Bowie State, Benedict Tigers Live on CBS Sports Network

BOWIE, Maryland - The NCAA Division II and CBS Sports Network have announced their 2012 regular-season football television schedule and Bowie State University will hit the airwaves first on Thursday (September 6th) on the road at Benedict College at 8 pm.  Bowie State defeated Benedict last season (31-14) on the Bulldogs' home field in the inagural contest.

The Benedict Tigers are a member of Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC).

Division II Vice President Mike Racy said the program, now in its seventh year, has been good for the participating institutions and Division II in general.

“This will be the seventh season of Division II regular-season coverage on CBS Sports Network,” Racy said. “After this year, national telecasts will have originated from 35 different Division II football stadiums, and about 25 percent of our football-playing members will have had regular-season national television exposure. It's been great for the division, and the schools say it's also been valuable for them.”

This will be the first appearance on the CBS Sports Network series for eight institutions in football or basketball.

After the Bowie State / Benedict contest, the series will include  five conference matchups, including a Sept. 13 game between Texas A&M-Commerce and Midwestern State. That contest will be part of a Lone Star Football Festival – a three-day, six-game event at Cowboy Stadium that will include all nine LSC teams.

The remaining matchups include: Truman State at Central Missouri (Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association), Sept. 20. This will be the only 2012 football matchup between founding members of the MIAA, which will be celebrating its 100th anniversary.

Wingate at Carson-Newman (South Atlantic Conference), Sept. 27. Carson-Newman is a three-time Division II finalist.  Wayne State (Mich.) at Saginaw Valley State (Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference), Oct. 11. Wayne State lost to Pittsburg State in the 2011 championship game. New Haven at Stonehill (Northeast-10 Conference), Oct. 18. New Haven received a first-round bye in last year's Division II championship playoffs.

2012 BSU BULLDOGS FOOTBALL SCHEDULE

COURTESY BOWIE STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

Southern gets important paycheck, exposure for New Mexico game

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana - Asked how competitive his team can be against the Football Bowl Subdivision’s New Mexico Lobos in the season opener, Southern coach Stump Mitchell made his feelings clear.

“We’re not just going up there to collect a paycheck,” Mitchell said. “We’re going up there to try to get win No. 1.” But the paycheck will sure be nice.

For making the trip out to Albuquerque, N.M., the Jaguars will receive a guarantee of $350,000 — a sum that goes a long way toward boosting the SU athletics budget. In total, the school will receive a little more than $1.1 million between the New Mexico game, a guarantee from the Atlanta Football Classic against Florida A&M and ticket revenue from the Bayou Classic against Grambling.

Altogether, that amounts to more than 13 percent of Southern’s projected athletics revenues.

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MSU will look to unleash passing attack on Jackson State

STARKVILLE, Mississippi - Mississippi State University football coach Dan Mullen says the winning formula for his football team won't change.

However, with four senior starting wide receivers and a former Parade All-American -- junior Tyler Russell -- at quarterback, the prevailing thought is MSU will become a pass-first football offense. MSU's season opener at 6 p.m. Saturday (Fox Sports South) against Jackson State University should give Mullen and his assistant coaches an opportunity to define the personality of the offense again.

"Our personality is never going to change," Mullen said. "We want to run the football and be a very physical team, but the expectations the guys have in themselves of making plays in the passing game can make you a more explosive offense."

In Mullen's first three years at MSU, his offense has averaged at least 175.3 yards rushing per season. It also has had a passing game without experienced receivers and quarterbacks who are true pocket passers.

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D.J. Williams out to make his own name at Grambling

SHREVEPORT, Louisiana - When D.J. Williams lined up under center at Independence Stadium last September, he found himself in the worst position possible.

Williams was a quarterback with too many thoughts running through his head, most of them relating to his coach and father, legendary Grambling quarterback Doug Williams.

“Going into my first game, I’m like, ‘I wonder how many passes my dad threw in his first game?’” D.J. Williams said. “All kind of stuff like that. It was just bad for me. It should never have gone that way. That wasn’t a good way to go.”

As Grambling lurched to a 1-3 start, things got worse for the younger Williams. In addition to battling a turf toe injury, he found himself on the bench as Frank Rivers helped rally the Tigers.

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GSU opens against Alcorn

SHREVEPORT, Louisiana - Alcorn State's Jay Hopson said he has fielded "8,000 questions" regarding his becoming the SWAC's first white football coach this summer.  Grambling's Doug Williams, whose Tigers open the season against the Braves, can empathize.

Williams is still answering questions about his place in history as the first black quarterback to play in and only black quarterback to win a Super Bowl with the Washington Redskins' 42-10 victory Jan. 31, 1988.

Hopson in particular downplayed the importance of his own race-related distinction, but both men understand the interest in their respective roles.

"That's the great thing about football is football's not a political game," the Alcorn State coach said. "We're just gonna try to do what we came here to do and do everything in our power to build a successful program."


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Howard University marching band prepares for annual football classic

WASHINGTON, D.C. - On Saturday, RFK Stadium will be filled with thunderous cheers as the Howard University Bison and the Morehouse College Maroon Tigers take the field for the annual AT&T Nation’s Football Classic.

The decibel level is unlikely to subside when the linemen and running backs jog off at halftime. The reason: Howard’s famed Showtime Marching Band.

The band’s 110 members — helped along by a dozen Ooh La La! Dancers, an eight-person Flashy Flag Squad and one hyper-dynamic drum major — will strut, high-step and slip-and-slide between notes and syncopated drum beats.

“The marching band is another aspect of the football game,” says John Newson, director of bands for Howard University. “It’s not only about playing music, but entertaining the audience and motivating the football team.”

Photo Gallery

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ATTNFC website: www.NationsFootballClassic.com
ATTNFC Twitter: @NationsClassic
ATTNFC Facebook: www.Facebook.com/NationsFootballClassic
Howard University website: www.howard.edu
Morehouse College website: www.morehouse.edu

About the AT&T Nation's Football Classic™

The AT&T Nation's Football Classic™ is a black college football game held annually at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C. This year, the game features Howard University against Morehouse College.

Organized by Events DC, the AT&T Nation's Football Classic™ was created to celebrate the passion and tradition of the college football experience, recognize the

history of service to others by the students, faculty and alumni of historically black colleges and universities, highlight the unity of African American culture, and honor the heritage and excellence of these proud institutions.

Tickets for the AT&T Nation’s Football Classic™ are on sale now at Ticketmaster.com, Ticketmaster outlets, the Howard University Box Office at Cramton Auditorium and the Morehouse College Bookstore. Seats are priced $25 to $50.

Georgia State pounded in opener by MEAC powerhouse S.C.State, as growing pains continue

SCSU BULLDOGS POUND GEORGIA STATE 33-6 IN THE DOME.

ATLANTA, Georgia - If you haven’t kept up on the uniquely metamorphosing Georgia State football program, it goes something like this:

The Panthers started playing games in 2010. Their first schedule of Colonial Athletic Association games is this season (Year 3). But they’re not eligible for the CAA championship because they’ve already decided to jump to the Sun Belt. The NCAA’s mandated two-year transition to FBS means they can’t compete for championships or bowls until 2014 — not that it was realistic anyway — which effectively means they will have played four years of exhibition games (45) by the end of 2013.

And you thought the NFL preseason was long.

There’s an obvious advantage to this: New programs typically get beat up, and Georgia State has been no exception to this. So this extended stretch of unofficial-ness allows Georgia State athletic director Cheryl Levick to tell prospective donors, “Don’t worry, it’s just growing pains. Just wait until the games really count. Would you like another shrimp?”

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