I Got Next!
By Karsceal Turner
Special to West Orlando News Online
The Maroon and Gold clad fans of the 9,463 fans at Municipal Stadium echoed Florida Evans famous expression after B-CU’s 28-18 loss to the visiting South Carolina State Bulldogs.
Damn, damn, damn!
The expression is hard to refute when looking at the final statistics of the contest. Dig it; B-CU tallied 397 total yards to SCSU’s 211, they recorded 245 passing yards to SCSU’s 54.
The final score was not indicative of what the statistics reflected afterwards but the Bulldogs clearly had a chip on their collective shoulders. As they exited the bus to the visitor’s locker room, this columnist was nearly up-ended as the players bullied their way through. I distinctively heard a chorus of barks as they walked by. Well they left all that testosterone on the field.
Miscues can doom you
It isn’t time for the Wildcat Nation to panic, but it is time to adjust to a loss early in the hunt. B-CU hasn’t tasted a loss this early in the season, they’ve been able to dish it out, now we’ll see if they can take it.
True, this was their first test since being slaughtered by New Hampshire in last year’s playoffs. True, this was still the team who showed great promise while crushing an out-matched SWAC opponent.
One thing about it though folks, this is the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, where your opponent capitalizes on miscues and can snatch a game on your home field. Such was the case during the 49th meeting between these two teams Saturday.
“S.C. State did what a good defense does – take advantage of the other team’s mistakes,” Head Coach Brian Jenkins said.
“Two plays replayed in Jenkins mind”, we gave up big plays on special teams,” he added.
Jenkins referred to two punt returns late in the game but he could as easily referred to the five turnovers B-CU amassed, 10 penalties, a lost fumble, or QB Jamarr Robinson’s four interceptions. Top it off with a safety against the home team and you have the makings of a preventable loss.
Again, miscues can doom you.
The first-half was battles of the defenses with the Bulldogs scoring first off a safety by senior Ronell Ferguson in the first quarter. Senior Blake Erickson tied his longest career field goal nailing a 48-yarder to give SC State a 5-0 lead at the 10:12 mark.
B-CU takes the lead, unable to hold on
Robinson put the Wildcats ahead on a 44-yard strike to junior wide receiver Eddie Poole to take a 6-5 lead with 7:53 left in the first-quarter. Bethune-Cookman defense came up big stopping the Bulldogs for a safety to increase their margin 8-5.
Maurice Francois led B-CU receivers with seven catches for 121 yards, while Poole had nine catches for 74. Defensively, Reggie Sandilands and Daniel Rhodes had interceptions and Cornelius Wheeler recovered a fumble.
A solemn Robinson gave SCSU’s defense some credit and took some blame at the same time. “I forced some things I shouldn’t have,” he said.
Only the scowl on Jenkins’s face betrayed his disappointment but there was still no evidence of anger besides the look on his face as he looked at the numbers thrice and the punch he delivered to a table in the interview room in disgust. Rest assured the Cats will focus on special teams this week to save his knuckles.
Any football fan worth their salt knows what simple miscues can do to a team. In this case, miscues caused The Wildcats (1-1 overall, 0-1 MEAC), to give up their driver’s seat in the hunt for back-to-back MEAC crowns. Now, they’ll have to rely on SCSU’s miscues, and hope other MEAC foes capitalize on those. In the meantime, they’ll have to eliminate further miscues and win out. This season is still very young.
I’ll tell you one thing, things aren’t going to get any easier.
Former MEAC champs Hampton University comes to town for a Thursday night showdown. Then, next Saturday, B-CU travels to South Florida for a showdown with the “U”. Another thing Jenkins reminded B-CU loyalist was the plan was the same.
“It was very frustrating, but I’m not disappointed with our team. We’re a good football team. We still have nine games to go and I don’t plan on retreating. “We still have plans to win it all”, Jenkins said.
That is, if miscues stay at a bare minimum. `
