It flew a bit below the radar, but Connell Maynor called the shot of his Alabama A&M squad's throttling of Deion Sanders' Jackson State team prior to their nationally televised contest during the weekend.
As Maynor's Bulldogs prepared for their bus ride from Huntsville, Alabama, to Jackson, Mississippi, Maynor told area media he needed no pre-game speech to hype his players for the showdown against Sanders & Co.
“I don't have to give a rah-rah speech this week,” Maynor said. “Coach Sanders said he wants some dogs. Well, I'm about to turn the Bulldogs loose on him.”
His words proved prophetic. Alabama A&M took a 28-21 lead into the half, twice led by 17 points in the second half – including a game-clinching score for a 52-35 edge in the game's final three minutes – and then posted a 52-43 win.
The Bulldogs scored their most points against an FCS or higher foe since 2008 and stayed a perfect 3-0 including 2-0 in Southwest Athletic Conference play.
Sanders was again left lamenting a loss – the program's third in a row. The JSU defense was torched for 533 yards, including 440 through the air by the Bulldogs. A&M quarterback Aqeel Glass did not throw an interception and set career highs in both passing touchdowns (six) and yards (440).
In the game's closing seconds, when Glass and the Bulldogs were taking a knee in victory formation to finish running out the game clock, JSU's Aubrey Miller Jr. was flagged for a late hit.
ESPN cameras showed Sanders bark at Miller, grab him by the jersey and send Miller into the locker room with a half-minute left in the game to send a message.
Sanders called for a more unified team and a culture change after his third-straight loss.
“I'm just looking at defense never celebrating the offense; that kind of stuff bothers me,” Sanders said. “I'm watching everything. I can tell you who's on that sideline. Everything about everything on that sideline. How we got love for one another or don't. Or not greeting and not welcoming and not enjoying the game.
“Or who's not in it or joking on the sidelines. We've got to do a better job of celebrating one another. It should be about, 'What can I do to make you better? What can I do to help you get to the next level?' … We talked about that in meetings all week, and we didn't do it.”
PETRINO SHINES, MISSOURI STATE MAKES HISTORY
It was a different century, a different millennium the last time Missouri State won at least a share of the Missouri Valley Football Conference championship.
The drought is over. In large part thanks to none other than Bobby Petrino, the once-scorned coach who's now leading the program's renaissance.
The Bears blasted Youngstown State, 21-10, Saturday at their home in Springfield, Missouri, and in the process clinched a share of the conference championship for the first time in 31 years.
“Yeah, it really was a special moment,” Petrino said. “So happy for our players, who have worked so hard. I can't tell you how hard they've worked in practice, how hard they prepared, how much they came together as a team.
“It was just a fun, fun season for us. Every game we had to win was a grind. There was no blowouts, no easy victories. Had great leadership from players on the team.”
North Dakota State owns the Missouri Valley's automatic FCS-playoffs bid by virtue of its head-to-head win against the Bears, who still could earn an at-large selection when the brackets are revealed in a week.
Nonetheless it's a dramatic turnaround for the program under Petrino in his first year at the school. He was hired in January 2020 and had previous experience as head coach at multiple Power 5 programs and briefly as an NFL head coach for the Atlanta Falcons.
ONE-MAN WRECKING CREW
Presbyterian College linebacker Colby Campbell turned in quite the individual performance Saturday in the Blue Hose's dramatic, 29-24 win against rival Davidson.
Campbell amassed 25 tackles, three of them for losses and 11 of them solo stops, as well as forced a fumble in the winning effort.
It was the most tackles in a game by a Pioneer Football League player since 2014 and the most this spring in FCS play. Campbell's three tackles for losses in the game also gave him Presbyterian's career mark in that category; he now has 32 TFLs.