The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff is going through its share of problems defensively
The Golden Lions have allowed a combined 1,741 yards and 152 points in their past 2 games. The potential for those numbers to grow increases when UAPB travels to Miami to play Conference USA member Florida International on Saturday.
The Golden Lions' defensive woes didn't begin in back-to-back defeats to South Dakota State and Prairie View. Those issues have been apparent since Week 1.
UAPB (1-3) gave up 567 yards in a 34-30 setback to Division II member Morehouse State thanks to faulty tackling. Coach Cedric Thomas addressed that problem immediately after the loss and vowed the Golden Lions would improve the following week against Cumberland (Tenn.) University. UAPB fared better in shutting out the Phoenix, but the poor tackling returned in a big way afterwards.
Thomas didn't envision his team giving up an FCS-record 920 yards against Football Championship Subdivision No. 3 South Dakota State in their third game, but UAPB had a chance to rectify things when it returned to face Southwestern Athletic Conference-rival Prairie View A&M on Saturday night, but its defensive showing wasn't much better.
"It was over before it really even got started," said Thomas, whose team allowed the Panthers to rack up 815 yards in a 62-13 loss. "The two fundamental things that this game has been developed on is blocking and tackling. We blocked pretty decent offensively, but we didn't tackle well.
"Good players make you miss tackles, and we have tackling deficiencies. That was exposed going against a good football team. We've got to go to the drawing board, and we've got to get better."
Prairie View A&M was met with little resistance for most of the game. The Panthers scored 28 of their 35 first-quarter points on just 10 plays. The eventually finished with 20 plays of at least 12 yards and had just one scoring drive that took more than six plays.
"Coach [Eric] Dooley did a great job of getting his guys prepared to come out and play fast with some tempo things, and we couldn't counter," Thomas said. "We couldn't do anything to slow them down. We couldn't even give our offense an opportunity to even try to help. ... just got totally dominated."
To keep that domination from becoming a trend the rest of the way, Thomas said the recipe is simple, but the timeframe isn't. UAPB was one of the worst defensive teams in the conference a year ago, and Thomas admitted it's been a chore getting his team to eliminate old habits. The Golden Lions are currently ranked last in the FCS in total defense and No. 114 in scoring defense, but the first-year coach insisted that his team's effort won't waver.
"The kids are fighting their tails off," he said. "They're doing the best they can based on their skill set and ability. No one is flat out going out there saying I'm gonna miss tackles intentionally.
"It's some things internally that's causing a lot of it. We knew that it was some things that were gonna have to be cleaned up, and I'm all for the test of getting it done and being all in for the duration of turning this program around."
More Panthers
The Golden Lions will square off against Florida International in a game that'll be streamed live on ESPN-Plus. If UAPB is to bounce back and snap its two-game losing streak, it'll have to do so against a team that's been trending upward since Butch Davis (Springdale) was hired in late 2016.
Florida International (2-2) opened the year with a 38-28 loss to Indiana but beat Massachusetts (63-24) before losing at No. 16 Miami (31-17) a week ago. In between those games, the Panthers also took down the same Old Dominion team that recently knocked off then-No. 13 Virginia Tech. UAPB Coach Cedric Thomas is expecting the Golden Lions to go in with the same winning mindset that they always have, but he's also aware of the challenge.
"We know there's a big task at hand," Thomas said. "No matter who it is every Saturday, we're gonna put our best put forward and let the outcome fall where it may."
Davis has pumped some life into a Florida International program that previously had fallen on hard times. The Panthers hadn't had a winning season in the previous five years before Davis arrived. Florida International went 8-5 and reached a bowl game in 2017. The program has had consecutive winning seasons only once (2010, 2011) and won seven or more games in a year three times over the past 16 years.
No tricks for Butch
Florida International Coach Butch Davis said he likes the way the Panthers have played thus far and isn't about to let a game against an FCS opponent hamper their progress. Despite UAPB's recent struggles, Davis was adamant about making sure his team doesn't take the Golden Lions lightly Saturday night.
"We're not changing anything, every game is exactly the same," he said during his weekly news conference. "The same preparation, the same practice habits. ... you can't put anything on automatic pilot during the course of any football season. [UAPB] is gonna show up, they're gonna run a lot of the things we've seen.
"They're gonna run a lot of the gun-run things, a lot of [run-pass option] things. So it is an opportunity to challenge ourselves and make sure we're on track and doing the right things to win this game."
Bent, not broke
UAPB played without two regulars last week because of injuries, but the Golden Lions got nice outings from their replacements.
Freshman quarterback Skyler Perry started in place of junior Shannon Patrick and went 24-of-46 passing for 179 yards and ran 9 times for 75 yards, while sophomore tight end Jeremy Brown caught a career-high 7 passes for 100 yards to help offset the absence of junior wide receiver Josh Wilkes. In all, nine players caught passes for UAPB in place of Wilkes, who still leads the SWAC in receiving.
Sports on 09/28/2018