NORFOLK, Va., – Quentin Williams of Bethune-Cookman was selected as the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference’s (MEAC) Football Offensive Player of the Week, the conference announced on Monday. Davon Moore of Delaware State and Keith Pough of Howard were named Co-Defensive Players of the Week.

Brendon Riddick of Norfolk State was selected as the Rookie of the Week.  Terrance Hackney, also of B-CU, was named Offensive Lineman of the Week and Morgan State’s Earvin Gonzalez earned Special Teams Player of the Week honors, respectively.

Williams (QB, 6-0, 190, So., Tampa, Fla.) rushed for 111 yards on 17 attempts with two touchdowns in the Wildcats’ 28-12 victory over North Carolina A&T.  Earning his second start of the season, Williams also completed 11-of-19 passes for 128 yards with one touchdown.

Hackney (LT, 6-6, 310, So., Chapel Hill, N.C.) graded out at 95-percent of his assignments as he led the Wildcats to 310 yards of total offense in Bethune-Cookman’s 28-12 victory over North Carolina A&T.  He also recorded four pancake blocks in the victory. 

Click here for the full story: http://www.meacsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=98110&SPID=12081&DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=205707587&DB_OEM_ID=20800

Redshirt freshman quarterback Quentin Williams accounted for three of Bethune-Cookman’s four touchdowns and led the Wildcats to a 28-12 homecoming victory over North Carolina A&T at a sold out Municipal Stadium on Saturday.  Williams finished the afternoon with a game high 111 yards rushing and 128 yards passing. 

The Aggies struck first on the scoreboard when quarterback Lewis Kindle hit Marquis Gorham on a 24 yard touchdown strike but the Aggies failed to convert the PAT.  BCU responded on their next possession with a 5 play 60 yard drive which culminated in a Isidore Jackson 1 yard TD run.

The Wildcats stretched the lead to 14-6 after Quentin Williams scored his first rushing touchdown of the afternoon with 10:57 remaining in the 2^nd quarter.  Zach Cimaglia’s 38 yard FG cut the BCU lead to 5 points just before half.

NCA&T’s first score of the second half came after a controversial 5^th down play.  The Wildcat defense appeared to hold the Aggies on a 4^th and short.  The officials called for a measurement and it seemed that the referee signaled the Aggies were held just short.  NCA&T was also flagged for an illegal procedure on the play.  But instead of BCU taking over on downs, the officials marked off the 5 yard penalty which effectively gave the Aggies a 5^th down.  Cimaglia converted a 36 yard field goal on the next play which cut the Wildcat lead to 2 (14-12).

Rodney Scott scored on a 6 yard screen pass from Quentin Williams to push the Wildcat lead to 21-12 and Williams accentuated the best performance of his young college career with a 31 yard scoring run with 55 seconds left in the contest.

Give it up for the defense

The Wildcat defense, who gave up 257 yards rushing against Hampton a week ago, limited the Aggies to 47 yards rushing on 29 attempts (1.6 yards per rush).  Mike Mayhew, North Carolina A&T’s all-time leading rusher, gained only 35 yards on 13 carries.

Two of the Aggies three scoring drives covered less than 20 yards (9 plays 10 yards and 6 plays 19 yards) and the Wildcats forced three NCA&T interceptions including two in the endzone.

“I feel good because this team played with passion.  They came out and played passionate football” an energetic Brian Jenkins declared after the game.   

The Wildcats are off next week.  BCU resumes play against defending conference champion Norfolk State on October 20^th in Daytona Beach.

Scoring Summary

FIRST QUARTER NCAT COOK

 TD 10:18 Marquis Gorham 24 Yd Pass From Lewis Kindle (Pat Failed)  6 0

 TD 08:02 Isidore Jackson 1 Yd Run (Sven Hurd Kick)  6 7

SECOND QUARTER NCAT COOK

 TD 10:57 Quentin Williams 5 Yd Run (Sven Hurd Kick)  6 14

 FG 00:31 Zach Cimaglia 38 Yd  9 14

THIRD QUARTER NCAT COOK

 FG 12:05 Zach Cimaglia 36 Yd  12 14

 TD 02:56 Rodney Scott 6 Yd Pass From Quentin Williams (Sven Hurd Kick)  12 21

FOURTH QUARTER NCAT COOK

 TD 00:55 Quentin Williams 31 Yd Run (Sven Hurd Kick)  12 28

At this time last year I had one of those feelings. You know, one of those wacky college football upset is in the air feelings.

If I were a smarter man, I would have followed my intuition, booked a flight to Vegas and gambled on urrrr made a couple of short-term investments favoring the underdogs in last year’s Week 6 MEAC matchups .  But instead of cashing in on my premonition, all I did was create a 2011 Week 6 Upset Alert Poll so all the know-it-alls could say “I told you so”.

Turns out both Bethune-Cookman and Florida A&M were upset by North Carolina A&T and Howard respectively that week.  The losses by both squads eliminated them from the MEAC conference title race as well as FCS playoff consideration.  Conference power South Carolina State also struggled to defeat MEAC upstart North Carolina Central in Week 6 of last season.  Eventual conference champion Norfolk State took care of business against Delaware State.

The same pairing of teams faceoff this weekend in the first full weekend of MEAC conference games.  So tell us, which one of the 4 MEAC preseason favorites is most likely to fall this Saturday? 

By ALVIN HOLLINS JR.

OCTOBER 4 – The first weekend of October will be the first MEAC Showcase Saturday, as the three league co-leaders will be in action vying to keep their toehold on the catbird’s seat.

This first full weekend of conference games also features contests between contenders looking to move closer to the top, and some teams trying to stay alive.

Saturday’s Games at a Glance

*North Carolina A&T (2-2, 0-1) at Bethune-Cookman (3-2, 2-0)
The Irresistable Force (B-CU Offense) against the Immovable Object (A&T Defense) might be one way to handicap this game, as the Wildcats will send their top-ranked offense and run attack against A&T’s league-leading defense. The Aggies aim to get back on track in its’ Operation MEAC Monkey Wrench after a narrow 21-18 home loss to Morgan State last week…. Ineligible for the 2012 title, the Aggies can still affect the title chase with a takedown the first place Wildcats for a second straight year, especially with five home games against conference contenders looming the next five weeks.

Addison Named MEAC Defensive Player of the Week – B-CUAthletics.com – The Official Web Site of Bethune-Cookman Athletics.

So the week I decided to delay my gameday preview, BCU Athletics and the Daytona Beach News Journal released their previews a day earlier than normal.  That’s fine by me.  No sense in rehashing the same information.  Check out the Hampton Athletics, Daytona Beach News-Journal, and BCUAthletics previews below.

From HamptonPirates.com:   HAMPTON, Va. – The Hampton University football team will return to Armstrong Stadium this Saturday, coming off a bye week to take on the Wildcats of Bethune-Cookman at 6 p.m.

Saturday will be Military Appreciation Night, as well as Greek Night and Take-a-Kid-to-the-Game Night.

The Pirates (0-3, 0-1 MEAC) fell 44-20 to Florida A&M in their conference opener on Sept. 15, while the Wildcats (2-2, 1-0 MEAC) fell 21-14 to Tennessee State this past Saturday.

The Pirates are 9-8 all-time against Bethune-Cookman, though the Wildcats have won the last four meetings – including a 35-31 win in Daytona Beach, Fla. last season. Hampton last defeated Bethune-Cookman in 2007, when the Pirates left Armstrong Stadium with a 31-24 win.

 The two teams first met in 1995, when the Pirates won 34-14. In fact, Hampton won the first three meetings before the Wildcats picked up their first win against Hampton, 14-13, in 1998.

The Pirates are 4-4 all-time against Bethune-Cookman at Armstrong Stadium. http://www.hamptonpirates.com/news/2012/9/25/FB_0925122212.aspx?path=football

From the Daytona Beach News-Journal:  Three Keys to Victory

1. Mix it up. This is a chance for B-CU’s offense to get on track. Although Hampton has faced three good offensive teams — including the top-ranked offense in the country in Old Dominion — the Pirates rank 102nd (among 121 FCS teams) in total defense, allowing 462.3 ypg, and 114th in scoring defense, allowing 43.3 ppg. The Wildcats are 13th in the nation is rushing at 239.8 ypg.

2. Pressure the QB. Champion is averaging 222.0 yards passing, but the Pirates have allowed five sacks. Richardson has been held sackless the past two weeks going up against big and strong offensive linemen, but he should be able to utilize his quickness this week.

3. Win the turnover battle. B-CU is fourth in the nation in takeaways with 12 and is tied for sixth in turnover margin at 1.75 per game (plus-seven overall).

PREDICTION: B-CU 35, Hampton 17 — Read more: Daytona Beach News-Journal:

From BCUAthletics: 8 points About The Hampton Game

HAMPTON, Va. — Eight points to consider as the Bethune-Cookman – Hampton game unfolds Saturday night:

1) BOUNCE BACK: Bethune-Cookman has never lost more than two consecutive games in the Brian Jenkins era. The last three-game Wildcat losing streaks were in 2009 when B-CU started the season 0-4 and in 2007 when that team dropped four straight after starting 2-1. Before that, one must travel back to 1997 for a three-game losing streak.

2) BOUNCE BACK, PART II: Six of the seven Jenkins era losses have occurred in sets; the two at the end of 2010, the Miami-North Carolina A&T combo of 2011 and this present set. In all, B-CU is 2-3 after a loss under Jenkins and 30-14 since 2000.

Continued here: http://www.bcuathletics.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=205701009&DB_OEM_ID=23910

My uncle T-Bird use to tell me that there is nothing more humbling to a man than getting his tail whipped.  I am not certain if the same prevailing wisdom holds true for football teams, but if does then Rod Reed’s Tennessee State Tigers delivered a face full of humble pie to Ms. Mary’s boys in Daytona Beach this past Saturday.

The Litmus Test

This matchup was BCU’s litmus test.  This was the game BCU could announce to the FCS world that they were ready to compete on a national level.  It was the first time in the Brian Jenkins era that the Wildcats faced a school from a FCS automatic qualifier (AQ) conference during the regular season.  The only other matchup against an out-of-conference AQ foe during that timeframe ended in a 45-20 beatdown at the hands of New Hampshire in the 2010 playoffs.  But that was Coach Jenkins’ first year at the helm.   MEAC Offensive Player of the Year Matt Johnson was injured that game and so were half of his teammates.  This is a new team!  A new year!  A new moment!  Right?  Unfortunately for BCU, it was Tennessee State who announced “their coming out party”.  The Fighting Wildcats were left licking their wounds and searching for answers.

Losing a game against a quality team like Tennessee State is no reason to panic but the manner in which the Wildcats loss was disconcerting.  TSU’s offensive and defensive lines physically beat-up Bethune’s units.  I hope this was more the result of one of those “on any given Saturday” moments as opposed to BCU simply not being able to match the physicality of a quality team from an FCS playoff bound conference.

No yeah buts, but…

Let me be very clear about this: Tennessee State was the better team on Saturday.  They had a better game plan, they executed better, and they flat out deserved to win.  No excuses.  Tennessee State beat Bethune-Cookman on the field of play.  There is your disclaimer but the point has to be made.  TSU’s performance against BCU this past Saturday was very reminiscent of North Carolina A&T’s defeat over the Wildcats a year ago.  The game plans were very similar (load the box on defense and force BCU to beat you throwing the ball–and on offense run the ball straight at the BCU defense); but more interestingly the game play was similar.  The Wildcats struggled with the physicality of both TSU and NCA&T.  Ironically, BCU faced TSU this year and NCA&T last year the week after playing the University of Miami.  Maybe TSU and NCA&T matchup well against BCU from a personnel and/or schematic standpoint.  Or maybe, and I do stress maybe, there is something to be said about playing a bigger, stronger, faster and deeper Miami team a week prior.  No matter how strong-willed and well-conditioned you are, playing against a top flight FBS school like Miami has to take a little extra out of you.  Again, it’s not an excuse…..I’m just saying.

Oh and for the record, BCU went on to win 6 straight after losing to the Aggies a year ago.  Hopefully the Wildcats can rest, recover, and start a similar streak beginning this Saturday against Hampton.

He told us so

Coach Brian Jenkins tried to warn anyone who would listen that his team’s slow starts would eventually do them in if not corrected.  The Wildcats started slowly again this past Saturday and the ole ball coach turned out to be dead-on.  The Blue Tigers jumped out to a three-touchdown 2^nd quarter lead and never relented.   It looked like BCU might overcome their second 21-0 deficit of the year after scoring 2 touchdowns with less than 90 seconds remaining in the 2^nd quarter, but that was as close as BCU would get as both teams failed to score in the second half.

BCU will look to end their 2 game skid when facing off against Hampton in Virginia this Saturday at 6:00.