Backyard brawls, interconference
tussles highlight schedule
Labor Day weekend hard work for some
LUT WILLIAMS
BCSP Editor
A 30-game Labor Day weekend schedule will kick the 2005 black college football season into full gear.
The slate begins with three night games on
Thursday, follows with a packed lineup that includes
key inter-conference matchups and three nationally
televised games on Saturday and culminates Labor
Day Monday with one of the backyard brawls to be
staged over the weekend.
The Brawls
Bragging rights are at stake in Labor Day battles, some that pit rivals across conference lines.
Virginia State (0-1, 0-0 CIAA) out of the CIAA travels to former conference member Norfolk State (0-0), now in the MEAC, for their traditional Labor Day Classic (6:00 p.m.). This year's game will also be the debut of new NSU head coach Pete Adrian. The former Bethune-Cookman defensive coordinator will try to end the Spartans' two-game losing streak to Andrew Faison's Trojans who hold a 25-16-1 edge in the series.
There's also a MEAC/CIAA flavor as Howard (0-0) matches up with Winston-Salem State (0-1) Saturday in Washington, D. C. (1:00 p.m.). WSSU is readying for a move out of the CIAA and NCAA Div. II designation to Div. I-AA football and this is the first of consecutive games against MEAC foes. The Rams travel to South Carolina State next week.
Also on the MEAC vs. CIAA menu is Monday's Aggie-Eagle Classic in Raleigh, N.C. (1:30 p.m.) pitting North Carolina A&T (0-0) against North Carolina Central (1-0). It will be the 78th meeting between the I-85 rivals with A&T holding a 45-27-5 series edge. NCCU and head coach Rod Broadway dropped a heartbreaking 16-15 loss last season, their 11th meeting in Raleigh, as A&T kicked a 50-yard field goal at the final gun. The Eagles should be flying high after a 70-12 win over Edward Waters last week to open the season. It will be the first game of the season for A&T.
A fourth MEAC vs. CIAA game has Bethune-Cookman (0-0) hosting Elizabeth City State (1-0) in Daytona Beach, Fl. (4: 00 p.m.).
The SWAC and MEAC matchup this weekend in two high profile games.
ESPN2 will carry the first SWAC/MEAC Challenge between defending SWAC champion Alabama State (0-0) and MEAC co-champ South Carolina State (0-0) Saturday (1:30 p.m.) from Birmingham's historic Legion Field to a national TV audience. This is the first game of a series that will alternate between SWAC and MEAC venues.
At 7:00 p.m., BET will carry by tape delay the 1:00 p.m. matchup of defending MEAC champion and current BCSP No. 1 Hampton (0-0) against Jackson State (0-0) of the SWAC at the Detroit Classic from Ford Field in the Motor City. Hampton enters the game ranked 13th in the Sports Network I-AA Top 25.
On the intra-conference side, storied rivals Grambling State (0-0) and Alcorn State (0-0) go at it in Lorman, Ms. (6:00 p.m.). This game will feature the return of former GSU all-American Bruce Eugene who was knocked out of this game a year ago and missed the rest of the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his knee. The record-setting QB will be watched closely to see if he returns to the form that allowed him to throw for almost 8,000 yards and 77 TDs and made everybody's all-American lists before the injury. Grambling is ranked 25th in the Sports Network poll and is favored to win the SWAC West.
Also in the SWAC, Houston-area rivals Texas Southern (0-0) and Prairie View (0-0) face off at the NFL's Houston Texans' Reliant Stadium (7:00 p.m.). New Prairie View head coach Henry Frazier engineered a ??-?? Panthers' victory a year ago.
The CIAA has a backyard rivalry of its own when defending champion Shaw (0-1) takes on crosstown Raleigh rival St. Augustine's (1:30 p.m.). St. Aug's handed Shaw one of its two defeats last year, a 34-6 drubbing that was perhaps the Bears' worst outing.
Also on the TV schedule Saturday is Florida A&M's return to MEAC play when the Rattlers host Delaware State in a game to be carried on ESPNU at 7:00 p.m. It will be the Rattlers' first game under new head coach Rubin Carter.
Intrigue
There's no more intriguing game Saturday than the 7:00 p.m. matchup of Albany State (1-0) and Valdosta State (1-0) in Valdosta, Ga.
The two teams split two games last season with SIAC champ Albany State opening the season with a stunning 24-22 win over the Blazers, the Golden Rams' first win ever over VSU, and the Blazers ending the Golden Rams' season with a remarkable 38-24 win in the NCAA Div. II playoff quarterfinals. In that game the Blazers came back from a 24-0 halftime deficit to score 38 unanswered second half points and pull out a win that propelled them to the national championship two Saturdays later. It could easily be said that Valdosta State and James "Mike' White's Albany State squad were the best two teams in all of Div. II football last year.
This year VSU was ranked behind Pittsburg State to open the season but following a loss by PSU last week is likely to move into the top spot. VSU knocked off SIAC member Fort Valley State last week, 32-10. Albany State was ranked 11th last week in the SN poll and pulled out a 24-23 win over SIAC foe, Miles.
© 2005 Azeez Communications, Inc.