PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas. — The state of Texas has not been kind to the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff football team.
UAPB lost 56-9 on Saturday to Prairie View A&M at Panther Stadium in Prairie View, Texas, finishing the season winless in the Lone Star State despite three attempts.
Not only did UAPB (4-7, 2-5 SWAC) go 0-3 in Texas this season, but all three were lopsided affairs.
The Golden Lions managed one touchdown in each game and were outscored 174-23 in their games at then-No. 23 Texas Tech, Texas Southern and Prairie View A&M (8-3, 6-1).
UAPB Coach Alonzo Hampton said the Golden Lions must figure out how to get to Texas ready to play.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
“We gotta figure out a way to conquer Texas, Houston,” Hampton said. “We drive up the morning, Friday. Leave about 5 in the morning, and then you drive all day. You get in about 1 or 2 (p.m.), and then you go do a walk-through, but it’s tough on us. We gotta be able to figure out what’s best. How do we maximize our energy and be able to get some rest and be able to have our guys fresh for the game on Saturday?”
Next week’s game at Alabama State will wrap up Hampton’s third season in charge of the Golden Lions. UAPB is 1-4 in games played in Texas under Hampton.
UAPB didn’t play in Texas last season but traveled to the greater Houston area to play Prairie View and Texas Southern two years ago. The Panthers, whom UAPB defeated last season in Pine Bluff, won 38-14.
The Golden Lions’ lone win in Texas under Hampton was the 35-34 win at Texas Southern in the final game of his debut season.
“Even the game that we won, we were down (31-7), and we came back to win the game,” Hampton said. “We gotta figure out, like, what can we do moving forward. When we got these Houston trips, how do we get our players here? I don’t know. Do you get here a day earlier, or something?”
The long trip wasn’t the only issue UAPB faced on Saturday.
Starting quarterback Christian Peters and backup quarterback DJ Stevenson both left the game with injuries, but the Golden Lions were already shorthanded entering the game.
Leading receiver Kareem Burke didn’t travel to Prairie View, nor did cornerback Zay Stribling, who leads the team in interceptions. Hampton said starting cornerback Amyrion Mingo traveled but was considered an emergency-only option after barely practicing this week.
Starting safety Ja’Marlin Green did not play, though Hampton said he made the trip. Cornerback Kyle Knox and nickelback Kristian Gammage had to play safety to make up for the absence.
“We played a really good football team,” Hampton said. “I would like to have had our guys to kind of see where we measured up, because at times, we played really good.”
The Golden Lions had some notable plays go against them. Right before halftime, linebacker Danarius Hilliard nearly intercepted a pass at the goal line but bobbled it into the hands of Prairie View receiver Andre Dennis, who scored. What could have been a 21-10 halftime score turned into 28-3.
UAPB started the second half with the ball and scored a touchdown in two plays when running back Jaylen Jennings broke free for a 56-yard touchdown. The Golden Lions attempted a surprise onside kick afterward and seemed to have recovered it, but an offsides flag negated the recovery.
“He was not offsides,” Hampton said. “We’ve looked at it. Nobody was offsides. It was our ball. Now, you’ve got them back on their heels. I’m not going to say, because I don’t get in to all that, but I know what the video evidence showed us, and it wasn’t even close. It was 10 yards, it was our ball, and we had them on their heels.”
UAPB kicked it deep on the redo, and Kellen Stewart returned it 37 yards. A face mask penalty compounded the situation, giving the Panthers the ball at the UAPB 43-yard line. Prairie View scored a touchdown three plays later to extend its lead to 35-9.
Prairie View clinched the SWAC West Division for the third time in five seasons with this victory, marking the second straight season the West was clinched by a team winning at home against UAPB. Southern did so last year with a 31-9 victory in Baton Rouge.