FRANKFORT, Ky. – Benedict won’t be playing Kentucky State for the SIAC Championship, but the Tigers travel to Kentucky to play in what could be called the SIAC Turnaround Bowl.
Saturday’sgame will feature the two schools who have had the biggest improvement from a year ago.
Benedict, which went winless in 2015, comes into Saturday’s final SIAC game of the season with a 4-5 record and a chance for its first five-win season since 2010. Kentucky State, after back-to-back 3-7 seasons in 2014 and 2015, has already clinched a berth in next week’s SIAC Championship as the Western Division champion and will be playing in the title game for the first time in school history. Both teams were picked to finish last in their respective divisions in the preseason poll by head coaches and sports information directors.
| GAMEDAY |
| Benedict College at Kentucky State University |
| Kickoff: 1:30 p.m. |
| Radio: WXLC Kiss 103.1 FM |
| Audio stream: kiss-1031.com |
| Video stream: Thorobred Sports Network |
The Thorobreds started the season 0-3, but won four of their next five games, including a stunning 10-9 upset over Tuskegee, which was ranked fifth in the country at the time. Kentucky State blocked an 18-yard field goal on the final play of the game to seal the victory. First-year coach John L. Smith, who has more than 40 years experience as a football coach, including stops at Louisville, Michigan State and Arkansas, has the Thorobreds playing well at the end of the season.
“They’re playing with a lot of confidence right now,” Benedict coach Mike White said of the Thorobreds. “They’re running the ball, playing good defense and just taking advantage of the situation.”
The Thorobreds, 4-5 overall and 4-2 in the SIAC, have had success despite ranking ninth in the SIAC in total offense, only pulling out the cellar and ahead of Benedict in the last week. They also rank last in total defense, and are giving up more than 200 yards rushing per game. Freshman quarterback Jules St. Ge ranks ninth in the SIAC in total offense per game. Corey Slaughter is one of the top kick returners in the SIAC, averaging 21 yards per return. Senior linebacker Travon Spencer leads the defense with 92 total tackles. Kentucky State leads the SIAC in red zone defense, allowing opponents to score on just 59.5 percent when inside the 20-yard line. Kentucky State also leads the SIAC in average time of possession and fumbles recovered.
“I really wasn’t watching them too closely early in the season because I knew we were playing them later on,” White said. “Stat-wise, they really weren’t doing too well. Then all of a sudden they got a big win and it looks like they’ve been on a roll and playing with a lot of confidence. They’re just playing solid football. They don’t do anything that blows you away when you watch them on film, but then you see the way they are dominating field position, stopping teams from running and turnovers and those sort of things. They’re winning the most important battles, and that is on the line of scrimmage and the turnovers.”
The Tigers still have a strong incentive, and that is to finish the season with a winning record. In order to do that, Benedict needs to win its last two games. White is hoping there is no letdown after last week’s loss to Albany State ended any chance of going to the SIAC title game.
“That’s the million dollar question,” White said. “That’s something we’ve talked about as a staff. The goal was to have more wins than losses, and we can still do that, and we want to do that. We want to win these last two games and go into the offseason with some kind of momentum.”
A year ago, Kentucky State cruised to an easy 32-19 win over Benedict.
“We know this will be a real tough game and we just want to play better in the SIAC,” White said. “Every team we had trouble with last year, we want to come back and show them we’re a lot better program. This is a goal, especially defensively, to stop those guys, and offensively to get ourselves going.”
White is also hoping Benedict is catching Kentucky State at a good time, with their focus on the conference championship game in a week, and not on a Benedict game that has no bearing in the conference race. The Thorobreds may even use this week to rest some of their key players.
“We hope they are looking forward and not really worried about us,” White said. “From the film we’ve seen, I don’t know if they are trying out new things or experimenting with new people. I’m not sure about that. We’re just going to have to play solid, not get behind, and play our best football right here at the end.”
