SC State Football Picked To Win MEAC

NORFOLK, VA (SCSU SID) — Despite losing fifteen seniors – 11 of them starters – from last season’s 9-3 (7-1 MEAC) squad, South Carolina State has been picked to win the 2011 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference title by a poll of coaches and sports Information directors, the league announced Friday at its annual press luncheon at the Waterside Marriott. SC State head football coach emeritus Willie Jeffries served as Em Cee for the event. Friday’s predictions marked the fourth consecutive year Coach Buddy Pough’s team has been picked to win the coveted title. SC State captured MEAC crowns outright in 2008 and 2009 and shared last year’s championship with Bethune-Cookman and Florida A&M. B-Cookman outpolled The Bulldogs in first-place votes – 8 to 6 – however SC State totaled 468 points to 454 for the Wildcats to earn the top spot from the voters. Florida A&M was third with five first-place votes and 420 points, followed by Hampton with 321 points and Norfolk State with 274 points. The Spartans were followed by Morgan State with 250 points, new member North Carolina Central with 162, Delaware State with 158, North Carolina A&T with 128, Howard with 96 and new member Savannah State with 63. Hampton, Norfolk State and Savannah State each received one first-place vote. 32. Pough expressed surprise that his team received the voters top billing again. “Picked first, that’s news to me,” said Pough. “We lost some great talent, including a quarterback that was a starter for three years. We also lost a lot of parts around him (leading running back, three starting offensive linemen and a wide receiver). So, you can see, we have a little bit of a question mark on offense. “In fact, I feel we have a lot of work to do on offense,” he continued. “But on the same note, if the offense can make some strides early and we get going, we could be okay, but not having Long as quarterback is big.” The battle to replace Long as quarterback is a tight one between junior Derrick Wiley (6-0, 195), the top backup in 2010, and sophomore Richard Cue (6-1, 185). Wiley’s younger brother Tedarrius Wiley (6-1, 180 r-Fr.), a redshirt freshman, is also in the running for the starting signal-calling duties. The Bulldog running game, which was slowed last year when now-departed Chris Massey, the leading rusher and Asheton Jordon (6-0, 205 Jr.), the top returning rusher, were both sidelined with injuries at some time during the season. Jordan, who rushed for 622 yards and five touchdowns in 2010, will be asked to carry the load on the ground this season, however, he should get some strong support from Devin Wherry (5-11, 225 Jr.) and Chris Merrill (5-10, 195 Jr.) The offensive line will be anchored by junior Juavahr Nathan (6-3, 310 r-Sr.), Jake Johnson (6-4, 330 Sr.), center Tristan Bellamy (6-3, 290 r-So.) and former Orangeburg-Wilkinson product Jonathan Saxon (6-4, 275 r-Sr.). Tyler McDonald (6-1, 200 So.) and Thomas “Tray” Williams (6-0, 190 r-Jr.) leads the way in the receiving corps. On defense, SC State will field a lot of talent, however, it will be woefully short of the experience of the 2010 team which received an at-large bid to the FCS playoffs. “We have some outstanding players returning on defense, including Donovan Richard (6-1, 190 r-Sr.) at linebacker, Dominique Ellis (5-11, 185 r-Sr.) in the secondary and Pat Washington (6-0, 250 r-Sr.) and Ronell Ferguson (6-3, 275 Sr.) on the defensive line, but we also incurred some huge losses on that side of the football too,” Pough said. The eight SC State players making the preseason All-MEAC squad were tight end Antuanne Kerr (6-3, 245 r-Sr.), Nathan on the offensive line, and Washington, Ellis and placekicker/punter Blake Erickson, all whom earned first team accolades. Making the second team were Jordan on offense and Ferguson and Richard on defense. SC State opens the 2011 campaign Sept. 1 at Central Michigan, one of two FBS opponents on the slate. The home opener is Sept. 24 against Delaware State.