Five storylines may determine SCSU’s season

HEAD COACH BUDDY POUGH

ORANGEBURG, South Carolina  --  The 106th preseason camp could not arrive soon enough for the South Carolina State football team.

With players reporting today for the start of practice Saturday at 9:30 a.m., the focus can finally turn away from last year’s 5-6 record. The first losing season in 12 years and first under head coach Buddy Pough prompted various staff changes and a return to the program’s roots in terms of a recommitment to the running game.

Heading into the Aug. 31 season opener at home against Coastal Carolina, the Bulldogs find themselves with more questions than immediate answers. Here are five potential storylines which could play themselves out this year.

1. Aberration or trend?
Not since the 3-8 season of 2000 had a Bulldogs’ team finished under .500. It happened for the first time in the Buddy Pough era as a combination of factors from offensive struggles, a formidable schedule which included two Top 25 Football Bowl Subdivision teams (one of whom in Texas A&M was led by eventual Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel) and hectic travel both in MEAC and non-conference games proved too daunting to overcome.

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SSU gets early start, puts in new offense

SAVANNAH, Georgia -- As the clock struck midnight welcoming a new day in a damp Savannah summer, Earnest Wilson III and his Savannah State Tigers were working to create a new day, and era, in Savannah State football.

Wilson, in his first season as the head coach of the Tigers, began his first full practice at midnight on Thursday. The Tigers enter 2013 off of three straight 1-10 seasons.

Why did he do it?

“I just thought it would be a change of pace for the young men — something fun,” he said Thursday afternoon. “When we got going, we actually enjoyed it. Everyone was saying how fun it was. We wish we had more fans out there to watch it.”

Senior wide receiver Simon Heyward, who was the only Tiger selected to the 2013 MEAC All-Conference first team agreed.

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The History behind "TSU We Run the 90's "

HOUSTON, Texas  -- It wasn't that long ago that a team from what some would consider a small historically black university in Houston started to gain national attention. The following video segment takes an in depth look at the Texas Southern University men's basketball team under the direction of Robert Moreland in the 90's.



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Southern football team takes first step toward season

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana  --  There soon will be all sorts of signs that football is back at Southern.

Coach Dawson Odums will be wearing the sweatshirt he sports every August to make sure he sweats as much as his players.

Quarterback Dray Joseph will be throwing darts to Lee Doss on third-down crossing routes.

A crowd of fans — the same usual faces — will be gathered to watch the Jaguars practice.
“In their spot over there by the tree, right there between the Subway and the practice field,” Odums said.
T
he scene Wednesday was the surest sign yet that football is back: droves of burly young men in T-shirts and shorts toting appliances into their Southern dorm rooms.

On the day before they would hit the practice field for the first time, the Jaguars welcomed 95 players who ...

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Southern notebook: Jaguars have strength in numbers

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana --  Most of the players who checked in Wednesday at Southern didn’t have much catching up to do.

First-year coach Dawson Odums said more than 70 of the 95 players who reported for fall camp were active members of Southern’s conditioning and weight program this summer. Odums said the number was in the 20s last year.

“I’m excited about it,” Odums said. “I think it creates a lot of excitement for our football program and really gives us a chance to create some continuity with all those guys having been here this summer.”

Odums said he believes the increase in participation will show when Southern conducts conditioning tests Thursday morning. Quarterback Dray Joseph said he thinks it will show on game day as well.

“When you get on the field and it’s fourth-and-1 and you see that player that you worked out with all summer, you understand you have been there before and you’re grinding together,” he said. “So let’s get it done.”

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Two Alabama State kickoff times changed

MONTGOMERY, Alabama  --  In the world of television, everything is subject to change.

 

A pair of Alabama State kickoff times for the 2013 season have been altered to accommodate broadcast schedules. 

 

The Hornets' (7-4, 7-2) Sept. 7th meeting on the road against last year's SWAC runner-up Jackson State (Miss.) has been moved up to 5 p.m. and their tilt at reigning league champion Arkansas-Pine Bluff the following week will get going at 4 p.m., according to a release sent out by the school. 

 

Each of those contests will be shown live on ESPN3 and broadcasted on tape delay at 9:30 p.m. the same day. 

 

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Tennessee State Tigers Set to Open Fall Camp on Aug. 5

NASHVILLE, Tennessee -- Monday Aug.5 will mark the first day of fall camp for the Tennessee State football team. All practices are scheduled to be held at Hale Stadium and are open to the public.

The first week of practices will run from 6-8 a.m. and the squad will start in just helmets but progress to full pads by the following week on Aug. 12.

Fall camp will kick off the Tigers’ 2013 campaign, a year removed from their most successful season since 2001 (8-3). Despite the team’s success from a year ago, this year’s club feels it still has a lot to prove to get into the National Playoff picture.

TSU was recently pegged to finish third in the Ohio Valley Conference and seven Tigers were named to the league’s All-Preseason Team. Included on that list was cornerback Stephen Godbolt III who was also named the conference’s Preseason Defensive Player of the Year.

Fall camp will mark the first time that the entire team will be together since spring practices and will serve as the first opportunity for Big Blue’s No. 1 Ranked HBCU recruiting class to back up its distinction.

TSUTigers.com will be providing updates from camp up until the Tigers’ first contest on Sept. 1 in the John Merritt Classic against Bethune-Cookman.

Tentative Fall Practice Schedule (all times a.m. unless otherwise noted):
MONDAY, AUGUST 5, 2013 - 6:00-8:00  PRACTICE #1 (HELMETS)
TUESDAY, AUGUST 6, 2013 - 6:00-8:00  PRACTICE #2 (HELMETS)
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 7, 2013 - 6:00-8:00 PRACTICE #3 (SHELLS)
THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 2013 - 6:00-8:00 PRACTICE #4 (SHELLS)
FRIDAY, AUGUST 9, 2013 - 6:00-8:00 PRACTICE #5 (SHELLS)
SATURDAY, AUGUST 10, 2013 - 7:30-9:30 PRACTICE #6 (SHELLS)
MONDAY, AUGUST 12, 2013 - 9:15-11:30 PRACTICE #8 (FULL)
TUESDAY, AUGUST 13, 2013 - 7:30-9:30 PRACTICE #9 (FULL)
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2013 - 9:15-11:30 PRACTICE #11 (FULL)
THURSDAY, AUGUST 15, 2013 - 7:30-9:30 PRACTICE #12 (FULL)
FRIDAY, AUGUST 16, 2013 - 9:15-11:30 PRACTICE #14 (FULL)
SATURDAY, AUGUST 17, 2013 - 7:30-9:30 PRACTICE #15 (FULL)
MONDAY, AUGUST 19, 2013 - 9:15-11:30 PRACTICE #17 (FULL)    
TUESDAY, AUGUST 20, 2013 - 5:45-7:45 (P.M.) PRACTICE #19(FULL)
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013 - 9:15-11:30 PRACTICE #20 (FULL)
THURSDAY, AUGUST 22, 2013 - 5:45-7:45 (P.M.) PRACTICE #22 (FULL)
FRIDAY, AUGUST 23, 2013 - 8:00-10:00 PRACTICE #23 (FULL)
SATURDAY, AUGUST 24, 2013 - 4:00-6:00 (P.M.) PRACTICE #24 (FULL)



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