The SWAC’s most efficient red zone offense will meet its second-best red zone defense in Houston on Saturday.
The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff will face Texas Southern at 6 p.m. on SWAC TV at Husky Stadium on the Houston Christian University campus.
The game was moved from the Tigers’ normal home field, Shell Energy Stadium, due to a scheduling conflict with Houston Dynamo FC, which has a home match there Saturday night.
Entering this game, UAPB (2-2, 1-0 SWAC) ranks second in the conference in red zone defense. Opposing teams have scored on 14 of 19 red zone trips, or 73.7%. Only Jackson State’s 72.7% is better.
The Golden Lions have forced one fumble, one interception and two fourth down stops in the red zone so far this season. Opposing teams have scored 12 touchdowns and made 2 of 3 field goal attempts.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
UAPB Coach Alonzo Hampton said the Golden Lions’ success has been a team effort.
“We don’t have a star on our football team, and I like that,” Hampton said. “But we do have some guys that play well together. I really would like to play anywhere from about 22-25 guys on both sides of the ball, because that gives your team the ability to be able to stay fresh. They know if I come to practice every single day and do what I’m supposed to do, Coach is going to get me in the game.”
The Texas Southern (1-3, 1-1) offense UAPB is set to face leads the SWAC in the red zone, scoring on 8 of 9 trips with seven touchdowns. Texas Southern is 1 of 2 on red zone field goals and hasn’t turned the ball over in those situations. However, the Tigers’ nine red zone possessions are the second fewest in the SWAC, only behind Mississippi Valley State’s seven.
Every touchdown the Tigers have scored this season has been in the red zone, with 6 of 7 coming on runs.
Texas Southern junior running back Athean Renfro is the SWAC’s eighth leading rusher with 62 yards per game and four touchdowns. Redshirt junior quarterback KJ Cooper is second on the team with 32.75 rushing yards per game and two rushing scores.
Renfro rushed 22 times for 95 yards and two touchdowns, all season highs, last week in Texas Southern’s comeback road win against MVSU.
The Tigers have the bottom-ranked passing offense in the SWAC, averaging 125.3 yards per game, so stopping Renfro and the Texas Southern run game will be the top defensive priority for UAPB.
Texas Southern Coach Cris Dishman said running the ball is what the Tigers do best.
“We run the ball to pass, so the strength is our running backs,” Dishman said. “They are very good guys there on and off the field. A couple of our leaders on the team.”
UAPB has struggled against the run this season but enters this game with some momentum after holding Alcorn State to 10 rushing yards in the final 25 minutes of the Golden Lions’ 24-20 win in the Southern Heritage Classic last week.
Closing out the game in that manner was huge for a team which is allowing a SWAC-most 230 rushing yards per game and continued to struggle in the first half of that game. Alcorn running back Jacorian Sewell, the conference leader in rushing, finished with 225 yards and two touchdowns.
With another run-first offense awaiting the Golden Lions on Saturday, Hampton said the defense needs to rally to the ball when the Tigers run it and make tackles when they have the chance.
“We were right there a lot of times (last week),” Hampton said. “We didn’t have gap integrity at times, guys not doing their job. So, we gotta be able to correct some things, and we will. We’ll simplify it, because we got another great running back coming this week we gotta be able to stop.”
This game will be the last for UAPB in a season-opening stretch of four games away from Pine Bluff in the first five contests. Four of the next five will be at home, including next week’s homecoming game.