FOR THE WEEK OF DECEMBER 8 - 14, 2015 Celebration Bowl matchup set LUT WILLIAMS BCSP Editor SWAC champion Alcorn State will meet MEAC co-champion ™ North Carolina A&T next week in the first annual Air Force Reserve Celebration Bowl on Dec. 19 in Atlanta at the Georgia Dome. The Celebration Bowl, which airs live at 12 noon on ABC next Satur- day, is being billed as the game that will kick off this year's bowl season. But it will be the final game of the 2015 black college football season. Alcorn State (10-3), winner of the SWAC East Division and the pre- Grambling State Sports Photo season BCSP No. 1 team, punched its ticket to the inaugural bowl game FOBBS: Grambling head pitting the two HBCU conference champions with a 49-21 win over West BOWL coach lost in SWAC title Division champ Grambling State Saturday in Houston (See CHAMPI- game but garners coach of ONSHIP GAME RECAP). GAME the year honors for lead- ing Tigers to 9-0 SWAC North Carolina A&T (9-2), which began the season at No. 3 in the SET regular season. BCSP ranking, earned its spot representing the MEAC via the confer- ence's tie-breaking procedure after sharing that league's title with North inaugural Celebration Bowl kicks off on December 19, it is exciting to ALCORN STATE GOES BACK-TO-BACK IN SWAC; TO MEET Carolina Central and Bethune-Cookman. have the Air Force Reserve join us as our title sponsor," Grant said. NC A&T IN ATLANTA; TUSKEGEE FALLS IN D2 QUARTERS Both Alcorn State and A&T have spent time this season as the No. 1 The event is owned by ESPN who is guaranteeing each conference a team in black college football. This game will likely determine the final $1 million payday. The bulk of that money goes to the two participating No. 1. schools. SCORES "It’s not about who wins. I say, let's all win," Air Force Reserve Cel- The game will pit the high-scoring Alcorn State offense that averages ebration Bowl Executive Director John Grant said of the game in a profile 40 points per game and 309 rushing yards per game, third best in FCS foot- DECEMBER 5 SWAC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME this month in Uptown Magazine. Grant has been chief executive officer ball, against an A&T defense that is second in the FCS against the rush giv- DIV. II PLAYOFFS Alcorn State 49, Grambling State 21 of the 100 Black Men of Atlanta for the past 14 years. That organization ing up just 84.5 yards per game and only 15.6 points per game, fifth in the West Georgia 35, Tuskegee 6 is one of the sponsors and organizers of the event. FCS. Among the featured players are A&T junior running back and MEAC "I'm all about creating opportunities for people to win," he said. Offensive Player of the year Tarik Cohen, who rushed for an MEAC best "When people win, our communities win. When communities win, our 1,248 yards and 12 TDs and SWAC Championship Game MVP Darryan nation wins. That's what this bowl game is about. If we're able to do that, Ragsdale of Alcorn State who has rushed for 1,259 yards and ten scores. it will have meaning inclusive of the sport, but way beyond the sport. Events prior to the game include an introductory press conference on "That is a statement worth making, he said." Thursday at the College Hall of Fame, a Celebration Bowl Champions The Air Force Reserve was announced as the title sponsor of the Dinner Friday at the same location, a College Fair Friday afternoon at the bowl game last week. Georgia World Congress Center and a Fan Fest at the Georgia Dome be- "As we continue to build toward creating a pinnacle event when the ginning at 9:30 a .m. Saturday. BCSP Notes BACK-TO-BACK: Alcorn State RB Darryan Ragsdale (22) Kentucky State names veteran Stillman drops football and other sports, breaks loose from a Grambling State defender in Saturday's John L. Smith as new head football coach leaving the SIAC and moving to NAIA SWAC Championship Game in Houston. Ragsdale won offen- FRANKFORT, Ky. -- Former Michigan State and Louisville head Stillman President Dr. Peter Millet announced last week that the sive MVP honors rushing for 188 yards and one touchdown in coach John L. Smith was named the new head football coach at Ken- school will drop ten of its 12 athletic programs beginning with the 2016-17 the 49-21 Alcorn State win. tucky State Monday. season. SWAC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME RECAP Smith comes to Kentucky State with more than 40 years of college Citing financial challenges, Spring 2016 sports will complete their coaching experience and more than 20 years as season but will be discontinued in Fall 2016 after which only men's and Alcorn State 49, Grambling State 21 a head coach. He has posted a 150-113 record at women's basketball will remain. HOUSTON, Texas – Alcorn State set Southwestern Athletic six schools as a head coach, including, most no- During the press conference, Millet, who became president in 2014, Conference championship game records for rushing yards (411), total tably, stops at Louisville, Michigan State and the stated that he and his staff had reached the decision after approximately yards (613) and points in taking its second straight title in a dominating 49-21 win over Grambling State here Saturday. University of Arkansas. Most recently, Smith has eight months of research. He indicated that the school will move from the The Braves' efforts were led by senior running back Darryan spent three seasons at Division II Fort Lewis Col- Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) to the Gulf Coast Ragsdale's record 188 rushing yards, 202 passing yards and three lege, where he inherited a team that had been 0-10 Athletic Conference in the NAIA. touchdowns from sophomore quarterback Lenorris Footman (15-24- in 2012 and posted a 7-4 record this year, equaling The action was described as a "pivotal moment" for the college as they Smith 0), two receiving touchdowns and one rushing score from redshirt ju- the program's best record in 40 years. work to get back on solid financial ground. The school plans to honor com- nior wideout Marquis Warford and three interceptions, one returned Prior to his time at Fort Lewis, Smith served as special teams coordi- mitments to athletes under full or partial scholarships. for a score, from senior defensive back Warren Gatewood. nator and linebackers coach at Arkansas from 2009-11 before serving as Stillman's athletic "expansion" began in 1999 with the revival of its A crowd of 40,352, the third biggest in SWAC Championship the team's head coach for one season in 2012. He also spent four seasons football program competing at the NCAA Division III level spearheaded Game history, saw the Braves (9-3) become the first repeat champi- at Michigan State, where he went 22-26 from 2003-06 and won Big Ten by then president Dr. Ernest McNealey. In 2004, the school moved up to on since a Grambling State three-peat in 2000-02. With the win and SWAC title, Alcorn State will represent the conference in the first an- Coach of the Year honors in 2003. He has made 12 postseason bowl or Division II and joined the SIAC. nual Celebration Bowl vs. MEAC co-champ North Carolina A&T on playoff appearances, and he is one of just 19 coaches in collegiate foot- Stillman's decision marks the second SIAC school to drop football. Dec. 19 at Atlanta's Georgia Dome. ball history to take three different schools to bowl games. Paine College suspended the sport, in January, 2015. Ragsdale, the game's offensive MVP, opened the scoring on a title Smith went 41-21 at Louisville from 1998-2002, a stretch that in- game record 84-yard run with 3:13 left in the first period. On the en- cluded five straight winning seasons, five straight bowl appearances, and 2015 all-SWAC football team announced suing Grambling possession, Gatewood, named the game's defensive two conference championships. Smith also has head coaching stops at MVP, stepped in front of a pass from SWAC Offensive Player of the BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Grambling State senior quarterback Johna- Utah State as well as the University of Idaho, where he went 53-21 from than Williams and Alabama State junior linebacker Year, GSU quarterback Johnathan Williams, and returned it 25 yards 1989-94 and left as the school's winningest head coach. for a score to put the Braves up 14-0. Kourtney Berry were selected the top offensive and Grambling State (9-3) responded on its next turn, when an Alcorn defensive players respectively in the Southwestern State roughing the passer penalty helped to sustain a drive that ended Haywood new Texas Southern head coach Athletic Conference in voting conducted by league with a 14-yard touchdown run by Williams on the first snap of the HOUSTON- Texas Southern has introduced Michael Haywood as head coaches and sports information directors. second quarter. the next head coach of the Tigers football program. Williams led Grambling State to a 9-2 overall The Braves went back up by two scores following a six-play, 72- He was officially named TSU's 16th head football record (9-0 SWAC) and its first Western Division yard drive that Footman capped with an 11-yard scoring toss to SWAC coach on Dec.