Great start sets Southern up for big finish
LUT WILLIAMS
BCSP Editor
After three years watching Southwestern
Athletic Conference West Division rival Grambling State
roll to consecutive league football titles and mythical national
championships, Pete Richardson's Jaguars are sitting alone as the only
undefeated team in black college football at 7-0
(4-0 SWAC W), atop the BCSP Top Ten for the first time in the new millennium.
The unblemished 2003 record is reminiscent of the '97, '98 and '99 seasons when the Jags ruled the SWAC, ripping off three straight titles and making their case as the premier program in black college football.
And this year's early season record is in sharp contrast to the previous three years when the Jags have struggled out of the gate at 2-3, 2-2 and 1-5 en route to 6-5, 7-4 and 6-6 marks.
The bad starts can be laid at the feet of tough early season schedules that not only led to the losses but a rash of injuries that all but derailed their championship hopes. Southern had Div. IA Tulane on its early season schedule the past two years and I-AA power Northwestern State in the previous three.
"The effect over the last few years is that we lost key personnel,"
said Richardson Monday from his office in Baton Rouge. "Last year, we were
a young team. The key element this year is the maturity level of the team.
Those injuries forced us to play people that wouldn't normally have gotten on
the field. They've come back now and given us some depth. The injuries have
actually made us stronger."
The Jaguars got well enough late to knock off Grambling two of the last three years in the season-ending Bayou Classic, but by then they were all but out of the division race.
A 5-1 finish last year, including a 48-24 pasting of Grambling at the 29th Bayou Classic, allowed the team to post a 6-6 mark and keep Richardson from his first losing season in ten years on The Bluff. The Jaguars won their final three games. The momentum of that strong finish has carried over to this year's start.
"We had a lot of things to build on," said Richardson. "We finished strong last year, beat the champions (Grambling) but had no where to go. That put us in a positive light through spring and summer workouts.
"I'm proud of this football team. We have some very high standards here at Southern. Our approach to the season is typified by our slogan, 'Return to Dominance.' Our goal is to get to the conference championship game. I felt if we could stay away from injuries we'd be alright."
Richardson said the team and staff did things during the offseason to prevent injuries.
"We had to get ready physically."
Among those coming back from an injury-plagued 2002 campaign is quarterback Quincy Richard.
Richard, a 6-3, 208-pound senior from Opelousas, La., is making a bid to unseat Grambling QB Bruce Eugene as the SWAC offensive player of the year.
Through seven games Richard has thrown for 1,800 yards (257.1 ypg.), while connecting for 18 touchdowns and only five interceptions. Eugene, a finalist last year for the Walter Payton Award given to I-AA's best offensive player, has racked up 2,293 passing yards in seven games while throwing 21 TD passes and surrendering nine interceptions.
Richard (170.7) is ahead of Eugene (133.7) in conference pass efficiency stats and has been selected SWAC offensive player of the week the past four weeks. Eugene has won the award twice. Richard leads a Southern offense that is putting up 42.7 points per game, tops in black college football and second best in I-AA .
"I'm surprised he's progressed as fast as he has," said Richardson of his signal-caller. "We've done some things to tailor the offense to his skills. That's helped out a great deal. He's an athlete and we had to consolidate our packages, in fact, we took some out to take advantage of what he does well. As a result, he's gotten more reps."
"He has the confidence and leadership of this football team and when people see the way he plays and leads, it's contagious. His decision making is an example of just how much he has matured."
Richardson said he's also pleased with the play of his offensive line which has given up only one sack all season.
"For the past three games teams have blitzed us consistently, but we've held up. We just have to keep them healthy."
The defense also is among the nation's best (second in I-AA), giving up only 12.1 points per game.
"We have more quickness that we've had and it's just the maturity level of our players."
With games scheduled against lesser opponents Allen (Nov. 1), a team in just its second year back playing football, and Div. II member Lincoln (Nov. 8), all signs are pointing to a big showdown with Grambling (also 4-0 in the SWAC W) at the 30th Bayou Classic in New Orleans on Nov. 29th for the West Division crown and a spot in the Dec. 15th SWAC title game. But Richardson won't be lulled into looking that far ahead.
"That's way down the road," he said. "We've got a big game that counts on our SWAC record this week against Alcorn State (the last team to beat the Jags, 22-20 last season) and then another conference game at Texas Southern (Nov. 15). We've got a lot of football to play."
© 2003 Azeez Communications, Inc.