PINE BLUFF -- The showdown between the Southwestern Athletic Conference preseason favorites is set to kickoff on Saturday at 4 p.m. at Golden Lions Stadium. The game will be shown live on ESPN3.
If last season's contest is any indication of what's in store on Saturday, it should be a very hard-fought, entertaining contest. In 2012, UAPB edged Alabama State 24-21 in Montgomery. The win would be the first of 10 straight for the Golden Lions, who went on to run the table right through the conference championship game.
Going into Saturday, both teams are looking to ink their first win of the season. The Golden Lions have suffered a pair of bruising losses to Arkansas State (62-11) and McNeese State (58-14). Meanwhile, ASU has come up on the wrong end of a couple of nail-biters. The Hornets lost at home to Jacksonville State (24-22) in the season opener, then dropped a 30-23 decision to Jackson State last weekend.
With the pre-conference schedule in the rearview mirror, UAPB coach Monte Coleman is anxious to get to work on a return trip to the championship game to defend his team's title. "I'm excited going into conference play. You do fear conference play, not because of the non-conference games or our performance in non-conference games, there are some very good football games in conference," Coleman said during Monday's SWAC Weekly Football Teleconference. "That's what you fear, it is what it is, we are in this conference so you know you have to play them, so I'm excited about getting into conference. No different than this weekend. Going to be a great football game I feel between us and State.".
After two tough road trips to open the season, Coleman is looking forward to playing in the comfortable confines of Golden Lions Stadium. "We are excited about being at home for the first time this season," he said. "We say when we go out and play larger schools, we call those money games in a lot of instances."
"In reality this game coming up is our money game, and from here on out because they are SWAC schools. Those are the money games."
"We've got to win these games. We've got to play on all cylinders in order to beat them."
Coleman pointed out that the Golden Lions will have to be more effective on both sides of the ball in order to subdue the Hornets. "The basic need UAPB is having is consistency. We are playing a lot of young guys I guess you can anticipate the inconsistency, when you do play a lot of young guys it is what it is," Coleman said. Especially this week, we a playing a very good football team, a contender last year to be in the SWAC championship, a very well coached Alabama State team and we have to be consistent."
Last season, the Hornets were a whisker away from stamping a ticket to the big show at Legion Field. That season, both teams hope to land a spot at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas in December. The road starts at 4 p,m, on Saturday.
