Top four lay eggs on Thanksgiving weekend
LUT WILLIAMS
BCSP Editor
SIAC champion Albany State and MEAC champ Hampton both had tough losses in their respective NCAA playoff games Saturday, marking a long Thanksgiving weekend that saw the four top-ranked teams in the BCSP Top Ten go down to defeat.
The BCSP #3 SWAC East Division champ Hornets of Alabama State started the ruckus on Thanksgiving Day when they surrendered an early lead and fell to their Turkey Day and homecoming rivals Tuskegee, 27-17, before a packed house in Montgomery, Al.
The undefeated and BCSP top-ranked Golden
Rams of Albany State, playing at home, appeared on their
way to victory over nemesis Valdosta State, pitching a
24-0 first half shutout in their Div. II quarterfinal
contest Saturday, only to be shut out themselves in the
second half in a stunning and heartbreaking 38-24 loss.
Hampton, ranked fourth in the BCSP Top Ten, also jumped on top of it's first round I-AA playoff opponent, William & Mary, leading 13-0 early Saturday and 13-7 at the half and battled gamely before coming up on the short end of a 42-35 shootout.
Not to be left out, BCSP #2 Southern, needing a win over rival Grambling State late Saturday afternoon at the 31st Bayou Classic to clinch the SWAC West Division title and a spot in the Dec. 11 SWAC Championship Game, laid the final egg succumbing to the G-Men 24-13 before 68,911 at the New Orleans Superdome.
With just three games left in the 2004 black college football season, it's anybody's guess who's now the number one team. And there's still some work to be done.
Alabama State / Tuskegee
Before a Thanksgiving Day crowd of 21,109
at Montgomery's Cramton Bowl, Tuskegee and head
coach Rick Comegy won for the seventh time in nine
meetings against rival Alabama State (8-2), dashing any hopes
of the Hornets claiming a black college national title
and thrusting the Golden Tigers into the championship
picture.
Tuskegee (10-1), whose only loss was on a last-second Hail Mary pass to Albany State, trailed 14-7 at the half but surrendered only a third quarter field goal to the Hornets in the second half. Meanwhile, QB Kevin Huff threw two TD passes (17 and 13 yards) and placekicker Travis Gumbs nailed two field goals (22, 37 yards).
Tuskegee wide receiver Kenneth Henderson was named the game's offensive MVP after hauling in a school-record 14 receptions for 194 yards including one of Huff's TD throws.
Albany State
As dominating as Albany State was in the first
half, outgaining the Blazers 270 yards to 106, Valdosta
State was moreso in the second half, piling up 258 yards to
just 76 for the Rams.
VSU got two TDs and a safety in the third quarter to get back in it and tied the score early in the fourth quarter. They scored the go-ahead touchdown with 3:24 left and added an insurance touchdown on a fumble return at the 1:41 mark. The comeback was staged despite rain that fell the entire second half.
"They played harder than we did in the second half," said Albany State senior quarterback Uyl Joyner who passed for 165 yards and two TDs. "It wasn't the weather."
"It just kind of snowballed on us in the second half," said Albany State coach James "Mike" White who had described the game as probably the biggest in school history. The wins was VSU's tenth in 11 meetings with Albany State.
Hampton
The Pirates (10-2) were outscored but it was not
the fault of senior kick returner/wide receiver
Jerome Mathis.
The nation's kickoff return leader brought back a kickoff 93 yards for a score and had touchdown receptions of 83 and 40 yards among six receptions for 188 yards, totalling a school-record 394 all-purpose yards. But it was not enough.
The Pirates surrendered 592 yards of total offense to the Tribe, their largest total of the season, including 298 yards on the ground and gave up 35 second-half points. Meanwhile, the vaunted Hampton rushing attack, led by 1,000-yard rushers Alonzo Coleman (33 yards, 14 carries) and Ardell Daniels (52 yards, 11 carries), was held to just 128 yards on 43 carries.
The see-saw contest's outcome may have been determined in the final seven minutes as W&M stopped Hampton on two fourth-down tries inside the Tribe 30. Hampton scored its final touchdown with :32 left but the ensuing onsides kick did not travel ten yards.
Grambling State / Southern
This year's Bayou Classic was nothing like last year's
44-41 shootout as the usually high-scoring affair was decided
by the team with the best running attack and the best defense.
This year Grambling (6-5) prevailed in both categories and won
the game for only the second time in the last 12 meetings
knocking off the favored Jaguars.
Ab Kuuan rushed 18 times for 126 yards and three second-half touchdowns and the Tigers piled up 279 rushing yards keeping the ball for over 38 minutes in wearing down the Jaguars. QB Thomas Ricks accounted for 269 of the 296 total yards for Southern (8-3, 6-1 SWAC W).
© 2004 Azeez Communications, Inc.