It's been a rough couple of weeks for the UAPB Golden Lions.
Expectations appeared high after the Golden Lions upset two-time defending conference champion Alcorn State on the road Sept. 15.
The ride down from that victory has been steep as UAPB has lost by 12, 20 and 33 points in successive weeks, capped by a 40-7 drubbing at the hands of Alabama A&M in Pine Bluff last weekend.
Still, Coach Monte Coleman said he sees signs that give him hope.
"Guys are still working hard," Coleman said. "We made some mistakes against Alcorn, but they weren't devastating. We made ones against Alabama A&M that cost us.
"I'm seeing signs that we can get back to playing like we did against Alcorn. I think we can get back there and get back to winning football games. I'm still looking at the positive and not all the negative."
Since Coleman began coaching at UAPB in 2008, the longest drought for the Golden Lions was last year's eight-game losing streak. But, it's been a pattern. UAPB has lost at least four games in a row since winning the conference title in 2012.
"We have a good group of guys," Coleman said. "They know about winning and they know how to win. Nobody has quit. Everybody is still motivated. We're a young football team. We've just got to overcome the situations we put ourselves in."
Amazingly, even at 1-5 overall and 1-3 in the SWAC, UAPB is still not eliminated from the conference race.
"We realize that," Coleman said. "We're taking it one game at a time. We're not worried about anything down the road."
Free and clear
The Golden Lions got a bit of good news this week when junior defensive end Tashard Charity was cleared to play in Saturday's game against Southern University in Baton Rogue.
After Saturday's game, Coleman was worried about the status of Charity after he received two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties against Alabama A&M. He was ejected from the game after his second penalty, meaning he would be suspended against Southern.
Coleman said that after reviewing the game film, he was even more convinced that the first penalty -- which was called after Charity celebrated a stop on third down -- was unnecessary.
The penalty was indicated for a "throat slash" gesture, but Coleman contended Charity was simply waving his hands to indicate that they stopped Alabama A&M quarterback De'Angelo Ballard.
"Just got through talking with a conference official," Coleman said. "We will talk with [SWAC Director of Officiating Harold] Mitchell, because that it wasn't a throat slash. We are sending tape to the Mr. Mitchell and hoping we can get that overturned."
Coleman turned the tape in Monday and Charity was cleared to play Wednesday.
Given the fact that the Golden Lions are tied for seventh in the conference with just seven sacks and are going up against the SWAC's highest scoring team in Southern University of Baton Rogue, UAPB will definitely need the defensive end's presence.
"What stands out about Southern is that they are consistent," Coleman said. "They have several receivers that are getting touches. They are a very good football team."
The Jaguars lead the SWAC at 38.6 points a game, are second behind Grambling State at 443.8 yards a game in total offense, junior quarterback Austin Howard is third in the conference passing at 255.2 yards a game, and running back Lenard Tillery leads the SWAC with 126 yards a game. Tillery needs just 245 yards rushing this season to become the SWAC's all-time leader.
Eyes on the prize
Coleman said that the UAPB offense have two big areas to concentrate on in the final five weeks of the season: ball security and protecting their quarterback.
Amazingly, the Golden Lions are even in turnover margin. Helping matters is that quarterback Brandon Duncan has just one interception on the season.
"Brandon has got to keep it going," Coleman said. "Anybody that touches the football has to be conscious of ball security. Can't turn the ball over two, three four times."
Keeping the other team's defense out of the backfield is another subject. Duncan has been sacked 30 times this season, resulting in 209 yards lost.
"This past game it wasn't as bad as previous games," Coleman said. "I think the game before, he was sacked six times. We just keep working at it in practice. We've got two guys on the offensive line who were there in previous years. Continue to execute and play hard."
Sports on 10/21/2016