that eventually buried the Golden Lions.

Three touchdowns scored off UAPB mistakes — a roughing-the-punter penalty that continued a drive and two fumbles — led to 20 UAM points in the third quarter of an eventual 27-3 win for the Boll Weevils at Golden Lion Stadium. For UAPB coach Monte Coleman, it was proof that all the plays that turned games into disaster for his team last season are not yet out of their system. “What caused it to happen? I have no idea,” Coleman said. “That’s the most disappointing thing about it, because I know for a fact we’re a better football team than what we played tonight.”


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Q&A with Morgan State coach Todd Bozeman

There will be a mix of new and old on the roster of the defending MEAC champions this season. Nine players return from Morgan State’s NCAA tournament team, but Bears head coach Todd Bozeman is adding five new faces to the mix. Point guard Danny Smith (5-11, 190 pounds), combo guard Joe Davis (6-0, 180), shooting guard Jarrod Denard (6-2, 185), power forward DeWayne Jackson (6-8, 210) and center Anthony Anderson (6-10, 235) will all suit up for Morgan State this season.

Morgan State University Bears Coach Todd Bozeman has a new contract and a top-notch incoming class of multidimensional players.

Smith, a Randallstown native and Woodlawn graduate, will have two years of eligibility remaining after playing at Western Nebraska Community College the past two seasons. Davis, a junior from Warrensville, Ohio, sat out last year as a transfer from Cleveland State, where he averaged 8.8 points per game in his first two seasons. Denard was a highly touted shooting guard from Philadelphia’s Freire Charter School. Jackson, a Bowie High graduate, and Anderson, a LaPlata alumnus, both enrolled at Morgan one year ago and sat out as non-qualifiers. They will each have four years of eligibility remaining. Bozeman spoke with Recruiting Report recently about Morgan State’s incoming class.

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