Florida A&M at DSU game preview

Where: Alumni Stadium, Dover (Capacity: 7,000)
When: 7:30 tonight
TV/radio: ESPNU/1450AM
Records: DSU (0-0- 0-0) Florida A&M (1-0,0-0)

Prediction: DSU 27, Florida A&M 17.

Scouting the Hornets

DSU enters the season in defense of its first league championship since 1991. In 2007, the Hornets were undefeated in the MEAC and qualified for the program's first NCAA playoffs. They own a three-game win streak over the Rattlers. Thirteen starters return from a team that set a school record for victories in a season (10). DSU's only losses were to Division I-A Kent State and Delaware in the first round of the I-AA playoffs. With DSU trying new tweaks on offense, it will again rely on the consistency of its defense and special teams. Returning linebackers Josh Pope and Jackie Watkins combined for 14 tackles-for-loss and 3.5 sacks a year ago. DSU added Syracuse transfers Donta Herrod and Quinton Brown in the defensive backfield, two players who should provide leadership.

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Forget the local press predictions, look for the FAMU Rattlers defense to steamroll the Hornets offense and find a way to win!

Teeing up on the road with the DSU Hornets

Wherever DSU football team goes, fine links are never far away

As long as Delaware State University remains in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, Hornets football fans are guaranteed a golf trip to Florida every season. The Hornets played at Florida A&M in Tallahassee last year. This season, they play at Bethune-Cookman in Daytona Beach. It alternates that way every two years. And while DSU isn't playing any road games in the Carolinas this year, there will still be plenty of fine golf destinations for the traveling Hornets fan.

Sept. 13, at Kent It's 420 miles from Dover to Kent, Ohio. A good stop for golfers along the way would be Mill Creek Golf Course, which sits just off Interstate 76 in Canfield, Ohio, 35 miles east of Kent. Both the North and South courses at Mill Creek were designed by the legendary Donald Ross. The South is the longest at only 6,302 yards, but both have plenty of trees, bunkers and streams in play.

Oct. 11, at Bethune-Cookman It's Florida, so there is no shortage of four-star golf. But a good place to start is LPGA International.

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NSU Spartans coach sees room for improvement

NORFOLK, VA - A few stalled drives and too many missed tackles left coach Pete Adrian with this assessment of Norfolk State's romp over Virginia State on Saturday: "I wasn't happy with our total performance. We're going to have to play better."

Much of the anticipation of the season has centered around UConn transfer Dennis Brown, who made his first start as a Spartan. The redshirt junior completed 12 of 30 passes for 126 yards with a touchdown. Brown completed four of his first five passes to lead NSU to a touchdown on its opening drive. However, he also overthrew some receivers, including Dario Walker on his longest pass of the night. Walker had beaten the coverage, but was a step slow for the 40-yard Brown bomb.

Norfolk State University Spartan Legion Band 8/30/08 - 5th Qtr. Labor Day Classic

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FAMU not rattled by Delaware State

There seems to be so much that FAMU has to contend with heading into Thursday night's televised game with Delaware State. The Rattlers are going on the road on just four days rest. They'll be taking on a team that they haven't beaten in their last three meetings. On top of that, the game is at Alumni Stadium, home of the defending MEAC champion Hornets.

And, coach Joe Taylor is telling his players not to make the odds become a distraction. "As a coach you always tell the players that as long as the field is 53 1/3 yards wide and 100 yards long it doesn't matter," Taylor said at Tuesday's meeting with the media. His players seem to be taking heed as they seemingly relish the opportunity to meet the Hornets in Dover.

Delaware State vs. FLORIDA A&M RATTLERS Game Notes (PDF)

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Date: September 4, 2008
Location: Alumni Stadium (Artificial A-Turf) (7,000) in Dover, Del.
Kickoff: 7:30 p.m.
Television: ESPNU. Charlie Neal (play-by-play) and Jay Walker
(analyst) will call the action. Denis Lanius is directing the contest.
Producing the game is John Kittering.
Radio: 1450 WILM-AM will carry the action (Part of the Delaware
State Hornets Radio Network). Scott Klatzkin is in his first season
as DSU’s play-by-play announcer. Kevin Scholla is the broadcast
analyst.
Live Stats: www.DSUHornets.com
Tickets: 1.302.857.TIXX

Grambling's young talent still has growing up to do

GRAMBLING, LA — Grambling traveled to Reno, Nevada on Saturday to play a game it wasn’t supposed to win. And to little surprise, Nevada easily beat the visiting Tigers, 49-13. Though the game may not have been competitive, it gave Grambling coach Rod Broadway and his coaching staff a great opportunity to evaluate their football team.

The consensus? The Tigers have playmaking ability, but they’re inexperienced, and have a lot of growing to do. “We traveled with 62 guys, and 44 of those are freshmen and sophomores,” Broadway said. “There’s a learning curve there. Our problem is simple. We’re young and we’re talented. We just need some senior leadership, and we only have six guys in our senior class. Our guys are going to be okay.”

VIEW PHOTO GALLERY: Grambling at Nevada, 8/30

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Rattlers a mystery without game film

Hornets' Lavan suspects ploy by new coach

DOVER -- There is a new football coach at Florida A&M, which almost certainly means a new look when the Rattlers visit Alumni Stadium Thursday night to take on Delaware State. But the Hornets don't know exactly what that new look is. Hornets coach Al Lavan revealed Tuesday that he had not received the Rattlers' game film from their season-opening 30-20 win Saturday over Alabama State.

College football has a long history of tapes getting lost in the mail or being unavailable because of broken equipment. But the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference requires teams to exchange film and has created a Web-based system to eliminate such gamesmanship, which Lavan reluctantly suspects in the case of FAMU. "There is a procedure to get the tape," Lavan said. "They know they haven't sent it."

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Band Showcase 8/30/08: ASU, NCA&T, PVAMU, FAMU, NSU and SCSU

Alabama State University Hornets Marching Band

North Carolina A&T State University Marching Machine Band

Prairie View A&M University Marching Storm & Black Foxes

Prairie View A&M University Marching Storm & Black Foxes

Prairie View A&M University Marching Storm & Black Foxes

FAMU Marching 100- Pre-Game

Norfolk State University Spartan Legion Marching Band

Alabama State University Hornets Marching Band

South Carolina State University Marching 101

Howard U: Brothers in Arms

His Dream Deferred but Not His Duty, McElrathbey Carries On

Ray Ray McElrathbey allows a moment to consider the consequences of growth. He can smile about how three years ago teenage exuberance filled his mind with football fancy. Now he sits gazing at the suburban sprawl from a friend's eighth-floor apartment in Hyattsville as a college graduate, a father, a former Clemson reserve running back, a Howard graduate student and a survivor. He's a changed man.

It's crazy, because I'm in D.C.," McElrathbey said, staring into the late-afternoon haze. "The first time I got in a plane to go to D.C., it wasn't that bad. The second time when I came back, and I knew this was the place I was going to stay for at least the next two years, it was real strange. I wouldn't put myself in D.C. No way would I put myself in D.C. That's just what life is. It's unpredictable."

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N.C. A.&T. Aggies put celebration behind them

GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Lee Fobbs allowed himself to enjoy the first win of his tenure at N.C. A&T late Saturday night. Once the clock struck midnight, he turned into a football coach again. "We're not going to discard winning the game," Fobbs said Monday of the 44-12 verdict over Division II Johnson C. Smith, "but it's all over now. We've got to get ready for our next opponent."

That's Winston-Salem State, which was idle over the weekend and owns a two-game winning streak in the series entering Saturday's 6 p.m. game in Aggie Stadium. Along those lines, the best thing the coaches heard all night -- save the declaration of the final score -- was the mind-set of the players, who quelled the celebration with admonitions of dire consequences to anybody who showed up late to Sunday's weight-training session. There were no reports of tardiness.



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FAMU linemen protective of Battle

FAMU quarterback Eddie Battle isn't going to come away from any game without grass stains on his uniform. His offensive linemen would like to make sure that's not the case too often, though. If Saturday's game is a gauge, they're trying real hard.
Battle was sacked twice and hurried twice in a stubborn stance by the Rattlers offensive line, which has just one senior and which paved the way for two quick opening touchdowns in a 30-20 victory over Alabama State.

"We take it very personal when our quarterback gets hit," said junior left tackle Robert Okeafor. "We want him to stand up right, clean jersey and clean pants. We don't want him to get dirty unless he slides somewhere. "When somebody sacks my quarterback or hits my quarterback I take it personally because I feel like I let him down."

VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS: Joe Taylor (FAMU) Chris Poole (FSU) Make Impressive Debuts

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DSU's McBride named to Eagles practice squad

Former Delaware State wideout Shaheer McBride was among eight signed to the Eagles' practice squad. McBride said he found out Saturday in a phone call that the Eagles had released him, but was told he could be called Sunday by noon to find out if he made the practice squad.

Noon came and went without a call. Then came 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. before the phone finally rang. The voice told him to report to the NovaCare Complex and sign a contract. He had made the practice squad. "It's just the beginning of hopefully a long career with the Philadelphia Eagles," said McBride, a Chester, Pa., native.

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Fayetteville State takes advantage of NCCU mistakes

Durham, N.C. — North Carolina Central University committed five turnovers and two special teams blunders that led to a 33-22 Fayetteville State University upset victory, ruining the Eagles home-opener in front of 8,853 fans at NCCU’s O’Kelly-Riddick Stadium. FSU (1-0) scored its first four touchdowns following NCCU mistakes, including two fumbles, a blocked punt and a snap that sailed over the punter’s head.

On the day, NCCU (0-1) fumbled six times, four of which were recovered by the visiting Broncos, and threw an interception. The host Eagles amassed 339 yards of total offense, including 284 yards passing by senior quarterback Stadford Brown, but managed only 55 rushing yards as a team. FSU only needed 257 total yards with 172 through the air and 85 on the ground. The Broncos longest scoring drive of the contest was 26 yards, with two others covering 21 and 11 yards.

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Attendance: 8, 853 @ Durham, N.C. O'Kelly-Riddick Stadium (Capacity: 10,000)

Royster-Crockett continues career

Courtesy, Latasha Edwards, The FAMUAN

Student travels overseas to pursue professional dream in league

After being kicked off the Florida A&M University's volleyball team, Marrita Royster-Crocket could have wasted her talents, but instead she decided to take them overseas to Switzerland to pursue her dreams. Royster-Crockett was dismissed by the athletic department after being classified as academically ineligible last year.

"They told us we have to declare a major after August of our junior year to be academically eligible," said Royster-Crockett, a 20 year old, senior broadcast student from Tallahassee. "My transcript read pre-journalism instead of broadcast journalism. It was a technical error." That error cost Royster-Crockett both academically and athletically. She lost her scholarship because she was not allowed to practice and she was still unable to be a part of the team. She missed the whole season.

According to Alvin Hollins, assistant athletic director of media relations, the Athletic Department could not comment because the information is confidential. In October 2007, she was told her ineligibility was a mistake but she already missed half of the season. Royster-Crockett asked to be red shirted following the mix-up. A red shirt is when a player has five academic years, but skips a year of play without losing a year of eligibility.

Marrita Royster-Crockett was a sophomore Florida State University transfer student-athlete who earned First Team All-MEAC honors in her first season with the Lady Rattlers and made an appearance in the 2006 NCAA Championship at Florida. The 6-0/outside hitter averaged averaged 4.72 kills per game while hitting .270 and averaging 1.96 digs per game in her last season with the Lady Rattlers.

"They ended up giving me my red shirt and my coach stop contacting me," Royster-Crockett said. "They told me not to practice with the team and wait until next fall."

With a burning desire to continue her career on the court, Royster-Crockett turned to her mother Rita Buck-Crockett, a volleyball agent and two-time Olympian. Buck-Crockett decided to contact Techlaser in Cheseaux, a national team in Switzerland to prevent her daughter from ending her volleyball career.

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FAMU Lady Rattlers Nip Stetson In Tough Match

Courtesy: Stetson University

FAMU vs. Stetson Box Score

Tallahassee, FL – The Stetson volleyball team (0-2) battled hard Saturday morning against Florida A&M (1-1) but fell to the Rattlers in four sets. FAMU edged the Hatters three times by two points en route to a 26-24, 17-25, 25-23, 26-24 victory in the FSU Invitational at Tully Gymnasium.

The Hatters came back from a seven-point deficit midway through the first set to tie the score 24-24 on a kill from senior outside hitter Rebecca Orzechowicz (Miami, Fla.) but couldn’t get over the hump as Florida A&M scored the next two points for the win.

Set Two went much better for Stetson. Orzechowicz started the set with a kill and the Hatters never trailed en route to a 25-17 victory, finishing with a 7-2 run and a punctuating kill from junior right side Sarah Sears (Ashburn, Va.)
























FAMU Lady Rattlers Maria Gomez, OH 6-2 Jr. Guayaquil, Eucador/Nuevo Mundo.

Just as in the first set, the third and fourth stanzas saw the Rattlers just manage to hold off the Hatters. Down 8-3 early in Set Three, Stetson went on a 7-1 run to take the lead. Later, Stetson would go ahead 22-21 on an Orzechowicz kill and seemed poised to go ahead in the match, but FAMU once again snuck back ahead and won 26-24.

Set Four was a see-saw affair in which neither team had a lead of more than three points. Once again, the Hatters had a 22-21 lead they could not hold as FAMU’s Joanna Blazeski tallied kills for three of her team’s final four points and the Rattlers walked off the court with the victory.

Orzechowicz finished the match with a team-high 13 kills while freshman outside hitter Kaylee Ream (Venice, Fla.) had seven kills and just one error, hitting .273 in the process. Senior libero Melanie Boyer (New Holland, Ill.) recorded 19 digs while freshman setter Jennica Hagberg (Niceville, Fla.) gave the Hatters 33 assists and eight digs. Sears and junior middle blocker Laura Boyd (La Crescenta, Calif.) contributed six block assists each.

Blazeski had 23 kills and 18 digs to lead the Rattlers. Samara Ferraz had 19 kills while Maria Gomez (11 kills, 11 digs) joined Blazeski in the double-double category.

FAMU's Sept. 1st game with Tulane University was cancelled due to Hurricane Gustav landfall on the Louisiana Coast today.

Attendance: 136 (Capacity: 2,500) Lucy McDaniel Court at Tully Gym, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL

More Battle of the Bands - FAMU, NSU, Tenn St.

FAMU gets right back to work

Rattlers have short week with Thursday game at Delaware State

During the next three days, there will be plenty of cramming around the Galimore Fieldhouse, where Florida A&M plans its pre-game strategies. Following their 30-20 victory Saturday over Alabama State, the Rattlers have just 72 hours to prepare for Delaware State. FAMU's first opening day win in eight seasons comes at a cost, as coach Joe Taylor tries to ride the momentum into their meeting with the defending MEAC champions Thursday night.

The team will review its game plan today and then practice in Bragg Stadium. Their only practice in pads will take place Tuesday, followed by a light workout early Wednesday morning before traveling to Delaware later in the day. DSU didn't play Saturday and FAMU's game plan will be derived from film of the Hornets' spring game. "It puts a little more challenge into it and that's why I was saying last night about building on what happened," Taylor said.

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Taylor's special hunch on Vann pays dividends

FAMU coach's intuition results in 99-yard return

Somehow, Florida A&M football coach Joe Taylor knew LeRoy Vann had it in him. And when it mattered most, the junior delivered — in a big way. Vann's 99-yard kickoff return went a long way toward helping FAMU knock down Alabama State 30-20 in the season opener Saturday night.

Less than 30 seconds after the visiting Hornets tied the Rattlers 14-14 in the second quarter, Vann tore through the turf on Bragg Memorial Stadium behind a perfectly executed wedge for an explosive 99-yard touchdown dash. The score was one of those handful of plays that Taylor calls "game changers." It was a play that helped alter the momentum as FAMU went on to win 30-20. The win was Taylor's first as the new Rattlers head coach.

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Stillman rolls past short-handed Miles College

The Billy Joe Era at Miles College that was launched with such hope two weeks before Christmas got off to a dismal start on Sunday night at Legion Field.

The Golden Bears played without more than half their roster in a 38-12 loss to Stillman College before a crowd of 25,370. Joe said he found out on Saturday that he would be able to dress only 40 of his 85-man roster for the Labor Day Golden Classic due to concerns the Miles administration raised about eligibility issues.

"In my 31 years as a head coach," Joe said, "I've never, ever been confronted with that issue before. I thought our guys played a great game with their hands tied behind their backs. "We had to change our special teams around, our offense, our defense. We were very, very, very - how many `verys' can I use? - short." The new coaching staff held meetings with their players until late Saturday evening, making changes in the game plan.

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Attendance: 25,370 @ Legion Field, Birmingham, AL (Capacity: 83,091)

Hampton hangs on in Holmes' debut over JSU Tigers

The Pirates overcome a slugglish start to top Jackson State in their season opener.

ORLANDO, FL - Just 10 minutes after walking off the Florida Citrus Bowl field, a stunning 17-13 MEAC/SWAC Challenge win over Jackson State still dancing through his head, victorious first-year Hampton coach Jerry Holmes tried to hold back his smile as he sat down at the post-game news conference. That attempt was the first loss of his career. Coming off a disappointing 6-5 season and fourth-place finish in the MEAC, the former Bethel star led the Pirates to their third straight win over the Tigers.

Coach Jerry Holmes and the Pirates will face Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL on the road this Satudary at 6 p.m. CST.

"It's exciting," he said. "Especially to get that first leading lady on the schedule as you try to forge some momentum for the season. It's a great feeling." Hampton trailed 7-3 at the half, but used plays on both sides of the ball to take control. JSU got the opening kickoff in the second half and looked as if it was about to blow the game open after driving all the way to the Pirates' 6. But Hampton's Rasoul Wilson picked off Trae Rutland in the end zone to end the threat.

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Attendance: 10,723, Florida Citrus Bowl, Orlando, FL (Capacity: 74,635)

Bethune-Cookman seeking return to former glory

The team's progress last season and new players are generating excitement

DAYTONA BEACH -- Bethune-Cookman finished 5-6 for the second year in a row last season and lost two All-Americans, yet the feeling of urgency is not the same as a year ago. In fact, coach Alvin Wyatt seems pretty relaxed these days. Part of the reason was the way 2007 ended. The Wildcats won three of their last four games and put an exclamation point on the turnaround with a 34-7 trouncing of archrival Florida A&M in the Florida Classic. A win over FAMU has a way of soothing the alumni, even after two losing seasons.

Coach Alvin Wyatt will have an uphill battle to improve the Wildcats standings with improving programs at DSU, SCSU, NSU, Hampton, Morgan and FAMU.

''One of our problems last year was we were weak in the third and fourth quarter,'' Wyatt said. ``Once we got a full-time strength coach [Britt Patton] we began playing better football. We nearly won our last five games. We just had a mistake here and a mistake there. ''Against Winston-Salem, we were driving to win the game, but we [threw] an interception. Hampton, we had them on the ropes.''

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Season Opener: BCU (0-0) vs. Alabama State University (0-1), Saturday, 4:00 p.m. ET, September 6, 2008 @ Daytona Beach, FL Memorial Stadium (Capacity: 10,000) Radio Coverage: WELE 1380am and Game Tracker.