Jackson

BCU runs past NCCU 38-14

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150

150 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The 12th ranked Bethune-Cookman Wildcats piled up 594 yards of offense and raced to a 38-14 win over North Carolina Central.

Heading into the game, senior running back Isidore Jackson needed just 129 yards on the ground to surpass Allen Suber as BCU’s all-time career rushing yardage leader.  Jackson racked up 125 of the 129 yards needed in the first half, finished the contest with 182 yards rushing on 20 attempts, and now sits in first place on the career rushing yardage list.

Jackson seemed likely to open the game’s scoring midway through the 1st quarter but fumbled while attempting to stretch the ball across the pylon.  The Wildcats would, however, get on the scoreboard later in the opening frame on a 3 yard run by Cary White with 1:17 remaining in the 1st quarter.

Quarterback Quentin Williams hooked up with Eddie Poole for a 31 yard touchdown strike on the Wildcats’ next possession.  Williams broke a tackle and extended the play with his legs before finding a wide open Poole in the middle of the field.  The pass and catch put BCU up 14-0 early in the 2nd quarter.

Jonathan Cagle pushed the BCU lead to 17-0 with a 31 yard field goal conversion for the final score of the 1st half.

Jackson added a 9 yard TD scamper for the lone points in the 3rd quarter.

The game action heated up early in the 4th with 21 points being scored in a 26 second span.

Freshman running back Michael D. Jones scored on a 3 yard run to the push the Wildcat lead to 31-0.  On the ensuing kickoff, NCCU return man Thomas Dixon spoiled the Wildcats’ hopes of a shutout and raced 100 yards to give the Eagles their first points of the afternoon.

True freshman Dre’Sean Nelson supplied an immediate response taking a handoff up the middle and outran the NCCU defense 75 yards for the score.

Kevin Thompson ended the game’s scoring on a 6 yard jolt off-tackle for Central.

Quentin Williams finished the contest 12/20 for 147 yards and 1 touchdown through the air.

Eddie Poole extended his pass catching streak to 44 games and supplanted James Adderley as tops on BCU’s consecutive game with a reception list.

Defensively the Wildcats limited NCCU to -1 yard rushing, 137 total yards, and forced 2 turnovers on the afternoon.  Nick Addison and Rony Barrow each recorded interceptions in the contest.

 

Team Stats COOK   NCCU
First Downs 27 14
Total Plays 86 56
Total Yards 594 137
Passing 158 138
Rushing 436 -1
Penalties 24/ 232 9 / 110

Wildcats take care of Savannah State 48-21

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Credits: BCU Athletics

Credits: BCU Athletics

Bethune-Cookman scored 42 first half points and cruised to a 48-21 victory against Savannah State on Saturday evening in Municipal Stadium.  Cary White and Isidore Jackson accounted for all six of BCU’s first-half touchdowns.

Jackson opened the game’s scoring on a 16-yard TD reception from Quentin Williams and rushed for two more scores later in the half.  White added rushing touchdowns of 1, 24 and 12 yards.

Simon Heyward scored on a 76-yard TD pass from Leon Prunty to give the Tigers their first points of the evening.

After a scoreless 3rd quarter, SSU scored twice in the 4th on a pair of Antonio Bostick touchdown throws. BCU registered its only points of the second half on the strength of a 27 yard TD run by Michael Jones.

The Wildcats now shift their attention towards next week’s homecoming showdown against South Carolina State.

Team Stat Comparison

SAV

COOK
1st Downs 19 25
Total Yards 404 465
Passing 310 192
Rushing 94 273
Penalties 7-66 8-55
3rd Down Conversions 5-16 4-10
4th Down Conversions 2-7 1-2
Turnovers 5 4
Possession 30:38 29:22

Passing Leaders

Savannah State C/ATT YDS AVG TD INT
Bostick 17/36 202 5.6 2 2
Bethune-Cookman C/ATT YDS AVG TD INT
Williams 10/14 143 10.2 1 0

Rushing Leaders

Savannah State CAR YDS AVG TD LG
Veals 9 59 6.6 0 18
Daniels 6 21 3.5 0 9
Bethune-Cookman CAR YDS AVG TD LG
White 7 69 9.9 3 24
Jackson 12 54 4.5 2 12

Receiving Leaders

Savannah State REC YDS AVG TD LG
Heyward 3 113 37.7 1 76
Moore 1 59 59.0 0 59
Bethune-Cookman REC YDS AVG TD LG
Gordon 2 47 23.5 0 34
Jackson 3 34 11.3 1 16

Scoring Summary

FIRST QUARTER SAV COOK
TD 12:53 Isidore Jackson 16 Yd Pass From Quentin Williams (Jonathan Cagle Kick) 0 7
TD 07:25 Cary White 1 Yd Run (Jonathan Cagle Kick) 0 14
TD 01:15 Cary White 24 Yd Run (Jonathan Cagle Kick) 0 21
SECOND QUARTER SAV COOK
TD 11:07 Cary White 12 Yd Run (Jonathan Cagle Kick) 0 28
TD 10:13 Simon Heyward 76 Yd Pass From Leon Prunty (Preston Mccarthy Kick) 7 28
TD 06:23 Isidore Jackson 2 Yd Run (Jonathan Cagle Kick) 7 35
TD 00:54 Isidore Jackson 2 Yd Run (Jonathan Cagle Kick) 7 42
FOURTH QUARTER SAV COOK
TD 13:23 Edward Lackey 3 Yd Pass From Antonio Bostick (Preston Mccarthy Kick) 14 42
TD 11:40 Michael D. Jones 27 Yd Run (Pat Blocked) 14 48
TD 07:03 Jake Durham 15 Yd Pass From Antonio Bostick (Preston Mccarthy Kick) 21 48

What we learned from BCU’s Week 9 victory over NCCU

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Courtesy of BCU Athletics

1.  BCU can run the ball

This past Saturday’s matchup pitted Bethune-Cookman’s #1 ranked rushing offense, against North Carolina Central’s #1 ranked rushing defense.  In the end, the Wildcats simply overwhelmed the Eagles on the ground rushing for 274 yards and 5 touchdowns.

On BCU’s 1st drive of the second half, the Wildcats drove the ball 63 yards on 5 plays to pull ahead 21-17.  All 5 plays were runs.  That drive shifted momentum and highlighted BCU’s physicality advantage over the Eagles.  The Cats seized control of the game at that point and never looked back.  Junior running back Isidore Jackson carried the ball 14 times for 158 yards and 2 touchdowns in the contest.  The performance was good enough to earn Jackson College Football Performance Awards National Running Back of the Week recognition.  Speaking of Jackson, we learned that …

2.  Ike is fast enough

During BCU’s preseason media day event, Jackson stated that he had decent but not great speed.  However, Jackson’s speed was good enough to help him record the 4th longest touchdown run in BCU history.  Jackson took a pitch off the left side of the line, broke a tackle, made a few guys miss, and raced 93 yards to give BCU a 28-17 lead.

3.  Marching Wildcats do yo’ thang

In the last three home games, The Pride’s halftime ballads were: ‘In my Bed’ – Dru Hill; ‘If I Had My Way’ – Chrisette Michelle; and ‘Stairway to Heaven’ – The O’Jays.  All three pieces were simply amazing.  The band could have scrambled on to the field, played those ballads and walked off and I would have been perfectly fine with their performance.  They really did sound that good.  Hail Wildcats and Hail Pride! 

(Okay, now back to football.)

4.  Coach Jenkins really does have a rotating quarterback system

Heading into last week’s game, it seemed that Quentin Williams had gained sole ownership of the starting quarterback position.  Williams started the three prior games during which he threw 4 touchdowns, 0 interceptions and completed nearly 70% of his passes. 

Coach Jenkins stated that Quentin did not take care of some of his responsibilities off the field and that Brodrick Waters had a better week of practice on the field.  As a result, it was Waters who started the contest for BCU.  Waters led BCU on their first scoring drive and rushed for 53 yards on the afternoon. 

Although not the starter, Williams saw significant action during Saturday’s game.  Included in Williams’ highlights was a 76 yard touchdown pass thrown to Preston Cleckley in the 2nd quarter.

Courtesy of BCU Athletics

5.  De-fense, De-fense

Here is a number for you; “9”.  That’s the number of snaps, NCCU took inside the BCU 10 yard line on their first possession of the second half.  The Eagles got the ball as close as the 1 yard line, but an illegal procedure penalty backed NCCU up to the 6 yard line. 

A Bethune-Cookman player said ‘Hut,’ and that’s why we jumped offside,” Frazier said. “It wasn’t our quarterback, I’ll just say that”.  BCU safety, D.J. Howard, and linebacker, Dawud Lane, claimed ignorance to the coaches claim during postgame interviews.

The Wildcats limited the Eagles to a field goal on that possession and those would be Central’s last points of the contest.  BCU’s defense has now surrendered 7, 0, 0, 16, 3, 0, and 3 points in the second half of games against FCS opponents this season.  That equates to 4.1 points per game in the second half.  Not bad…not bad at all!