New challenges face early winners
LUT WILLIAMS
BCSP Editor
This week will be no time to rest for Albany State and Alcorn State, teams that got big wins this past weekend.
Albany State (2-0, 1-0 SIAC) got its first win ever over
nationally-ranked Valdosta State Saturday (24-22) but goes on the road to
face SIAC rival Kentucky State this week.
Alcorn State (1-0, 1-0 SWAC W) went into Grambling State Saturday and silenced a crowd of 18,851 with a 34-23 win over the Tigers. The Braves face another stiff challenge when they host defending MEAC champ North Carolina A&T Saturday in Lorman, Ms.
The win by Albany State, clinched when place-kicker Adrian Adango hit on a 35-yard field goal with 1:23 to play, propelled the Golden Rams from 22nd to 13th in this week's American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) NCAA Div. II poll. Valdosta State, ranked third before Saturday's game, dropped to 15th.
Kentucky State also pulled out a big win Saturday needing an extra period to hold off Lenoir-Rhyne 13-10 on a Stephen Harris 26-field goal in overtime. KSU improved to 2-0 overall, 1-0 in the SIAC.
Albany State prevented Kentucky State from winning its first-ever SIAC title last year despite losing to the Thorobreds 19-13 early last season. KSU led the race for most of the season before dropping close decisions to Fort Valley State (13-10) and Tuskegee (16-14) to close out the regular season. That opened the door for Albany State to claim its first SIAC crown since 1997 and first in the James White era.
This year's game could again determine the course for the SIAC campaign. Both teams come in undefeated and feature dazzling quarterbacks in ASU's Uyl Joyner and the KSU duo of Shawn Johnson and Joe McBride. Both have big-play running backs in ASU's Antonio Atkins (105 ypg.) and KSU's Cassius Chambers (107 ypg.). Cornell Burbage has taken over as head coach at KSU from Donald Smith.
Alcorn State's win was the first over Grambling since 1997 and came at the expense of Grambling's I-AA all-American QB Bruce Eugene. The Braves knocked Eugene out of the game with a knee injury in the third quarter of Saturday's game and it was announced Tuesday that Eugene would be lost for the season (See UNDER THE BANNER).
In NC A&T (1-0, 0-0 MEAC), Alcorn State will face a team that narrowly escaped with an opening day win Saturday over Div. II, North Carolina Central. The Aggies, not showing the form that guided them to last year's MEAC crown, trailed the entire game before getting a 50-yard field goal as time expired to pull out a 16-15 win.
In other games, South Carolina State (1-0, 0-0 MEAC) hosts the nationally-ranked Wofford Terriers. Wofford won the Southern Conference championship last season, downed NC A&T in last year's I-AA playoffs and made it to the national semifinals. This year they are ranked as high as No. 3 in the latest Sports Network I-AA poll. This will be Wofford's first game of the season. SCSU opened with an easy 51-0 win over Benedict of the Div. II SIAC in Saturday's Palmetto Capital City Classic in Columbia.
Elsewhere, Tuskegee (2-0, 1-0 SIAC) hosts Alabama rival Miles (1-1, 0-1 SIAC) in another key SIAC matchup. Miles got a big 43-11 win last year over Tuskegee. In the CIAA, Eastern Division favorites Bowie State (1-1, 0-0 CIAA E) and Virginia State (2-0, 0-0 CIAA E) meet in Bowie, Md. VSU's 27-14 season-ending win over BSU last year knocked the Bulldogs out of an East Division title.
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