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Courtesy: SWAC.org
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2015 Football Preview: Alabama A&M
Courtesy Marq Mitcham
Fri, July 24, 2015
Despite having only eight seniors on their roster, the Alabama A&M Bulldogs were picked to finish in the middle of the pack in the Southwestern Athletic Conference East Division as the league conducted its annual Media Day poll last week.
For the Bulldogs to improve upon last year's 4-8 (3-6 SWAC) mark, second-year head coach James Spady's first order of business is to find a quarterback.
Jaymason Lee's graduation left AAMU without a single signal-caller to have thrown a pass at a four-year school.
Going into fall camp, Southwest Mississippi Community College transfer De'Angelo Ballard has a slight edge over redshirt freshman Damion May, true freshman P.J. Garrett and redshirt frosh Cody Lui-Yuen.
AAMU must also replace its best receiver in Montaurius Smith (67 receptions, 1,035 yards, 6 touchdowns). Juniors O'Darius Williams (33-432) and Tevin McKenzie (28-391-2) will be asked to take up the slack.
The top three rushers return in sophomore Harvey Harris (156 carries, 651 yards, 6 TDs), senior Brandon Eldemire (143-530-6) and sophomore Bryan Brower (111-447-2).
Up front, the Bulldogs are looking for improvement after ranking sixth in the conference in scoring (26.2) and allowing 43 sacks.
Yielding 32.7 points per game, AAMU also ranked sixth in the conference in scoring defense. However, the sophomore-laden unit is expecting noticeable improvement with the return of the top eight tacklers.
Sophomore linebacker Bryan Brower (not to be confused with his twin brother of the same name) tallied a team-high 83 tackles and seven tackles for loss as a true freshman.
Also returning to the fold are senior defensive lineman Anthony Lanier (54 tackles, 18 TFL, 4 sacks, 2 forced fumbles), sophomore defensive back Justin Lucas (46 tackles, 2 interceptions), junior DL Germaine Calmes (44 tackles, 9.5 TFL, 2.5 sacks, 3 FF), sophomore cornerback Devonte Simon (43 tackles, 3.5 TFL, 5 pass breakups), sophomore DB Danny Johnson (39 tackles, 2 INTs), sophomore LB Diondre Lewis (36 tackles, 4 TFL, 4 sacks) and sophomore DB Dexter Reese (34 tackles, 5 INTs, 9 PBU).
ALABAMA A&M SCHEDULE
DATE OPPONENT TIME
Sept. 5 at Cincinnati 6:00 p.m. cst
Sept. 19 at Prairie View A&M* 6:00 p.m. cst
Sept. 26 at Arkansas Pine Bluff * 1:00 p.m. cst
Oct. 3 at Coastal Carolina 5:00 p.m. cst
Oct. 10 at Grambling* 3:00 p.m. cst
Oct. 17 Jackson State* 1:00 p.m. cst
(State Farm Magic City Classic)
Oct. 31 Alabama State (at Legion Field, Birmingham) 2:30 p.m. cst
Nov. 7 Mississippi Valley State* 1:00 p.m. cst
Nov. 14 at Southern* 4 p.m. cst
Nov. 21 at Alcorn* 2:00 p.m. cst
Nov. 28 Texas Southern* 1:00 cst
Bold: Home Games
* Conference Games
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