Appalachian State 55, North Carolina Central 21

Mountaineers run over NC Central

BOONE, N.C. - Appalachian State football coach Jerry Moore was rattling off the mistakes his team made Saturday in a non-conference game against North Carolina Central. He wasn't happy with the eight penalties his team committed. He didn't think his team tackled very well. And he was not at all pleased about a blown coverage that led to a long touchdown pass by the Eagles. Listening to Moore, you'd never guess his team turned in one of its most dominating statistical performances ever, rolling to a 55-21 victory in front of 25,017 fans at Kidd Brewer Stadium. Coaches and players were nonchalant after defeating the winless Eagles (0-6), who stunned the hosts early by turning two Mountaineers turnovers into touchdowns and a 14-7 lead midway through the second quarter.

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Mountaineers Blast NCCU, 55-21

Appalachian State University football racked up 644 yards of total offense and 34 first downs and held a 407-5 advantage in rushing yardage en route to a 55-21 homecoming rout over North Carolina Central on Saturday at Kidd Brewer Stadium. Appalachian (3-2) dominated the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball to claim the commanding triumph. Led by 124 yards from Devon Moore, ASU rushed for more than 400 yards for the sixth time in its last 25 games while its defense held an opponent to fewer than 50 rushing yards for the third time since the beginning of the 2003 season and less than five rushing yards for the second time in the past eight games (ASU limited Western Carolina to minus-two yards on the ground in last year’s regular-season finale).

In all, Appalachian out-gained N.C. Central, 644-194. ASU’s 644 yards were the most NCCU has ever allowed in its 86-year football history.Despite the eye-popping numbers, the Mountaineers had to overcome a sluggish start to post the dominating win. Thanks to a pair of turnovers deep in their own territory, the Apps trailed, 14-7, after one quarter.

Attendance: 25,017 @Kidd Brewer Stadium, Boone, N.C.

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Florida A&M at #11 Miami (FL)

Miami awaits with high anticipation for the FAMU Marching 100 Band.

Enjoy the telecast on the Internet at 7 p.m. ET, at ESPN360.com

UM aware of Rattlers' talent

The University of Miami aired radio commercials promoting Saturday's football game by touting the famed Florida A&M Marching 100 band's 15-minute, postgame show at Land Shark Stadium. The 60-minute main event that precedes it, however, could be a lot more interesting than some might expect. This is not the same FAMU team that UM defeated 51-10 in 2006. The undefeated 2009 Rattlers (4-0) come into Miami Gardens ranked No. 22 in the Football Championship Subdivision Coaches' Poll. The Rattlers last were ranked nationally in 2001.

If you are imagining that UM coach Randy Shannon reminded the Hurricanes that former Division I-AA Appalachian State defeated Michigan in 2007, or even more relevant, that two fellow Atlantic Coast Conference teams have fallen this season to FCS teams (Richmond defeated Duke 24-16 and William & Mary defeated Virginia 26-14) -- you are right. "They're excellent players,'' said UM cornerback DeMarcus Van Dyke, who played at Miami Pace with FAMU left guard Anthony Collins and defensive tackle Demtris Lane. ``All those guys at FAMU are real good. Demtris had Division I offers, and Anthony Collins did, too." Seventeen Rattlers grew up in South Florida.

Around FCS: FAMU looks to upset Miami again

Florida A&M fans remember the coaching tenure of Rudy Hubbard fondly, if for nothing more than two games. Taking over in 1974, Hubbard rebuilt a FAMU squad that had fallen into disrepair after the legendary Jake Gaither retired in 1969. By the end of the decade, Hubbard had led the Rattlers to the first NCAA I-AA Football Championship in 1978 with a 35-28 victory over Massachusetts.

That capped off back-to-back seasons where the Rattlers finished 11-0 and then 12-1, a stretch of success that FAMU hasn't duplicated since. But few people could have expected what would happen the following year. Playing Miami for the first time, Florida A&M pulled off one of the biggest upsets Football Championship Subdivision history, beating the Hurricanes 16-13 before a crowd of 34,743 fans at Florida State's Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee, FL.

After 30 years, Miami upset still fresh in famu's mind

Howard Schnellenberger couldn't remember too much of the details. After all, it was exactly 30 years to the day, as he was trying to recall how his Miami Hurricanes were shocked by FAMU.
"We knew we were playing a great football team that had more talent than we did," Schnellenberger's voice boomed over the phone. "We just wanted to kick the field goal and get the tie." But instead, Dan Miller's 20-yard field goal attempt sailed wide left, securing a 16-13 victory for FAMU in its first meeting with the Hurricanes. Lost in all of the hoopla and history written on that day at Doak Campbell Stadium was the biggest moment in the career of FAMU defensive tackle Algie Hendrieth.

Thirty years later, Hendrieth is probably better remembered locally as a football coach at Rickards and Lincoln high schools. But it was his one big play in that game so long ago that made sure that the Rattlers would have earned no worse than a tie against a Miami team that was ranked 10th in the nation at the time. On third-and-goal from FAMU's 3-yard line, Hendrieth swatted away quarterback Mike Rodrique's pass, forcing the failed field-goal attempt. It was the second straight bat-away for the Rattlers, who on the first play of the series had stopped Hurricane running back Lorenzo Roan for no gain.

FAMU QB Curtis Pulley is on the Payton Watch List along with KR LeRoy Vann.







Game preview: Florida A & M at No. 11 Miami

Quick slantAfter facing four straight ranked opponents, the Hurricanes (3-1) play the first of two consecutive non-conference opponents (the Hurricanes visit UCF next week). The Rattlers (4-0) are off to their best start in 12 years and ranked No. 24 in Division I-AA. UM hasn't lost a game in the series since the opener in 1979.

About FAMUThe Rattlers have two candidates for the Walter Payton Award, given to the nation's best Division I-AA player. QB Curtis Pulley has thrown for 877 yards and seven touchdowns with one interception. Special-teams player LeRoy Vann has scored on four punt returns and is the I-AA career leader in kickoff-return yardage. Vann has twice been named national player of the week. FAMU has outscored its opponents 134-44. The defense, led by LB Bryan Parker, has yet to allow more than 12 points in a game this season. Parker has 31 tackles, including 4.5 for losses.

Famed band may steal the show at Miami-FAMU game against Florida A&M,

Hurricanes coach Randy Shannon will hurry off the field. And then he'll hurry right back out. For many in the stands Saturday night, the matchup between No. 11 Miami (3-1) and Florida A&M (4-0) will serve only as a warm-up act. The best show may very well come from FAMU's fabled "Marching 100" band, which will perform for seven minutes at halftime, then hit the turf again for another 15-minute set postgame.
The beat of the drums, the blasts from the horns, synched with dance moves ... Shannon simply can't wait.

"I'll be watching it," said Shannon, who helped hatch the idea for the after-game festivities. "It's very rare that you get an opportunity to play a team like Florida A&M. And then you get a band to perform that everybody knows about. After enjoying a game and coaching in a game like that, you can't miss out on enjoying that band." His players don't want to miss out, either.

As soon as word spread that FAMU's band was playing postgame -- it'll be a tribute to Michael Jackson -- much of the Hurricanes' locker room starting buzzing. "They make the average band look so subpar," said Miami cornerback Ryan Hill, a native of Tallahassee, where Florida A&M is based. The band's name is a misnomer: There's actually more than 400 membe

Morgan State Bears 24, Bethune Cookman Wildcats 13

· 'Cats better, but still 0-4

DAYTONA BEACH -- After every game so far this season, Bethune-Cookman announced its season would start anew the following week. Four straight losses will do that to team -- make it want to forget about the past and look ahead to a brighter future. But with the calendar now turned to October, there was something in the air Saturday at Municipal Stadium, and it wasn't a chill. It was the slightest hint of optimism.
Once again mistakes kept B-CU winless as Morgan State held off the Wildcats for a 24-13 victory in front of 3,428 mostly disappointed fans.

"You hate to take positives from losing," B-CU coach Alvin Wyatt. "But I think our kids have improved from game to game." Saturday's stats will certainly support that statement. The Wildcats (0-4, 0-3 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference) came into the game with a rushing total of 255 yards and an average of 111.7 yards of offense per game. Against the Bears (3-1, 1-0), they rolled up 343 yards on offense, including 283 on the ground. They had three more first downs than Morgan State, and they held the ball for 6 1/2 minutes longer than the visitors. But two wide kicks and one dropped ball made a huge difference.

Photo Gallery: Bear Shots

Bears Hand Bethune-Cookman Fourth-Straight Loss, 24-13

DAYTONA, Fla. – Morgan State had its best scoring output of the season and the defense held when it counted most to help the Bears improve to a three-game winning streak and extend Bethune-Cookman’s rough season with a 24-13 win Saturday at Daytona Municipal Stadium. The Bears captured its first conference win of the season, and hold a 3-1 overall record for the first time since 1996. MSU held a 17-7 lead at the break, but the Wildcats came out with renewed energy in the second half.

Starting on its own 4 yardline, Francois opened the drive with an option pitch to Fred McCaskill for a 60-yard gain to help setup an 11-yard TD run by Courtney Keith with 4:07 remaining in the third quarter. Kory Kowalski’s point extra attempt was blocked by defensive tackle James Cole. It was senior’s second extra point block of the season. The Bears quickly countered on its next possession. Carlton Jackson guided the Bears 60 yards in six plays and connected with junior wideout Edwin Baptiste for a 19 yard touchdown pass to lift the Bears to a 24-13 advantage.

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Mississippi Valley 61, Texas College 6

MVSU Wins Homecoming

Paul Roberts threw five touchdown passes and Mississippi Valley State beat Texas College 61-6 on Saturday. Roberts passed for 329 yards and the Delta Devils (2-2) amassed 549 total yards of offense. Roberts, who is averaging 258 yards passing in the past three weeks, connected with Cameron Russ for touchdown passes of 4 and 23 yards in the first half. Stephen Robert scored on runs of 15 and 3 yards for the Delta Devils. MVSU had scored a total of 17 points in its first three games of the season. Texas College (0-4), an NAIA team, was led by X.Z. Bloodsaw, who scored on a 4-yard run. He was 20-for-32 for 137 yards and threw one interception.

Valley wins big

Mississippi Valley State got what it expected - and what it badly needed. MVSU saw its struggling offense finally get on track against a hapless Texas College team in a 61-6 homecoming victory in front of a sun-splashed crowd of 4,987 at Rice-Totten Stadium in Itta Bena Saturday. The Delta Devil offense had scored just 17 points in the team's first three games but found the going quite easy against the Steer defense, which came in allowing an average of 76 points a contest. Senior quarterback Paul Roberts carved up the Steers by completing 24-of-35 passes for 329 yards and five touchdowns with one interception in three quarters of play.

"We found some offensive continuity that we had been lacking, and that was good to see," Valley coach Willie Totten said. "Paul really played well and did a good job of distributing the ball." MVSU, which came in last in the SWAC in total offense and scoring offense, finished with 549 total yards. Totten knows things will get much tougher this week on the road against Alcorn, but he believes this win will be a confidence-booster for his guys."We can build off this. Hopefully, it will get us ready for Alcorn. That's a big game for us coming up," Totten said.Texas College, a NAIA team from Tyler, Texas, falls to 0-5 and has been outscored 348-12 so far this season.

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North Carolina A&T Aggies 23, North Carolina Central Eagles 17

N.C. A&T wins OT thriller over N.C. Central

GREENSBORO -- Carlton Fears and Wallace Miles decided they had to accept responsibility for turning around N.C. A&T's struggles. So over the last couple weeks, as the Aggies battled through back-to-back losses, the roommates enacted a self-imposed curfew, agreed to new rules by which the pair would live to discipline their routines, and put in extra work in the hope that it would pay off on the field. And after Fears hit Miles on a 24-yard touchdown pass in double overtime to beat N.C. Central 23-17 Saturday night at Aggie Stadium, the senior quarterback said what the pair had been doing must be working. The game winner was the second touchdown the pair hooked up for Saturday, and capped a wild win.

NC A&T Wins in Double OT Over NC Central

Greensboro - Wallace Miles caught a 24-yard touchdown pass from Carlton Fears in the second overtime as North Carolina A&T snapped a three-game losing streak with a 23-17 victory over rival North Carolina Central on Saturday night. The Aggies started strong, getting an early touchdown pass from the Fears-Miles combination from a 7-0 first-quarter lead. Tony Coles padded the Aggies lead with a 1-yard touchdown run and Patrick Courtney booted a 34-yard field goal for a 17-0 advantage in the second quarter. But led by Will Scott, who caught five passes for 179 yards and a touchdown, the Eagles rallied, scoring 17 unanswered points to tie the game late in the fourth quarter.



Attendance: 19,534 @ Aggie Stadium, Greensboro, N.C.
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SCSU Marching 101 @ USC 10/3/09

South Carolina Gamecocks 38, South Carolina State Bulldogs 14

South Carolina State Bulldogs QB Malcolm Long scores first TD against FBC competition in 2nd quarter.

Long stays cool with the heat on

Malcolm Long has had his share of success at Williams-Brice Stadium, twice hoisting the Class 4A state championship trophy as the quarterback for Gaffney High School. But with South Carolina State 5 yards from the USC end zone, a place that had eluded the Bulldogs in their four prior meetings with FBS teams, even the 235-pound Long was shocked after being charged to chase down that feat, which he did. "I don't know what possessed him (coach Buddy Pough) to call that for me, but he did," said Long, who also rushed for 1-yard score to cap the scoring in the Bulldogs' 38-14 loss. "I'm not a speedy guy, but I have a lot of power behind me, where I can push for 10, maybe 15 yards."

And the Bulldogs gave the Gamecocks more than a playful shove during a closely contested first half. Much of that had to do with Long's pocket presence and his ability to avoid the pass rush. On four occasions, the junior escaped potential sacks, converting three consecutive third downs on a 75-yard scoring drive that cut USC's lead to 10-7. "I was just taking what the defense was giving me," Long said. "I was feeling good on that drive, and we were clicking as an offense."

Long scores first Bulldogs' touchdown against FBS school

COLUMBIA — Oddsmakers had South Carolina State listed as a 37½-point underdog Saturday night against the University of South Carolina. The odds were arguably even longer of Bulldog quarterback Malcolm Long using his legs to score the team’s first touchdown against a Division I school. Yet it’s exactly what happened with 17 seconds left in the first half when the Gaffney native once again wrote his name in the S.C. State history books with a 5-yard touchdown run. For Long, who won three state championships with the Indians in the same stadium – two as a starting quarterback – he found the achievement more surprising than how it was accomplished.
USC breaks free of SC State

COLUMBIA -- Steve Spurrier predicted a dogfight with South Carolina State. He was right. For a half. South Carolina turned a three-point halftime lead into a 38-14 rout Saturday night in front of a crowd of 77,066 at Williams-Brice Stadium. The Gamecocks scored 28 consecutive points against their FCS counterpart before the Bulldogs punched a second score in with four seconds left in the game. Spurrier had warned all that would listen that the Bulldogs weren't to be taken lightly.

"South Carolina State is a good team," Spurrier said. "They played with us. They played just as well as we did in the first half -- maybe a little bit better." Despite being down a field goal, the Bulldogs (3-1) did in fact outgain the Gamecocks (4-1) 159-149 through two quarters. The word used to describe the first half for the offense -- by both quarterback Stephen Garcia and running back Kenny Miles -- was flat.

South Carolina State University RB Will Ford rushes away from USC Gamecock defender.

South Carolina rolls past SC State, 38-14

COLUMBIA — Steve Spurrier predicted a “dogfight” with South Carolina State. He was right. For a half. The Gamecocks turned a three-point halftime lead into a 38-14 rout Saturday night in front of 77,066 at Williams-Brice Stadium. South Carolina scored 28 consecutive points against its FCS counterpart, until the Bulldogs punched a second score in with four seconds left in the game. Playing despite a bruised left side, Gamecocks quarterback Stephen Garcia was needed for a good portion of the evening.

And his throws - mostly to senior Moe Brown - made the difference in the team’s third-quarter push. Garcia found Brown for a 40-yard score that pushed the Gamecocks ahead 24-7 at the 5:22 mark of the third quarter. On the following drive, facing third-and-5 inside the S.C. State 10, Garcia lobbed the ball over a Bulldogs defender for a 9-yard touchdown that pushed the lead to 31-7. Garcia and Brown also hooked up for a 23-yard play earlier in that scoring drive.

Gillespie: Pough's gambling ways give game spark

SO WHO KNEW BUDDY Pough had so much riverboat gambler in his soul? Heck, the guy grew up in Orangeburg, a stone's throw from the South Carolina State campus where he now plies his trade as the Bulldogs' coach. Closest thing to "gambling" in his hometown back then was bingo on Wednesday nights - and that was the Episcopalians. But when you're coaching a lower-division team - even one coming in 3-0 and ranked No. 15 in the FCS - and going up against a South Carolina team fresh off a 16-10 manhandling of then-No. 4 Ole Miss, you figure: What have I got to lose?

So in the first half of Saturday night's 38-14 USC win, a game that all along figured to be a blowout - they don't do point-spreads for games involving FCS teams, but 35 points is a good number - Pough threw caution to the wind early and often. First, with S.C. State backed up on its own 2-yard line, quarterback Malcolm Long stepped back and heaved a 38-yard rainbow to receiver Tre Young, whose acrobatic catch got the Bulldogs out of the hole. In fact, "if (Long) puts more air under the ball, that's 99 yards for a touchdown, you know," Pough said. "It takes a pretty cool guy to stand in that end zone knowing he'd better hurry and get that sucker out of there."

Attendance: 77,066 @ William Brice Stadium, Columbia, S.C.

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