Week 6 Progress Reports
10/13/04 by SWACFootball.com

Half the season is over and some teams have separated themselves from the others by playing well. ASU and Southern are playing the best football right now while Alcorn and Alabama A&M are on the bubble for what kind of year they’re going to have. Week 6 Progress Report tells why these teams having trouble and why the successful teams are playing well.  (Forum Discussion)

Alabama A&M
Grade: C-  Record 3-3

The Bulldogs have the second ranked defense in the SWAC, but the offense is what is hurting them. The lack of ball movement has put the defense in bad situations with turnovers in their own territory.

The Bulldogs lead the league in interceptions with 12 and are 9^th in third down conversions percentage in the SWAC. 

Those two stats need to improve if the Bulldogs want to turn around the season. It’s clear that A&M is a top team when the offense is playing well. The major problem is this happens when the game is too far out of reach.  

The Bulldogs still have a showdown with ASU coming up and their defense should give A&M a chance to win the game. 

Alabama State
Grade: A  Record 4-1 

The Hornets are the second best team in the SWAC right now behind Southern. ASU’s lost to Southern by one point shows that the team still needs to grow. A comeback lost at home exposes the lack of experience the Hornets have on the field and on the sidelines.  

Second half adjustments is important when playing a good team and the Hornets only had to do this once this year, and that was against Southern. The result was a lost. I expect the Hornets to learn from their mistakes and make sure that second half collapses don’t happen in the future.  

The biggest game left for the Hornets is A&M, which puts the two best defenses in the league against each other. ASU’s offense will need to score about 28 points to pull out a comfortable win. I wouldn’t give life to the Bulldogs coaching staff late in the game.  

Alcorn State
Grade: C  Record: 3-2 

Alcorn hasn’t beaten anybody great this year. The blow out lost to Alabama State exposed the whole team (including coaching staff).  Donald Carrie is the best average quarterback in the SWAC.  You may laugh, but this year some teams wish they had an average quarterback (Alabama A&M).  

The Braves still have the basic problem of keep the turnovers down. Most people will say that the team with the least turnovers will win the game. That usually holds true unless you’re playing playstation.  

Seriously though, the Braves might need to think about their future. The head coach Johnny Thomas is good but the assistant coaching are lacking.  Maybe more money needs to be offered. All I’m saying is that the game is lost before the Braves hit the field in some cases. 

UAPB
Grade: C+  Record 4-1 

The Golden Lions have only lost one game this year, and that was against Bethune-Cookman. The four wins they have are against Texas Southern (0-6), MVSU (0-6), Alabama A&M, and Paul Quinn. Some high school teams would have a winning record with this schedule.  

UAPB’s season test against Alabama State was postponed due to a Hurricane, so the Golden Lions look like monster right now.  Their confidence is high and they will give most teams in the SWAC trouble right now. I stress right now because the first team to beat them in the SWAC could very well knock them right out of the SCG race.  

Remember that scheduling debacle in the beginning of the Season that was partly caused by UAPB dropping Southern from their schedule. Well, guess what, this could cause a tie breaker in the west if the both teams run the table. Expect Southern to win the tie breaker due to point total. 

(FYI, If the Golden Lions run the table then they would have an 8-1 record this year.) 

Grambling State
Grade: C  Record 3-2 

The Tigers have won three straight games beating Bethune-Cookman, Prairie View, and MVSU.  Grambling is still a question as a team, even though it seems like the offense has adjusted to new quarterback Brandon Landers.  

The defense needs to pick up the slack. The Tigers are 7^th in rushing defense in the SWAC giving up 185 yards a game. This means that teams are driving the ball down the field and controlling the clock. Grambling lack of rush offense needs the support of a good rushing defense to balance out the weakness.  

The Tigers will run into some problems when they play ASU and Southern if the rushing defense doesn’t improve. 

Jackson State
Grade: D  Record: 1-4 

Jackson State is the best losing team in the SWAC. They have not been blown out all year and they are in every game played. With that being said the problem is not the talent of the players, it’s the coaching they’re receiving.

The Tigers need to seriously look at their situation and make a decision about the future of the program. Firing the coach will most likely cost you 3 to 4 years of planning, but it’s worth it. The fans need to think about this.  

MVSU
Grade: F  Record: 0-6 

Valley just needs to buckle down and focus. Mistakes are costing this team. The season is over already but the pride of the Delta Devils needs to stay strong.  

Prairie View
Grade: D  Record: 2-3 

The biggest difference in P.V. this year is that they really look like a college football team.  The offensive plays look complete and there seems to be a game plan in place. The coaching staff has done a good job, but they must remain focus and improve every week win or lose. 

Southern
Grade: A  Record: 4-2 

Southern biggest crutch is it’s defense ranking 8^th in pass defense, 6^th in rushing defense and last (10th) in total defense. The good news is that the SWAC as a whole is not that great. Southern has beaten the other good team in the SWAC (Alabama State) already, but there are some average teams that are waiting for a piece of the defending champs on their schedule. 

Southern defense needs to improve just like most of the teams in the SWAC. A defense that sits in the bottom half of the team stats defensively will have out score teams and hold down turnovers.  

Turnovers will keep a team with a weak defense on the ropes all game and make it difficult to win no matter how powerful your offense is. 

Texas Southern
Grade: F-  Record: 0-6 

The tigers need to get ready for a 0-11 season and the head coach might need to start packing the moving truck.

(Forum Discussion)