The 2018 season hasn't gone the way first-year University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff Coach Cedric Thomas planned for a variety of reasons, but his focus on the overall big picture has remained the same.
Injuries to key personnel, mental collapses on defense and offensive turnovers at inopportune times have all had a hand in the Golden Lions' current eight-game losing streak. Thomas, though, has seen progress, and he'll get one more opportunity to gauge his team's growth in their regular-season finale Saturday when they face Texas Southern in Houston.
"We've got one more chance to continue to get better," Thomas said. "We've got to get ready for a Texas Southern ballclub that's playing big-time football with some weapons out on the perimeter. It's one more chance for us to compete before it's all over."
Competing appeared to be lost on the Golden Lions early in the season when they endured a three-game stretch where they were outscored by a combined 207-28, but UAPB (1-9, 0-6 Southwestern Athletic Conference) seemed to find its footing in its next three games.
The Golden Lions lost all three by seven points or fewer but had opportunities to win each. Two true freshmen, quarterback Skyler Perry and wide receiver Dejuan Miller, went from serving as complementary pieces to playing integral roles as starters.
Also, an offensive line featuring one senior showed improvement on their pass- and run-blocking schemes, which allowed junior Taeyler Porter to become one of the top running backs in the SWAC. Porter was held out of last week's loss at Southern because of an ankle injury but holds a 181-yard margin over Prairie View A&M's Dawonya Tucker for the league lead.
Additionally, UAPB's defense started cutting down on miscues in the secondary and tackling better in space. The Golden Lions, who rely heavily on first-year players and backups, did relapse a bit over its past two games, but Thomas believes the foundation for success has been laid, and he's confident the Golden Lions have shown more than enough to offer hope to their fanbase.
"We're excited about the future," he said. "We'll go out and compete, which is the only thing we're worried about. Just knowing that we've got guys that'll be around for a while, and I say that from a standpoint of the guys just doing things right in the classroom, in the community and on campus.
"We're headed in the direction that we need to be."
Thomas said Texas Southern (2-7, 1-5) is a team in transition but appears to be playing some of its best football. The Tigers, who are coming off a bye, have lost seven of its past eight games but have played each of their last four opponents tough. Their last victory came in a 42-14 blowout of a Mississippi Valley State team that beat UAPB 48-47 in double overtime. Coach Michael Haywood spent two seasons at Miami (Ohio) before taking over at Texas Southern in 2015 to turn around a program that hasn't had a winning season since 2010.
"Coach Haywood has done a phenomenal job with that program," he said. "Those guys play hard, they're tough. They've got two big-time skilled guys on the perimeter that can play big-time college football, and they've got a quarterback that can get it to them in space.
"Their offensive line is just so much improved, and that's a testament to his coaching and his staff."
The Tigers boast the top passing offense in the conference, with wide receivers Bobby Hartzog and Tren'Davian Dickson combining to catch 77 passes for 1,494 yards and 12 touchdowns. Texas Southern also has the league's fourth-leading tackler in Sean Jones.
Haywood is equally leery of the Golden Lions.
"It'll be interesting to see if [Porter] plays in our game because that's how they get their offense started, with the tailback on the zone reads," he said. "They get the run game going, which opens up the pass. We're going to have to make sure we do a good job of controlling the running back and force them into throwing the ball, even though Dejuan Miller is the second leading receiver in the conference."
Sports on 11/16/2018