For the second consecutive week, the Clark Atlanta University Panthers are the visiting homecoming opponent, this time when they head to Kentucky State University today at 1 p.m. in Frankfort, Ky.
"I think that was one of the first conversations that I had with our football team," CAU Head Coach
Tim Bowens said. "At some point, people will stop scheduling you for homecoming, but you have to make sure you put that on the field, week in and week out. One thing we'll always do is we'll always play to win and not in order not to get beat. So, we'll remain in attack mode. We hope when people see that, they'll say 'I don't know if we want them on the homecoming schedule.' But we've got to win some. That takes care of that."
The Panthers (0-5, 0-1 SIAC) are coming off a long, wild homecoming game at Miles College that was mired in lightning, rain and a total of five hours of separate weather delays in a close 31-27 loss to the Golden Bears. The Panthers led most of the way, but gave up two touchdowns after play resumed following a three-hour lightning delay. CAU twice was in position to regain the lead late in the fourth quarter, getting inside the Miles 5-yard line twice, but coming up short on both opportunities.
"Our guys fought," Bowens said. "I think some of our guys grew up and we were able to see some guys step up who we don't normally get to see play. I think there are a lot of things we can pull from last week. We have a windshield mentality. What's next? What's coming up?The windshield is bigger than the rearview mirror and we want to make sure we're not looking in the rearview mirror and that we're looking into our windshield at what's next and how we can improve today from the day before."
Kentucky State (2-2, 0-2 SIAC) is looking to bounce back from their 33-24 loss at Morehouse College last weekend, a game in which Morehouse scored four, fourth quarter touchdowns to outscore KSU 24-7 in the quarter to get the win.
First-year head coach Charlie Jackson has installed an option attack led by junior running back Brett Sylve. Sylve has rushed for nearly 400 yards this season. The ground game is the focus for KSU, which leads the SIAC in rushing offense with 249.8 yards per game. The CAU defense is ranked at the bottom of the conference in rush defense, giving up 192 yards per game.
"They run the option and they are doing a good job of that," Bowens said. "It's going to be a lot of assignment and alignment for us. You know what you're going to get and you have to go and execute. We've got our work cut out for us."
But on offense, the Panthers'
Charles Stafford threw nearly twice as many passes (55) last week against Miles as Kentucky State has attempted this season (29). Stafford leads the SIAC in passing and leads the conference's second-best passing offense. Receiver
Kendell Wimberly had a breakout game last weekend with 13 catches for 187 yards and three touchdowns.
On defense, CAU's
Terrance Harris is the SIAC's fifth-leading tackler with 38 stops this season. The Panthers second-leading tackler, freshman
Tyler Wimberly, is 11
th with 31.
Graduate student
Johnny Sharp's interception last week at Miles was his third of the season, putting him at the top of the conference standings in that category.
PANTHER NOTES: CAU and Kentucky State haven't played each other much. Since 2010, they have only played once, with Clark Atlanta taking a 19-7 victory on their last visit to Frankfort in 2010…. Kentucky State hasn't had an interception this season…. The Atlanta Falcons are a common point for head coaches
Tim Bowens and Charlies Jackson. Jackson was a Falcons assistant coach for two years before coming to Kentucky State. This past summer, Bowens was a coaching intern for the Falcons as part of the NFL's Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship… Next Saturday, the Panthers will be home for Homecoming 2019 when they host Savannah State at 2 p.m.
CLARK ATLANTA PANTHERS (0-5, 0-1 SIAC)
Head Coach – Tim Bowens
LEADERS
Offense
Passing –
Charles Stafford (114-of-199 for 1260 yards, 11 touchdowns, eight interceptions)
Rushing –
Martin Fleming (23 rushes, 67 yards, long of 30 yards)
Darius Blackmon (21 rushes, 48 yards, long of ten yards)
Receiving –
Drakar Jerry (18 receptions, 239 yards, two touchdowns, long of 64 yards)
Kendall Wimberly (15 receptions, 202 yards, three touchdowns, long of 64 yards)
Darrell Nichols (14 receptions, 227 yards, long of 24 yards)
Kickoff Returns –
Darrell Nichols (nine returns, 237 yards, long of 67 yards
Punt Returns –
Drakar Jerry (five returns, 45 yards, long of 15 yards)
Defense
Tackles –
Terrance Harris (38 tackles, 25 solo, 13 assisted, three tackles for loss)
Tyler Wimberly (31 tackles, 20 solo, 11 assisted, five tackles for loss)
Breante Glover (24 tackles, 15 solo, 9 assisted, 6.5 tackles for loss)
Sacks –
Tyler Wimberly (two sacks for 14 yards)
Breante Glover,
Rodney Lewis,
Lorenzo Fields (each with one sack)
Interceptions –
Johnny Sharp (three interceptions)
Kenneth Morgan,
Kevin Williams,
Tyrese Ross (one interception each)
KENTUCKY STATE THOROBREDS (2-2, 0-2 SIAC)
Head Coach – Charlie Jackson
LEADERS
Offense
Passing – Jaylen Myers (12-of-29 for 229 yards, four touchdowns, one interception)
Rushing – Brett Sylve (74 rushes, 397 yards, three touchdowns, long of 30 yards)
Jaylen Myers (47 rushes, 278 yards, one touchdown, long of 32 yards)
Receiving – Jonathan Powell (seven receptions, 163 yards, two touchdowns, long of 58 yards)
Kickoff Returns – Brett Sylve (four returns, 143 yards, long of 49 yards)
Nathaniel Myles (three returns, 100 yards, long of 58 yards)
Punt Returns – Brendan Lawler (four returns, 15 yards, long of eight yards)
Defense
Tackles – Samuel Brown (18 tackles, 15 solo, 3 assisted, one tackle for loss)
Andrew Perkins (17 tackles, 11 solo, 6 assisted, .5 tackle for loss)
Sacks – Jimmy Edmonds (two sacks for ten yards)
Interceptions – none
For more information about Clark Atlanta football, go to
https://clarkatlantasports.com/index.aspx?path=football.
