Alabama State football: With dim title hopes, Hornets focus on themnselves

Source: Montgomery Advertiser, Ala.迷利倉Nov. 08--Reggie Barlow knows scoreboard watching doesn't help.Two years ago, in a similar situation, Barlow and the Hornets needed an Alabama A&M defeat to earn a trip to the SWAC Championship Game. They got it, but then saw a last-minute Southern touchdown wipe out their dreams in a 26-23 loss at Cramton Bowl.History taught Barlow a cruel lesson. He insists he won't pay any attention to Alabama A&M's game against division leader Jackson State, which kicks off the same time as the Alabama State-Southern game."I'm not even getting caught up in it," he said. "We had our chance. We just have to win against Southern. The message is beat Southern, and if you win that one, you've got the last one (at Mississippi Valley State next week) and a chance to go 8-1 in the conference."The program's only eight-win season in conference came in 2004. The most heralded team in school history, the 1991 black college national champions, were 11-0-1 and 7-0-1 in conference play.A win Saturday would make the 2013 squad only the third team in school history to win seven conference games, but it would be a hollow accomplishment if Jackson State clinches the SWAC East Division with a victory of its own.Alabama State lost control of the title chase Sept. 7 when Jackson State edged the Hornets 30-23. History was still on the Hornets' side since no SWAC East team has gone unbeaten in conference play in the current format, and only once (Jackson State was 4-0 in 1999) since division play was introduced.As Alcorn State continued to stay tied with Alabama State, one game behind in the standings, there was hope that an Alcorn victory over Jackson State on Nov. 16 could force a three-way tie for the division title and create a tiebreaker scenario based on points. But that went out the window with A迷你倉corn's loss to Alabama A&M last week. So now ASU must hope Jackson State loses both its remaining conference games due to its head-to-head advantage with the Hornets."For us, it's about continuing to win," Barlow said. "We didn't lose a game in the month of October, before Kentucky, so let's start back over and finish strong. An opportunity to win nine games in a season is something we haven't had since we've been here. A chance to lose only one game in the conference is still available for us, which hasn't been done here in a long time."There are things to play for. Jackson still has to play Alabama A&M and Alcorn, and who knows what may happen? Take last week. Alcorn loses to (Alabama) A&M. I'm not sure how many people would have thought that would happen."A 9-3 finish (and an 8-1 conference mark) would be the best at the school since the 2004 team went 10-2 and 8-1 and would rank third all-time behind the 2004 and 1991 teams, so Barlow is adamant that his team needs to focus on what it can control and not watch the scoreboard today.Still, despite the long odds, the players remain hopeful of earning a berth in the SWAC Championship Game."Definitely, Jackson State is in the back of our minds," quarterback Daniel Duhart said. "We would love to play for the championship. Nobody has gotten discouraged. We definitely want to finish the season strong. We don't want to give up on an anything, but in these last three games, we can only control what we can control, and we're going to go out and try to finish strong and hopefully something happens with Jackson State so we get a chance to play in the championship."Copyright: ___ (c)2013 the Montgomery Advertiser (Montgomery, Ala.) Visit the Montgomery Advertiser (Montgomery, Ala.) at .montgomeryadvertiser.com Distributed by MCT Information Services自存倉