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The Winston-Salem State Rams journey to a successful season began in the dogs days of fall training camp. Coach Connell Maynor (center) instructed his team on what it would take to have a winning season. |
The 2011 Black College football season was full of twists and turns as well as intrigue and drama.
Each week seemed to yield an unexpected result, beginning with perennial Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) also-ran Stillman College opening with a 16-13 non-conference win against defending Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) Champion Shaw. The Tigers’ victory was only a teaser to a series of stunning upsets, which also included Stillman’s first ever victory over SIAC power Tuskegee – on the Golden Tigers’ home field just two weeks later.
Week 6 produced two of the year’s biggest shockers. North Carolina A&T knocked off Bethune-Cookman 22-3. The Aggies held the Wildcats, who had averaged 433.2 yards a game, to 108 total yards and minus five on the ground. That same day, Lane College stunned Albany State 26-24 for the Dragons’ first ever victory against the two-time defending SIAC champion Golden Rams.
The unexpected continued in the postseason as Johnson C. Smith edged Miles 35-33 in the Pioneer Bowl, which pits a representative of the CIAA against a team from the SIAC. The Golden Bulls were third in the CIAA South and their victory was just the fourth for the 12-team conference in the 13-year history of the Pioneer Bowl.
“I can't recall a season where there we so many surprises as there were this year,” says Donal Ware, host of the nationally syndicated radio talk show From the Press Box to Press Row.
When the dust settled at the end of the season Miles had won its first-ever SIAC championship and Norfolk State had done the same in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC), Grambling State had claimed its 22nd SWAC crown after being counted out of the race with a 1-4 record in mid-October and Winston-Salem State had captured the Black College National Championship and the CIAA title with a 13-1 record; the most victories ever in a season for a Historically Black College or University. (HBCU).
“Sometimes you have years like that,’’ is ESPN College Football Analyst Eddie Robinson’s explanation of the topsy-turvy 2011 season.
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Winston-Salem State won more games (13) in one season than any other team in the history of Black college football on the way to capturing their conference title and first-ever SBN Black College National Championship. |
“It was a situation where you had a lot of transition with coaches,’’ Robinson says. “It’s hard to have consistency with new staffs, and it’s hard to compete against coaches that you’re not familiar with.’’
The string of upsets led to a number of newcomers moving up the conference standings and for a lot of fans it was a bad news-good news situation.The bad news: It was difficult adjusting to not seeing the likes of Tuskegee, South Carolina State, Shaw and Fort Valley State atop the conference standings.
The good news: There was an unprecedented level of interest and excitement this season from start to finish. The division races in the SWAC weren’t decided until the last weekend of the season; the MEAC champion wasn’t determined until the penultimate weekend, and in December, three teams were still in consideration for the Football Championship Series (FCS) playoffs.
“You like it when you have one or two teams dominate,’’ Robinson says “But it was also good that it went down to the last weekend and everybody had a chance. That’s good for fans. Everybody feels involved. It keeps fans into it.’’
That led to HBCUs being involved in 12 of the 25-best attended FCS games in 2011. The Magic City Classic, featuring Alabama State vs. Alabama A&M at Legion Field in Birmingham, Ala., had the largest draw with 66,473 fans. Florida A&M and Bethune-Cookman drew the second biggest crowd (60,218) for the Florida Classic at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando. Florida A&M and Southern attracted 59,373 fans to the Georgia Dome the Atlanta Football Classic, for the third biggest crowd of the season. |
Grambling State Tigers Head Coach Doug Williams and Prairie View A&M Head Coach Heisman Northern at a pregame press conference to promote the State Fair Classic between the Tigers and Panthers. Prairie View won 31-23, but Grambling State would eventually win the Southwestern Athletic Conference Championship. |
Other top 10 draws involving HBCUs were Jackson State vs. Tennessee State in the Southern Heritage Classic (43,532) at the Liberty Bowl in Memphis (No.5); Grambling vs. Southern in the Bayou Classic(40,715) at the Superdome in New Orleans (No.6);. Arkansas-Pine Bluff at Jackson State (38,722, No. 7); Grambling vs. Prairie View (37,311) in the State Fair Classic at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas (No. 8); Hampton vs. Alabama A&M (35,653) in the Chicago Football Classic at Soldier Field (No. 9), and Alcorn State vs. Jackson State 31,501) in the Capital Classic in Jackson (No. 10).
Fans attending Black College games witnessed a number of memorable contests and noteworthy individual performances.
Howard University scored 29 fourth-quarter points and upset Florida A&M 29-28 on the Rattlers’ Homecoming in arguably the most fantastic finish of the season. The win allowed the Bison to end a seven-game losing streak against the Rattlers.
Wide receiver Mario Louis built a strong case for the most improved player in Black
College football. A refugee from the intramural league at Grambling State who walked on with the G-Men, Louis had 51 receptions for 1,129 yards – eighth-best in the FCS – and 18 touchdowns, and he averaged an eye-popping 22.1 yards a catch. Louis had just 16 receptions as a junior in 2010.
Morehouse running back David Carter had the most impressive single-game rushing performance among HBCU runners. Carter set a Division II rushing record when he ran for 251 yards in the first half of the Maroon Tigers’ 49-12win against Fort Valley State. Carter finished the game with 351 yards on 12 carries, and he scored four touchdowns.
Jackson State quarterback Casey Therriault threw for 410 yards when the Tigers hosted Alabama State in a showdown for first place in the SWAC East. Therriault put the ball in the air 67 times and completed 36 of his attempts. Unfortunately for him and the Tigers, he also completed six passes to Alabama State defenders, and the Hornets prevailed 21-14.
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Alabama State wide receiver and SBN All-American Nick Andrews had a career year. As a senior, he led the SWAC in receptions (78), in receiving yards (1,095) and was third in touchdowns (10). He broke school career records in all three categories. |
Prairie View A&M defensive end Adrian Hamilton led the FCS with 20.5 sacks. Hamilton’s sack total exceeded the total for 45 FCS teams. Hamilton, who also led the nation with 1.86 sacks per game, had plenty of company from HBCUs at the top of the sack chart. Jackson State teammates Joseph LeBeau (1.41) and Donovan Robinson (1.40) were Nos. 2 and 3 in the FCS, Corey Hart of Alabama A&M (1.33) was No. 6 and Ryan Davis of Bethune-Cookman (1.09) was No. 10.
Connell Maynor of Winston-Salem State made a strong case for Coach of the Year after leading the Rams to the Black College National Championship, and he was the runner away winner for Prognosticator of the Year. Six weeks before the season began Maynor at the CIAA’s Media Day Luncheon said that his team would be undefeated, win the CIAA Championship Game, earn a first-round bye in the Division II playoffs and win the Division II National Championship. Maynor was 3-for-4 with his predictions as the Rams won 13 consecutive games before losing to Wayne State in the Division II semifinals.
It is unclear if Maynor predicted the fortunes of Norfolk State, Albany State and Elizabeth City State, the other HBCUs that reached the NCAA playoffs. Norfolk State lost to Old Dominion 35-18 in the first round of the FCS playoffs in a contest that for the first time in postseason history had two schools from the same city facing each other. Albany State lost to North Greenville of South Carolina 63-14 and Elizabeth lost to California (Pa.) 44-0 in the first round of the Division II playoffs.
Southern fans had a hard time figuring which was the Jaguars team after the first two weeks of the season – the one that allowed 342 rushing yards in a season-opening 33-6 loss to Tennessee State while only gaining 37 yards on the ground themselves or the team that held Alabama A&M to 60 yards on the ground the following and won 21-6.
The coaching merry-go-round cranked up early as Benedict fired Stanley Conner four games into the season after the Tigers got off to a 1-3 start and replaced him with former Jackson State and Tuskegee offensive coordinator James Woody. Conner’s firing came two years after he guided the Tigers to an 8-3 record. Conner was 21-27 in five seasons at Benedict, which was his first head coaching position. Benedict won just one game under Woody and finished the year 2-8.
Alcorn State placed first-year Head Coach Melvin Spears on administrative leave on Dec. 12 and his future on the Reservation was still undetermined when school reopened after the Christmas holidays. The Braves were 2-8 and last in the SWAC East with the second worst record in the conference. Spears, an Alcorn alum who coached Grambling to the 2005 Black College National Championship, told The Clarion-Ledger newspaper (Jackson, Miss.) that he is being fired for insubordination. Spears is Alcorn’s fourth coach in the last five years. The Braves have won only 14 games since 2007, and they haven’t had a winning season since 2006.
The year ended with Texas Southern hiring Darrell Asberry away from Shaw. Asberry replaces interim coach Kevin Ramsey, who guided the Tigers to a 4-7 record after replacing Johnnie Cole last spring. The Tigers were last in the SWAC West with a 2-7 conference mark after winning the 2010 SWAC title under Cole. Asberry was 40-25 in five seasons at Shaw. He led the Bears to CIAA championships in 2007, ’08 and ’10.