Overcoming adversity key for Alabama St.

• By LARRY YOUNG
• Special to The Advocate
• Published: Nov 14, 2008 - Page: 1C - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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If there were ever a collective effort in defining a loss, it came last week for Alabama State.

In a game that saw the Hornets dominated by Jackson State, nothing seemed to fall in ASU’s favor.

Nor offensive coordinator Ben Noonan’s or offensive line coach Eric Schnupp’s, either, as both were fired following the teams’ 20-0 shutout in Cramton Stadium.

So, with a 2-7 record and two coaching vacancies, is ASU a team with more bark than bite, or just one that unraveled because of poor coaching?

“Things just haven’t been going the way I would like them to go offensively,” ASU second-year coach Reggie Barlow said. “I know it takes time, but sometimes you can look at things and know it won’t get better because you’re not getting what you want.

“In our situation it wasn’t getting better. Actually it was getting worse.”

To give you an idea of how bad things are, take a look at the numbers.

The Hornets rank ninth in the 10-team Southwestern Athletic Conference in both scoring offense and total offense. ASU also ranks ninth in rush offense and sixth in pass offense.

The Hornets’ defense, meanwhile, ranks 24th nationally, having allowed 308.2 yards per game.

“Defensively, they’ve got a fine football team. … The problem I can see is inconsistency on offense,” Southern coach Pete Richardson said. “They’re playing two or three quarterbacks, also, and that’s causing some issues.

“Of course, getting rid of people at this time — I guess that you had differences in philosophies between the head coach and offensive coordinator. ... Hopefully that doesn’t get them too fired up for this weekend. We know it’ll be a big challenge for us, because we have a lot at stake in this football game.”

So is the change in staff the solution for ASU?

“I hope so,” Barlow said. “We feel confident in their ability. I know they can get the job done.”