A dramatic win at Texas Southern was a nice way for the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff to finish the 2023 football season, and UAPB will have a chance to repeat that success this fall.
This season will again end with UAPB facing Texas Southern, this time in Pine Bluff at 2 p.m. on Nov 23.
The Tigers fired head coach Clarence McKinney after the loss to UAPB, which capped off a 3-8 season in which Texas Southern finished fifth in the SWAC West Division.
A somewhat chaotic coaching search followed. Reports indicated Texas Southern was set to hire Alcorn State head coach Fred McNair, which eventually led to McNair departing that program. Instead, Texas Southern hired former Houston Oilers player Cris Dishman. McNair ultimately took a job as tight ends coach at Southern University.
The Tigers boasted the SWAC’s best rushing offense last year, averaging 191.4 rushing yards per game. Texas Southern scored 28.3 points per game in SWAC play, second only to Florida A&M.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
However, that success may prove hard to replicate in 2024 since Texas Southern loses its top two running backs.
LaDarius Owens ended 2023 as Texas Southern’s all-time leading rusher. He finished his career with 3,114 rushing yards, which included last season’s 1,370 yards and 11 touchdowns. His backup, Jacorey Howard, rushed for 371 yards and 6 touchdowns last year.
With that duo gone, Texas Southern’s leading returning rusher, other than quarterback Jace Wilson, is Da’Veon Ford with 62 yards. Jonathan Lewis, who rushed for 27 yards on 2 carries, is the only returning player besides Wilson with a rushing touchdown.
Texas Southern signed transfers such as Charles Shelling from Texas A&M and Quintell Quinn from Ohio, but neither saw significant playing time at their previous schools.
While Dishman is having to start over at running back, the passing game may provide some consistency. Wilson completed 57.2% of his passes for 1,630 yards, 10 touchdowns and 5 interceptions. He gets his top two receivers back, tight end Jyrin Johnson and wide receiver Trenton Leary, who combined for 6 touchdown grabs.
Some of the other top receivers are gone, but Texas Southern added Western Illinois transfer Donald McKinney to help replace them. McKinney caught 26 passes for 357 yards and 3 touchdowns with the Leathernecks last season.
Dishman has a defensive background, making him an understandable hire for a team which featured the 10th-ranked scoring defense in the SWAC. Texas Southern allowed 27.9 points per SWAC game.
Texas Southern brings back its top four tacklers. Linebacker Jacob Williams collected 106 tackles, third most in the conference. He also led the team with 18.5 tackles for loss and 8 sacks. Fellow linebacker Isaiah Bogerty had 89 tackles, 7.5 of them for loss, with three sacks.
Defensive backs Javius Williams and Canary Simmons had 57 and 54 tackles, respectively, and Williams had 7.5 tackles for loss with 3 sacks. Texas Southern also brings back Xavier Player, who had 2 interceptions.
The defensive line may be the group which will look the most different on Texas Southern’s defense this fall. The Tigers lose that unit’s leading tackler, Elinus Noel III, who had 43 tackles, 7 for loss, and 3.5 sacks. Texas Southern does bring back Michael Akins, whose 9.5 tackles for loss were the second-most on the team.
Dishman scoured the transfer portal for defensive linemen and brought in several. Notable additions include Abilene Christian transfer Syncere Massey, who had 17 tackles last season, and SMU transfer Stephon Wright, who didn’t play last year but had 15 tackles and an interception in five games in 2022.
UAPB has won three of its past five games against Texas Southern, including last year’s 35-34 comeback win in Houston.