Valley Notes


Blacknbengal

Blacknbengal

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Valley coaches comfortable after short scrimmage



Greenwood Commonwealth
August 11, 2003

Defense holds offense scoreless
Mississippi Valley State University's football coaches felt "comfortable" with their units after gauging their performance in a 16-play controlled scrimmage over the weekend.

"I'm confident in the first group's ability," said defensive coordinator Sam Washington. His defensive unit rendered the offense scoreless on three different series in the scrimmage.

"I'm a firm believer in the way that you're only as good as your weakest link," Washington said. "I think our younger guys have a way to go, but our older group knows the system and is making some excellent reads. Overall, we didn't do a bad job."

Although the offense didn't score, coach Roger Totten, in his first season with the staff, had the same thoughts as Washington on the offensive performance.

"We got what we wanted out of the offense today," Totten said. "We wanted to see if the guys are picking up the offense, and from what I saw today, I was pleased. In fact, they are a little ahead of schedule.

"We want the guys making the proper reads. Going against coach Washington's defense is not an easy task, but for us to move the ball as well as we did, I feel confident that they are grasping the new system.

The Delta Devils return to practice at 4 p.m. today. They have just 20 days left to prepare for their season opener with Southern University in Jackson.

On Wednesday, the Delta Devils will hold their annual media and picture day. Coach Willie "Satellite" Totten will kick off the day with a 10 a.m. press conference in the Ashley Ambrose Lounge of the Devils' Den Football Complex.

Players and the 2003 coach staff will be available for photographs and one-on-one interviews until noon.
 
Valley's Totten learns to appreciate defense

Valley's Totten learns to appreciate defense


By JOSEPH SCHIEFELBEIN
jschiefelbein@theadvocate.com
Advocate sportswriter

Willie "Satellite" Totten made his name by flinging footballs all over the Mississippi Delta. He and his favorite target -- and Joe Montana's and Steve Young's and Rich Gannon's -- Jerry Rice provided the glory days, NCAA record-shredding days to Mississippi Valley State football.
Even so, in his first year as head coach of his alma mater, Totten learned to respect and maybe even, gulp, love defense.

"As a head coach, my philosophy has changed a little bit," Totten said. "I felt you could pass, pass, pass and win. But I've done a little soul-searching."

To that end, Totten looked at his, Rice's and Valley's heyday in the 1980s and saw that one of the best passing offenses in the history of the game never won a Southwestern Athletic Conference title. He thought about how Division I-AA's best total offense, Jackson State, didn't win the conference title last season. And he watched the Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense shut down the Oakland Raiders offense in the Super Bowl in January.

"My goal is to do something that has never happened at Valley, and that's to win a championship. And I'm trying to adjust my way of thinking for what's overall best for the program," Totten said. "Defenses have caught up with the happy-passing offense.

"It's not about defense. It's not about offense. It's about the team doing it together."

Perhaps prodding Totten's thoughts the offseason was the way Valley's defense, under new coordinator Sam Washington, underpinned the program's turnaround.

Southern coach Pete Richardson saw the difference. The 2001 defense was a clueless bench, with Southern romping 49-0. The 2002 defense, despite a 19-16 loss at Southern, kept the game close.

"They came on strong on defense," Richardson said. "In the last part of the year, their defense did more for winning games than anything else."

Of the 2001 defense, Totten, who was the offensive coordinator on that team, said, "We just shut down in the second half (of the season), and we just couldn't stop anybody."

The Southwestern Athletic Conference numbers reflect that. The Devils finished last in total defense (465.7 yards per game) in the 10-team conference in 2001, second (295.0 ypg) in 2002. Valley's victory total reflected that as well, with the Delta Devils going from 0-11 in 2001 to 5-6 in 2002.

Perhaps most impressively, in the pass-loving SWAC, Valley was the top pass defense (166.6 ypg) and pass-efficiency defense in the SWAC. (However, the Devils gave up 36 points and 466 yards to Jackson State and did not face I-AA's best passing offense in Grambling).

"For them to finish that high, and you're talking about a pass-oriented conference, that's remarkable," Totten said. "A lot of that is a credit to the athletes we have back there. We have speed. We have guys who are aggressive, guys who can play. And the scheme complement's their abilities. That's why we're so successful defensively."

Totten credited Washington's sound, yet aggressive scheme and coaching with the turnaround.

"Before, we have always had players who can play. Those same guys were on the same defense the year before," Totten said. "I can't speak enough about coach Washington and believing in my philosophy in changing the attitude. We had to get the guys believing they could win."

Washington, a former Delta Devils defensive back who played for the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cincinnati Bengals during the '80s, is also the team's secondary and special teams coach. And if that wasn't enough already, he handles the team's travel itinerary.

The Devils return two lock-down corners in O'Keefe Henderson, who had four interceptions, including a 99-yard return for a touchdown, on the left side and Sean Hill on the right side.

Valley loses three tough defenders -- All-SWAC linebacker Cedric McDonald (108 tackles), linebacker Willie Gator (54 tackles) and defensive end Joseph Crear (14.5 sacks) -- among five of its top six tacklers.

Senior strong-side linebacker Damieon Collins (58 tackles), a preseason second-team All-SWAC pick like Henderson, will be called upon to lead the unit.
 

Kemp to be starting quarterback for Valley

Kemp to be starting quarterback for Valley




By: Bill Burrus, Sports Editor August 29, 2003
Greenwood Commonwealth


Totten describes MSU transfer as field general
Faced with the tough decision of picking a starting quarterback, Willie Totten went with his gut.

Saying the quarterback duel between Curtis Kemp of Clarksdale and Carey Weaver of Greenwood went down the wire, Totten announced Wednesday that Kemp would he his starter Saturday in the season-opener in Jackson against Southern University.

"The thing I liked about Kemp was his leadership, how he moved the team and how the players responded to him," said the second-year Valley head coach.

Weaver, a fifth-year senior, passed for 2,116 yards and 15 touchdowns by completing 179 of 323 passes last year as the starter, finishing third among Southwestern Athletic Conference quarterbacks.

Totten describes Kemp, a Mississippi State transfer, as a field general with a strong arm.

The Clarksdale High School product completed 24 of 46 passes for 242 yards and a touchdown last season as the backup to Weaver.

Kemp, who is 6 feet, 2 inches tall, weighed close to 270 pounds a year ago; now he's down to 226 pounds.

"He really showed me something with the dedication he showed losing all that weight," Totten said.

Weaver, a Greenwood High School product, handed the demotion in a first-class manner, said Totten, who doesn't plan to rotate signal-callers.

"We'll stay with our starter if he's doing what he needs to do. If the starter falters, then we won't hesitate to bring Weaver in. We still have a lot of confidence in him."
 
Totten is making some bold moves. He demotes his O-Coordinator for his brother. Now he's benching Weaver for Kemp. A coach with balls.
 
Originally posted by Robber
Totten is making some bold moves. He demotes his O-Coordinator for his brother. Now he's benching Weaver for Kemp. A coach with balls.
Click to expand...


Yeah you are right Robber. Totten has some balls benching a SWAC proven QB in Weaver. I don't know about Kemp, but I know that Weaver gave us fits last year, so I will gladly take a seemingly less athletic QB. We have experience stopping Fat Qbs. LOL. I am sure that list of 226 pounds is probably not accurate. He's probably 240. Just like Bruce Eugene is listed at 250 -260, but looks like he's about 280.


Should be interesting come Saturday. We'll see if this kid is better Weaver. I think Totten has also demoted his rb as well. As Jafus would say..........Interesting
 
I'll say this about it.......

Totten's got the Valley alums and fans whipped into a 'frenzy' about this season.......:nod:

I've got some uncles who are old school Valley grads ('54 and'55) that're driving from Detroit for tomorrow's game.... And they haven't seen a Valley game (in person) since Valley/Alcorn when they played in Jackson that Sunday afternoon ('83 or '84).....

:dude:
 
Valley opens SWAC play in Ark.

Valley opens SWAC play in Ark.

By Dee Burke
Delta Democrat Times

ITTA BENA -- Mississippi Valley State University football players are licking their wounds from last Saturday's loss to Southern University which dropped the Delta Devils to 0-1 on the season. MVSU is regrouping and preparing for Ark.-Pine Bluff this weekend.

The Delta Devils were shutout against the Jaguars 29-0 as the offense sputtered and couldn't find the end zone. They found themselves inside the Southern 10 yard line four times and inside the 20 seven times.

Head football coach Willie Totten feels that the offense has to correct mistakes.

"I was very pleased at how we moved the football in the second half," Totten said. "People might look at the score and think the offense must not be there, but they're getting better. We made some plays, but we didn't execute when we had to, and it hurt us."

The Devils were pleased with the performance of tailback Joseph Herrell, who rushed 13 times for 76 yards. Herrell received the "Big Mo" award for best performance in Saturday night's loss.

Totten believes that Curtis Kemp and Carey Weaver did good jobs of running the offense, but are still adjusting to the offensive system.

"Both of them made good plays for the offense," Totten said. "When Weaver was in there, the offense moved the ball effectively, too. They're still learning, but they will get better as the season goes along."

MVSU is getting ready to face their first conference opponent in the Golden Lions. Valley will travel to Pine Bluff, Ark. and a win will give them 1-0 start in the SWAC Eastern Division. Ark.-Pine Bluff lost their opener to Alcorn State 34-24.

"It's going to be a big ballgame for both teams," Totten said. "We know how important the first conference will be and if we want to reach our goal of winning the division, this is our first step."

For MVSU to get their first win this week, they'll have to minimize their mistakes. Valley turned the ball over three times in the first quarter and got too far behind the Jaguars very early.

"One of the things I was most concerned about were mental mistakes and turnovers," Totten said. "Those things will get you beat, but I think the players realize how much you have to prepare for every game each week. We can't dwell on last week's game. We have to move on and we will."

Totten's brother Roger is Valley's offensive coordinator and will have a homecoming when the team visits Ark.-Pine Bluff this weekend. Roger Totten was an assistant at UAPB and will have the offense ready against his former team.

"There's no doubt, that Roger will be excited about the opportunity to compete against their coaching staff and his former players," Willie Totten said.

The Delta Devils lost to UAPB 36-30 a year ago and blew a 16-point lead in the fourth quarter to the Golden Lions. Willie Totten feels that the team has the attitude and commitment to put last week behind them and get ready for the showdown with Pine Bluff.

"This team now knows what it takes to prepare for a football game," Willie Totten said. "In the past, the players lost and just went about their business, but these guys are focused on winning and know how important this game is."

Dee Burke is a sports writer for the Delta Democrat Times.
 
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