Fred's 2005 SWAC football preview

This ran in the Hammond (La.) Daily Star Aug. 28, 2005. But for obvious reasons (the Hurricane), I wasn't able to get this online...

The quest for the 2005 Southwestern Athletic Conference title features just as many question marks and storylines than the conference probably has teams.
Of the 10-team conference, only three - defending champion Alabama State, runnerup Southern and Grambling State - have very realistic shots at hoisting the championship trophy Dec. 10 in Birmingham, Ala. All three have question marks, but not as pronounced as the other seven schools.
The Hornets and Tigers were picked by several media outlets to win the SWAC's eastern and western divisions, respectively. However, many perils lie in wait to thwart prognosticators during the season including the newly reinforced 9-game mandate. That means all teams must play each other, also rendering the conference championship game a redundant rematch (how it got to that point is a whole other story).
Predicting an order of finish for a conference's football season is too, well mundane. Here's one better, briefly discussing some issues that may prevent these teams from becoming champion this season.

Alabama State has the SWAC's best quarterback-tailback duo in seniors Tarvaris Jackson in Keldrick Williams, but have to replace their top two receivers, three offensive lineman and five defensive starters. One of those starters was linebacker Rock Dillon, the conference's defensive player of the year in 2004.
Linebacker Billy Gresham was named preseason defensive player of the year over returning performers such as Alabama A&M linebacker Johnny Baldwin, Mississippi Valley State linebacker Jarette Prout and Amite's Cletis Gordon, cornerback/return specialist for Jackson State. Jackson, who was second in the SWAC in total offense in 2004, was named preseason player offensive player of the year and Williams, led the SWAC in rushing two years running averaging 1,100 yards each season. Throw fullback Robert Randolph in the mix with Jackson and Williams, and the Hornets should not have to worry about offensive production.
Gresham and linebacker Chris Dupuy solidify an experienced front seven and experienced players will be in the secondary, but it will probably be enough to outlast the teams in the SWAC's Eastern Division. It may be different when facing the SWAC's Louisiana contingent.

Grambling returns two-time Payton Award finalist Bruce Eugene at quarterback, but it may not be enough for the Tigers to reclaim the SWAC title. Eugene, a senior, suffered a season-ending knee injury in the season opener last season. Grambling muddled their way through 2004 to notch a 6-5 record, knocking off rival Southern in the Bayou Classic to earn that sixth win.
Eugene's presence may possibly cause a quarterback controversy in Lincoln Parish. Last year's starter, true sophomore Brandon Landers, threw for over 2,000 yards as a freshman. Some of the Grambling faithful might call for Landers if Eugene does not show the form that made him one of I-AA's top quarterbacks.
The Tigers discovered they had the tools to make a powerful rushing attack late in the season, utilizing tailback Ab Kuuan and fullback Ruben Mayes finding holes provided by consensus All-American Jonathan Banks and a mammoth offensive line.
Grambling also returns wide receivers Tim Abney and Moses Harris from season-ending injuries, who will figure prominently in another possible conflict - whether to air it out with Eugene and the receivers or pound it out with Kuuan and Mayes. The Tigers must first find an offensive identity before it gets too late, like last season, and find themselves out of the hunt for the West title.
The defensive line lost All-American Kenneth Pettway but gains defensive tackle Lennard Patten, an academic casualty last season. South Carolina transfer Moe Thompson, who lands at Grambling after running afoul with law enforcement in the Palmetto State, will start on the defensive line as well. The defense will need another leader like Pettway if it wants to get back to what Tigers fans refer to as "Gramblingham, Alabama."

Southern breaks in its third new quarterback in as many season, but the last two starters before redshirt sophomore J.C. Lewis only won SWAC Offensive Player of the Year and led the Jaguars to the last two SWAC title games. The entire offense, led by first-team All-SWAC wide receiver James Vernon, is virtually intact and looks ready to make a case for I-AA's top offensive unit.
The defense is the big question mark, having lost experienced guys in the much-maligned front seven and in the secondary. Head coach Pete Richardson will look toward the return of veterans like Kevin Mack, along with young players like freshman defensive backs Randy Thomas and Michael Williams to make major contributions to the Jaguars.
Another note: Southern under Richardson have been great in odd-numbered years. The Jaguars won 11 or more games in 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999 and 2003. The only aberration, a 7-4 record in 2001. Look for the defending Western Division champions to have a say in who takes home the crown this season, if the defense holds. The west will be decided, as it has always been, at the Bayou Classic.

Alabama A&M's defense seems to always be one of Division I-AA's best, but the Bulldogs' offense has been its Achilles heel. Bulldogs fans are long-starved for a breakthrough in the SWAC East under head coach Anthony Jones, but it seems as though Alabama A&M are the SWAC's version of Texas - their season gets thrashed after losing to their main rival. The Bulldogs must take that step to get into the SWAC title hunt by knocking off Alabama State in the Magic City Classic, but it won't happen for one reason - the Hornets' offense can consistently put up points while the Bulldogs' offense cannot.
Baldwin leads an experienced front seven while Leveronte Turner and Jamerson Baker are back in the secondary. The front seven is the Bulldogs' strong suit, able to make even the most cold-blooded quarterback get happy feet because of the pressure. The secondary goes through too many mental lapses, like the one that resulted in Southern's game-winning touchdown pass a year ago in Huntsville, to stay consistent.

Mississippi Valley State would have won the Division I-AA national championship if college football games only lasted two or three quarters, but football games have four quarters - which the Delta Devils often failed to show up for. Recent College Football Hall of Fame inductee, Valley head coach/former quarterback/school icon Willie Totten, has vowed to turn quarterback Aries Nelson, 2004 SWAC Newcomer of the Year, and his array of receivers into the 2005 revival of the famed "Satellite Express" offense. That offense, the wide open offense that put Itta Bena on the map in the early 1980s, got Totten's favorite receiver noticed by and drafted by the San Francisco 49ers. Besides, the Delta Devils' stadium isn't named Rice-Totten by some stroke of luck.
Prout and fellow linebacker Tyler Knight are tackling machines that provided the base for the SWAC's fourth-best defense. This team experienced growing pains last season as they constantly failed to finish the job in the second half in close games. The Delta Devils can only improve, but that depends on how much they tire out on both sides of the ball. Valley is still a year away from really contending for the East crown, unless they backslide away from the momentum being built this season.

Alcorn State returns one of I-AA's best wide receiver duos in Charlie Spiller and Nate Hughes, but who is going to throw them the ball? The answer could be true freshman Tony Hobson, who thwarted his hometown Jackson State Tigers to don the purple and gold of the Eastern Division rival. It could be the start of another era at Alcorn because the school's top two career passers - Donald Carrie and a certain Tennessee Titans quarterback - both were 4-year starters.
Inexperience at running back will hurt the offense, just as the lack of experience at linebacker will hurt the Braves whenever they try to stop the run. The Braves were terrible against the run last year. Taurian Banks and Quentin Sullivan are good corners, but in a conference where there are a lot of 4- or 5-receiver sets, two good corners are not enough. Expect the Braves' secondary to get "Air Raided" this season.

Arkansas-Pine Bluff went 6-3 last season and look poised to make more noise, but that record came without playing Southern or Alcorn State (another story regarding the 9-game mandate). Head coach Mo Forte turned the Golden Lions around, but this season will be different as UAPB loses its top rushers and some key defensive players. Southern and Alcorn are also on the schedule this year.
History doesn't bode well for UAPB as well. Forte led a similar resurgence at North Carolina A&T, going 9-3 in 1986, but the Aggies went 3-8 the following year.
The Golden Lions will have three seniors on the defensive line, but only return one starter in the secondary. Having only one veteran in the secondary in the SWAC is literally begging the scoreboard operator to spot the opposing team 30 or more points. That, coupled with being in the West with Southern and Grambling, only spells trouble.

Prairie View was not the cupcake last season, but the euphoria of their 3-win Cinderella season will get erased quickly, just like their 2-0 start was erased quickly by Southern last season. The Panthers could compete for the SWAC West title in about three years, if they can increase their win totals by one each season. One small victory for any other school is one huge victory for Prairie View.

Jackson State's only won six of 23 football games in the last two seasons, but beleaguered head coach James Bell might just throw everything and the kitchen sink at the conference in order to come up with a winning season and save his job, yet alone beat the last-place predictions and win the SWAC East. Hey, when there is a 2-year-old Web site called www.BellGottaGo.com promising visitors it's returning bigger and better, then that's an indication of a coach that has alienated Tigers fans could call on desperate measures.
Those desperate measures might include Gordon, a consensus preseason All-American, could possibly see time at corner, wide receiver, equipment manager, ticket salesperson or athletic director if it means the Tigers will get above .500 and compete for the SWAC championship. That will not happen, because the damage caused by the worst two-year stretch in J-State history will be too much to overcome this year. This program needs CPR.

Texas Southern's 0-fer last season will not be repeated this , but don't expect the Tigers to just go from 0-11 to contending for the SWAC West title overnight. They bring some experienced players back on defense, but the offense looked awful at times. The crash-and-burn of last season even has Prairie View fans looking forward to beating up on the Tigers in the Labor Day Classic in Houston.