bluedog
"Leader of Kings"
Jaguars not taking PVU lightly
By JOSEPH SCHIEFELBEIN
Advocate sportswriter
Southern has won the last 30 games against Prairie View.
That string includes a forfeit by Prairie View in 1988. But you get the idea: The series has been lopsided the last three decades.
Even so, that didn't lessen the decibel level out on Southern's practice fields this week.
"We don't want to go in there and think people are going to lay down for us. They're not going to," Tom Lavigne said. "We've got to pick the intensity up. We can't wait until Saturday to pick the tempo up. Practice carries over to the game."
With Southern facing its first Southwestern Athletic Conference game Saturday against Prairie View and trying to guard against complacency, coaches wanted to make sure the Jaguars maintained their edge.
"It's SWAC time now," head coach Pete Richardson said. "We have to be ready to play."
The Jaguars (1-0) are coming off a surprisingly easy 29-0 victory over Mississippi Valley State. The Panthers (0-1, 0-1), meanwhile, got blasted 42-3 by rival Texas Southern in Reliant Stadium -- giving up 42 second-half points after leading 3-0 at halftime.
Southern and Prairie View meet in the third Port City Classic at 6 p.m. Saturday in Independence Stadium in Shreveport.
Southern hasn't won a SWAC title since 1999, the last of three straight. Then again, the Jaguars, until Saturday, hadn't won a season opener since 1999.
Now, Southern has to sustain the momentum.
"I don't see how we can have the wrong attitude," Richardson said. "We really haven't achieved a lot this year."
Southern has scored an average of 52.3 points per game in the last eight meetings, winning 46-24 last season. And while Prairie View has put up 28 and 24 points in the last two meetings, that 52-point total is better than the nine meetings from 1992-2000, when the Panthers were shut out twice and never scored in double figures.
Richardson, however, expects Prairie View's best effort.
"We have a bitter rivalry, not only athletically but with the bands (which engaged in a halftime brawl in 1998)," Richardson said. "Historically, they can be 0-for-October, but in that game, they're ready to go. We have to be on guard."
Prairie View is under first-year coach C.L. Whittington, an alumnus at the school.
"You can't underestimate their football team," Richardson said. "Traditionally, every time we play them, they play hard for 60 minutes. They're going to be ready to go. They're going to be fired up."
TSU ran the ball 64 times, chalking up 316 yards, against Prairie View. The Tigers passed only 10 times.
Expect Southern to pound the ball behind its veteran offensive line and All-SWAC tailback Lashun Peoples.
"I could throw it one time, and it wouldn't bother me at all," Richardson said.
"Offensively, we have to be able to run the football," Richardson said. "We have to work on our blocking schemes."
Southern is back in Shreveport for the third straight season.
The Jaguars beat Valley 49-0 in October 2001 and lost to Northwestern State 30-10 last September.
"It's an opportunity for us, because we have a huge alumni base up there," Richardson said. "We can expand our recruiting area, get out to some of the local high school games."
Richardson said the team would bring both cleats and turf shoes for Independence Stadium's AstroPlay surface. He also said the staff prefers the offensive and defensive linemen to wear turf shoes.
"That gives a little more slide, so you don't get your knee caught," Richardson said.
The Jaguars will play on an artificial-grass surface next week as well at UNLV's Sam Boyd Stadium, where Southern will play North Carolina A&T.
"We have to continue to improve in all aspects," Richardson said.
"We have to come out of this game without any major injuries. If we can do that consistently and work to try to improve, then we can be effective."
Click here to return to story:
http://www.2theadvocate.com/stories/090403/sou_jags001.shtml
