BCU

Florida Classic could see Millionth Fan

/ J Bell / Leave a comment

Bethune Band

Orlando, Florida (NOVEMBER 2, 2011) –  Game officials are preparing for the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida Classic between Florida A&M University and Bethune-Cookman University, and it is possible that a special milestone may be reached at this year’s edition the nation’s top HBCU Classic.

Should the game reach an attendance mark of 63,200, the one-millionth fan of the game since it came to Orlando in 1997 will walk through the gates of Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium. Heading into this year’s 32nd overall edition of the game, 936,800 fans have attended the game in its 14 previous years in Orlando. Game officials expect to hit the 1,000,000 mark this year based on current ticket sales projections combined with an annual attendance average of nearly 67,000.

“Since 1997, FAMU, B-CU and the City of Orlando have truly built something special together,” said Florida Citrus Sports CEO Steve Hogan. “The Classic weekend is one of the great rivalry experiences in college athletics and this year’s game could see fan number 1,000,000 walk through the gates — yet another milestone to celebrate in a series already rich in tradition.

”Should the 1,000,000th fan enter the gates, he/she will receive:· Two free Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida Classic tickets in Orlando for life· Instant seat upgrade for two in the Uprights Club for this year’s game· A BCBS Florida Classic merchandise prize pack. 

The 2011 BCBSFL Classic – featuring the McDonald’s halftime show — takes place on Saturday, November 19 at 2:30 p.m. Fans interested in purchasing tickets should go to Ticketmaster.com and for game information, log on to www.FloridaClassic.org.

Wildcats keep MEAC hopes alive in 14-6 defeat of #24 Norfolk State

/ J Bell / Leave a comment

Eddie Poole extends his consecutive games reception streak to 19 against Norfolk State--Photo Courtesy of The Virginian Pilot

The 24th ranked and conference unbeaten Norfolk State Spartans entered Thursday night’s nationally televised contest  boasting the conference’s top offense, number 1 scoring defense, and the conference’s best offensive player through the midpoint of the season in QB Chris Walley. But it was the Wildcats who dominated both sides of the ball and exited Dick Price Stadium with a convincing 14-6 victory.

For the second consecutive week, Junior running back Isidore Jackson set a single game career high with 206 yards rushing on 34 carries.  Jackson’s determined running along with a dominant performance by the Bethune Cookman offensive line helped the Wildcats outgained  Norfolk State on the ground 245 yards to 97.

Jackie Wilson got the start at quarterback for the Wildcats.  Wilson passed for a modest 88 yards on 8 of 16 attempts including a 7 yard touchdown completion to KJ Stroud with 11:56 remaining in the 3rd quarter.  It was the Rutger’s transfer first td reception in a BCU uniform.  Wilson played the entire game with his throwing hand heavily wrapped.  The nature and severity of Wilson’s injury is unknown but is a reason for concern.  Last week’s starter, David Blackwell, dislocated the thumb on his throwing hand in the contest against Fort Valley State and it is believed that Jamarr Robinson has an undisclosed leg injury which has limited his play and/or availability.

Brian Jenkins and the coaching staff deserve a ton of praise for developing a winning gameplan that protected the Wildcat quarterback given the current injury situation at the position.

The Wildcat’s two touchdowns on the evening came on their opening possession of the game and the opening possession of the second half.  It was all of the scoring the Cats needed on the evening as the Wildcat defense prevented the Spartans from getting into the endzone only yielding two long field goals in the contest.

The Wildcat defensive front-7 dominated the Spartans offense all night.  Defensive End Ryan Davis was quite simply the best player on the field and registered as good of a defensive performance as you will ever witness.  Davis accounted for 3.5 sacks, 11 tackles, 6 tackles for loss, 1 forced fumble, and 1 fumble recovery on the evening.  Davis and the Wildcats limited NSU to less than 250 yards of total offense and produced 3 turnovers.  The last of which was a game sealing Dion Hanks interception in the endzone with :50 seconds remaining in the contest.

With the victory on Thursday night, the Wildcats keep their slim hopes alive of winning a share of the 2011 MEAC crown.  BCU will take the field again next Saturday in Durham, NC against upstart North Carolina Central. 

 

Scoring Summary

FIRST QUARTER

COOK

NORF
  TD 04:08 Anthony Jordan 2 Yd Run (Sven Hurd Kick)

7

0
SECOND QUARTER

COOK

NORF
  FG 02:18 Everett Goldberg 50 Yd

7

3
THIRD QUARTER

COOK

NORF
  TD 11:56 Keith Stroud 7 Yd Pass From Jackie Wilson (Sven Hurd Kick)

14

3
  FG 07:27 Everett Goldberg 47 Yd

14

6

Team Stat Comparison

  Bethune-Cook. Norfolk St
1st Downs

19

16
3rd down efficiency

6-15

5-15
4th down efficiency

0-0

0-0
Total Yards

333

249
Passing

88

152
Comp-Att

8-16

17-28
Yards per pass

5.5

5.4
Rushing

245

97
Rushing Attempts

54

36
Yards per rush

4.5

2.7
Penalties

8-59

6-31
Turnovers

2

3
Fumbles lost

0

2
Interceptions thrown

2

1
Possession

31:40

28:20
Bethune-Cookman Passing
 

C/ATT

YDS

AVG

TD

INT
J. Wilson

8/16

88

5.5

1

2
Team

8/16

88

5.5

1

2
                 

 

Norfolk State Passing
 

C/ATT

YDS

AVG

TD

INT
C. Walley

14/24

88

3.7

0

1
N. Flores

3/4

64

16.0

0

0
Team

17/28

152

5.4

0

1
Bethune-Cookman Rushing
 

CAR

YDS

AVG

TD

LG
I. Jackson

34

206

6.1

0

49
R. Scott

8

34

4.3

0

15
J. Wilson

7

14

2.0

0

15
A. Jordan

2

1

0.5

1

2
-. Team

3

-10

-3.3

0

0
Team

54

245

4.5

1

49
                     

 

Norfolk State Rushing
 

CAR

YDS

AVG

TD

LG
T. Hedgeman

16

54

3.4

0

13
K. Lewis

4

44

11.0

0

17
N. Flores

7

16

2.3

0

4
R. Maynes

1

-1

-1.0

0

0
C. Walley

8

-16

-2.0

0

3
Team

36

97

2.7

0

17
Bethune-Cookman Receiving
 

REC

YDS

AVG

TD

LG
M. Francois

3

56

18.7

0

29
E. Poole

2

20

10.0

0

14
K. Stroud

1

7

7.0

1

7
P. Harris

1

7

7.0

0

7
R. Scott

1

-2

-2.0

0

0
Team

8

88

11.0

1

29
                     

 

Norfolk State Receiving
 

REC

YDS

AVG

TD

LG
X. Boyce

6

76

12.7

0

45
R. Garrett

4

36

9.0

0

14
V. Hairston

4

35

8.8

0

14
K. Johnson

1

3

3.0

0

3
K. Lewis

2

2

1.0

0

2
Team

17

152

8.9

0

45
Bethune-Cookman Interceptions
 

INT

YDS

TD
D. Hanks

1

12

0
Team

1

12

0
                 

 

Norfolk State Interceptions
 

INT

YDS

TD
R. Volcin

1

0

0
D. Reynolds

1

0

0
Team

2

0

0
Bethune-Cookman Kick Returns
 

NO

YDS

AVG

LG
C. Keith

2

39

19.5

26
J. Moss

1

4

4.0

4
Team

3

43

14.3

26
               

 

Norfolk State Kick Returns
 

NO

YDS

AVG

LG
V. Hairston

2

41

20.5

23
M. Cooperwood

1

19

19.0

19
Team

3

60

20.0

23
Bethune-Cookman Punt Returns
 

NO

YDS

AVG

LG
P. Cleckley

1

14

14.0

14
C. Wilson

1

0

0.0

0
Team

2

14

7.0

14

 

Norfolk State Punt Returns
 

NO

YDS

AVG

LG
M. Cooperwood

2

14

7.0

7
V. Hairston

1

6

6.0

6
Team

3

20

6.7

7
Bethune-Cookman Kicking
 

FG

PCT

LONG

XP

PTS
S. Hurd

0/1

0.0

—

2/2

2
Team

0/1

0.0

—

2/2

2
                   

 

Norfolk State Kicking
 

FG

PCT

LONG

XP

PTS
E. Goldberg

2/2

100.0

50

0/0

6
Team

2/2

100.0

50

0/0

6
Bethune-Cookman Punting
 

TOT

YDS

AVG

TB

-20

LG
K. Kowalski

7

256

36.6

0

3

58
Team

7

256

36.6

0

3

58
                       

 

Norfolk State Punting
 

TOT

YDS

AVG

TB

-20

LG
T. Muenzer

7

260

37.1

0

2

51
Team

7

260

37.1

0

2

51

 

Beatdown in Aggie-Town

/ J Bell / Leave a comment

Photo provided by Blue Death Valley.com

It has been more than 48 hours since the debacle at Aggie Stadium and it is still difficult to accept the fact that North Carolina A&T did not just win against Bethune-Cookman, but they dominated  the Wildcats in the process.

Any analysis of this game has to begin with a tip of the cap to Coach Rod Broadway, his coaching staff, and the NCA&T football team. In the words of Brian Jenkins: “it was a good old-fashion butt-whooping”.

The Aggies dominated BCU in every facet of the game.  Despite having half the number of scholarship players (33 for NCA&T compared to 60+ for BCU), riding a 7 game losing streak against BCU, and losing 67-17 to the Wildcats a year ago on national TV; NCA&T was the better team on Saturday afternoon.  The gameplan was simple for the Aggies; run the ball on offense and take away the run on defense.   The result was a 22-3 woodshed beating in which NCA&T accumulated 224 yards rushing on 50 attempts; while BCU limped its way to 5 yards rushing on 25 attempts. 

The Wildcats entered the contest as the conference’s top ranked offensive unit; however, NCA&T limited the Wildcats to just 108 yards of Total Offense outgaining the Cats by a 3:1 margin in the process (330 yards of Total Offense for NCA&T).

Earlier this season, NCA&T was dismantled 58-6 by Appalachian State and beaten handily by Coastal Carolina 31-14.  However, Rod Broadway’s bunch is gaining confidence and improving weekly.  The Aggies have won their last two games by a combined score of 46-6.

Troubling Trends 

Brian Jenkins’ team has amassed at least 10 penalties for 100 yards in each contest this season.  The Wildcats accumulated 15 penalties for 112 yards in Saturday’s contest against NCA&T.  In fact, BCU actually had more penalty yards than offensive yards in the game.  The timing and nature of the penalties are even more troubling then the excessive number of penalties.

Take the Aggies second possession of the second half as an example.  The Wildcat defense held the Aggies for what should have been a second straight  “3 and out”.  However, on 4th down and 3 on the Aggie side of the field, the Wildcats’ punt return unit was flagged for a ‘neutral zone’ infraction.  The penalty gave the Aggies a 1st and 10, allowed them to take over 6 minutes off of the clock, and ultimately led to an Aggie 24 yard FG and 15-3 advantage with little over 2 minutes left in the 3rd quarter.  These sorts of careless, mental lapses have plagued the Wildcats all season and proved to be too much to overcome against a determined A&T squad.

But it was not just the penalties that doomed the Wildcats.  The offensive line did not block well, the receivers dropped too many passes including a certain touchdown, the quarterbacks did not deliver the ball to open receivers, the defense did not consistently get off blocks, and there were a few critical game management decisions by the coaching staff that were cause for curiosity.  It was an all around apathetic and underwhelming performance by the BCU football team and coaching staff. 

One team was fully prepared and ready for a 60-minute war, the other was going through the motions and hoping for something good to happen. Only this time it never did.

Brian Jenkins’ ball club produced a similarly lackluster effort last year against Howard University.  In that contest, the undermanned Bison outgained BCU on offense 389 yards to 196 yards but 2 defensive scores and a special teams touchdown proved to be the difference for BCU.  The Wildcats were unable to produce any defensive touchdowns against the Aggies; however, BCU’s lone points of the afternoon were set-up by a DJ Howard 27 yard interception return.

 Part of the maturation process

Coach Jenkins stated that North Carolina A&T was better prepared and more determined than his squad.  A quick review of the game stats seems to support this assertion.  Most teams seem to have one or two bad games throughout the course of a football season, but you cannot simply give the Wildcats a mulligan for their performance against the Aggies. 

The coaching staff must assume responsibility for the team’s unpreparedness.  Brian Jenkins regularly emphasizes attention to detail and ball security; yet his team’s continual struggles in these areas were prominently on display in Aggie Stadium this weekend (15 penalties for 112 yards and 4 turnovers including 3 in the 4th quarter).

Perhaps the most head scratching coaching moment of the afternoon came on BCU’s first possession of the second half.  Trailing by 9 points (12-3) with slightly more than 10 minutes left in the 3rd quarter, BCU found themselves facing a 4th down and 5 from the Aggie 22 yard line.  Instead of kicking an intermediate-range field goal and making it a one-possession contest, coach Jenkins elected to go for the first down.  Wide Receiver Maurice Francois was stopped a yard short of the marker and the Wildcats failed to convert.  The Aggies seemed to seize full control of the contest from that point forward.

The Wildcats (2-3) return home this week and will look to break their current 2-game losing streak when they faceoff against struggling DII opponent Fort Valley State (1-5) in the first annual Biker Classic.  Kickoff is scheduled for 4:00.  Game attendees can receive a free (visitor’s side) game ticket with the purchase of a $10 band t-shirt.  Click the picture below for more details.

Click the photo to redirect to BCU Athletic website

After Further Review

/ J Bell / Leave a comment

BCU Fans looking for a short-term investment opportunity this week may want to consider the following: 7-3-6. According to the Florida Lottery’s website, Cash 3 players short-term investors using these numbers have a 1:1000 chance of winning the daily grand prize. For those that receive no return on their investment, consider yours 1 of the more than $22 billion donated to education; or perhaps you should consider your investment an honorarium on behalf of NCAA Approving Rule (A.R.) 7-3-6, that is to say NCAA football Rule 7, Section 3, Article 6, subsections IX, XII, XIII.

A.R. 7-3-6 is the Rule that was cited and allowed replay officials to overturn Hampton receiver Isiah Thomas’ apparent game-winning touchdown catch as time expired. BCU survived with a 35-31 victory over Hampton. Wildcat fans can take consolation in the fact that the game officials got the call right. The rule (specifically subsections IX, XII, and XIII) states that an airborne receiver must maintain control of the ball while going to the ground, when he hits the ground, and after hitting the ground. http://www.ncaapublications.com/productdownloads/FR12.pdf (page 164). Here’s an excerpt:

IX. “Airborne receiver A85 grasps a forward pass and in the process of going to the ground, first contacts the ground with his left foot as he falls to the ground inbounds. Immediately upon A85 hitting the ground, the ball comes loose and touches the ground. RULING: Incomplete pass. An airborne receiver must maintain control of the ball while going to the ground in the process of completing a catch”.

XII. “Receiver A85 stretches out at the Team B two-yard line and grasps a forward pass and is going to the ground on his own as he is attempting to complete the catch. As A85 falls to the ground in the end zone, the ball immediately comes loose and falls to the ground. RULING: Incomplete pass. Any receiver going to the ground on his own in the process of making a catch must maintain control of the ball when he hits the ground”.

XIII. “Receiver A85 is airborne in the end zone and grasps a forward pass, but while airborne he is hit by a defender, which causes A85 to fall to the ground. Immediately upon A85 hitting the ground, the ball comes loose and strikes the ground. RULING: Incomplete pass. An airborne receiver contacted before completing all the requirements of a catch must still maintain control of the ball after hitting the ground”.

The video evidence clearly shows that the Hampton receiver was airborne and that he did not maintain possession after hitting the ground. The ruling of incomplete pass was absolutely correct. It is a tough way to lose if you are a Pirate fan, but kudos to the officials for getting the call right.

Sweet Relief

Jackie Wilson replaced Jamarr Robinson at quarterback with just over 3:00 remaining in the 3rd quarter. He ended the night completing 5 of his 6 pass attempts with 2 touchdowns. Eddie Poole –who muscled the ball away from Hampton corner back Kambrell McGee in the corner of the endzone- was the recipient of Wilson’s 2nd td toss. The play capped an 80-yard touchdown drive that proved to be the game winner. The Wildcat offense outscored Hampton’s offense 21-0 in the second half.

Rodney Scott had his best statistical game as a BCU football player. Scott racked up 176 yards of total offense (126 rushing and 30 receiving) including a spectacular 33 yard td catch and run in which he broke three tackles in route to the endzone.

Other Memorable finishes at Municipal Stadium

  • 1998- BCU set an NCAA record defeating Virginia State (VSU) 63-57 in the 8th overtime session. The most memorable moment in that game occurred in the 7th overtime when Wildcat defensive tackle Damion Cook returned a blocked field goal attempt 60 plus yards for a certain game winning touchdown. However, Cook’s attempted celebratory dive in to the endzone fell just short. Cook landed at the VSU 1 yard line and earned the nickname “Big-Dive” as a result of the play. Cook went on to enjoy 5 seasons as an NFL player.
  • 2001- A controversial clipping call on a Rashean Mathis 4th quarter punt return  touchdown negated a Wildcat go ahead score against eventual MEAC champion NC A&T. The homecoming jubilation of 16,725 Wildcat fans was spoiled as the Aggies went on to win the contest 16-14.

Team Stat Comparison

  Hampton Bethune-Cook.
1st Downs

19

21
3rd down efficiency

7-18

6-12
4th down efficiency

2-3

1-2
Total Yards

417

414
Passing

225

154
Comp-Att

14-29

13-21
Yards per pass

7.8

7.3
Rushing

192

260
Rushing Attempts

46

48
Yards per rush

4.2

5.4
Penalties

12-107

10-69
Turnovers

0

3
Fumbles lost

0

2
Interceptions thrown

0

1
Possession

28:36

31:24

 

Scoring Summary

FIRST QUARTER

HAMP

COOK
  TD 09:27 David Allen 8 Yd Run (Sven Hurd Kick)

0

7
 p FG 05:38 Taurean Durham 20 Yd

3

7
  TD 04:59 David Allen 1 Yd Run (Sven Hurd Kick)

3

14
 p TD 01:50 Isaiah Thomas 50 Yd Pass From David Legree (Taurean Durham Kick)

10

14
SECOND QUARTER

HAMP

COOK
 p TD 03:47 David Legree 3 Yd Run (Taurean Durham Kick)

17

14
 p TD 01:26 David Legree 37 Yd Run (Taurean Durham Kick)

24

14
THIRD QUARTER

HAMP

COOK
  TD 11:28 Eddie Poole 6 Yd Pass From David Allen (Sven Hurd Kick)

24

21
  TD 00:37 Rodney Scott 33 Yd Pass From Jackie Wilson (Sven Hurd Kick)

24

28
FOURTH QUARTER

HAMP

COOK
 p TD 09:15 Jeremy Jermin 20 Yd Interception Return (Taurean Durham Kick)

31

28
  TD 02:50 Eddie Poole 13 Yd Pass From Jackie Wilson (Sven Hurd Kick)

31

35

 

 

 

 

Cats fall 26-18 to SCSU–Recap

/ J Bell / Leave a comment

SC State QB Derrick Wiley

Chances are you won’t notice Darius Dummond’s 45 and 33 yard punt returns if you’re reviewing the game’s box score.  But a frustrated Brian Jenkins revealed in his post-game press conference that the “two plays that won (South Carolina State) the game were (Drummond’s) two punt returns”. 

The Bulldogs scored their first touchdown of the season three plays after Drummond’s 45 yard punt return midway through the 3rd quarter.  Tyler McDonald caught an 8 yard touchdown pass from Richard Cue who replaced Derrick Wiley on the drive.  It was Cue’s first completion as a college quarterback.  Drummond’s final punt return of the day (for 33 yards) gave the Bulldogs 1st and goal from the Wildcat’s 5 yard line. SCSU capitalized on the outstanding field position and scored the go-ahead touchdown on a Derrick Wiley QB keeper with 4:46 remaining in the 4th quarter.

Dominique Ellis padded South Carolina State’s lead 46 seconds later when he returned Jamarr Robinson’s third interception of the contest 55 yards for a touchdown.  Bethune drove the ball 48 yards to the Bulldog 5 yard line but the possession stalled on downs.

Missed Opportunites

  • QB Jamarr Robinson threw 4 interceptions in the contest, 2 of which occurred in the redzone.  The Wildcats were 1 of 4 in redzone opportunites on the afternoon.  BCU turned the ball over 7 times in total (4 ints, 1 loss fumble, twice on downs).  The Cats also racked up 10 penalties for 100 yards. 
  •  BCU safety DJ Howard dropped a certain interception midway through the 3rd quarter.  A wall of blockers were setup in front of Howard, but what could have been a BCU pick 6 ended as a SCSU score.  Howard’s pass deflection bounced into the hands of Tyler McDonald resulting in a Bulldog touchdown.
  • Sven Hurd, who was 9-9 in extra point attempts coming into the contest, missed his first extra point attempt of the afternoon. 
  • BCU could not capitalize on a great showing by its defense.  The Wildcat defense held the Bulldogs to 54 yards passing, 211 total yards, and produced 5 turnovers.  Thanks to their Special Teams, SCSU’s offense scored 2 touchdowns covering 11 yards and 5 yards respectively.  The Bulldog defense accounted for an additional touchdown (Dominique Ellis’ 55 yard interception return) as well as a defensive safety. 

Click the following link to watch a replay of the game: http://espn.go.com/espn3/index?id=312532065

Team Stat Comparison

 
 

S Carolina St
 

Bethune-Cook.
1st Downs 12 24
Total Yards 211 397
Passing 54 245
Rushing 157 152
Penalties 10-103 10-100
3rd Down Conversions 6-15 5-15
4th Down Conversions 1-1 0-2
Turnovers 5 5
Possession 24:14 35:46
 

Passing Leaders

 
South Carolina State C/ATT YDS AVG TD INT
Wiley 7/19 46 2.4 0 2
 
Bethune-Cookman C/ATT YDS AVG TD INT
Robinson 25/45 245 5.4 2 4
 

Rushing Leaders

 
South Carolina State CAR YDS AVG TD LG
Wiley 19 121 6.4 1 45
Jordan 12 38 3.2 0 11
 
Bethune-Cookman CAR YDS AVG TD LG
Jackson 17 92 5.4 0 25
Scott 9 38 4.2 0 15
 

Receiving Leaders

 
South Carolina State REC YDS AVG TD LG
McDonald 2 23 11.5 1 15
Williams 2 14 7.0 0 10
 
Bethune-Cookman REC YDS AVG TD LG
Francois 7 121 17.3 0 40
Poole 9 74 8.2 1 44
 

Scoring Summary

FIRST QUARTER SCST COOK
  SF 11:50 Isidore Jackson Tackled By Ronell Ferguson In End Zone 2 0
  FG 10:12 Blake Erickson 48 Yd 5 0
  TD 07:53 Eddie Poole 44 Yd Pass From Jamarr Robinson (Pat Failed) 5 6
SECOND QUARTER SCST COOK
  SF 13:39 – Team Tackled By Eddie Poole In End Zone 5 8
THIRD QUARTER SCST COOK
  TD 07:20 Tyler McDonald 8 Yd Pass From Richard Cue (Blake Erickson Kick) 12 8
  TD 02:46 Jordan Murphy 12 Yd Pass From Jamarr Robinson (Sven Hurd Kick) 12 15
FOURTH QUARTER SCST COOK
  FG 10:51 Sven Hurd 41 Yd 12 18
  TD 04:46 Derrick Wiley 3 Yd Run (Blake Erickson Kick) 19 18
  TD 04:00 Dominique Ellis 55 Yd Interception Return (Blake Erickson Kick) 26 18
 

Cats and Dogs

/ J Bell / 2 Comments

Frazier versus Ali; that’s the way Coach Brian Jenkins described this weekend’s conference showdown with powerhouse South Carolina State. The two squads enter the contest as the #1 and #2 ranked teams in the Sheridan Broadcasting Network’s Black College Football Poll. The winner of this heavyweight matchup will emerge as the clear frontrunner to this year’s MEAC crown. The loser will find themselves “scoreboard watching” and wishing for help over the weeks to come.

Brian Jenkins’ club ended SCSU’s 21-game conference win streak last year and was the first MEAC squad to blank the Bulldogs at home in over 30 years.

Previewing the Dogs

Buddy Pough’s Bulldogs have grown unaccustomed with losing over recent years. Take last week’s defeat against Central Michigan (CMU) as an example. SCSU lost by 15 points, on the road against an FBS opponent. Most FCS schools would consider that a good showing; but not Bulldog fans. Many members of the “Dog pound” believe South Carolina State was good enough to win that game and Brian Jenkins tends to agree. In his weekly teleconference, Coach Jenkins stated that SCSU was three makeable plays away from pulling off the upset against CMU.

SCSU boasts one of the best defenses in FCS football (2nd in total defense in 2010). The Bulldog defense held CMU to 256 yards of total offense and 21 points last week. By comparison, BCU’s offense produced nearly double the yardage output (500 yards) and triple the points scored (63) against Prairie View in the MEAC/SWAC Challenge. South Carolina State has at least one all-conference performer at all three levels of their defense (Patrick Washington-DL, Donovan Richard-LB, Dominique Ellis-DB). Washington is an extremely athletic, havoc causing defensive lineman. His style of play is very similar to that of BCU defensive end, Ryan Davis. The Wildcat offense must account for Washington in both the running and passing game. Donovan Richard is an above average linebacker who possess great range and speed. He recorded 10 tackles (1 tackle for a loss) in last week’s defeat at CMU.

SCSU QB Derrick Wiley

On the offensive side of the ball, Derrick Wiley is a mobile quarterback who struggled with his accuracy a week ago. Wiley and the Bulldogs are without the services of wide receiver Lennel Elmore who is ineligible due to grades. Elmore led the Bulldogs in receiving and was an All-MEAC performer a year ago. The Dogs will depend upon Asheton Jordan (RB) and the running game to carry the load until the passing game gets on track. Jordan is a physical runner with decent speed. He’ll lineup behind an offensive line that featured four new starters and struggled to establish the line of scrimmage last week against CMU.

Blake Erickson is the place kicker and he gives the Bulldogs a decided advantage in the kicking game.

A Closer Look at the Wildcats

In spite BCU’s 49 point victory to open the season, there is still much room for improvement. QB, Jamarr Robinson racked up 281 yards of offense (251 passing and 30 rushing) and earned MVP honors at last week’s MEAC/SWAC Challenge. However, Robinson appeared to miss on a few reads in the passing game and was errant on several throws. The Wildcats also committed far too many penalties last week (12 penalties for 132 yards).

On a positive note, BCU’s offensive and defensive fronts dominated the line of scrimmage. Particularly impressive was the play of defensive tackles Harold Love, Jameil Farrington, and Lavon McCoy. Another impressive sight from last week’s contest was the quality of depth displayed by the Wildcats. Coach Jenkins seemingly rotated 3 or 4 players on every play, yet there was no noticeable drop off in talent.

Fighting like Cats and Dogs

Bethune’s offense versus South Carolina State’s defense is strength against strength. The outcome of this game will likely depend upon the play of the other units. Can the Bulldog offense effectively run the ball and limit the possessions of BCU’s high-powered offense? Will the Wildcat’s opportunistic defense force turnovers (6 takeaways last week) and short field situations? Which squad will ascend as the top team in black college football? We’ll have our answers to these questions when this highly anticipated matchup kickoff at 4:00, Saturday, September 10th at Municipal Stadium.

Can’t Wait!!!!

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 Interesting Notes

  • BCU ranked 1st in Total Offense and Scoring Offense in the MEAC last year.
  • SCSU ranked 1st in Total Defense and Scoring Defense in the conference.

Last 10 contests in the series—

  • BCU and SCSU are 5-5 in their last 10 meetings.

Recent Memorable Matchups —

  • 2005—SCSU QB Cleveland McCoy led the Bulldogs on a game winning 17 play, 80 yard 4th quarter touchdown drive to defeat the Wildcats 27-24 in Jacksonville.
  • 2006—After trailing by 14 points, Coach Alvin Wyatt scrapped the Wyatt-Bone offense in favor of a 4 wide receiver set. BCU scored 45 unanswered points and defeated the Bulldogs 45-21. BCU QB, Jarrod Rucker threw 5 touchdowns in that contest.
  • 2010—BCU defeated 14-0 in Orangeburg ending the Bulldog’s 21-game conference winning streak.

DJ Howard named MEAC defensive player of the week

/ J Bell / Leave a comment

MEAC ANNOUNCES WEEKLY FOOTBALL HONORS – MEACsports.com – The Official Site of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.

bDJ Howard (S, 6-0, 185, r-So., Daytona Beach, Fla.) made five tackles in the secondary, three solo, as the Wildcats defeated Prairie View A&M 63-14 in the annual MEAC/SWAC Challenge presented by Disney.  He scooped up a fumble early in the second quarter and returned it 31 yards for a touchdown.  Howard also halted a time expiring score in the second quarter for PVAMU by capturing his first interception on the season. 

Norfolk State QB Chris Walley was named offensive player of the week.  Other top performers includes BCU’s:

Nick Addison–blocked a punt and collected three tackles, two solo, in his collegiate debut against Prairie View A&M.  

Corey Mason–anchored the Wildcats offensive line that accounted for 500 yards of total offense against Prairie View A&M.

Jamarr Robinson–accounted for 281 total offensive yards with three touchdowns in the Wildcats’ 63-14 rout of Prairie View A&M in the annual MEAC/SWAC Challenge presented by Disney.

Click the above link to read the full story.