The Southwestern Athletic Conference championship game will be played in a venue first-year University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff Coach Doc Gamble remembers all too well.
That venue is not Louis Crews Stadium, home to UAPB’s opponent Saturday, the Alabama A&M Bulldogs. It’s Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium, where the host Jackson State Tigers held off the Golden Lions 21-12 on Nov. 2, 2019.
At the time, Gamble was quarterbacks coach and assistant head coach under Cedric Thomas. The Lions were in the middle of a three-game losing streak (only to salvage the program’s first winning season since 2012 two weeks later) and suffered three interceptions while the Tigers held them to 72 net rushing yards — Watson Chapel graduate Omar Allen II rushed 30 times for 98 yards for the Lions — and outgained them 381 to 299 in total yards.
“There are some things that bother me probably more than the average coach,” Gamble said. “[Alabama A&M] played there before, but it doesn’t matter. You put the ball down somewhere, and we’ll play. For us, we didn’t play well the last time we played in Jackson. We stunk up the place as a matter of fact, to be honest with you. It wasn’t against Alabama A&M, but still, that area, we didn’t play too well over there. Those are some of the things that stay on my mind. But we’re going to show up and I know we’re going to play well. But in the back of my mind, that’s just something that’s sticking with me right now.” Gamble hopes a SWAC championship almost nine years after UAPB’s last will wash away the bad taste he has of Veterans Memorial.
SWAC officials picked the venue after UAPB (4-0) and Alabama A&M (4-0) were forced to cancel last week’s regular-season finales against Texas Southern and Mississippi Valley State, respectively, due to covid-19 cases in the latter two programs. The SWAC has hosted on-campus championship games since 2018.
“All of those things had to happen in real time, reaching out to all the constituents that were involved,” SWAC Commissioner Charles Mc-Clelland said. He also said Jackson State officials had no involvement in selecting the title game.
“The majority of our time has been trying to ready ourselves and ready this game for Saturday because when that decision was made, you meant going from a campus where the majority of this is done to 100% falling on the Southwestern Athletic Conference,” McClelland said. “I think that’s been the biggest challenge. The staff has definitely responded to the challenge, and we look forward to a great game this Saturday.” Jackson is 216 miles from Pine Bluff and 335 miles from Huntsville, where Alabama A&M is located.
From his office in Pine Bluff, Gamble said the Lions are “in good shape” after practically going through an off-week schedule with the Texas Southern cancellation.
“We’re starting to dive into our preparation this week,” Gamble said. “We got three days of practice last week and gave the guys off, which is typical. Sunday is their day off.”
MEETING OF THE MINDS
Gamble suggested the story line of two former quarterbacks leading opposing teams in the SWAC championship hasn’t been underlined much. He played collegiately at North Dakota State College of Science and the University of Tennessee at Martin, graduating from the latter in 1995.
A&M Coach Connell Maynor quarterbacked Winston-Salem State to a conference title on the Division II level in 1987 and North Carolina A&T to the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference championship in 1991. Maynor also coached Winston-Salem to a 2012 NCAA Division II runner-up finish and back-to-back historically black college national championships (2011-12).
“They don’t have any glaring weaknesses at all,” Gamble said. “They’re very good on offense, very dynamic, similar to us in concepts. They’re dynamic on defense and they’re super solid in the special teams. So, we look forward to it. We have a challenge in front of us.” For all of their offensive acumen — A&M averages a SWAC-leading 486.7 yards per game and UAPB is fourth-best at 382.5 — it’s the defense that must play well in Gamble’s eyes.
“Being a former quarterback, it might sound crazy, but I put the game on our defense,” he said. “It might be an old-school way of thinking that you win championships with your defense, but I still believe that, and those guys have to continue to play well. At times I will go and slide a sticky note on those meetings and tell them, ‘Hey, here’s what could happen and how you affect this and affect that.’ I think they get tired of me doing that, but we’ve got a great staff.” UAPB leads the SWAC in interceptions (seven this season) and has a plus-6 margin in takeaways.
Maynor acknowledged the game could come down to which team has the ball last, given two prolific offenses.
“We always say, ‘Respect all, fear none,’” he said. “We definitely respect Pine Bluff and they’re doing a great job. Coach Gamble is doing a super job, an unbelievable job. We know we can score. They can score. It may be a shootout. It may be 54-52, and the last team with the ball may have a great shot to win the football game. We’ll see; that’s why you play the game. We’re excited about it. We know they’re excited about it, so we’ll see what’s going to happen.”
MAYNOR: NO INTERVIEW WITH SOUTHERN
Maynor shot down reports that he interviewed last week for the vacant head coaching position at Southern University.
D aws o n O d u m s l e ft Southern after eight-plus seasons to take the same role at Norfolk State in Virginia. The North Carolina native went 58-31 with one SWAC title from 2013 and four West Division titles (last in 2019) at Southern to return to the Eastern Seaboard.
“First of all, I’m focused on my team, OK? Not any other team,” Maynor said. “We’ve been preparing to win the SWAC championship since the day I walked on this campus. This is a special week for us. It’s championship week. The people that need to know — my players, my president, my AD, knew I wasn’t anywhere interviewing for anybody.
“First of all, if somebody were to contact me during championship week or during the regular season, if I was interested in that program, I would tell them, talk to me after the game. I’m focused. I’m not talking to anybody during my season, during championship week. My administration here at A&M know my commitment. They know the commitment of my staff and our student-athletes to serve our community and bring home this championship to A&M. This is our focus, our desire, OK? Our commitment is steadfast. OK? We’re about A&M and winning championships this week.
“That’s all I want to say about that because it’s bringing distractions. This is championship week, and we want to focus on the championship game.”
GAME DAY
McClelland confirmed both the UAPB and A&M bands will perform during the championship game. Bands representing visiting teams were not allowed during SWAC games this season as a way to limit the spread of covid-19.
Seating will be limited to 50% capacity at Veterans Memorial, or 30,246. Tickets are available at UAPBLionsRoar.com/swacgame or Ticket-master.com under “Spring 2021 Cricket Wireless SWAC Football Championship” and range from $16 for general admission to $45 for box seats. Parking prices begin at $15 and can be ordered at UAPBLionsRoar.com/ swacparking.
A&M is designated as the home team.
SWAC championship
What: UAPB (4-0 overall and SWAC) vs. Alabama A&M (4-0 overall, 3-0 SWAC) When: 2 p.m. Saturday Where: Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium, Jackson Audio/Video: KPBA-FM 99.3 in Pine Bluff; KARN-AM 920 in Little Rock; Sirius XM ESPNU Radio channel 84; OpenMic Broadcast Network; UAPBLionsRoar.com/live and UAPB Athletics App Last meeting: ESPN2 and ESPN app (Tiffany Greene, play-byplay; Jay Walker, color commentary)