UAPB’s defense yields 815 yards
PINE BLUFF — For the second consecutive week, the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff had a tough time stopping a high-powered offense.
For the second week in a row, it showed on the scoreboard.
Prairie View A&M piled up 815 yards of total offense to roll past the Golden Lions 62-13 on Saturday night in front of a rain-soaked crowd at Simmons Bank Field.
A week after giving up 926 yards in a 90-6 rout at South Dakota State, UAPB found itself in a similar situation in its Southwestern Athletic Conference opener. The Golden Lions gave up 49 points and 588 yards in the first half against Prairie View A&M. Those numbers alone had UAPB Coach Cedric Thomas shaking his head afterward.
“I’ve got to do a better job of getting these young guys to understand the concepts we’re trying to teach them,” he said. “There’s a disconnect somewhere. I’m not doing something. They’re not understanding or executing consistently on a high level.
“I’ve got to go back to the drawing board and find out what can I do to get these young guys to play to the best of their ability.”
Quarterback Jalen Morton had little trouble displaying his ability while carving up the Golden Lions’ defense. The junior completed 16 of 24 passes for 256 yards with 2 touchdowns, and carried 8 times for 255 yards and 4 scores for Prairie View A&M (2-3), which beat UAPB for a sixth consecutive year. Prairie View A&M scored touchdowns on seven of its 10 firsthalf possessions, and it had a 35-point first quarter.
The loss was the 10th in the past 11 games for UAPB (1-3), which played without starting quarterback Shannon Patrick because of a hand injury. The Golden Lions also were without the SWAC’s leading receiver Josh Wilkes, who suffered a leg injury in last week’s game.
Backup quarterback Skyler Perry finished 23-of-45 passing for 174 yards, and ran 9 times for 75 yards for UAPB. Running back Taeyler Porter added 53 yards on the ground on 16 carries, and wide receiver Jeremy Brown caught 7 passes for 100 yards.
“It’s hard to gauge the offense when you’re down 35 points from the gate,” Thomas said. “We had a great game plan defensively and had some things we thought we could get done, but we just didn’t execute.”
Of Prairie View A&M’s nine scoring drives, only one lasted more than a minute. In fact, the Panthers scored their first 28 points on 10 plays. Morton threw an incomplete pass on the game’s first snap, but he took the next one 89 yards untouched for a touchdown with 14:35 showing.
UAPB did respond on its initial possession, driving 42 yards in nine plays and getting a 45-yard field goal from Jamie Gillan.
Morton answered in bunches. He hit tight end Zarrian Holcombe for a 75yard score, ran 37 yards for a touchdown and tossed a 6-yard scoring pass to wide receiver Markcus Hardy on the next three series. UAPB finally forced a three-and-out on Prairie View A&M’s fifth drive, but the Panthers cashed in on trip No. 6 with a 9-yard touchdown run from running back Caleb Broach to put the Golden Lions in a 35-3 hole after one quarter.
“We’ve just got to continue to get better,” Thomas said. “We’re not giving our offense a chance because defensively, we’re bad. But it all falls on me and my shoulders.
“I’ve got to give them something schematically to fit their skill set. Right now, it’s just way too many missed tackles. I don’t think we’re really out of our gaps. We’re just not making plays.”