Bye week gives Golden Lions chance to tinker with offense
Posted on Saturday, October 11, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/adg/Sports/239906/
PINE BLUFF — The Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions have just about exhausted their last excuse.
An 0-5 start to the season has been facilitated by a week-to-week, game-to-game schedule that has left the coaching staff precious little time to do much about it.
UAPB opened the season with a 21-7 loss to Arkansas-Monticello, and with no bye weeks thrown in, first-year Coach Monte Coleman hasn’t had much time to focus on the “big picture” issues — namely the lowest-ranked scoring offense in the Southwestern Athletic Conference.
But after a 23-17 loss to Alabama A&M that typified the Golden Lions’ tendency to waste solid defensive games, UAPB went through a bye week that Coleman said could not have arrived at a better time.
Tonight’s game with defending SWAC champ Jackson State will show whether an extra week of tinkering was enough.
“I’m hoping that it helps a whole lot,” said Coleman, who wouldn’t reveal what changes might be evident tonight, save for the fact that the staff spent the off week “evaluating ourselves.”
Things have to change offensively for UAPB to end its losing streak. The Alabama A&M game was a blueprint on how to beat the Golden Lions, with the Bulldogs sitting on the line of scrimmage and flooding the offensive backfield.
The result was 20 net yards rushing, but little of the blame fell on running backs Mickey Dean and Martell Mallett.
If UAPB opens things up, it will come against a Jackson State defense giving up fewer than 150 passing yards a game — third-best in the SWAC.
“We’re not necessarily installing new things,” Coleman said. “Just kind of revamping the things we have been doing. We have a different perspective on certain things.”
Jackson State has been struggling as well. The Tigers rode a strong offense to an 8-4 record and a conference title a year ago, but are still looking for their first victory over a Football Championship Subdivision (formerly I-AA ) opponent, much less a SWAC team.
Jackson State did not have an offensive touchdown until the fourth quarter of a 35-28 home loss to Southern University of Baton Rouge last week. The Tigers also have committed 15 turnovers in five games.
UAPB has given up a total of 36 points to the two SWAC programs it has faced, and seems capable of a similar outing as Jackson State continues to work itself out offensively.
But until proven otherwise, the tried-and-true method of defending the Golden Lions remains effective.
Unless some serious fixing got done during the week off.
“The thing we’ve got to do is make sure we’ve got all of our t’s crossed and our i’s dotted,” Coleman said. “We’ve just got to play sound offense. Running and passing has got to be sound.” Arkansas-Pine Bluff vs. Jackson State WHERE Golden Lion Stadium, Pine Bluff WHEN 4 p. m. Central tonight RECORDS Arkansas-Pine Bluff 0-5, Jackson State 1-4 COACHES Monte Coleman (0-5 at Arkansas-Pine Bluff ); Rick Comegy (15-13 at Jackson State ) RADIO KUAP-FM 89. 7 (Pine Bluff )