New leaders face tough tasks
LUT WILLIAMS
BCSP Editor
We said here last week that if anyone was going to catch or dethrone the top teams in three of the four black college conferences, last weekend was the time to do it. Well, two of the leaders and defending champions were caught _ and passed.
Two-time defending Mid Eastern Athletic Conference champion Hampton and three-time defending Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference champ Albany State were knocked from their perches atop their conferences Saturday by their two nearest challengers.
Meanwhile, Arkansas-Pine Bluff continued to lay waste of the top dogs in the SWAC and Tennessee State is making bid for Ohio Valley Conference honors.
SC State shakes things up in the MEAC
Head coach Joe Taylor's Hampton squad was ambushed and hog-tied in Orangeburg, S.C., by South Carolina State, the team that has finished behind the Pirates in each of the last two seasons. SCSU head coach Buddy Pough's defense limited the league's top offense to 161 total yards and just two field goals in a 13-6 upset win (See HOW THEY DID IT).
"Our defense, I'm going to be honest with you, played magnificently," said a jubilant Pough, who called the victory the biggest of his career. It was his teams' third straight win and followed a bye week after they opened the season 1-3.
"It's been night-and-day since that open week," said Pough. "We did some real soul-searching. We moved some people around. We had some people come to the forefront as leaders."
His Bulldogs (4-3, 3-1) are now tied with Hampton (7-1, 5-1) and Delaware State (5-2, 4-1), their opponent in Dover Saturday (7 p.m.), at the top of the MEAC standings each with one conference loss. Hampton beat DelState 29-14 in Dover on Sept. 30.
DelState held up its end of the bargain with a 29-7 win at Morgan State, ruining the Bears' homecoming and setting up the showdown with SC State. If DSU gets by SCSU, there would be a three-way tie for the conference lead. SC State handled DelState last year, 24-3.
Tuskegee new king of the SIAC
Tuskegee, who had lost the last three times it played Albany State in the fourth quarter, pulled Saturday's game out for new head coach Willie Slater in the final stanza. TU quarterback Kevin Huff hit tight end Stanley Reid on a 23-yard scoring pass that proved to be the difference as the Golden Tigers (5-2, 5-1) supplanted the Golden Rams (5-3, 5-1) atop the conference standings with a 17-10 win.
Just as importantly, the loss knocked Albany State out of the rankings in the NCAA Div. II Southeast Region. Lane, at 7-1, is now the only SIAC team ranked in the region. The Dragons are tenth.
Tuskegee is at Clark Atlanta Saturday, while Lane (7-1, 4-1) hosts Fort Valley State (3-5, 2-3). Albany State plays in Atlanta at the Morehouse (2-7, 1-5) homecoming.
UAPB running roughshod over SWAC elite
A week after knocking off defending champion
Grambling State to take over the West Division lead,
Arkansas-Pine Bluff added the scalp of East Division champion
Alabama A&M to its collection with a 23-21 win.
Mo Forte's Golden Lions (4-3, 3-2) have a chance to continue their run as they host East Div. leader Jackson State (5-2, 4-1) Saturday in Pine Bluff, Ar. (6 p.m.)
JSU was throttled by Grambling Saturday but stayed a half-game in front of the East because of A&M's loss. A&M and Alabama State (3-4, 3-3) meet Saturday in Birmingham in the 70th Magic City Classic at Legion Field (2:30 p.m.). The game will be broadcast by tape delay on ESPNU at 10 p.m. Alcorn State (4-3, 3-2), who shocked Southern Saturday, has an open date
Also in a West Division match-up, Grambling (4-3, 3-2) is at Texas Southern (2-5, 2-4).
NCCU, ECSU near clinching in CIAA
The biggest beneficiary of Hampton's loss on the national scene is 8-0 North Carolina Central, now the only undefeated team in black college football. The Eagles, who moved to No. 1 in the BCSP Top Ten, knocked off Langston Saturday (31-21) and play at homecoming for Livingstone (1-7. 1-4) this weekend.
A win Saturday would clinch the Eagles' second straight CIAA West Division title and conference championship game berth and all but assure them of their second consecutive trip to the NCAA Div. II playoffs regardless of the outcome of their Nov. 4 regular season finale vs. Johnson C. Smith.
East Division leader Elizabeth City State (7-1, 5-0) posted its fourth shutout win of the season Saturday with a 36-0 pasting of Shaw and travels to dangerous St. Paul's (2-6, 1-4) Saturday (1:30 p.m.). The Vikings, who appear headed for a Nov. 11 CIAA Championship Game showdown with NCCU, are up from eighth to sixth in the latest Southeast Region poll.
Virginia Union (6-2, 4-1), who lurks just one game behind the Vikes, has a key division match-up at Bowie State Saturday (1 p.m.). VUU is at ECSU for the final game of the regular season next Saturday (Nov. 4).
Tennessee State making a push in OVC
Don't look now but James Webster's Tennessee State Blue Tigers (4-3, 3-0 OVC) are making a move in the Ohio Valley Conference.
The Tigers knocked off perennial OVC power Jacksonville State Saturday 38-31 and have put themselves in the middle of the championship picture. They are currently undefeated in conference play as are Tennessee-Martin (6-1, 3-0) and Eastern Illinois (5-3, 4-0). The Tigers are at EIU next week (Nov. 4). They do not play Tenn-Martin this season.
They have Samford (3-5, 1-4) at home Saturday for homecoming in a game that will be carried live on Comcast Sports South.
© 2006 Azeez Communications, Inc.