Weekend games should tell a lot

Weekend games should tell a lot
http://www.triangletribune.com/index.php?src=news&srctype=detail&category=Sports&refno=4149

Published Wednesday, September 1, 2010 7:00 am

by Bonitta Best>

Thanks, Winston-Salem State, for getting the CIAA football season off to a bang.

Many people weren't expecting the Rams to win last week. OK, maybe just me. After all, Virginia Union was coming off a tie for the Eastern Division title, and WSSU had more question marks than players. But coach Connell Maynor answered some of those, or did he?

Is WSSU that good, or are the Panthers that bad?

We'll know whether or not the Rams are for real in the next two weeks. They travel to N.C. A&T this weekend before coming to Durham the next. We'll also find out what N.C. Central is made of after it beats Johnson C. Smith, but that's another story.

Maynor's specialty is offense, which showed after the Rams racked up almost 400 total yards against Union. Now, whether they can do that against the Aggies is another matter.

• Northern Exposure. Bowie State's loss to Seton Hall was the most disappointing of all the games last weekend. Some fans actually thought the Bulldogs were going to go undefeated. Where did they get that dumb idea?

BSU was certainly better than Seton Hall - at least on paper. The Griffins didn't win a game last year. Maybe the team was looking ahead to this weekend's matchup against rival Morgan State. A possible 0-2 start is a rough way to begin the season.

At the top of the North, victories by Elizabeth City State and Virginia State still leave questions. The Vikings and Trojans were heavily favored over Smith and Livingstone, respectively. We'll know more after this weekend when ECSU takes on Central Arkansas and VSU plays West Virginia State.

• Spoiler Alert. St. Augustine's has a chance to play spoiler in the South. A good chance if the Falcons' kicking game is decent and the offensive line can protect quarterback Joaquin Green.

But Green needs someone to throw to. Right now, the Falcons don't have a big-play wide receiver like in years past. Somebody is going to have to step up 'cause what I saw in practice wasn't cutting it.

St. Aug's rarely has questions about its defense so, again, it's up to the offense to make things happen. If it can - dare I say it - the Falcons could win their first division title since reinstituting football in '02. But even if they don't, you won't see me writing about coach Michael Costa's job status. For better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, he is St. Aug's man.

• Going for 2. This weekend will tell a lot about Fayetteville State. The Broncos lost last year to rival UNC Pembroke in a game they should have won. But close only counts in horseshoes. FSU, like most of the CIAA teams, didn't win one non-conference game, and it showed during the playoffs. California (Pa.) beat them like they stole something.

Some teams are happy just to win the conference championship game, and for newbies that's understandable. But for veteran teams like FSU and Shaw, it's time to show the outside world that the CIAA is not a second-class league.

Right now, the case is pretty weak.