Alabama A&M on the road to Tuskegee

HUNTSVILLE -- It will be a quick turnaround this week for Head Coach James Spady and the Alabama A&M football team.

The Bulldogs travel to Tuskegee for a 1 p.m. game Saturday with the Golden Tigers.

They lost Sunday 47-13 to North Carolina A&T in the 10th annual MEAC-SWAC Challenge in Orlando, FL.

Monday was an off day for the Bulldogs (0-1) who will be playing five straight road games to open the season. Saturday's game is the season opener for Tuskegee.

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Jackson State hopes to avoid another Hail Mary situation

JACKSON, Mississippi -- Jackson State's first win was, indeed, memorable.

But coach Harold Jackson doesn't want another dose of it, more so, for the play of events that forced the Tigers to turn to a Hail Mary.

"This is a game I never want to get involved with against," Jackson said in Monday's weekly teleconference. "We had the opportunity to win this ball game without a Hail Mary but unfortunately we didn't do what we had to do to take care of business."

JSU (1-0) is coming off a season-opening 22-17 win over Florida A&M, thanks to a 50-yard, Hail Mary touchdown with 1.6 seconds left.

As his team prepares to host Virginia-Lynchburg (0-1) on Saturday, Jackson said it'll devote about 10 minutes every practice this week in the red zone; the Tigers scored only one touchdown after five trips inside the 20-yard line.

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Two Former N.C. A&T Aggies Make NFL Practice Squads

GREENSBORO – Two North Carolina A&T Aggies from the 2013 football team made NFL practice squads, which were announced by the respective teams on Tuesday.

Former Aggies right tackle Nathan Isles is member of the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks practice squad, while former Aggies cornerback Ayodeji Olatoye made the Baltimore Ravens practice squad. Both men signed as undrafted free agents.

Isles (6-5, 324, Atlanta, Ga.) came to North Carolina A&T to play defensive line. By his sophomore season he was a fixture on the Aggies offensive line at right tackle. He helped Mike Mayhew lead the conference in rushing in 2011 and assisted Tarik Cohen in doing the same in 2013. Isles played more than 1,500 snaps, started 31 games (two as a defensive tackle) and made 42 appearances.

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Week 2: HBCU Football Schedule

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THURSDAY, Sept. 4 (All Game Times Shown in Eastern Time Zone)

CIAA
Livingstone College at Millersville (Pa.), 6 PM
Cheyney at Lincoln (Pa.), Battle of the First, 7 PM 

SIAC

Kentucky Wesleyan College at Kentucky State. 7:00 PM

Paine at Shorter 7:30 PM

SWAC
Texas College(0-0)  at Texas Southern (1-0), 8:30 PM

SATURDAY, Sept. 6

The Missouri Classic at Arrowhead Stadium
Langston (Ok) vs. Lincoln (Mo) at Kansas City, Missouri,  3 PM 

CIAA
Siena Heights at Virginia Union, 12 PM
Saint Augustine's at Indiana (Pa.) 12 PM
Johnson C. Smith (0-0) at Charlotte (1-0), 12 PM, TV: American Sports Network Broadcast @ Charlotte
Virginia State at California (Pa), 1 PM
Saint Anselm at Bowie State, 1 PM
Elizabeth City State (0-0) at North Carolina Central (0-1), 5 PM
UNC Pembroke at Winston-Salem State, 6 PM
Fayetteville State at Chowan U., 7 PM
Shaw at Miles, 7 PM


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SIAC

Alabama A&M (0-1) at Tuskegee (0-0), 1 PM

Clark Atlanta at Central State (Ohio), 1:30 PM

Benedict (0-1) at Lane (0-0), 2 PM

Delta State at Fort Valley State, 2 PM

West Alabama at Stillman, 3 PM

Albany State at Valdosta State, 7 PM

Morehouse (0-0) at Edward Waters (0-1), 7 PM

Shaw at Miles, 7 PM

SWAC
Alabama A&M (0-1) at Tuskegee (0-0), 2 PM
Tennessee State (1-0) at Alabama State (0-1), 5 PM  TV: ASPIRE NETWORK
Alcorn State (1-0) at Southern Mississippi (0-1), 7 PM,
Virginia University Lynchburg (0-1) at Jackson State (1-0), 7 PM
Concordia College (0-0) at Arkansas Pine Bluff (0-1), 7 PM
Central Methodist (0-0) at Southern U. (0-1), 7 PM
Mississippi Valley (1-0) at Illinois State (0-0), 7:30 PM
Grambling State (0-1) at Houston (0-1), 8 PM

OVC
Tennessee State (1-0) at Alabama State (0-1), 5 PM  TV: ASPIRE NETWORK

MEAC
Bethune-Cookman  (1-0) (Bye Week)
Howard (0-1) at Rutgers (1-0), 12 PM, TV: Big Ten Network
South Carolina State (1-0) at Clemson (0-1), 12:30 PM, Gameplan/ESPN3
Morgan State (0-1) at Holy Cross (0-1), 1 PM
Liberty (0-1) at Norfolk State (0-1), 4 PM
Elizabeth City State (0-0) at North Carolina Central (0-1), 5 PM
Delaware State (0-1) at Delaware (0-1), 6 PM
William and Mary (0-1) at Hampton (0-1), 6 PM
Savannah State (0-1) at Georgia Southern (0-1), 6 PM, ESPN3
Coastal Carolina (1-0) at North Carolina A&T (1-0) 6 PM
Florida A&M (0-1) at Miami (Fla.) (0-0), 7 PM, ESPN3

NCAA Division II Football Season Opens on Thursday


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Former Alabama State Hornets Make NFL Rosters

MONTGOMERY, Alabama -- Two former Alabama State University Hornets have been named to the 53-man rosters for the start of the 2014 National Football League (NFL) season.

Tarvaris Jackson will enter his ninth season in the NFL and will once again be a member of the reigning Super Bowl Champions, Seattle Seahawks.

Former All-SWAC running back Isaiah Crowell will be on the Cleveland Browns roster as the season begins. The undrafted Crowell helped his cause by rushing for over 100 yards in the final preseason game for the Browns.

Greg Jenkins, who played last season for the Oakland Raiders, has been placed on the Raiders Injured/Reserve list after suffering an injury late in camp.

Terren Jones who was in camp with the Falcons once again this season, did not make it through the final cut down to the 53-man roster. Jones had suffered a concussion during camp which caused him to miss some practice time, hindering his chances of making the team.

COURTESY ALABAMA STATE UNIVERSITY ATHLETIC MEDIA RELATIONS

WSSU's Fields lands on Tampa Bay's practice squad

TAMPA BAY, Florida -- Carlos Fields, a former linebacker at Winston-Salem State, has been added to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers practice squad.

Fields, 6-1 and 240 pounds, was the two-time defensive player of the year in the CIAA. He had been in camp with the Oakland Raiders after signing in May as a free agent rookie but was among the final cuts on Saturday.

Fields, a four-year starter for the Rams from Henderson, was in on seven tackles during his three preseason games with the Raiders.

“I didn’t have a chance to make the Raiders’ practice squad but I was offered to get on the practice squad of Kansas City or Seattle but I just thought that Tampa was the best fit for me,” Fields said by telephone after his first practice in Tampa on Monday afternoon.

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SWAC Announces Football Student-Athletes of the Week

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama  --  The Southwestern Athletic Conference announced the football student-athletes of the week Monday afternoon.  After earning the dramatic 22-17 win over Florida A&M University Saturday night, the Jackson State Tigers took home three of the four weekly awards.

Sophomore LaMontiez Ivy (East St. Louis, Ill.) was named offensive athlete of the week, junior Ryan Deising (Nashville, Tenn./Pearl-Cohn) specialist of the week, and junior Robert Porter (Roseville, Mich./Northland College) earned newcomer of the week.  Alabama State’s Torrey Davis (Fayetteville, Ga./Fayette County) was named defensive athlete of the week.

Ivy led Jackson State to the first win of the Harold Jackson era on a 49-yard Hail Mary to DeSean McKenzie with one second left in the game.  He completed 25 of 42 passes for a game-high 269 yards.  Ivy also picked up 15 rushing yards in the win and connected with nine different receivers during the game.

Davis made the first start of his collegiate career and finished the game with a career-high 13 tackles, eight solo, against 16^th ranked Sam Houston State.  The redshirt sophomore also forced a fumble and recorded a sack and two tackles behind the line for a total loss 14 yards.

Deising made three of four field goal attempts and went 1-for-1 in extra point kicks, scoring 10 of Jackson State’s 22 points against FAMU.

And Porter recorded seven tackles, four solo, to earn newcomer of the week.  He also had a pass breakup in the Tigers win.

COURTESY SOUTHWESTERN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE MEDIA RELATIONS