MONTGOMERY—Alabama State University is using its off week to recharge and heal from the regular bumps and bruises that every football team has mid way through the season.

“We have been getting at it pretty good since August 4^th,” Head Coach Reggie Barlow said. “So this is a good time for us to have an off week where we can recharge our batteries, get healthy and also try to get some constructive work in.”

ASU is also hoping to get several injured players back. DreQuay Everett was injured after only one half during the first game. He was able to play several snaps last week and the coaching staff is hoping he will be all the way back by the time ASU plays Savannah State.

Tim Clark has missed the last two games due to an injury as has D'Antoine Hood. Bruce Beal has also been hobbled and should use the off week to get over his injury.

“We are getting a lot of people back during the off week,” Barlow said. “They will be able to use the extra time on the field to get back into shape.”

Getting some injured players back on the field is not all the coaching staff has been looking at. There are some possible personnel changes the coaching staff is looking at making.

“We will spend some time evaluating our personnel and making some changes,” Barlow said. “We have some younger players we are looking at moving into back up roles.”

ASU played 19 freshmen and 14 sophomores last week against Grambling with 13 of those being starters. So with all of those young players you would expect a team to have its ups and downs. That is exactly the way ASU has been, winning its first three games while dropping its next three.

The Hornets' offense has struggled the most while the defense has been solid. ASU's offense averaged 30 points per game during the three-game winning streak, but in the last three games the offense has struggled averaging only 12 points per game.

The largest disappointment has been the play of the offensive line, which has hurt the running game for ASU.

“We are just not running the ball very well,” Barlow said. “We are not playing well up front. We have some big guys that are good players but they are not driving their blocks they are just leaning on players instead of driving them off the line.”

While the defense has been solid, the play of the offense has also hurt the defense as the Hornets' defenders have to play a little longer on the field and have tired late during games which has hurt the tackling and has allowed several late game scores.

“Our defense has been solid all season,” Barlow said. “We think they have played well enough to win these games, they just have to play too much and have missed way too many tackles. They have to fight through the tiredness and tackle better.”

Hopefully an off week is just what the Hornets need. The team will take Friday and Saturday off before returning to the practice field to prepare for Savannah State University on Saturday, Oct. 23^rd at 1 p.m.

-Hornets-