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Ulysses Banks was an all-purpose running and receiving threat for |
The 2009 season was another stellar year for Historically Black Colleges and Universitites (HBCU) as they ended the first decade of the 21st century with solid showings on the field and at the gate. It included record-setting individual performances and a number of impressive team efforts.
Florida A&M senior SBN All-American return specialist LeRoy Vann was one of the most exciting performers in all of college football. Vann returned a school record five punts for touchdowns in 2009 and he ended his career with eight touchdowns on punt returns and 11 touchdowns on combined kickoff and punt returns, both NCAA records.
South Carolina State senior running back Will Ford, another SBN All-American, also put his name in the record book. Ford won the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) rushing title for the second straight season with 1,032 yards (the third consecutive year he has surpassed the 1,000 -yard mark) and became the conferences' all-time leading ground gainer with 4,672 career yards.
Shaw University SBN All-American cornerback Quintez Smith was the Division II co-leader with nine pass interceptions. He established an NCAA Division II record by returning four of his interceptions for touchdowns.
Other top individual performers included:
• Florida A&M senior quarterback Curtis Pulley, who was 15th in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) with 270.5 yards total offense per game.
• Alabama A&M senior SBN All-American running back Ulysses Banks, who was No. 8 in the FCS with 1,123 yards rushing .
• Southern SBN All-American senior wide receiver Juamorris Stewart, who led Black College pass catchers with 81 receptions for 1,028 yards and 11 touchdowns.
• Stillman senior Quinn Porter, who rushed for 1,243 yards, tops among HBCU ball-carriers, and was one of three runners from the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) in the top 20 of NCAA Division II.
• Clark Atlanta junior Winston Thompson, who had 1,077 rushing yards.
• Kentucky State sophomore Shannon Frieson rushed for1,011 yards.
• Southern quarterback Bryant Lee, who passed for 2,565 yards and 24 touchdowns.
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Prairie View's Anthony Beck led a Panther pass defense that yielded just 7 touchdown passes all season. |
The clock never struck midnight for Prairie View A&M; college football’s Cinderella team. The Panthers, who lost 80 consecutive games from 1989-98 and dropped football for the 1990 season, won their first SWAC championship in 45 years with a 7-0 conference mark and a 9-1 record. They were three points shy of an undefeated season as their only loss was a 21-18 decision to Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) member New Mexico State.
The MEAC and SIAC had familiar champions with South Carolina State and Tuskegee capturing their respective conference crowns.
South Carolina State extended its MEAC winning streak to 19 consecutive games en route to its second straight conference title. The Bulldogs were 8-0 in league play and 10-2 overall. They advanced to the FCS playoffs where they suffered a gut-wrenching 20-13 first-round loss to Appalachian State.
The game turned on a botched 31-yard field goal attempt by South Carolina State. Long snapper David Davis snapped the ball before holder Matt Washington was ready, and it sailed over Washington’s head. Dominique McDuffie picked the ball up and ran 50 yards for what proved to be the winning touchdown with 7:42 left in the game.
It was supposed to be a down year for Tuskegee, No. 1 among HBCUs with 621 all-time victories. The Golden Tigers had to replace quarterback Jacary Atkinson, the two-time SBN Doug Williams/ Offensive Player of the Year and they lost two starters and key backup players for the season to injuries in the season' opener. Even though they had their 17-game conference winning streak snapped when they lost to Miles in the second game of the season, they still won their fourth consecutive SIAC championship.
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Florida A&M return specialist LeRoy Vann an NCAA single-season record with five punt return touchdowns. |
The Golden Tigers ended the season with a 21-7 victory against Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) representative Elizabeth City State in the Pioneer Bowl for their sixth consecutive 10-win season. SIAC runner-up Albany State received a bid to the Division II playoffs, where the Rams lost to West Alabama 24-22 in the first round.
The CIAA enjoyed one of its most competitive seasons in recent memory. Bowie State, Virginia Union and Elizabeth City State each were 5-2 in the Eastern Division. Bowie State won the right to represent the division in the championship game by virtue of winning a three-way coin flip against the Panthers and Vikings respectively. Fayetteville State slipped past Shaw for the Western Division crown on the strength of a 29-28 victory over the Bears. In the CIAA Championship Game, the Broncos scored all their points in the second half on the way to defeating the Bulldogs 21-10. Fayetteville State would go on to lose to to California (Pa.) in the first round of the Division II playoffs.
Despite the slow economy that continued to grip the nation, HBCUs were among the leaders in attendance for FCS and NCAA Division II schools. Eight HBCUs were in the top 30 in average attendance for FCS, led by North Carolina A&T, which was No. 6 with 17,219 fans a game. Others in the top 30 were No. 7 South Carolina State, 17,027; No. 10 Jackson State, 16,334; No. 13 Tennessee State, 14,462; No. 15 Southern University, 13,817; No. 21 Florida A&M, 12,490; No. 24, Arkansas-Pine Bluff, 11,112, and No. 27 Norfolk State 10,950.
Nine of the 10 best attended FCS games in 2009 were Black college games. The Florida Classic (Florida A&M vs. Bethune-Cookman) was No. 1 with 59,418 fans. The Magic City Classic (Alabama State vs. Alabama A&M) was No. 2 at 55,322, followed by The Bayou Classic (Grambling State vs. Southern), No. 3, 53,618; The Atlanta Classic (Florida A&M vs. Tennessee State) No. 5, 51,950; The Southern Heritage Classic (Jackson State vs. Tennessee State), 43,306, No. 6; The State Fair Classic (Prairie View vs. Grambling State), 42,786, No. 7; The Chicago Classic (Mississippi Valley State vs. Alabama State), 42,600, No. 8; The Circle City Classic (Tuskegee vs. Alabama A&M), 35,289, and Jackson State vs. Southern, 33,977, No. 10.
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During his four years at Tuskegee, Justin Hannah was part of four SIAC Championship teams. |
Tuskegee led Division II with an average of 14,553 fans and was one of six HBCUs – all from the SIAC – in the top 20 in attendance. Miles College was No. 2 with 13,750, followed by No. 8 Morehouse, 8,819; No. 9 Fort Valley State, 7,921; No. 14 Albany State, 6,286, and No. 17 Clark-Atlanta, 5,906.
The 2009 season also saw three veteran coaches dismissed. Southern fired Pete Richardson with a year remaining on his contract even though he won five SWAC titles and a Black College National Championship in 17 seasons; Bethune-Cookman didn’t renew the contract of Alvin Wyatt, the winningest coach in school history, and Winston-Salem State reassigned Kermit Blount to another position in the athletic department after 17 years at the helm.
Former NFL running back and Morgan State coach Stump Mitchell, most recently an assistant with the Washington Redskins, is Richardson’s replacement.
Winston-Salem State hired Fayetteville State offensive coordinator Connell Maynor, who played for the Rams before transferring to North Carolina A&T, to replace Blount. Bethune-Cookman tabbed Rutgers receivers coach Brian Jenkins as Wyatt’s successor.
Other firings included:
• Ted Bahhur, who was let go by Clark-Atlanta after six games with the Panthers sporting a 3-3 record. Bahhur, who is white, has said he will sue the University for racial discrimination. Clark-Atlanta hired former Johnson C. Smith coach Daryl McNeill to replace him.
• Willie Totten, at Mississippi Valley State, where he was a record-setting All-American quarterback who teamed with wide receiver Jerry Rice. North Alabama defensive coordinator Karl Morgan is his successor..
• James Webster at Tennessee State, where he has been replaced by former assistant coach Rod Reed.
• Lamonte Massie at Livingstone, where he has been replaced by former Elizabeth City State offensive line coach Elvin James, who most recently was assistant to the athletic director at Elizabeth City State.
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Roscoe Nance has covered Black College football for more than three decades. He most recently was a reporter for USA Today.
