Alabama State head football coach
Reggie Barlow addressed the media on the SWAC Weekly Coaches Teleconference looking ahead to this week's State Farm Magic City Classic in Birmingham.
The Hornets (4-3, 4-2) and Bulldogs (6-1, 5-1) will play for the 76
th time overall and 71
st in the Classic at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at historic Legion Field. The game will be broadcast live on WVAS 90.7 FM, video streamed live on ESPN3.com, and televised tape delayed on ESPNU at 9:30 p.m. CT.
Alabama State practiced four times during the bye week and will practice Tuesday at 7 p.m., Wednesday at 3 p.m. and Thursday at 11 a.m. prior to departing for Birmingham Friday morning.
Adding to the magnitude of Saturday's game is its impact on the SWAC Eastern Division race. The Hornets trail Alabama A&M by one game, with each team having two conference games remaining after this weekend.
Here are a few excerpts from the call:
On slowing down Alabama A&M RB Kaderius Lacey:
“He's a really good athlete. He's big and strong (6-0, 218 pounds). Whenever you're going against a big back, for whatever reason tackling is a lost art in all of football. And it makes it even harder when you're going against a guy like Lacey, who's big and the first guy rarely gets him down. It comes down…to gap integrity; being where you're supposed to be within the scheme and playing your responsibility. Once you do that, then you have to tackle this guy. He's a big guy, so hitting him up high and all of that, you'll probably fall off him. You've got to do that, and you have to get more guys to the ball. When he's running it, it's going to take more than one guy to get a big guy like that down. We're encouraging our guys to get to the ball, as many as possible, and try to take him down.”
On concerns about Bulldogs' ball-controlled offense:
“We do play a fast-paced offense and try to be sufficient in the run game and (throw) high percentage passes. I don't want to slow down our offense with fear of giving them the ball. We want to play fast and up tempo. If it comes to a situation where the time of possession is becoming a little lopsided, we do have a different speed where we could possibly slow it down a little bit, but our initial approach will be to play our offense and go fast.”
On added pressure of game in addition to distractions of week:
“It's why we play it. It's a fun time…You like to play for something. With this being a really, really big game for obvious reasons because it's the Magic City Classic – if both teams where 0 and whatever, it would still be our fans talking about this game…Because there is something to play for, it makes it fun, and even more fun for the guys and the coaches. I think we all understand what this game entails. So rather than look at it as a pressurized situation, you look at it as another great opportunity to still be alive (for the division title) and have an opportunity to compete for something other than just the pride of winning the game. I guess if it's perceived as pressure, we'll take it, but we try to have a different approach as far as it not being pressure, but another great opportunity to play for something as opposed to just playing for pride.”
