Hampton U football preview: Breaking down players, storylines and games to watch

HAMPTON, Virginia -- THE COACH

CONNELL MAYNOR

Seventh year (54-20, 9-14 in two seasons at HU).

After being hired from Winston-Salem State, Maynor went 3-9 in his first season. That should put last year's 6-5 record, the program's first winning season since 2011, in better perspective. After losing 24 seniors, Maynor had to bring in more than a dozen transfers, including nine from FBS programs. Many of them could turn out to be starters.

THE STANDOUTS

T.J. Mixson

Sr. | 5-10 | 166 | WR

He goes into his final season with 140 catches for 2,171 yards and 19 TDs. That's fourth, fifth and sixth on the school's all-time list. All he needs to break all three marks are 50 receptions, 920 yards, and four TDs. A great season, to be sure, but each category would be a drop-off from his junior year (59 catches, 1,027 yards, 9 TDs).

Chaka Diarrassouba

Jr. | 6-0 | 188 | DB

With seven of the top eight tacklers from last season gone, he's the top returner with 42 stops and a blocked a field-goal attempt. He had eight tackles twice and seven in two other games. His most productive day came against Morgan State (seven tackles and an interception).

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Kellenberger: Predicting the football season

JACKSON, Mississippi -- Brandon Bryant has eight career starts. Breeland Speaks has two. Tony Hughes has never been a head coach before. Jay Hopson has never been a head coach at a FBS-level school.

Yet these are the men that are on the front of this year’s The Clarion-Ledger college football preview because they represent the future. We’ll always remember 2014, and 2015 was pretty great with Ole Miss winning a Sugar Bowl, Southern Miss and Alcorn State both taking home conference titles and Mississippi State sending out Dak Prescott with nine wins.

But it’s 2016 now, and it’s time for something new. It’s time for who is next.

That does not mean we’re predicting a slide. Quite the opposite, actually. It’s our opinion that there’s no outside forces preventing Ole Miss and Mississippi State from continuing to win in the vaunted SEC West, and why should Southern Miss not continue to score at will against most of Conference USA? Hughes was the best hire Jackson State could have possibly made, and those games against Alcorn State should be contentious, meaningful and fun as hell to watch.

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Experienced ASU Hornets try to take step toward SWAC title

MONTGOMERY, Alabama -- FOUR-DOWN TERRITORY

1. Welcome back: Alabama State begins the second season of the Brian Jenkins era with reasonably higher expectations. The Hornets were picked to finish second in the SWAC East behind defending SWAC champion Alcorn State. ASU return 17 starters from a season that was defined by resiliency. “Experience helps to build the team,” said lineman Kerry Williams, a three-year starter. “We’ve played together for a number of years so we all know each other. There will be nothing new to us.”

2. Ready to run: The Hornets have rushed for more than 2,000 yards as a team each of the last three seasons. Last season, ASU was fifth in the SWAC with an average of 182.3 rushing yards per game. Senior Khalid Thomas (720 rush yards and five touchdowns last season) returns to lead the backfield, but may have to shoulder even more of the load early as sophomore Alex Anderson, the second-leading rusher for the Hornets last season, is currently nursing a leg injury.



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Previewing SWAC Football

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JACKSON, Mississippi -- his article is part of the 2016 ClarionLedger.com College Football Preview. To find out why first-year coach Tony Hughes is the man to lead Jackson State, click here. Defensive end Javancy Jones wants to return to the SWAC title game during his senior season, click here.  Quarterback LaMontiez Ivy is out to prove he’s a winner, click here.  A pair of guys from “Last Chance U” have provided a boost to the JSU defense, click here. To find out how the Tigers’ schedule shapes up, click here.  And you can read more about Mississippi Valley State and Alcorn State.

Coach with the toughest job

Rick Comegy, Mississippi Valley State: Comegy is working with a lot less resources than most of the conference’s other coaches. The Delta Devils are starting to build some talent, but went 1-10 last season and were picked to finish last in the East Division this year.

Newcomers to watch

Darius Floyd, Prairie View A&M, WR: The 5-foot-10, 175-pound redshirt junior should be a nice receiving target for Panthers quarterback Trey Green, who is one of the better quarterbacks in the conference.



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Gimme Some Mo Blue and Gold Marching Machine ... North Carolina A&T State University Blows Open the 2016 Band Season

Here it is, the first field show of the 2016 marching season! The band salutes various female artists at "The Battle for the Crown" in Greenville, SC., Aug. 20, 2016.






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THE BGMM MEDIA TEAM: FOLLOW THE AGGIES AT Thomas L. Jones, Jr.

Winning the new normal for MEAC favorite N.C. A&T Aggies

GREENSBORO, North Carolina -- The rebuilding project is officially over at A&T.

Now it’s just building.

The Aggies will open their football season at 6 p.m. Saturday at home against Division II St. Augustine’s.

It’s a season full of hope for A&T, which has shared the MEAC championship two years in a row and won the inaugural Celebration Bowl in December.

This year’s seniors — even the fifth-year redshirt players — have never experienced a losing season at A&T. Not one.

Let that sink in.

The Aggies are 33-13 (.717) the last four seasons. A&T had losing records in nine of the previous 10 seasons, going a combined 34-80 (.298).

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Southern notebook: Few surprises as Jaguars release Week 1 depth chart

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana -- Southern released its first updated depth chart since the start of preseason camp, and while it mostly held true to the units the Jaguars ran out to the practice field, there were a couple of interesting notes.

Senior defensive back Rhaheim Ledbetter was not listed on the depth chart at all. Ledbetter missed all of last season because of eligibility issues but is considered to be a key component of this year’s secondary.

Three true freshmen appear on the two-deep, with one — Southern Lab graduate Curtlan Williams — penciled in as a starter.

Freshman Jerimiah Williams is listed as the top backup at both guard positions, and Kaycee Ntukogu is listed as Blake Monroe’s backup at the rover position.

Redshirt freshman Mason Sims won the camp battle with junior college transfer Christian Rodriguez to be the starting left tackle.

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