Hampton staying the course
Belief is a big part of what University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff’s Alonzo Hampton has been a constant for he and his players during his first season as the program’s head coach.
It’s also something that Golden Lions seemingly haven’t always employed during games.
UAPB (1-7, 0-5 Southwestern Athletic Conference), which has lost five consecutive games, has been tormented by a lot of the same things, and much of it boils down to sheer execution across the board.
“We’re just going to continue to work,” Hampton said. “If our guys put the time in, watch the extra film and just trust the guy to his right and to his left, then we’re going to get some victories down the road. When I say down the road, I’m talking about this year, I’m not talking about next year.
“We’ve got to just stay the course.”
The Golden Lions have been forced to play from behind in the majority of their contests, and a lot of that is because of their slow starts. During its current five-game skid, UAPB has faced double-digit halftime deficits four times.
But UAPB has offered resistance and regularly gotten within a score or two at various points in the second halves of those contests.
In their 40-14 loss to Jackson State last week, the Golden Lions were down 2614 early in the fourth quarter and had a chance to pull closer but missed on a pair of key plays during a crucial drive that resulted in a punt.
The Tigers, in turn, took advantage of UAPB’s nearmisses and eventually put the game out of reach with a touchdown with just over nine minutes left to play.
“We’ve just got to continue to find a way,” Hampton said. “Guys fought hard, but again, it’s the same things I’ve said every week. Just the mental toughness part of it, just being consistent all the way through the game and just not having breakdowns at the wrong times.”
Break after bending
The statistics on the defensive side of the ball paint a bland picture for the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, but those numbers may not tell the entire story.
UAPB gives up an average of 456 yards per game, which ranks last in the Southwestern Athletic Conference. but a lot of those yards are results of big plays that have had ripple effects.
For instance, Jackson State had 15 plays of 10 yards or more during last week’s game.
“Defensively, we’re making plays, but then at the wrong times, inopportune times, our best players are not making the plays that they need to make,” UAPB Coach Alonzo Hampton said. “The first touchdown pass, [Jackson State] went for 70 yards. We had a blitz on, and one of our best players didn’t take the tight end. And they threw it to the tight end in the flat, and the guy went 70 yards.
“That’s frustrating. And regardless of what’s going on on the offensive side of the football, we have a job to do, and it’s to stop the other offense.”
The Golden Lions have allowed less than 400 yards just twice this season, and they’re set to face a Prairie View A&M team Saturday that had 491 yards of offense in its 55-24 rout of UAPB last year.
Linemen needed
The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff has a deep stable of running backs, which is just what Coach Alonzo Hampton was counting on this season.
What the Golden Lions don’t have is a surplus of bodies up front to help open up holes for those backs.
“We don’t have a lot of depth at the O-line position,” Hampton said. “So I give them a lot of credit. Every game they show up, and they give us everything they’ve got. We’ve got to go out and recruit O-line, O-line, O-line.”
UAPB is averaging 127.9 rushing yards per game, which is eighth in the Southwestern Athletic Conference, but the team has had a few big rushing games this season. The Golden Lions ran for at least 167 yards in back-to-back games against Tennessee State and Miles College, and even rushed for 234 yards against Mississippi Valley State.
Still, that doesn’t gloss over the games where the team hasn’t fared well on the ground, namely their 40-yard outing on Oct. 21 against Alcorn State.
“You hear people talk about O-line, D-line,” Hampton said. “They’re fighting hard, but we just don’t have enough of them. We’ve got some really good defensive football teams in this conference, and we’ve played them. Alcorn’s good, Southern’s good, we played Jackson State, and I’m pretty those are top three or four defenses.
“So offensively, we’re hampered right now. We’ve got a lot of guys that are out, but it is what it is. But our offensive line has done a good job. They’ve stayed together.”
Homecoming, again
For the third time in the past four games, the UAPB will be involved in homecoming festivities.
UAPB will help Prairie View A&M ring in their annual event Saturday at 2 p.m. The Golden Lions did the same thing for Mississippi Valley State on Oct. 14, and Alcorn State served as UAPB’s homecoming guest the following week.
“They’ll be fired up,” Hampton said of Prairie View A&M. “They just got beat by a really good [Florida A&M] football team. … They’re going to be disappointed in how they played, and it’s their homecoming. It’s going to be a good battle.”
The Panthers have dropped three of their past four games and are coming off a 45-7 loss to Florida A&M. Prairie View A&M, though, has won nine of the past 10 meetings with UAPB. All nine of those wins have been by 10 points or more.
“We’re just going to continue to work. If our guys put the time in, watch the extra film and just trust the guy to his right and to his left, then we’re going to get some victories down the road. When I say down the road, I’m talking about this year, I’m not talking about next year.” UAPB Coach Alonzo Hampton