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South Carolina State head football coach Buddy Pough has been named the 2009 Palmetto State College Coach of the Year and five Bulldogs earned a spot on the All-State team as selected by The (Columbia, SC) State newspaper and announced Wednesday. Pough guided SC State to a 10-2 overall record -- 8-0 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference – its second straight MEAC title and back-to-back appearances in the FCS playoffs.
Bulldogs named to the All-State team were running back Will Ford, wide receiver and return specialist Tre’ Young, offensive lineman Johnny Culbreath, linebacker David Erby and defensive back Phillip Adams. Ford, Young and Adams are all departing seniors, while Erby and Culbreath are juniors. Wednesday’s announcement was the second major accolade bestowed on SC State this week. On Monday, SC State was declared the 2009 National Black Champion by the Sheridan Broadcasting Network.
His Huskers won again Saturday night to move to 8-2, but Doc Sadler is far from happy. The Nebraska basketball coach knows his team is three weeks away from a rude awakening, so forgive him if he isn’t able to celebrate a 16-point victory over winless Jackson State. “I don’t know if we took a step forward tonight in any area, except that we got the win,” Sadler said. “There’s not another positive thing.”
For Sadler, the Huskers’ 57-41 win Saturday night at the Devaney Sports Center was just one more chance for NU to prepare for Jan. 9, a day he certainly isn’t looking forward to. Nebraska takes on Texas A&M in College Station, Tex., that day to kick off its Big 12 Conference schedule, and the fourth-year coach knows the seven newcomers he played Saturday night are far from ready for that challenge. “We’re playing too many guys who have no idea what’s fixing to hit them,” he said. “It’s been too easy for them. If these guys are going be playing minutes, they better get ready.”
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Joe Taylor didn't give an immediate "yes" to Darryl Moore's invitation to coach the East team in today's Russell Athletics HBCU Senior Bowl. Taylor, who had just gotten through coaching FAMU to its second consecutive winning season, had reservations. Moore, a passionate advocate of HBCU football, persisted. Taylor, known for being organized and a stickler for details, went hunting for the facts about Moore's Synergy Sports and Associates company.
He found out that the fledgling promoter had already gotten the backing of Montgomery city government and a multi-year sponsorship from Russell Athletics for the inaugural event. Moore didn't just have the final piece to make the game go when Taylor committed, but the game instantly gained credibility. "He is a guy who has put a stamp on HBCU football," Moore said. "It's unbelievable to have a guy like that in your corner." Taylor's participation adds a recognizable name to the event, which is being considered in some quarters as a replacement for the Blue-Gray Classic.
MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Tre’ Young knows the opportunity afforded him this week at the HBCU Senior Bowl. Last year, at Oliver C. Dawson Stadium, NFL scouts showed up for Pro Day to find a large group of aspiring college players from all over South Carolina ready to show what they could do. They all were allowed to run the 40-yard dash. Three of them were allowed to move on with the rest of the day’s activities. The rest of the players found themselves locked out, literally, from the rest of the workout.
Several were former teammates of Young, so the long-striding S.C. State wide receiver has embraced the opportunity to have more time to impress the scouts heading into today’s contest, an All-Star game featuring the top HBCU players in the country, scheduled to kickoff at 2 p.m. "It’s a blessing,” Young said. “It’s a blessing to be given the opportunity to play in a game of this type of magnitude. I’m getting a chance to come out and showcase my talent against some of the best players in HBCU football and that is real exciting.”
2009 RUSSELL ATHLETIC HBCU BOWL
EAST ROSTER 1 QB Curtis Pulley FAMU 6-4 200 Hopkinsville, KY
2 DB Antwan Cox Bethune-Cookman 6-1 180 Miami, FL
3 DB Phillip Adams SC State 6-1 180 Rock Hill, SC
4 DB Jody Ellis Morgan State 6-0 180 Evansboro, IL
5 DB Quintez Smith Shaw 6-1 187 Dublin, GA
6 DB Terrell Whitehead Norfolk 6-2 200 VA Beach,VA
7 DB Leroy Vann FAMU 5-9 185 Tampa, FL
8 WR DeAndre Okonji Shaw 6-2 198 Upland, CA
10 QB Dennis Brown Norfolk 6-3 202 Miami, FL
12 QB Carlton Fears NC A&T 6-1 190 St. Mountain, GA
21 DB Jeff Gowdy Fayetteville St 5-11 185 Jacksonville, NC
22 RB Will Ford SC State 5-11 200 Travelors Rest, SC
GREENVILLE, S.C. — Carrio Bennett made a three-point play with 4 seconds left in overtime and South Carolina State defeated Furman 93-91 on Friday night. Bennett was one of five Bulldogs (6-2) in double figures as Jason Flagler scored 19, Darnell Porter and Brandon Small had 16 each and Arsenio Williams added 16 points and 12 rebounds. Furman's Neil Duval tied the game at 90 on two free throws with 21 seconds left in overtime. Bennett then put the Bulldogs ahead 93-90, and the Paladins' Darryl Evans went to the free throw line with 3 seconds left. He made the first shot, missed the second and Jordan Miller grabbed the offensive rebound. However, Furman (5-4) couldn't get off a shot. Evans finished with 19 points.
Coach Frazier is the first coach of a Southwestern Athletic Conference team, or a Historically Black College or University (HBCU) to win the Robinson Award, which is presented annually to the top coach in the Football Championship Subdivision.
CHATTANOOGA, TN -- Prairie View A&M coach Henry Frazier III was named the 23rd winner of the Eddie Robinson Award Thursday night at The Sports Network's Football Championship Subdivision Awards Banquet, held at the Chattanooga Convention Center on the eve of the NCAA Division I Football Championship title game. Frazier is the first coach of a Southwestern Athletic Conference team, or a Historically Black College or University (HBCU) to win the Robinson Award, which is presented annually to the top coach in FCS. Robinson, the legendary Grambling State coach, spent much of his career in the SWAC.
"It is a humbling honor," said Frazier. "It's a great honor to be considered the top coach in your conference and it's an even greater honor to be considered the top coach in the country." Taking over a program best known for losing an NCAA-record 80 consecutive games from 1989-98, Frazier led the Panthers to a perfect 7-0 conference mark, the SWAC West Division title and their first-ever berth in the SWAC championship game since the title contest was introduced in 1999.
Frazier is 36-27 at Prairie View and has gone 25-5 in the past three years. Prairie View completed its season with a thrilling, 30-24 SWAC title game victory over Alabama A&M. The Panthers hadn't won a SWAC championship since 1964, and 2009 marked the team's second consecutive 9-1 season. "When we took over at Prairie View, if there were 119 teams, we were the 119(th) team in the country," Frazier said. In 2008, Prairie View also beat both Grambling and Southern in the same year for the first time in 35 seasons, and posted its first nine-win campaign since 1953, a feat they duplicated this season.
The 2009 season marks the first time the Panthers have had three consecutive winning years since legendary PVAM coach W.J. Nicks ran off nine straight such seasons from 1957-65. Frazier also coached the Panthers to the No. 18 spot in the final regular season Sports Network poll, the highest ranking Prairie View has ever held. PVAM was ranked 25th last season, the first time the Panthers had ever made a poll appearance.
In the second-closest balloting in Robinson Award history, Frazier received 24 first-place votes out of the 125 ballots cast by a panel of sports information directors and select media who regularly cover FCS. He picked up 237 points to edge J.C. Harper of Stephen F. Austin by two points. (Full voting information is available at sportsnetwork.com). Jerry Moore of Appalachian State won by one point over Craig Bohl of North Dakota State in 2006.
The Sports Network established the Eddie Robinson Award in 1987. Past recipients of this prestigious honor include current FCS coaches, two-time winner Mickey Matthews of James Madison, Northern Iowa skipper Mark Farley, New Hampshire's Sean McDonnell, Villanova's Andy Talley, Mike Ayers of Wofford and Elon's Pete Lembo, when he won the coveted award with Lehigh.
Head coach Alonzo Lee has Aggies moving in right direction.
N.C. A&T will play in the 2010 Circle City Classic in Indianapolis on Oct. 2, the university announced Wednesday. The Aggies will play Tennessee State, their opponent in the 2005 Classic. A&T won that game 16-3. A&T will open its 2010 football season at home against Winston-Salem State on Sept. 4. Homecoming will be Oct. 9, with Morgan State as the Aggies' opponent. Other home games for A&T include Howard on Oct. 23, Florida A&M on Nov. 6; and S.C. State on Nov. 20. The Aggies travel to Norfolk State on Sept. 11 and Hampton on Sept. 18. They will play rival and newest MEAC member N.C. Central on September 25.
North Carolina A&T's 2010 football schedule as it stands now: Sept. 4: Winston-Salem State Sept. 11: at Norfolk State Sept. 18: at Hampton Sept. 25: vs. N.C. Central, location tba Oct. 2: vs. Tennessee State at Indianapolis, Ind. Oct. 9: Morgan State (homecoming) Oct. 23: Howard Nov. 6: Florida A&M Nov. 20: South Carolina State
The University of Connecticut football team had a hole in its schedule for next season when Northeastern abruptly dropped its football program this month. Texas Southern has filled the vacancy. The Huskies will host FCS Texas Southern, out of the Southern Athletic Conference, on Saturday, Sept. 11, a week after a season-opening game at Michigan. It will be the home opener at Rentschler Field for the Huskies.
Coach Johnnie Cole's Texas Southern Tigers went 6-5 this season and expects to lose only four starters heading into the 2010 season.
UConn has tried to have a single FCS game on the schedule every year and was playing regional FCS teams including Rhode Island, Maine, and Hofstra in recent seasons. Northeastern was due to be next, but ended up folding instead. Hofstra also dropped its football program. Schedules are set years in advance and the Huskies had to struggle to find a team with an open date and willing to go on the road early in the season. UConn’s non-conference schedule for 2010 is at Michigan, at Temple and home against Texas Southern, Buffalo and Vanderbilt.
South Carolina State head football coach Buddy Pough has been named the 2009 Palmetto State College Coach of the Year and five Bulldogs earned a spot on the All-State team as selected by The (Columbia, SC) State newspaper and announced Wednesday. Pough guided SC State to a 10-2 overall record -- 8-0 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference – its second straight MEAC title and back-to-back appearances in the FCS playoffs.
