UAPB’s repeat plans wrecked by its 0-7 start

Arkansas-Pine Bluff may have fallen short of Coach Monte Coleman’s expectations, but he still managed to find some encouragement this season.

UAPB (2-8, 2-6 Southwestern Athletic Conference) wraps up its season today at Prairie View A&M (5-6, 4-4), two weeks sooner than Coleman expected. The Golden Lions came into the season fresh off their first outright SWAC championship, but things went wrong right from the start.

Five players were declared ineligible, including running back Justin Billings and defensive ends Damien Lee and Demarcus Berry, which dealt a severe blow to the Golden Lions’ chances of repeating as the conference champion. It also led to several younger players being forced onto the field sooner than expected, including freshman running backs Jeremiah Young and Jamie Smith.

And that’s where the encouraging signs begin for Coleman.

“I did see an improvement week in and week out,” he said. “Overall, I thought we made tremendous progress after the first two ballgames. We gave up big plays too much during the year. That was our downfall.”

UAPB lost its first seven games, including 62-11 and 58-14 blowouts at Arkansas State and McNeese State in the first two weeks. The Golden Lions then won two consecutive against Mississippi Valley State and Grambling State, but those weren’t enough to salvage the season.

Junior quarterback Ben Anderson has been another of the Golden Lions’ few highlights. Anderson, the preseason SWAC offensive player of the year, has completed 193 of 319 passes for 2,561 yards with 18 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. He’s also rushed 166 times for 768 yards and 9 touchdowns.

“He’s had a great season,” Coleman said. “Anytime you can put up 42 points on the board, you would hope you would be able to win. Unfortunately, because of the youth and the lack of experience we have on defense, if we put up 42, they put up 43.

“Ben is doing what he’s supposed to do.”

UAPB had the SWAC’s best defense a year ago but has struggled this season, allowing a league-worst 40.3 points per game. It led 42-35 in the fourth quarter last Saturday at Alabama A&M but ended up losing 50-42.

Coleman said said the key for the Golden Lions today will be eliminating the big plays that have plagued them all season.

“The effort is there,” Coleman said. “The guys are playing hard. There’s no question. They’re playing extremely hard. It’s just that we’re breaking down at a very inopportune time in the game, and when we do a lot of times it results into a touchdown.”

Today’s game

UAPB AT PRAIRIE VIEW A&M

WHEN 1 p.m. Central WHERE Blackshear Field, Prairie View Texas RECORDS Arkansas-Pine Bluff 2-8, 2-Southwestern Athletic Conference; Prai rie View A&M 5-6, 4-4 COACHES Arkansas-Pine Bluff: Monte Coleman (31-35 in sixth season at UAPB and overall); Prairie View A&M: Heishma Northern (13-20 in third season at Prairie View A&M and overall) RADIO KUAP-FM, 89.7, in Pine Bluff INTERNET uapblionsroar.com

TODAY’S GAMES All times Central

Ala. A&M at Georgia Tech, 12:30 p.m.

UAPB at Prairie View, 1 p.m.

Sports, Pages 25 on 11/23/2013

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