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SWAC contenders go to war
LUT WILLIAMS The mighty SWAC, 0-2 so far against Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference schools, gets another chance Saturday when Alcorn State, a contender in the conference's East Division, takes on Hampton, one of the MEAC's top dogs, at the 24th New York Urban League Classic played at the Meadowlands. Out in Las Vegas, defending SWAC champion Grambling State has a date with Tennessee State in the first annual Silver Dollar Classic. And most telling could be the SWAC East/West battle in the New Orleans Super Dome between Southern and Jackson State, which could be a preview of the conference title game Dec. 14 in Birmingham.
Alcorn State (1-1, 1-1 SWAC)
A large crowd should be on hand in New Jersey as two of the better teams in black college football square off at Giants Stadium Saturday afternoon. The game will be broadcast by tape delay Sunday (5 p.m.) on MBC Network. After a close win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff (34-24) to open the season and a last-second loss to Grambling a week later, head coach Johnny Thomas is sure his Alcorn State Braves will be up to the challenge of Hampton. Quarterback Donald Carrie is among the league leaders averaging 212 passing yards per game with seven touchdown passes and only three interceptions while the running game is getting another 140 yards per contest. The Brave defense is even better giving up a league-low 61.5 yards per game while ranking second in the SWAC in total defense. But they should have their hands full with Joe Taylor's Pirates who are coming off perhaps their most impressive performance to date in a stunning, 51-2 win at home Saturday over Howard. In that game, all phases of the Pirates' attack shined. They scored touchdowns once threw the air, four times on the ground and twice on special teams. They ran for 324 yards against a Howard defense that was supposed to be the strength of its team and never turned the ball over. And the Pirates played well knocking off highly-regarded James Madison in their opener before losing a close 28-26 decision to Southwest Missouri State in week two. PREDICTION: The last time Hampton played in the Meadowlands they returned an NCAA-record five kicks for touchdowns in routing Virginia State. Alcorn State is no Virginia State so don't expect the Pirates to run roughshod over the Braves. But they will and should beat them. In a good one, Hampton 38, Alcorn State 35.
Grambling State (2-1, 1-0 SWAC) vs
Tennessee State takes step #3 of its murderous September schedule when it travels to Las Vegas to take on Doug Williams's Grambling Tigers in a game to be televised live on the MBC Network. The Blue Tigers face Florida A&M next Saturday (Sept. 28) in Atlanta. After close losses to South Carolina State (26-20) to open the season and last week on a last-minute field goal to Jackson State (31-28) James Reese's TSU Tigers are due for some good fortune. The running game seems to have gotten well with the return of sophomore sensation Charles Anthony (13 car., 113 yds. vs. JSU) but the QB situation is still unsettled. The Blue Tigers have used three QBs, Kenny Irby, Bryan Rosser and Riley Walker, and all have struggled. Grambling seems to have settled on QB Bruce Eugene after he was benched following on opening season loss to McNeese State. He came back to throw for 201 yards in a 23-13 win over Alabama A&M last week. But the Tigers will have to muster a running game to keep up with TSU. PREDICTION: TSU gets the numbers it needs from the passing game and the breaks it needs, otherwise. TSU 37, GSU 33.
Jackson State (1-2, 0-0 SWAC) vs
The turnovers that plagued Jackson State and QB Robert Kent in two losses to open the season were gone against Tennessee State last week. The result a 31-28 victory, their first of the year. Avoiding mistakes (i. e., turnovers) will again be the watchword as the Tigers battle Southern in the Super Dome (BET, 7 p.m., tape delay). Southern started to get its running game together behind sophomore Kenneth Peoples last week but the Arkansas-Pine Bluff defense shut down dangerous wideout Michael Hayes. The 13 points Southern scored against UAPB won't be enough however to put away Jackson State. QB Quincy Richard will have to play better or give way to Anthony Fisher. PREDICTION: Shut down Hayes and you shut down Southern. Jackson State will. JSU 32, Southern 18. © 2002 Azeez Communications, Inc.
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