There is more to a football team than its quarterback, but for the past four seasons Arkansas-Pine Bluff's quarterback drew nearly all the attention.
Ben Anderson completed his eligibility last season as UAPB's leader in career passing yards (9,478) and touchdowns (52) since the school rejoined the Southwestern Athletic Conference in 1998.
About the Golden Lions
COACH Monte Coleman (35-43 in eighth season with UAPB and overall)
LAST YEAR 4-7, 3-6 Southwestern Athletic Conference
RETURNING STARTERS 17 (9 offense, 8 defense)
OFFENSIVE PLAYERS TO WATCH RB Brian Handley RB KeShawn Williams WR Wille Young WR Kyle Coleman
DEFENSIVE PLAYERS TO WATCH DB Kevin Rucker DL Willie Duncan DE Demarkus Berry DT Marc Lucien
UAPB schedule
DATE;OPPONENT;TIME
Sept. 6; S.C. State*;2:30 p.m.
Sept. 12; Morehouse College;6 p.m.
Sept. 19; Texas Southern;6p.m.
Sept. 26; at Alabama A&M;1 p.m.
Oct. 3; Alcorn State^;4 p.m.
Oct. 17; Alabama State;6 p.m.
Oct. 25; at Jackson State;2 p.m.
Oct. 31; at Prairie View A&M;TBA
Nov. 7; Southern;2:30 p.m.
Nov. 14; Grambling State2:30 p.m.
Nov. 21; at Miss. Valley State;1 p.m.
- Orlando, Fla.
^Little Rock
All times Central
This season the Golden Lions are paying attention to five quarterbacks, any one of whom could end up in the starting role.
Coach Monte Coleman has not named front runner, but it appears sophomore Marcus Terrell gained traction with his performance during the spring. He was the only player other than Anderson to throw a pass for UAPB last season, completing of 2 of 3 attempts for 37 yards.
"The one thing about a player as good as Ben was, the second-teamer didn't get a chance to play much and show his abilities," Coleman said.
Coleman said he is confident that Terrell and his four competitors have the ability to lead UAPB's offense.
The group includes Nolan Sorenson, a junior college transfer from Fresno (Calif.) City College; redshirt freshmen Brandon Duncan of Roosevelt, N.Y., and LeEarl Patterson of Melrose High in Memphis; and freshman Roger Totten II of Pine Bluff.
Sophomore receiver Willie Young said he was as unsure as his coach about which quarterback will start the season-opener.
"Ben Anderson was a big loss for us, but I feel like we can overcome it because we have a lot of good, young talent right now," said Young, who was a second-team All-SWAC performer last season when he caught 45 passes for 727 yards and 9 touchdowns. "We have some young guys we can really help our team. Ben Anderson set the bar high for our quarterbacks, and being the player he was, the new quarterbacks understand what the coaches expect.
"I have a real good feeling with our next quarterback. Whichever one they choose, I'm confident in him."
Young said he knew last spring the competition would be stiff, but it's even more wide open with more candidates this fall.
"They're all going hard in camp and battling it out," Young said. "All of them are doing good so far, so I can't really put my hands on one. I knew it was going to be like this."
Young is expected to lead a group of receivers that includes redshirt freshman Rodney Stafford of Mobile, Ala., redshirt freshman tight end Michelangelo Carroll of Dundalk, Md., and senior Arkansas State transfer Kyle Coleman, the coach's son.
Junior running back Brian Handley led UAPB with 820 yards rushing last season, when he averaged 6.0 yards a carry.
Coleman said the Golden Lions are deep at the position with sophomore Dante McDonald of Fayetteville, N.C., and freshman KeShawn Williams of Pine Dollarway.
"That's one of our bright spots," Coleman said. "We have a strong, healthy running attack. Brian Handley is our featured back right now, and we have several other guys we can count on."
The running backs and quarterback will work behind a line that returns five starters.
"Last year we went into spring practice with five offensive lineman, and right now we have 14 kids in the competition," Coleman said. "We have competition all the way around. Yeah, we're going to have to play some young guys, but there's something about these young guys that makes me believe they're going to mature."
Coleman said he also expects improvement from his defense, which finished last season ninth out of 10 team in the SWAC in average yards allowed at 453.8 yards a game and 10th in points allowed with an average of 39.2.
The unit will be led by All-SWAC senior defensive back Kevin Rucker, who tied for the conference lead last season with five interceptions.
"We had no seniors on our defense last year," Coleman said. "We had two players who had not taken any snaps with the defense before last year, so there was definitely a learning curve. We always want instant gratification, but it was impossible to get instant gratification last year.
"I truly believe we will have a better defense this year with our recruiting class and the guys who came in last year and got some experience."
Sports on 08/30/2015