2011 ALABAMA STATE FOOTBALL vs. Alabama A&M Bulldogs Saturday, Oct. 29, 2011 Birmingham, Ala. 2:30 p.m. Legion Field (71,594) ALABAMA STATE (6-1, 6-0 SWAC) THE GAME: It’s the 70th State Farm Magic City Classic, presented by Coca-Cola as the Hornets and Alabama A&M Bulldogs battle for first SEPTEMBER place in the SWAC’s Eastern Division. 3 @ Miss. Valley State* W, 41-9 10 @ Eastern Michigan L, 7-14 THE SERIES: This is the 75th meeting between the rivals, the 70th in the 17 Grambling State* W, 31-17 Magic City Classic. AAMU leads the overall series 36-35-3. The Bulldogs 24 @ Jackson State* W, 21-14 lead the series in the Magic City Classic, 35-31-3. Last season, the Hornets OCTOBER ended a five-game losing streak to Alabama A&M with a 31-10 victory. 1 Alcorn State* W, 31-23 LAST TIME OUT: Both teams extended their winning streaks to five 8 @ Texas Southern* W, 43-29 games, defeating their SWAC Texas foes. Alabama State won its ninth 15 Prairie View A&M* W, 20-7 consecutive SWAC game by defeating Prairie View A&M 20-7 on Oct. 15. 29 vs. Alabama A&M* (ESPNU^) 2:30 p.m. Alabama A&M downed Texas Southern 24-21 on Oct. 13. Birmingham, Ala. 70th State Farm Magic City Classic HORNETS CAN CLINCH SWAC BERTH WITH WIN: Anytime the Hornets NOVEMBER and Bulldogs get together, regardless of sport, it’s a big deal. The ante is 5 @ Arkansas-Pine Bluff* 2:30 p.m. raised and heighten this Saturday. A win by Alabama State against its arch 12 Southern* 1 p.m. rivals clinches the Eastern Division title for a second straight season and a 24 Tuskegee (ESPNU%) 3 p.m. berth in the SWAC Championship Game on Dec. 10. 88th Turkey Day Classic DECEMBER FAST START Getting out the gates quickly has been a staple of Reggie 10 SWAC CHAMPIONSHIP (ESPNU%) Noon Barlow’s ASU teams, as three times in five years the Hornets have started Birmingham, Ala. 3-1. However, for the first time since 2005, ASU is not only 6-1 overall, but * SWAC Games ^ Tape Delay % Live also 6-0 in SWAC play. HORNETS TOP-RANKED, CLIMBING THE CHARTS: Since October 3, ALABAMA A&M (5-2, 4-1 SWAC) Alabama State has been the top-ranked team in Black College Football SEPTEMBER by several polls. The Sheridan Broadcasting Network (SBN) media poll, 3 Hampton L, 20-21 Heritage Sports Radio Network (HSRN) media poll, both the Boxtorow. 10 @ Southern* L, 6-21 com media and coaches polls, and Urban Sports News all have the 17 Tuskegee W, 21-6 Hornets number one. Alabama State moved into the FCS Sports Network/ 24 Grambling State* W, 20-14 Fathead.com Top 25 on Oct. 10, coming in at No. 24. The Hornets were OCTOBER ranked No. 19 on Oct. 17, and are currently ranked 16th this week. 1 Arkansas-Pine Bluff* W, 28-27 8 Mississippi Valley State* W, 37-14 NOTABLES 13 Texas Southern* W, 24-21 29 Alabama State* 2:30 p.m. • The Hornets have won at least six games in SWAC play for the second NOVEMBER straight season and the fourth time in the past eight seasons (2004, ’05, 5 @ Alcorn State* 2 p.m. ’10, ’11). 12 Jackson State* 1 p.m. 19 @ Prairie View A&M* 2 p.m. • The nine-game SWAC winning streak is the longest by the Hornets since * SWAC Games a 10-game winning streak during the 2004-05 seasons. ON THE AIR • With three takeaways against Prairie View, the Hornets have forced at Radio WVAS-FM 90.7 least one turnover in 26 straight games (72 takeaways over that time: 30 Jonathan Spells (play-by-play), Tony Fleming (analyst) fumbles/42 INTs). Robb Taylor (sidelines), Jay Holcey (studio) • Wide receiver Nick Andrews became number one in receptions in ASU history against Prairie View, surpassing Damon Hodge (176). Andrews Radio HSRN.com/Sirius Satellite Radio Ch. 137 now owns the Hornets’ receptions (178) and receiving touchdowns mark Mark Gray (play-by-play), Mike Walker (analyst) (26). With 2,429 receiving yards, Andrews needs 108 receiving yards to LeCounte Conaway (sidelines), Omarr Bashir (studio) surpass Barlow (2,536) for the Hornets’ career record in that category. TV/Internet ESPNU/ESPN3.COM • FS Kejuan Riley moved to sixth in interceptions in ASU history since 1970 Adam Amin (play-by-play) Jay Walker (analyst) with his 14th career interception, sixth this season. Live on the internet at www.espn3.com Tape-Delayed at 9:30 p.m. ALABAMA STATE SPORTS INFORMATION Duane Lewis - Sports Information Director/Football Contact 915 S Jackson St. Montgomery, Ala. 35216 W: 334-229-5230 www.bamastatesports.com [email protected] FIVE NEW FACES JOIN COACHING STAFF Fred Kaiss (Offensive Coordinator) joins the ASU staff from Hampton University, where in his second stint there, he served as offensive coordinator in 2010. He previously coached the Pirates from 2001-06, serving as offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach/recruiting coordinator and special teams coordinator. His offense averaged 44.6 points per game in 2004 in the first of back-to-back Black College National Championship seasons for Hampton. Kaiss also twice coached at Tennessee State. He initially served the Tigers as special teams coordinator/wide receivers coach (1997-99). Upon his return he was offensive coordinator (2006-09) and also wide receivers coach (2009). No stranger to the SWAC, Kaiss coached running backs, was recruiting coordinator and special teams’ coordinator at Southern (1993-96), helping the Jaguars win two Black College National titles (1993, 1995). He also was offensive coordinator/receivers coach at Alabama A&M (2000- 01). Kaiss, a part of four national championship teams as a coach, began his collegiate coaching career in 1992 as the offensive coordinator, quarterback coach and receivers coach at Morgan State. Shannon Harris (Receivers) comes to ASU after also spending one season at Hampton as quarterbacks coach under Kaiss. He previously spent six seasons at Tennessee State, serving in various capacities, and quarterbacks coach (2004, 2009), tight ends coach (2005) and receivers coach (2006-08).He played collegiately at Mississippi Gulf Coast Junior College (1998-2000), where he was selected to the All-Mississippi South team and played in the Mississippi Junior College All- Star game. The Wiggins, Miss. native played quarterback for TSU from 2001-02, setting a school record for total offense with 3,137 yards as a senior. After his playing career at TSU ended, he remained with the program as a student assistant coach. He also played the 2003 season with the Shreveport Battle Wings of the Arena Football League II. Willard Scissum (Offensive Line) comes to the Hornets from Alcorn State, where he served as offensive line coach (2008-10). Scissum, who coached the offense line for NFL Europe’s Berlin Thunder and Ft. Valley State (2007), spent six seasons at Morehouse College, first as offensive line coach (1998-2000) and later as head coach (2002-2005), sandwiched around a brief stint as co-offensive coordinator at Morris Brown (2001). The Huntsville, Ala. native was a four-year starter at the University of Alabama, where he was a member of three bowl teams while playing two seasons for the legendary Paul “Bear” Bryant. Scissum played professionally for four seasons (1985-88), playing in both the National Football League (with the Denver Broncos and the Washington Redskins) and Canadian Football Leagues (with the Calgary Stampede and British Columbia Lions). His coaching career began as a student assistant at Alabama A&M (1991-94), before joining the Crimson Tide staff as a grad assistant (94-97). Dominique Stevenson (Safeties) comes to Alabama State after spending the past two years as an intern at LSU, where he helped mentor Linebacker Perry Riley who was drafted by the Washington Redskins in the 4th round and free agent Linebacker Harry Coleman in 2010. Stevenson also helped mentor 1st round pick Patrick Peterson, who was First Team All-SEC and Thorpe Award Winner. Roy Dawkins (Secondary) was a four-year letterman and a three-year starter at defensive back for the Hornets from 1993-96, and was a teammate of Barlow’s for three seasons in the Black and Gold. Dawkins began his coaching career in the fall of 1997 as a student assistant at Alabama State. After graduating from ASU in 1999, he spent the past 12 seasons coaching in the high school and college ranks. Dawkins coached three seasons at Central Haynesville High School in Haynesville, Ala., serving one season as defensive coordinator and defensive back coach (1999) before becoming head coach for two seasons(2000-01). Dawkins spent the next three seasons in Montgomery, one as defensive back coach at Sidney Lanier High School (2002), and two at Huntingdon College (2003-04) in the same capacity. After two seasons coaching defensive backs at Raines High School (2005-06) in Jacksonville, Fla., Dawkins coached four years at Northview High in Dothan, Ala. He mentored the defensive line for two seasons (2007-08) before spending the past two seasons as defensive coordinator/defensive back coach (2009-10). PRESEASON HONORS/WATCH LIST 2011 HORNETS OFFENSIVE NOTES: Alabama State ranks eighth in the SWAC in total offense, averaging 303.1 yards per game. The #8 WR Nick Andrews Hornets rank ninth in rushing offense, averaging 83.7 yards per 1st Team All-SWAC game. ASU ranks third in passing offense, gaining 219.4 yards per 1st Team Phil Steele All-SWAC game.