Excitement spikes in showdown week
LUT WILLIAMS
BCSP Editor
We at the BCSP said before the 2005
season started that this would be the most exciting
campaign in black college football since Alcorn State
QB Steve "Air" McNair's scintillating run at the Heisman
Trophy back in 1994. We anticipated that there was something special about this season with its
intriguing conference races, the new faces on the scene and
the potential for great individual and team performances.
Case in point this past Saturday's games where there was a little bit of everything. Let's just go down the list.
The List
There were three games decided in overtime Saturday Fort Valley State vs. Miles, Kentucky State vs. Lane and Allen vs. W. Va. State. Two others were one-point decisions Coastal Carolina 24, South Carolina State 23 and Benedict 22, Clark Atlanta 21. Another two had two-point margins Shaw 22, Bowie State 20 and Winston-Salem State 26, Fayetteville State 24.
Two were won on the final play of regulation CCU vs. SCSU and WSSU vs. FSU.
There was a 31-point comeback Virginia Union, coming from 31-0 down at the half before losing 45-31 to St. Paul's; A shootout Alabama State's 45-35 win over Southern where the teams combined for 970 yards of offense; And a blowout - Grambling's 50-7 win over Prairie View.
If you're looking for outstanding performances, how about Grambling QB Bruce Eugene's 618 passing yards and, count 'em, seven TDs (6, 6, 9, 2, 56, 35 and 74 yards) with three Grambling wideouts topping 100 yards receiving. Or what about Bethune-Cookman QB Jimmie Russell's 128 yards on the ground and four rushing TDs (19, 9, 20 & 18 yards). He added a TD through the air.
If defense is your thing, try Kentucky State
DB Marcus Wright's four interceptions and 54-yard
punt return TD in the overtime win vs. Lane. Or how
about Shaw DB Devin Chatman who had three picks
vs. Bowie State including the game-winner returned
94 yards for a TD.
Also interesting was that perhaps the league generating the most buzz and interest is the CIAA, thought of by many as a basketball-heavy conference. Every game on the double-A schedule last week was significant right down to Johnson C. Smith and Livingstone's battle to see which would get its first win. Livingstone won. The battle for the top spots in the CIAA East and West and for the top of the SIAC standings were more intriguing.
Intriguing Matchups
In Durham, two undefeated 5-0 CIAA teams, North Carolina Central and St. Augustine's, did battle with more than area bragging rights on the line. The winner not only would get a leg up on the West Division crown and jump into the favorite's role for the conference title but would likely end up early this week as the No. 1 team in the new NCAA Div. II Southeast region.
All those designations went to St. Aug's just four years after the program returned to the gridiron who all but shut out the vaunted N. C. Central offense and followed it and QB Darrell Nesbitt to a dominating 22-8 win at the Eagles' homecoming. The Falcons and head coach Michael Costa then accomplished the unthinkable when they were voted Monday as the top team in the region (See STAT CORNER), the first time ever a CIAA team has topped a regional poll.
The Falcons are tied for the West Div. lead at 3-0 with Winston-Salem State who got a game-winning 26-yard field goal from Matt Hind with no time left on the clock to knock off three-time defending division champ Fayetteville State.
Not getting as much attention but equally intriguing is the race in the East. Four teams went into Saturday's games with a 1-1 conference record. Defending champion Shaw, Virginia State and a team nobody expected to do anything, St. Paul's College two years removed from returning its program to the gridiron emerged at 2-1.
Tiny St. Paul's and their coach Willard Bailey got what had to be a particularly sweet 41-35 win over Virginia Union, the school that fired Bailey the CIAA's all-time winningest coach rather unceremoniously two years ago.
In the SIAC showdown, home-standing defending champion Albany State came away with a 31-21 win over conference favorite and previously undefeated Tuskegee. The Golden Rams used big plays on offense including a 70-yard TD run, 44-yard punt return and 83-yard pass play in downing the Golden Tigers (4-1).
New Kids at the Top
When the dust settled Saturday, the only undefeated teams left in black college football are 5-0 Hampton and 6-0 St. Aug's.
Who could have imagined a possible St. Aug's/St. Paul's matchup for the CIAA title (Nov. 5 in Durham), but that's a possibility with both teams in the thick of the CIAA division races which are far from over.
With the Tuskegee loss, Fort Valley State at 5-0 moves to the top of the SIAC standings with Albany State, Tuskegee and Kentucky State each with one loss in conference play.
Hampton and SC State are undefeated in MEAC play and still sit atop that race with Alabama State and Grambling, both with no losses in their conference, leading the SWAC East and West respectively.
© 2005 Azeez Communications, Inc.