Month: September 2013

Marching Wildcats Score Big with FSU Fans

/ J Bell / 1 Comment

Florida State fans, who were more than gracious hosts might I add, set social media ablaze both during and after “The Pride’s” performance at Bobby Bowden Field on Saturday night.  Here is a sampling of the reactions of the FSU faithful.

(Special thanks to our man and former Marching Wildcat Jimmy Jay Hernandez {@JimmyToTheJay} for capturing some of these reactions on Twitter).

Hail Pride and Hail Wildcats!!!!

https://twitter.com/FSURich/status/381581788004749312

https://twitter.com/JonathanBTSY/status/381570004216709120

From Warchant.com

bcu band fsu

bcu ban fsu 2

Wildcats ranked 18th/20th in latest FCS polls

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Cary White rushes for a score against FIU

Cary White rushes for a score against FIU

Bethune-Cookman head into its bye-week losing one spot in both the FCS Coaches and SportsNetwork media polls.  The Wildcats currently sit 18th and 20th respectively in the each poll.

BCU registered an impressive 3-1 mark in the month of September with out-of-conference victories over Tennessee State of the Ohio Valley Conference and Florida International from FBS’ Conference USA.  The #8 ranked Florida State Seminoles handed BCU their lone defeat.

The Wildcats have won 14 straight MEAC contests and begin conference play after the bye-week when they head to Dover to take on Delaware State on October 5th.

Coaches Poll

TEAM SCHOOL (FIRST-PLACE VOTES) RECORD POINTS PREV- IOUS
1. North Dakota State (26) 3-0 650 1
2. Towson 4-0 616 3
3. Eastern Washington 2-1 598 4
4. Sam Houston State 3-1 573 5
5. Northern Iowa 3-0 531 7
6. South Dakota State 3-1 465 6
T-7. New Hampshire 2-1 460 9
T-7. Montana 3-0 460 11
9. McNeese State 4-0 409 13
10. Montana State 2-2 402 2
11. Coastal Carolina 4-0 372 15
12. Eastern Illinois 3-1 354 10
13. Central Arkansas 2-2 326 14
14. James Madison 3-1 283 16
15. Wofford 2-2 278 8
16. Fordham 4-0 217 21
17. Lehigh 3-0 214 18
18. Bethune-Cookman 3-1 179 17
19. Cal Poly 1-2 169 19
20. Richmond 2-2 156 20
21. Villanova 1-2 155 23
22. Northern Arizona 2-1 117 22
23. Stony Brook 1-2 107 12
24. Illinois State 1-2 80 24
25. Youngstown State 3-1 47 NR

Dropped out: No. 25 Maine.

Others receiving votes: Maine 46, Tennessee-Martin 44, Gardner-Webb 35, William & Mary 27, Jacksonville State 21, Portland State 15, Southern Utah 8, Delaware 7, Tennessee State 6, Harvard 5, Chattanooga 4, Stephen F. Austin 4, Indiana State 2, North Carolina A&T 1, Sacred Heart 1.

 

Noles Scalp Wildcats

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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Despite a 48-point win, Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher saw lots of room for improvement.

Quarterback Jameis Winston completed 10 of 19 passes for 148 yards and two touchdowns, Devonta Freeman ran for 112 yards and a touchdown to lead the No. 8 Seminoles to a 54-6 win over Bethune-Cookman on Saturday night.

The defending ACC champions (3-0, 1-0) will want to clean up their offense before starting a seven-game stretch against conference foes next week.

“Had three or four dropped balls. Had two dropped touchdowns. We have a lot of room to grow,” Fisher said. “We have to clean a lot of things up. I just think it was a lack of focus. It was lack of concentration. It can happen to anybody, you have to stay focused.”

Winston entered the game with more touchdown passes (6) than incompletions (5). His highlight moment came when he scrambled from the B-C 11-yard line, spun out of a LeBrandon Richardson sack, kept his eyes downfield and connected with Benjamin for a touchdown.

Freeman had his second consecutive 100-yard game. Karlos Williams finished with 83 yards rushing and two touchdowns, and James Wilder, Jr. added 56 yards and a touchdown. Kenny Shaw tied Rashad Greene with a game-high four receptions. Shaw led all pass-catchers with 89 yards receiving.

The Wildcats (3-1) scored their lone touchdown off a seven-yard run from quarterback Jackie Wilson with 8:21 left in the third quarter.

“I feel as good as I can feel about a game like this,” Bethune-Cookman coach Brian Jenkins said. “We finished the game fighting, we finished the game strong.

“For me it’s some good and some bad too that we’ve got to get corrected.”

Florida State ran away in the second quarter and took a 33-0 lead into halftime, but all three starting receivers had dropped passes, including two for touchdowns. The defense also missed several tackles.

Both teams committed their share of unforced errors in an odd first half. Bethune-Cookman returner Darian Baker muffed two kickoffs that left the offense starting from the 2 and the 6. Tackle Alex Monroe was flagged for holding in the end zone to give the Seminoles a safety. Quarterback Quentin Williams stared down and pointed to receiver Eddie Poole just before Telvin Smith picked off the pass and returned it 68 yards for a touchdown.

Florida State receivers entered the game without a single drop this season, but that quickly changed. The usually sure-handed Greene dropped a pass in the first quarter. Kelvin Benjamin dropped a ball just outside of the end zone that would have been a score. Shaw also muffed one as he turned the corner towards the end zone just before halftime. Replay ruled it a drop instead of a fumble.

“It was a catch and I thought I was going to score,” Shaw said. “My eyes got big and I got excited. That happens in football, but we’re going to pick it up from here on out.”

Wilder, Jr. lost a fumble at the Bethune-Cookman 3. The defense even had its issues as missed tackles plagued the Seminoles.

Florida State held its opponent to a single score for the second consecutive game and was responsible for scoring nine points. The unit was down three starters as linebacker Christian Jones and defensive end Eddie Goldman were held out due to a violation of team rules. Defensive end Mario Edwards, Jr. sat out with a hand injury.

“We have to tackle in space better,” Fisher said. “I wasn’t happy with the way we tackled in space at times tonight. We have to do a better job.”

Telvin Smith posted a game-high 12 tackles and had his first sack of the season. The Seminoles’ three sacks matched their total from the first three games. Redshirt freshman defensive end Chris Casher finished with 10 tackles, including two for loss.

Team Stat Comparison

COOK

FSU
1st Downs 18 26
Total Yards 242 492
Passing 60 226
Rushing 182 266
Penalties 8-59 3-25
3rd Down Conversions 9-18 2-6
4th Down Conversions 0-0 0-0
Turnovers 1 1
Possession 35:59 24:01

Passing Leaders

Bethune-Cookman C/ATT YDS AVG TD INT
Wilson 5/10 37 3.7 0 0
Florida State C/ATT YDS AVG TD INT
Winston 10/19 148 7.8 2 0

Rushing Leaders

Bethune-Cookman CAR YDS AVG TD LG
Jordan 15 81 5.4 0 16
Wilson 12 41 3.4 1 10
Florida State CAR YDS AVG TD LG
Freeman 10 112 11.2 1 33
Williams 9 83 9.2 2 35

Receiving Leaders

Bethune-Cookman REC YDS AVG TD LG
Poole 3 46 15.3 0 23
Murphy 2 9 4.5 0 8
Florida State REC YDS AVG TD LG
Shaw 4 89 22.3 0 29
Greene 4 44 11.0 1 19

 

Who Will Ascend BCU at FSU

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Bethune-Cookman is off to a hot start and the programs first ever win over a FBS opponent (a 34-13 victory over FIU).  BCU will try to carry some of that early season momentum in to Tallahassee when they square off against one of the most storied programs in NCAA history on Saturday night in Doak Campbell Stadium.

????????Florida State overwhelmed its first two opponents (Pittsburg and Nevada) offensively outscoring them 103-20 racking up 1150 yards of offense in the process. Quarterback Jameis Winston is on everyone’s Heisman watchlist and has thrown more touchdown passes (6) than incompletions (40-45 passing with only 5 incompletions) this season.

Winston has the luxury of passing to one of the nation’s best receiving corps and/or handing the ball off to what some argue is the best running back tandem in the country in James Wilder Jr. and Devonta Freeman.  Karlos Williams, recently converted from defensive back to running back, rushed for over 100 yards last week and adds even more  firepower to the Seminoles already crowded backfield.

Defensively, Florida State is yielding an ungenerous 10 points and 255.5 yards per contest so to say BCU will have their hands full keeping this game respectable is an understatement.

The Wildcats have played 12 quarters of football against FBS competition in their program history.  If you take out the 4th quarters of the two Miami games in 2011/12, the aggregate score of BCU vs. the FBS is 55-61.  That’s less than a touchdown difference in 10 of the 12 quarters of play.

If BCU can find a way to keep this game competitive for three quarters and avoid any major injuries, I think this trip can be considered a successful one.  If…and I mean a HUGE IF…by some celestial stroke of divine serendipity BCU pulls off one of the biggest upsets in college football history…nah we won’t even allow ourselves to think that way.  Let’s just say that thought was going to end with the talk of gold speedos, a maroon cape, and a Zorro mask.

Perhaps the best matchup of tonight will be ‘Let’s Go Wildcats’ vs. the ‘Seminole War Chant’.  These are easily two of the best anthems in college football.

Kickoff is scheduled for 6:00 EST.  The game can be viewed live on ESPN3.com

Final Rant (Week 3) at FIU

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Drexler Dixon

Drexler Dixon

Shortly after Bethune-Cookman’s historic 34-13 win over Florida International on Saturday night, Golden Panthers head coach Ron Turner told his team “we got beat by a better football team because they’re more of a team than we are.” Turner neglected to mention to his guys that BCU fielded a squad just as athletic as his, they were equal if not superior in overall team speed, and the Wildcats were much more physical at the point of attack than were his Panthers. In essence, Turner should have said Bethune-Cookman was simply the better football team; no qualifiers needed.

This is our house

The Wildcats set the tone for the night in the parking lot before kickoff. No, there was no pregame dust-up between the two sides; I am referring to the deluxe-size BCU tailgate taking place in the parking lot. South Florida alumni chapters put together a homecoming worthy tailgate that covered the East parking lot with an abundance of Maroon and Gold supporters. The eyeball test suggests the stands inside the stadium were filled with an equal number of BCU and FIU fans.

A collective echo of ooohhhhhhhhs rang loudly on the first play of regulation when backup running back and special teams ace Drexler Dixon leveled FIU return man De’Andre Jasper on the game’s opening kickoff. Jasper left the field under his own power but the tone was established; BCU was dead set on playing fast, playing aggressive, and they were up for the challenge of proving they could compete with any team in the nation regardless of classification. For the next 59 and half minutes, it was BCU from the NCAA’s lower tiered Division One Football Championship Subdivision who dominated play.
The Wildcats kept the momentum rolling on their first offensive possession needing only 4 plays to drive 91 yards. Junior running back Anthony Jordan capped the drive with a 58 yard TD scamper and the Wildcats never looked back.

Around the same time as Jordan’s opening score, the slightly late arriving Marching Wildcats found their seats and begin to fill Alfonso Field with that rich, dark sound for which they have become known and FIU Stadium was unofficially rebranded as “The Wildcat Den” for the next 3 hours.

big men

Big men getting it done

Sports cliché number #117 states games are won and loss in the trenches and Saturday’s performance did nothing to dissuade this popular perception. The Wildcat offensive line paved the way for three Wildcat rushers to accumulate at least 60 yards each on the ground and a team average of 6.0 yards per attempt. My calculator tells me that’s good enough for a first down every two rushing tries. The defensive line was equally impressive limiting FIU to a pedestrian 2.2 yards per carry and just 73 yards rushing on the night. Coach Brian Jenkins stated after the game he challenged his offensive and defensive lines and based on the above-mentioned statistics, they answered the challenge pretty well.

FBS teams often enjoy their greatest level of superiority in the trenches when facing FCS opponents; so to see Bethune-Cookman’s big men not just hold up well but dominate the lines of scrimmage was a welcoming sign. Line play has been a tiresome point of criticism of HBCU squads for the better part of the last decade. Let’s hope BCU has solved this riddle as we get deeper into the season.

Take me away

Despite leading the nation in takeaways last season, BCU failed to register a turnover in week one versus Tennessee State. However, the Wildcat defense has seemed to regain their ball-hawking ways and have produced 5 takeaways in the past two games. Tim Burke’s 92 yard pick-six with 14:38 remaining in the contest ended any FIU hopes of a comeback attempt. It was BCU’s third pick-six of the season (Erik Williams and Nick Addison both returned interceptions for touchdowns in the Virginia Union game).

The Wildcats step WAY up in competition when they take on the #8 ranked Florida State Seminoles in Doak Campbell Stadium on Saturday night. This will be the first ever match up with the Noles.

Wildcats secure historic 34-14 win over FBS foe Florida International

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SONY DSC

Wildcats defeat FIU 34-13 – Credits HailWildcats.com

MIAMI — Anthony Jordan ran for 150 yards and a touchdown to lead Bethune-Cookman to its first victory ever over an FBS opponent, defeating Florida International 34-13.

Bethune-Cookman (3-0) improved to 3-0 all-time against Florida International (0-3) and the win extends the Wildcats’ regular season win streak to 10 games over the past two seasons.

Florida International had no answer for Bethune-Cookman’s rushing attack. The Wildcats rolled up 311 yards on the ground while dominating the time of possession. Three different backs each ran for at least 65 yards and a touchdown, including quarterback Quentin Williams.

Adding insult to injury, Bethune-Cookman’s Tim Burke intercepted a Jake Medlock pass in the fourth quarter and returned it from on his own 8-yard line for a touchdown.

FIU’s T.J. Lowder caught six passes for 125 yards and a touchdown in the loss.

More to come shortly.  Be sure to check in with us soon.

BCU leads FIU 14-7 at the half

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Bethune-Cookman takes a 14-7 lead to the half over Florida International in Miami.  The Wildcats are controlling both lines of scrimmage rushing for 182 yards on offense on 25 carries.  That is a whopping 7.3 yards per carry.  Defensively BCU is holding the FIU offense to 2.3 yards per rushing attempt.

Anthony Jordan scored on a 58 yard TD run on BCU’s first offensive series capping off a 4 play, 91 yard drive that covered 1:28.  FIU evened the score at 7 apiece on an 8 yard pass from Jake Medlock to T.J. Lowder at the 6:51 mark in the 2nd.

Cary White’s 5 yard TD run pushed BCU’s lead back to 7 and capped a 66 yard scoring drive.

Anthony Jordan is averaging 12.6 yards per rush.

BCU takes over possession when we resume play after half.

Team Stats COOK   FIU
First Downs 11 5
Total Plays 36 29
Total Yards 207 171
Passing 25 128
Rushing 182 43
Penalties 2 / 25 3 / 19
Possession 14:55 14:12
Turnovers 0 0

Who Will Ascend (Week Three) at FIU

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bethune-cookman    at    florida-international-11

Sat., Sept. 14, 2013

Alfonso Field at FIU Stadium

 

The Bethune-Cookman Wildcats (2-0) travel south this weekend to take on the Florida International Panthers (0-2) in Miami on Saturday night at 6:00 p.m.  The Wildcats will look to improve to 3-0 on the season, 3-0 all-time against FIU, and secure its first ever win over a FBS opponent (FIU had not yet made the jump to the FBS level when the teams last meet in 2003).

Vegas Wild about the Cats

The Vegas sports betting odds opened on Monday with FIU favored by 3 points. The betting line moved 5.5 points in BCU’s favor within an hour of the spread being posted and another .5 point within 2 hours.  By 3:45 p.m. on Monday afternoon, BCU had gone from 3 point underdogs to 3 point road favorites. You heard right; that is not a misprint.   Vegas has a road FCS squad (BCU) favored by 3 points over a FBS team (FIU) in their home stadium.  OUCH!!! 

Vegas sports betting trends suggests the “wise guys” otherwise known as professional gamblers saw value in BCU and bet the line in BCU’s favor.  The line has remained the same for most of the week.

The Matchup

Florida International is ranked dead last in the nation in scoring offense averaging a mere 5 points per game.  Defensively the Panthers are allowing 483 yards per game and rank 108th out of 123 FBS teams.  Ron Turner started 11 new players when FIU took on Maryland in week one. The team has dealt with a rash of injuries in their first 2 games of the year.  The injuries are compounded by the already heavy attrition issues resulting from a tumultuous offseason in which FIU’s leading receiver, Glenn Coleman; starting running back, Kedrick Rhodes, and cornerback Richard Leonard were all ruled ineligible for academic reasons.  Transfer running back Jakhari Gore was kicked off the team for off the field issues.

Meanwhile Bethune-Cookman is averaging 362 yards and 39 points per game on offense while yielding just 215 yards and 8 points per game on defense.

BCU is unbeaten in their two prior meetings with FIU defeating the Panthers 31-0 in 2002 and 24-14 in 2003.  Like this season, BCU was ranked in the FCS Top 25 at the time of their prior clashes with the Panthers (#21 in 2002 and #7 in 2003).

A win on Saturday will mark the first time in the history of the BCU football program and only the 2nd time in MEAC history that a conference school has defeated a current FBS foe.  Florida A&M defeated the University of Miami 16-13 in 1979.

Road Warriors

The Marching Wildcats will join the football team at Alfonso Field on Saturday.  “The Pride” has performed in Nashville, Daytona, Jacksonville, and now Miami in less than 14 days.  The band is also expected to travel to Tallahassee for the Florida State contest on the 21st and will soon make an appearance at Raymond James Stadium for a Tampa Bay Buccaneers game according to what we are being told.  Give it up for the band.

The game will be streamed live at FIUSports.com. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.

MEAC Power 5 (Week Two)

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Credits: BlueDeathValley.com

Credits: BlueDeathValley.com

Week two is officially in the bags and all 11 MEAC teams now have at least one game under their belts.  Here is how we stack the conference’s Top 5 teams after week two.

1.  Bethune-Cookman debuts in the top spot in our first Power 5 poll of 2013.  BCU dominated an out-manned Virginia Union squad and cruised to a 66-7 victory in this past Saturday’s home opener.  The Cat’s 12-9 week one win over Tennessee State looks even more impressive after watching TSU handle Florida A&M rather easily in Tallahassee last weekend.  The Wildcats travel to Miami this week to face FBS opponent Florida International in a game in which Vegas has BCU favored to win by 3 points.

2.  You can make an argument for North Carolina A&T to hold this week’s top position after their performance against Appalachian State on Saturday night.  The Aggies dominated the run of play against App State and the final score (24-21) was not indicative of the one-sided nature of this contest.  Some have attempted to discredit A&T’s win over the Mountaineers as more of an indictment of the current state of Appalachian State football…but we’re not buying it.   App State still recruits top athletes and they simply do not lose many games at “The Rock”.  Huge congratulations are in order to coach Rod Broadway and the Aggie football team for this impressive early season victory in Boone, NC on Saturday.  NCA&T will look continue their winning ways when they face-off against Elon of the Southern conference in Greensboro on Saturday.

3.  The Howard Bison land in the third spot in our poll.  HU quarterback Greg McGhee threw for 242 yards and 3 touchdowns in Howard’s 27-16 win over Morehouse in the Nation’s Football Classic in D.C.  The HU defense registered 9 sacks in the contest.

4.  Delaware State racked up over 400 yards of total offense in their season opening loss to in-state rival Delaware on Saturday.  If the Hornets clean things up, look for them to be a factor in the MEAC race this season.

Spots 5-7 are a crap shot at this moment but we slotted South Carolina State in the 5th position based on talent alone.  Their week two loss to Clemson was fully expected and excluded from any sort of legitimate football analysis.  If anything, the Bulldogs can hang their collective hats on the fact that they only gave up 14 points to the Tigers in the second half of the contest.  On the other side of that coin is the week one loss to Coastal Carolina.  SCSU fans are still sick over that one and really feel like they let one get away against the Chanticleers.