Doc Gamble hasn't forgotten the moment.
A year ago, the eyes of a college football nation saw Gamble's University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff team dominate Alcorn State University for more than a half under Thursday night lights at Simmons Bank Field at Golden Lion Stadium. But in just 19 game minutes, Alcorn stole the limelight, coming back from a 32-13 deficit to beat their new SWAC Western Division rivals.
"Last year, what we learned about playing those guys, you've got to play them for four quarters, and you've got to play them all the way through," Gamble said. "That was a learning lesson for us."
The Golden Lions hardly seemed to recover from the collapse. That was the second of seven straight losses, and an opportunity to showcase their ability to contend again for the conference championship was blown.
The 2022 Lions (2-1) are much different from last year's team, but if redemption awaits them, it must be earned in Lorman, Miss., tonight. Kickoff at Alcorn's Jack Spinks-Marino Casem Stadium is at 6 p.m. on Allen Media Group's HBCU GO (hbcugo.tv).
"We do have some new guys who have to understand what SWAC play is, so no better place to teach them about SWAC play than this game coming up this week," Gamble said.
Fred McNair, whose Alcorn team is 1-2 this season, expects a chip on UAPB's shoulder from 52 weeks ago.
"The biggest thing is that they've got a lot of players," McNair said. "They've got Skyler Perry, who's going to throw the ball around the yard. They've got a great running back in [Kayvon] Britten, and he's going to run the ball very hard. Those are the things we have to compete for. We had to tough it out against them last year. We had to really work hard and compete. Gamble's going to have those guys ready to play, just from the result of us coming back last year, coming out and fighting."
KEY FIGURES
The Lions also have some experienced players from last year.
Britten was just a freshman when the Braves stormed back in Pine Bluff. Today, he is the second-leading rusher in the SWAC at 92.3 yards per game, just behind Alcorn's Jarveon Howard (93.7). Last week, however, Oklahoma State University's defense bottled up UAPB's run game and held him and Johnny Williams to 18 yards rushing each.
Perry, who threw a touchdown pass against Alcorn last year, is fourth in the SWAC in passing yards per game at 168. The fifth-year starter has completed 37 of 65 passes for 504 yards and 4 touchdowns this season.
Alcorn State's Aaron Allen is only 30 for 63 on the season, but he has 363 passing yards and 3 touchdowns to his name. He threw for more than half of those yards in last week's 30-19 win at Louisiana's McNeese State University.
"I think the quarterback did a great job of coming out last week and making throws during the course of practice," McNair said. "Our receivers are working hard and getting open versus man-on-man coverage. We knew we were going to get a lot against McNeese State, but just giving those guys a chance to compete for those balls in the air like that means a whole lot because my biggest thing is, I'd hate to see a ball thrown out of bounds. I'd hate to see a receiver overthrown by 5 or 10 yards. Just put it over the top of the head and let them work for it.
"You've got a great receiving corps, and I thought Aaron did a good job giving the guys a chance to make plays for him. It's not all about, you have to make the perfect throw. Just give them a chance and let them come out and compete and get it close to them. They'll make plays for you."
Niko Duffey, who sparked last year's comeback and ended it with a game-winning touchdown run from 2 yards out, is part of a deeper running back corps that collected 215 yards on McNeese.
HOW TO WATCH
Tonight's game will stream live on hbcugo.tv. HBCU Go is a free network created by comedian Byron Allen's company that showcases more than 100 historically Black colleges and universities and has agreed to a distribution partnership with the SWAC. HBCU Go has partnered with CBS owned-and-operated and major group-owned stations to air the game on traditional television, although no such listings were available for the Pine Bluff area.
The HBCU app is also available on Roku, Fire TV and Apple TV streaming devices, as well as Local Now, The Grio and Sports.TV streaming channels.