Jacksonville State hoping fixes pay off

The Jacksonville State Gamecocks were determined to make some changes after closing out an otherwise strong 2010 season with a late-season swoon that ended with a loss in the second round of the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.

"We came out of last season not pleased with ourselves after losing three out of our last four games," JSU coach Jack Crowe said. "We left last season needing to change some things."

So when Jacksonville State hosts Ohio Valley Conference opponent Tennessee-Martin at 6 p.m. Thursday night, six of the Gamecocks nine assistant coaches will have different assignments from last season. The offense will have six new starters and will revolve heavily around quarterback Marques Ivory, who has shed more than 30 pounds since last season.

"What we are about to look at on Thursday night is considerably different from where we left off last season," Crowe said. "We have the intent of doing different things with our offense. I am extremely optimistic in what we can become, even though there are a lot of moving parts that have not moved together before."

The Gamecocks enter the season ranked No. 9 in the FCS coaches poll, their highest preseason ranking in nearly 20 years. JSU has now been ranked in the poll for a school-record 31 consecutive weeks.

Tennessee-Martin, which went 6-5 last season, plans to live up to its Skyhawks nickname this year with a pass-oriented offense. Quarterback Derek Carr is expected to have as many as eight different receivers to throw to, led by Kevin Barfield.

JSU will counter with a defense that returns seven starters, but will look to improve after giving up an average of 25 points per game.

"We have more depth and maturity on defense this year," Crowe said. "That will help us maintain pressure, and we'll be stronger at the end of the game."

THURSDAY'S GAMES

North Alabama vs. Central Oklahoma, 7 p.m. Thursday

Coach Terry Bowden begins his third season at North Alabama with a team that has 48 transfers, including 24 from Division I schools.

The Lions, who are ranked No. 6 in the NCAA Division II preseason poll, will be led by quarterback Lee Chapple, who threw for 3,051 yards and 21 touchdowns last season.

UNA also returns its top three rushers and a veteran offensive line that includes All-American Kyle Thornton and All-Gulf South Conference players Jamie Dixon and Daron Rose.

This will be the first of six road games in seven weeks for Central Oklahoma, which went 2-9 last season.

South Alabama vs. West Alabama, 6:30 p.m.

South Alabama sports a perfect record since the program began two years ago. But that undefeated streak will be put to the test against West Alabama. The Lions went 7-4 last season, and their four losses were by a total of nine points.

Both teams bring prolific offenses into the game. South Alabama averaged 439.7 yards per game last season, while West Alabama put up 449.2 yards per game.

C.J. Bennett returns as the Jags starting quarterback. He passed for 1,189 yards and nine touchdowns as a freshman. Meanwhile, Gary Johnston will get the nod at QB for the UWA in place of Deon Williams, who threw for 3,392 yards and 25 touchdowns last year.

SATURDAY'S GAMES

Alabama A&M vs. Hampton in Chicago, 4 p.m.

Deaunte Mason is back at starting quarterback for Alabama A&M, and the Bulldogs hope that means they will be back to their winning ways.

Mason rolled up nearly 1,500 yards in total offense in 2009 in leading the Bulldogs to the Southwestern Athletic Conference championship game. But a groin injury sidelined him for nearly half of last season, and A&M slumped to a 3-8 record.

The first test for Mason and the Bulldogs this year comes in the Chicago Football Classic at Soldier Field.

Hampton, which went 6-5 last season, is led by sophomore running back Antwon Chisholm, a preseason first-team All-MEAC selection.

Alabama St. at Mississippi Valley State, 5 p.m.

Despite winning the SWAC Eastern Division last season for the fifth time in the past 10 years, Alabama State is picked to finish third.

The Hornets' first step in attempting to prove their doubters wrong comes when they play conference foe Mississippi Valley State.

Alabama State defeated the Delta Devils 34-7 last season. The Hornets return seven preseason all-conference players from that team, led by junior free safety Kejuan Riley, who had seven interceptions in 2010.

The Delta Devils went 0-10 last season, partly because they had to play all their games off campus due to renovations to their home stadium.

Samford vs. Georgia Southern, 6 p.m.

Samford is looking to bounce back from a disappointing 4-7 season, but the Bulldogs could not have picked a much more difficult way to start. Georgia Southern returns 20 starters from last year's team, which made it to the semifinals of the FCS playoffs.

"They are a great football team," Samford head coach Pat Sullivan said of the Eagles, who are ranked third in the FCS preseason poll. "You could see each week last year that they were getting better and better. They're deserving of being the No. 3 team in the country."

The Bulldogs, on the other hand, have only 11 seniors and must replace all-time leading rusher Chris Evans.

Stillman vs. Shaw, 5 p.m.

Teddy Keaton is Stillman's third head coach in the past four years, but he is not an unfamiliar face to the Tigers. Keaton has been an assistant on the team for six seasons, and is a 1999 graduate of the school.

The Tigers must establish a better ground game to improve on last year's 3-8 record. Stillman gained only 461 yards on the ground last season, an average of 42 yards per game.

The Shaw Bears went 9-3 last year and enter this season ranked No. 25 in Division II.

Sunday's Game:

Miles vs. Morehouse, 6 p.m., Sunday

The Labor Day Golden Classic at Legion Field will be the setting for the debut of new Miles quarterback Casey Weston, a transfer from Northern Illinois who led Prattville High School to the Class 6A state championship in 2007.

Weston played two years at Northwest Mississippi Community College, where he threw 42 touchdowns passes and set a school record for career passing yards with 4,943. He was redshirted at Northern Illinois last season and then transferred after a coaching change.

Morehouse went 8-3 last season, including a 13-3 victory over Miles.