Injuries and defensive inconsistency have damaged UAPB's chances at additional victories this season, but the one constant for the Golden Lions has been the impressive play of running back Taeyler Porter.
The 5-10, 185-pound transfer from ASA Miami Junior College has carried a Southwestern Athletic Conference-high 95 times for 471 yards and 3 touchdowns for the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, which is mired in a three-game losing streak after last week's 55-6 loss at Florida International. Porter, however, has been one of the team's bright spots during that skid.
The Florida native ran for 106 yards against South Dakota State and 53 yards against Prairie View A&M before gashing FIU for 137 yards.
"It starts up front, and Coach [Lonnie] Teasley has done a great job with the offensive line," UAPB Coach Cedric Thomas said. "Those guys are really gelling, and we held our own versus a good defensive front that had just gone through playing the University of Miami. But Taylor, right now, is the bloodline of this team.
"You talk about a tough, physical, no-excuse type of guy. He's a great young man that comes to work every day, does all the little things. ... tough and very tenacious when you look at his build. He carried us for pretty much the entire ballgame."
Porter was expected to provide UAPB with a solid 1-2 punch alongside returning running back KeShawn Williams, who was a preseason All-Southwestern Athletic Conference selection. Williams, though, hasn't played this season, and that elevated Porter as the team's leading back. The junior has responded by rushing for more than 100 yards in three of the Golden Lions' five games. The other two games were played in heavy rain, which hampered Porter's ability to slash and cut, but he's been nothing short of UAPB's workhorse.
The Golden Lions started recruiting Porter late because of the timing of Thomas' hire. The first-year coach had only a few coaches with him when he took over the team in December, and he immediately instructed them to go out and find the best available players. Enter Porter, who didn't put up gaudy numbers while at ASA Miami but was effective whenever he touched the ball. In six games during the 2017 season, he averaged nearly 6 yards per carry and scored seven touchdowns.
In his first season with the Golden Lions, Porter is averaging 5 yards per touch and is second in the conference at 94.2 rushing yards per game.
Against FIU, Porter rushed for 48 yards during the game's opening drive, which led to a 37-yard field goal by Jamie Gillan that gave UAPB an early 3-0 lead. The Golden Lions couldn't sustain that momentum, but Thomas was impressed with what his diminutive tailback was able to do.
"He's from Florida, so you know how that is a lot of times when kids get a chance to go back home and might've felt like they were overlooked by some of those institutions," Thomas said. "He was kind of banged up with an ankle, but you could tell that didn't bother him whatsoever. He stuck his foot in the ground and ran through a bunch of arm tackles.
"[UAPB running backs coach Rahmann Lee] has been challenging him to make guys miss in space. He's so physical that he just wants to put his head down and truck-stick kids like they say in the video games. But he used his ability to make people miss a bunch on Saturday."
Porter will have his toughest SWAC challenge to date when he faces Jackson State, which ranks second in the conference in run defense.
"He's elusive," Jackson State Coach Tony Hughes said. "Everybody in the country is running one-back offenses with zone reads, and counter and power. He runs them extremely well, he finds cracks in your defense and he's elusive once he gets in the open field. He's definitely one of the better backs in the league."
Positive vibes
UAPB may have lost its third consecutive game by a large margin last week against Florida International, but Coach Cedric Thomas' feelings were a little different than than after the previous two defeats.
"I thought they really did well," he said. "We took the guys down to hostile territory, hostile environment and kind of got off to a fast start. We moved the ball very well.
"We didn't maximize the opportunity with a touchdown but got a field goal out of it. The defense came out and got a couple of three-and-outs, and we were in it for a minute. But then the big plays reared their ugly head again."
Big plays have hurt the Golden Lions all season, and the Panthers continued that. FIU had six scoring plays of at least 37 yards and finished with 613 yards of offense.
"We had a couple of plays where we had bad eyes and just didn't see our keys all the way through," Thomas said. "We kind of shot ourselves in the foot, and then some of the same things, as far as our discipline, hurt us. But overall, I thought the kids played with a lot of passion, a lot of emotion.
"They're fighting their tails off, and I couldn't ask for a better team to go through this journey with."
Tiger tales
Jackson State Coach Tony Hughes has endured back-to-back 3-8 seasons, but he's hoping this season yields different results.
Hughes, much like UAPB's Cedric Thomas, took over a struggling program in 2016 and has worked diligently to get the team back among the league's best. Jackson State hasn't had a winning season since 2013, but it's shown signs that things may be changing. The Tigers were blown out by Southern Mississippi in their opener but rebounded to beat Florida A&M 18-16 on Sept. 15. Jackson State also held a 16-point lead against Alabama A&M last week before the Bulldogs rallied for a 21-16 victory.
"We got the lead, and we got comfortable," Hughes said. "It was almost like we were in a lull or daze and [Alabama A&M] captured momentum. It was a definite momentum swing that we weren't able to recapture until late in the game."
The Tigers come to Pine Bluff having won six of their past seven meetings with the Golden Lions, but that matters little to Hughes.
"When you watch them on film, they play extremely, extremely hard," he said of UAPB. "Despite the adversity that they've faced this year in some of the games they've played because they've had a tough early-season schedule, their kids still show resilience and play with a lot of pride.
"Their schemes are solid in what they do offensively and defensively. So it'll be a tough, monumental challenge for us going in there because their confidence will be up, and they'll be ready to go, especially playing a home game at 2:30 in the afternoon."
Rain go away
The past two home games for UAPB have been miserable in terms of fan support, with good reason.
Thunderstorms pelted the area for the Golden Lions' game against Cumberland (Tenn.) on Sept. 8. The game actually was delayed for nearly 2 1/2 hours because of heavy rain and lightning, which forced those in attendance to seek refuge elsewhere. By the time the game began, only a few spectators returned to see UAPB's 55-0 victory.
A constant heavy rain throughout also hurt attendance during the team's conference opener against Prairie View A&M on Sept. 22.
There's a 20 percent chance of rain in the Pine Bluff area for Saturday's game with Jackson State.
Sports on 10/05/2018