Benedict experienced a number of undesirable firsts this season when it visited Miles for a showdown on Saturday.
The Tigers hadn’t allowed any opponent more than one score. They hadn’t yielded more than 193 yards of total offense in a contest. They also hadn’t trailed at any point through five games.
Although all those streaks ended, Benedict did not suffer its first loss. The Tigers capped a long drive with a late touchdown and prevailed, 27-24, to remain undefeated.
As a first-year head football coach whose program lost 18 of 22 games before he arrived, Raymond Woodie must lay a foundation at Bethune-Cookman before anything can rise. Discipline will form the base of his construction project, and shortcuts will only delay the production schedule.
“The standard is the standard,” Woodie said Monday during a call with reporters. “We want to do things the right way, but obviously the smart way. And whatever you do, it always has consequences.”
Results have been mixed for the Wildcats (1-3 overall, 0-1 in the Southwestern Athletic Conference), coming off a bye week as they prepare to visit Alabama State for homecoming. Bethune has produced some of the most disciplined play in the Football Championship Series, ranked fifth nationally in fewest penalty yards per game (35.0) and 16th in fewest penalties per game (4.75).
Pick a sport – any sport – and consider which
athletes are lauded as the world’s best. Take a mental snapshot.
Now look through history’s lens and scroll
through past decades. The picture gets paler and paler the further back you go,
brown faces slowly disappearing like Marty McFly’s hand in “Back to the Future.”
That era is romanticized by those who desire its return, with some bad actors working earnestly to rewind time and reverse progress on a grand scale. Unfortunately for them, no one is lightening major team sports like football and basketball, where dominant Black athletes are plentiful and permitted to thrive. Even worse, colorization is happening in gymnastics, too, where a bevy of Black girls can see themselves in the GOAT, Simone Biles.
Every box for a desirable homecoming was checked on
Saturday when Alabama A&M hosted Tuskegee.
The weather cooperated with warmth and sunshine. Fans
converged to sell out Louis Crews Stadium for the first time ever. The Bulldogs
excelled on the field in every way. And their supporters never worried about
the outcome, a 58-3 rout
that pleased most folks in the crowd of 26,391.
The offense scored at least one touchdown in every quarter. The defense recorded a safety and yielded zero points after Tuskegee’s opening-drive field goal. Special teams contributed a blocked punt and several nice returns. There wasn’t much room for criticism from head coach Connell Maynor.
Coming off a loss to Southern in the Southwestern Athletic Conference on Sept. 16, Alabama A&M faced a stiff test entering its last game five days later.
Playing on Thursday, Sept. 21, meant the Bulldogs had a short week to prepare. Starting 0-2 in the SWAC would greatly diminish their championship hopes.
But they met that challenge in their home opener, earning a hard-fought victory against Arkansas-Pine Bluff, 31-24, on ESPN. AAMU head coach Connell Maynor said their backs were against the wall, and they must win their remaining conference games to control their own destiny.
Before we begin, I’d like to welcome newbies who jumped aboard
this Coach Prime Bandwagon as it’s bulldozing sports and pop culture.
Many of you never imagined staying up to watch such a thing, but
there you were on Sept. 16, when Colorado vs. Colorado State kicked off at 10 p.m.
ET and became ESPN’s fifth most-watched college football game
ever. Tuning in for last
Saturday’s game didn’t require sleep deprivation but it was emotionally taxing
to see Oregon stomp Colorado, 42-6.
Most who watched the thrilling overtime win a week earlier likely endured the depressing blowout, too. Although the Buffaloes are 3-1, the Prime Effect has yet to lose – that game against Oregon on ABC marked the largest Neilsen-measured audience all season. Up next on Saturday is another guaranteed ratings bonanza, a game with star QB/Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams pitted against star QB/Coach Prime’s son Shedeur Sanders.
Grambling State and Texas Southern took turns on the scoreboard
Saturday in their Southwestern Athletic Conference clash. Neither team put up
points without a response from the opponent. Back and forth they went, first
the hosts scoring and then the visitors from Texas scoring, in a one-possession
contest entering the final quarter.
But Grambling’s punishing ground attack ground paid off during
the Tigers’ game-clinching drive, making head coach Hue Jackson seem prophetic.
“I like our offensive line, what we’re doing and where we are right now,” Jackson said prior to Grambling’s 35-23 victory. “I think those guys kind of know each other a little bit better. We have a good group of guys who are starting to gel.”
Now in his fifth season at Texas Southern, head
football coach Clarence McKinney has overseen gradual improvement in the
victory column. His team went from zero wins in his first two years, to a pair
in 2021 and five in 2022.
Though his Tigers have opened this season with three
consecutive defeats, McKinney can see progress in their back-to-back blowouts
against Football Bowl Series foes. The Tigers scored a mere field goal and lost
by 68 points against Toledo.
Last week, they scored a touchdown and lost by 52 points against neighboring Rice.
“We went across the street and played a really tough opponent for us,” McKinney said Monday during the Southwestern Athletic Conference media call. “It gave us an opportunity to work on some things and come together as a team. Our guys fought from the opening kick to the final whistle versus a quality opponent.”
Among the wildly popular Nike merch that’s inspired by Deion
Sanders and running out of stock are shirts that read: “I ain’t hard 2 find.”
That’s easy for him to say.
Media encircles Coach Prime like planets orbit the sun. He was the talk of college football at Jackson State and remains the lead story at Colorado, where “60 Minutes” just featured him for the second time in a calendar year. There’s no doubt Sanders is extraordinarily different, one of one.
But he’s also one of eight coaches (at the moment) who stand
out for chromatic reasons, not charm and charisma.
BOWIE, Md. –The crowd for Bowie
State’s home opener was slow to arrive Saturday and barely seated for a
game-defining special teams play. But the Bulldogs’ side was packed at the end
on a beautiful sunny afternoon, celebrating a 21-7 victory against Shaw
University.
“We had a full house and a good
spirit and everything,” Bowie State head coach Kyle Jackson said on the field
after his team improved to 2-1 overall, 1-0 in the Central Intercollegiate
Athletic Conference. “I wouldn’t expect nothing less from Bulldog Nation.
That’s kind of how we do things.”
Jackson helped create Bowie State’s culture as a starting linebacker from 2007–2010 and later as an assistant coach under his predecessor, Damon Wilson. The Bulldogs won three consecutive CIAA championships, ending in 2021, after which Wilson departed for Morgan State, and Jackson was named interim coach, inheriting a program that made history 35 years ago.
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