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November 2008
Tuskegee’s streak snapped by rival Alabama State
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Tuskegee had its 26-game winning streak ended Thursday in a 17-13 loss to rival Alabama State in the Turkey Day Classic in Montogmery.
The Golden Tigers hadn’t lost since October 2006 and was within a game of completing back-to-back unbeaten seasons. The win salvaged an otherwise down year for the Hornets (3-8), who won for the first time in the last four years of the longstanding Thanksgiving Day matchup.
Tuskegee, the champion of the SIAC and the top-ranked team in the Sheridan Broadcast Network black college poll, defeated Alabama A&M of the SWAC earlier this season, but lost Thursday to a team near the bottom of its division in the SWAC. Was the loss an indicator that Tuskegee of Division II can’t compete with the big boys of the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly I-AA) or was it a case of a rival stepping up to defeat another rival, regardless of classification?
Let me know what you think.
Editor’s Note: For the latest news and notes on Black College football, click here and visit the AJC’s HBCU football page.
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Looking ahead to Classics, playoffs
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Let’s take a quick look at this weekend’s games as the Black College football season gets closer to the end:
Turkey Day Classic, Thursday, Montgomery, Ala.: What else is there to stay about Tuskegee that hasn’t been said? The Golden Tigers haven’t lost in more than two years, dominated the SIAC on the field and on the all-conference team and are poised to get another win over a team from the SWAC.
On the other hand, Alabama State, which has lost eight of its 10 games this season, knows that it’s in a great position to salvage its season and break Tuskegee’s winning streak. After all, Tuskegee was unbeaten last year heading into the game, but the teams went into four overtimes before the Golden Tigers prevailed 64-58.
Bayou Classic, Saturday, New Orleans: If Grambling wins, it advances to the SWAC title game on Dec. 13. If Southern wins, there will be a coin flip to see if Southern, Grambling or Prairie View advances to the title game. Confused? Not as confused as others will be if Southern wins on Saturday.
FCS playoffs, Saturday, Boone, N.C.: South Carolina State didn’t get the best draw in the world for its first-round playoff matchup - three-time defending national champion Appalachian State on the road. And it doesn’t help that Appalachian State has won 44 of its last 45 games at home.
But Appalachian State has much respect for the Bulldogs, calling them a ‘huge challenge’ and taking notice of their three straight shutouts to end the regular season.
Editor’s Note: To continue this conversation, join Leo Willingham’s most recent blog by clicking here.
S.C. State headed to FCS playoffs
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
South Carolina State earned its first Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA) playoff berth in 26 years by winning the MEAC title with an unbeaten conference record.
Next up for the Bulldogs — three-time defending national champion Appalachian State.
The Bulldogs will travel to Boone, N.C. Saturday for a first-round matchup against the Mountaineers, the same Mountaineer squad that won at Michigan in the 2007 season opener.
“They beat Michigan, they won three straight (titles) … who wouldn’t know App. State?”, S.C. State linebacker Marshall McFadden told the Orangeburg (S.C.) Times and Democrat. McFadden added, “They give us the opportunity to let them now know who we are … now they will know Will Ford, Raymond Harrison and Marshall McFadden.”
Strong finish not enough for FAMU: The Rattlers hoped their strong finish would earn an at-large berth to the FCS playoffs, but it wasn’t enough.
Despite a 9-3 record, including three lopsided wins to end the season, FAMU wasn’t one of the 16 teams selected for the playoffs.
“I told the fellows that this year we knocked on the door and next year we will knock it down,” FAMU coach Joe Taylor told the Tallahassee Democrat. “We had a really great season.”
Two sides to every story: Check out what each side had to say about FAMU’s 58-35 victory over rival Bethune-Cookman in the Florida Classic.
FAMU lineman Anthony Collins said the team dominated by playing “old-fashioned football” while Bethune-Cookman QB McKinson Souverain, who had four of his team’s six lost fumbles, summed up the loss by saying, “You can’t turn the ball over like that and expect to win against any team.”
Editor’s Note: For the latest news and notes on Black College football, click here and visit the AJC’s HBCU football page.
Bayou Classic big for many reasons
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
For those who didn’t think the Bayou Classic could get any bigger than it already is, next week’s showdown will be really big.
Here’s what at stake when Grambling and Southern meet at the Louisiana Superdome:
• A victory by Grambling would clinch the SWAC Western Division title and a berth in the Dec. 13 conference championship game against Jackson State.
• A victory by Southern would force a three-way tie between Grambling, Southern and Prairie View atop the Western Division.
For Grambling, it’s simple - win and it advances to the SWAC title game. Lose and it will have its fate decided by a coin flip.
The Tigers remained unbeaten in SWAC play with an impressive 33-7 victory over Texas Southern Thursday. The defense was the key, scoring three touchdowns and holding the Texas Southern offense, playing without injured starting QB Bobby Reid, to 101 total yards.
“This gives us nine wins for the football team, a good accomplishment,” Grambling coach Rod Broadway told the News-Star of Monroe, La. “Now, we turn our attention to the Bayou Classic. Hopefully, we go down there and play well.”
Florida Classic on ESPN Classic: Saturday’s Florida Classic featuring Bethune-Cookman and Florida A&M will be shown live on ESPN Classic. The game will kickoff at 2 p.m. at the Florida Citrus Bowl in Orlando.
Capital City Classic: Jackson State will have its final tuneup before the SWAC title game when it faces Alcorn State in the Capital City Classic in Jackson, MS.
Weekend predictions
Winner/Loser
Delaware State/Howard
Florida A&M/Bethune Cookman
Jackson State/Alcorn State
Morgan State/Hampton
Miss. Valley/Alabama A&M
Savannah State/N.C. Central
S.C. State/North Carolina A&T
Tennessee State/Murray State
Winston-Salem State/Norfolk State
Editor’s Note: For the latest news and notes on Black College football, click here and visit the AJC’s HBCU football page.
Tuskegee still No. 1, big Classic weekend
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The top five remained unchanged this week in the latest Sheridan Broadcasting Network Black College football poll.
Tuskegee (10-0) maintained its hold on the top spot and will take its 26-game winning streak into the Turkey Day Classic against Alabama State Thanksgiving Day in Montgomery.
South Carolina State (9-2) continued as the No. 2 team and will close out the regular season Saturday at North Carolina A&T. The Bulldogs, who have won seven straight since losing to Clemson, will advance to the playoffs in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly known as Division I-AA) as the champion of the MEAC.
Grambling, Prairie View and Bethune-Cookman round out the top five. Grambling (8-2) can clinch the SWAC Western Division title with a victory over Texas Southern Thursday while Prairie View (9-1), currently second behind Grambling in the West, needs the Tigers to lose against Texas Southern and Southern to advance to the SWAC title game.
Southern, Tennessee State, Shaw, Florida A&M and Jackson State are ranked sixth through 10th respectively.
It’s time for the Florida Classic: The Florida Citrus Bowl in Orlando will be the site of the 29th Florida Classic featuring Bethune-Cookman and Florida A&M Saturday. The teams have split the last four games in the Classic, Bethune-Cookman winning in 2004 and last year and FAMU prevailing in ‘05 and ‘06.
Smiling down on Mississippi: Comedian and syndicated radio host Rickey Smiley will be one of the featured attractions during the weekend-long Capital City Classic in Jackson, MS. Saturday’s game will feature the Jackson State Tigers, the reigning SWAC champions, against Alcorn State.
Editor’s Note: For the latest news and notes on Black College football, click here and visit the AJC’s HBCU football page.
FAMU struts its stuff for ESPN
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Florida A&M fans turned out in big numbers Saturday as ESPN’s popular GameDay show was broadcast live from the Tallahassee campus.
When predicting the winner of the game, Lee Corso donned the hat of the Rattler Venon mascot as seen in a photo on the Tallahassee Democrat website. As for the game, Corso got it right as the Rattlers rebounded from an early 10-0 deficit to roll to a 45-24 victory and give Hampton its fourth straight loss.
Albany State falls in Division II playoffs: The Rams lost in the first round of the Division II playoffs for the third consecutive year, but the 34-22 loss to Tusculum might be remembered as the most frustrating of the three.
The Rams were the dominant team, holding the lead for most of the game until a key roughing-the-punter penalty turned the tide. Tusculum responded with a pair of TDs in the final four minutes for the victory.
“I think it was a huge momentum swing,” Albany State coach Mike White was quoted as saying in a story in Sunday’s Albany Herald. “I thought we had control, and that time we were in what we call ‘punt safe.’ You just don’t expect that to happen, but sometimes it does. What a bad time for it to happen.”
SWAC update: Defending conference champion Jackson State clinched the Eastern Division title Saturday with its 37-21 victory over Alabama A&M. The Tigers will defend their title Dec. 13 in the SWAC championship game against one of two teams from the Western Division - Grambling, the current division leader which has an unbeaten conference record with two games remaining, or second-place Prairie View, which finished its regular season with a 6-1 conference record (9-1 overall).
Unfortunately for the Panthers, their one conference loss was a 40-16 thumping at the hands of Grambling, which would have to lose to Texas Southern and Southern for Prairie View to advance.
Complete Black College scoreboard (courtesy of Onnidan)
Arkansas-Pine Bluff 34, Miss Valley State 0
Bethune-Cookman 14, Howard 12
Charleston Southern 48, Edward Waters 6
Delaware State 34, Norfolk State 28
Florida A&M 45, Hampton 24
Jackson State 37, Alabama A&M 21
Jacksonville State 26, Tennessee State 21
Langston 28, Bacone 9
N.C. Central 23, Winston-Salem State 16
NW Oklahoma State 58, Texas College 27
Prairie View A&M 37, Alcorn State 3
Savannah State 24, Webber International 7
Southern 15, Alabama State 0
S.C. State 32, Morgan State 0
Tusculum 34, Albany State 22
All-time Black College football team: A conversation began here on Friday in regards to the All-time Black College football team. Once again, check out the entire team by clicking here and let me know what you think.
Editor’s Note: For the latest news and notes on Black College football, click here and visit the AJC’s HBCU football page.
All-time Black College football team
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
If you had a choice, who would be the quarterback on your all-time Black College football team? What about the coach?
ESPN has compiled an all-time Black College football team with some of the greatest names in HBCU history. Not surprisingly, the quarterback was Doug Williams, the former Grambling star who finished fourth in the Heisman Trophy voting as a senior and later was a Super Bowl MVP for the Washington Redskins.
Here are some other offensive members - RB Walter Payton (Jackson State), WR Jerry Rice (Mississippi Valley), T Art Shell (Maryland State) and G Larry Little (Bethune-Cookman).
What about a defensive line of Willie Davis and Buck Buchanan from Grambling, Too Tall Jones from Tennessee State and Deacon Jones from South Carolina State? The coach? No question it was Eddie Robinson, who spent an astounding 56 years at Grambling.
Check out the entire team by clicking here and let me know what you think. Is there anyone that was omitted who should be on the team? State your case.
For more Black College football news and notes, visit the AJC’s HBCU football page by clicking here.
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ESPN GameDay coming to FAMU
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Watch out FAMU - ESPN will be coming to the yard on Saturday.
The multimedia giant will bring its popular GameDay show to the Florida A&M campus this weekend, the first time the show will broadcast from the campus of an historically black university. The two-hour live broadcast will begin at 10 a.m. and precedes the MEAC showdown between the Rattlers and Hampton scheduled for 1 p.m.
“It is an honor to be the first historically black university to host ESPN’s College GameDay,” FAMU president James H. Ammons said in a release on the MEAC website. “We look forward to having ESPN on our beautiful campus as we take on the Hampton Pirates.”
FAMU is 7-3 overall and 3-3 in the MEAC while Hampton is 5-4, 4-2.
Coaching change at Fort Valley: Deondri Clark has resigned as the Wildcats’ head football coach, but will remain with the university in an administrative capacity. Fort Valley won five of its last six regular-season games, including a 15-6 victory at Stillman last week in the season finale.
Sheridan Black College poll: Here’s the rundown of this week’s poll:
Team/Record
Tuskegee/10-0
South Carolina State/8-2
Grambling State/8-2
Prairie View/8-1
Bethune-Cookman/7-2
Tennessee State/8-2
Southern/5-4
Shaw/8-3
Florida A&M/7-3
Albany State/7-3
Editor’s Note: For the latest news and notes on Black College football, click here and visit the AJC’s HBCU football page.
Things are looking good at Morehouse
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
For those who haven’t been paying attention, Morehouse has turned things around under coach Rich Freeman.
The Maroon Tigers finished their regular season Saturday with a 58-55 overtime victory over Kentucky State. With the win, Morehouse finished with a 6-4 record, securing its second straight winning season.
More importantly, the Maroon Tigers secured second place in the SIAC behind unbeaten Tuskegee. Morehouse, Albany State and Fort Valley each finished with records of 6-3 in the SIAC, but Morehouse defeated Albany and Fort Valley during the regular season.
“We went from tenth place to fourth place last year, now to second,” Freeman said in a story in Sunday’s AJC. “There’s only one more place to go.”
Weekend scores (courtesy of Onnidan)
Albany State 42, Miles 0
Bethune-Cookman 17, Hampton 6 (Game story)
Cal Poly SLO 49, N.C. Central 3
Clarion 41, Cheyney 20
Clark Atlanta 14, Benedict 3 (Game story)
Edward Waters 26, Savannah State 21 (Game story)
Florida A&M 45, North Carolina A&T 7 (Game story)
Fort Valley 15, Stillman 6
Grambling State 28, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 7 (Game story)
Jackson State 20, Alabama State 0
Kentucky Wesleyan 36, Lincoln, Mo. 13
Langston 30, Southern Nazarene 7
Miss. Valley 58, Texas Southern 44
Norfolk State 35, Morgan State 9 (Game story)
Prairie View 24, Alabama A&M 10 (Game story)
St. Joseph’s 30, Central State 7
Shaw 36, Elizabeth City State 7 (Game story)
Tennessee State 45, Eastern Illinois 24 (Game story)
Texas College 31, Concordia 30
Tuskegee 55, Lane 21 (Game story)
West Virginia State 31, West Virginia Wesleyan 24 (OT)
Winston-Salem State 27, Delaware State 26 (Game story)
So, what were your thoughts on last weekend’s games? Let me know what you think.
Editor’s Note: For the latest news and notes on Black College football, click here and visit the AJC’s HBCU football page.
S.C. State continues to dominate
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Apologies everyone for the delay in updating the blog.
As you can probably imagine, it has been an interesting week in this world that we live in. We have witnessed a historic event, an event that supercedes any and everything that has taken place this week in Black College sports.
Back on the field, South Carolina State continued its winning ways Thursday night by giving Howard the beatdown in a 56-0 shutout. How bad was the beating? The Bulldogs led 42-0 at halftime and cruised the rest of the way.
Sheridan Black College Poll: Tuskegee continues to hold the top spot followed by S.C. State in this week’s poll. Here’s the entire poll:
Team/Record
Tuskegee/9-0
South Carolina State/8-2 (including Thursday’s game)
Grambling State/7-2
Prairie View/7-1
Bethune-Cookman/6-2
Tennessee State/7-2
Southern/5-4
Shaw/7-3
Morgan State/6-3
Florida A&M/6-3
Best of the CIAA: The Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) will honor its all-conference teams and its players of the year today in Durham, N.C. (See the all-conference team here). Saturday, the conference championship game will match Eastern Division champ Elizabeth City State against Western Champ Shaw.
Big weekend in the SWAC: Alabama A&M, tied with Jackson State atop the Eastern Division, faces Prairie View in a key interdivisional game. Jackson State plays at Alabama State and will host Alabama A&M next week in a game that will likely decide the Eastern title. In the West, Grambling’s on top and faces 1-8 Arkansas-Pine Bluff this weekend.
This week’s picks: I’ll try my luck at picking some of this weekend’s top Black College games. Let me know what you think, and weigh in with your picks of the week.
Winner/Loser
Albany State/Miles
Clark Atlanta/Benedict
Delaware State/Winston-Salem State
Florida A&M/North Carolina A&T
Fort Valley State/Stillman
Grambling/Arkansas-Pine Bluff
Hampton/Bethune-Cookman
Jackson State/Alabama State
Morehouse/Kentucky State
Morgan State/Norfolk State
Prairie View/Alabama A&M
Savannah State/Edward Waters
Tennessee State/Eastern Illinois
Texas Southern/Miss. Valley State
Tuskegee/Lane
Editor’s Note: To continue this conversation, join Leo Willingham’s most recent blog by clicking here.
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