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DOVER, DE -- There is no class at Delaware State that can teach its football team how to finish games. That, according to Hornets coach Al Lavan, has to be learned through difficult lessons. Those lessons don't get much more painful than DSU's 34-24 loss at Morgan State last Saturday, when the Hornets allowed 13 points in the final 20 seconds of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference game.
Lavan remains confident in his team's ability, even as the Hornets (1-6 overall, 1-4 MEAC) prepare to host two-time reigning conference champion South Carolina State (5-2, 3-1) at Alumni Stadium at 1 p.m. Saturday.
DOVER, Del. - Former NFL head coach Bill Parcells once famously said, "You are what your record says you are."
At 1-6 overall and 0-4 in the MEAC heading into Saturday's home game against 17th-ranked South Carolina State, Delaware State head coach Al Lavan was inclined to agree on Tuesday. Although pleased with the Hornets' resiliency shown throughout the season, Lavan has seen too many missed opportunities and mental mistakes to try to sugarcoat his team's record. READ MORE, CLICK EACH TITLE.
GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Justin Ferrell was headed for his seat in front of the three TV cameras gathered for N.C. A&T's weekly football news conference Monday afternoon. Suddenly a hand shot out and grabbed Ferrell by the shoulder, stopping one of the MEAC's toughest defensive players in his tracks.
Earl Hilton's keen blue eyes noticed the back of Ferrell's necktie poking out from under the collar of his dress shirt. Hilton helped Ferrell fix the fashion faux pas -- something the cameras wouldn't have seen, anyway. It was a small act. But it summed up what N.C. A&T's interim athletics director said he brings to the job. Attention to detail.
THURSDAY, Oct. 28: North Carolina A&T at Bethune-Cookman Wildcats TV: ESPNU - 7:30 p.m. Short week for B-CU
DAYTONA BEACH -- The good news is obvious. It's right there atop the conference standings, where Bethune-Cookman is perched with an unblemished record through seven games.
The stress is in the details. The Wildcats, whose first-year head coach Brian Jenkins is very big on routine, is now out of its comfort zone, forced to do a week of preparation in just four days as they look to a Thursday night home game -- moved from Saturday at the request of ESPN, which will broadcast the game on its ESPNU channel. Getting Jenkins to admit that his routine is ruffled, however, is another matter.
NORFOLK, VA - The Norfolk State football team, struggling under the weight of a stagnant offense, replaced offensive coordinator Kirk Mastromatteo with tight ends coach Joe Blackwell on an interim basis Monday.
Mastromatteo will not coach in the Spartans' final four games and his contract will not be renewed. The Norfolk State offense has scored just two touchdowns during the team's four-game losing streak and the Spartans have just 39 points in those games, including two touchdowns scored by the defense.
"My job is to win games," Mastromatteo said. "My job is to score points. Of course it's frustrating. It's not a lack of effort, it's not a lack of experience or knowledge. In this profession, sometimes someone has to be the guy (to go). Right now, I'm the guy.... This is a great profession, but it's a nasty, nasty business."
NORFOLK, VA - Norfolk State running back DeAngelo Branche, who needed 42 yards to reach the 3,000-yard mark for his career, finished with 89 yards on 26 carries. The Maury graduate is just the second Spartan to hit the milestone and the first to do it at the FCS level.
"It was one of my goals," Branche said. "You can enjoy it a little. Even after a loss, an achievement is still an achievement. My name's in the record books. When I leave here, it'll still be here." Doing it on homecoming made it extra special.
The Bowie State Bulldogs (5-4 overall, 5-1 CIAA) on Senior day found a way despite giving up 500 yards in total offense and not scoring in the second half to defeat Elizabeth State (4-4 overall, 3-2 CIAA), 20-12. The win gives the Bulldogs a fighting chance of earning a CIAA championship birth with two weeks remaining in the season.
"The guys played for the seniors today and they played a good game," said coach Damon Wilson. "This is a good Elizabeth City team." "The guys fought for four quarters and found a way to win the ballgame, so it was great to finish our home stretch with a W."
The Bulldogs won the game because of three things: on offense, they were efficient and ran the ball successfully; on defense, they were able to create three turnovers when Elizabeth City was within a yard of the end zone; and finally, special teams was fantastic creating two touchdowns.
Tennessee State's offense started strong but stalled in the second half as the Tigers lost to Tennessee Tech 21-10 on Saturday night. It is the first time TSU (3-5, 0-4) has lost four consecutive conference games since joining the Ohio Valley Conference in 1988.
Not only did TSU's offense suddenly start to sputter in the second half, but it also failed to take advantage of the two opportunities it did have. Freshman kicker Jamin Godfrey missed field goals from 24 and 31 yards. "We have to score in the red zone and we're making too many field goal attempts, and missing two tonight didn't help our effort any," TSU Coach Rod Reed said. McNairl gives TSU an offensive boost
Not even Tennessee State's versatile Calvin McNairl enjoying a breakout game at wide receiver was enough to give the Tigers a win over Tennessee Tech Saturday night at LP Field. McNairl started eight games at quarterback last season, then moved to receiver in the spring. The junior from Henry County came into the game as TSU's third-leading receiver with 13 catches for 145 yards and no touchdowns. He finished the 21-10 loss as the leading receiver with nine catches for 131 yards, including an 84-yard TD.
NASHVILLE -- A year ago, it was Tennessee Tech's Tim Benford making the game-saving catch to give the Golden Eagles the win over Tennessee State and clinching the Sergeant York Trophy. On Saturday night, Benford caught two touchdown catches, his sixth and seventh in OVC play this season, leading the Golden Eagles to a 21-10 victory at LP Field. In other words, Benford likes playing Tennessee State.
Tennessee State first-year Coach Rod Reed said he recently adopted a policy for being tighter-lipped about his team's injuries, but he doesn't deny the Tigers are hurting as they try to snap their three-game OVC losing streak today. The Tigers (3-4, 0-3 OVC) hope to avoid their first 0-4 start since joining the league in 1988 when Tennessee Tech (3-4, 2-2) visits LP Field at 6 tonight. Lost for the year are:
COOKEVILLE -- As both Tennessee Tech and Tennessee State enter this week's contest, both sidelines could look like a battlefield hospital with many wounded players are lining up the sidelines. The two teams square off in a Sergeant York Trophy contest Saturday night at 6 p.m. from LP Field. The biggest blow this season has been the loss of running back Preston Brown, who was a major focal point of the Tigers' offense.
"Everybody knows about him," Reed said. "He was the nation's leading rusher.
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Texas Southern men’s basketball coach Tony Harvey could check off a lengthy list of accomplishments from the 2009-10 season. TSU’s first winning season since 2002-03. A 10-win improvement from the previous season. The Tigers’ first appearance in the Southwestern Athletic Conference tournament final since 2003.
Harvey, however, said his No. 1 accomplishment of 2009-10 can be best seen in a photo that sits on the desk of his office. In the photo, Harvey is posing with former Tigers guard David Burrell after the latter’s graduation from TSU in May.
Morgan State quarterback Delonte Williams had already thrown three interceptions, two of which resulted in Delaware State touchdowns, when he calmly walked into the huddle with just over three minutes left in the game. Williams said that even though the Bears were down by three, they'd be just fine.
The redshirt freshman then directed an 85-yard drive, capped by his 34-yard touchdown pass to Tyrone Hendrix with 20 seconds left. Sheldon Jacques added another touchdown on a 2-yard fumble return as time ran out to give Morgan State a 34-24 victory in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference game Saturday before an announced 14,312 at Hughes Stadium.
Morgan State coach Donald Hill-Eley liked how his team overcame adversity on the last drive.
BALTIMORE, MD -- Delaware State has struggled all season when it comes to stopping the opponent in the fourth quarter. Saturday saw that problem reach a new extreme. With time winding down, Morgan State overcame a fourth-and-10 from its own 15-yard line and rallied for 13 points in the final 20 seconds to pull off a 34-24 victory in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference game.
"That's why you have to play for every snap that's required in a football game," DSU head coach Al Lavan said. "It's not a mystery as to what happened. It's very clear as to what happened -- we didn't make enough plays when we were given the opportunity to."
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huevoicesdotcom captures sights and sounds from Morgan State's 2010 Homecoming game. Check out Bobby Marvin's blog site at:http://www.huevoices.com huevoicesdotcom is a blog that provides news,one on one interviews, features, and commentary on the African-American community of Baltimore and Washington, D.C.
DOVER, DE -- There is no class at Delaware State that can teach its football team how to finish games. That, according to Hornets coach Al Lavan, has to be learned through difficult lessons. Those lessons don't get much more painful than DSU's 34-24 loss at Morgan State last Saturday, when the Hornets allowed 13 points in the final 20 seconds of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference game.
