It all boils down to a win against Prairie View

One loss-that is all needed to take the Southern University Jaguars (2-5 overall, 2-2 Southwestern Athletic Conference) off course in their uphill battle to win the SWAC Western Division Title.
Saturday, at 7 p.m., in Reliant Stadium in Houston, the Jags will face a western division team that doesn’t have to worry about winning the title. The Prairie View A&M Panthers (1-6 overall, 0-3 SWAC) have yet to win a conference game this season, and the Jags are prepared to keep that streak alive.
The Panthers are high off their first win of the season against Paul Quinn, and will be facing a Jaguar squad that is expecting big things in the latter half of their season.
After a week off, Jaguar head coach Pete Richardson is quite satisfied with the practices the team has taken to prepare for the match-up and also with the return of several previously injured players.
“It’s a big game, because ‘PV’ hasn’t had an opportunity to beat us,” said Richardson. “…They have a fine defensive end that puts a lot of pressure on you, and they’ve got an eight-man-front that did a lot of stunting against Paul Quinn…They’re not very large, but they’re quick and has caused us some problems in the past.”
Offensively, the question of who will be the starting quarterback is no longer in the air. Junior quarterback Anthony Fisher will be re-assuming his duties.
In the backfield, expect big things from runningback Kenneth Peoples. Peoples ranks second in the SWAC in rushing (66.2 yards per game), and adding to his dominating running game is the sophomore running back from Winston-Salem, N.C. Marques Newman. Newman has stepped up in the absence of play by senior runningback Victor Ike and sophomore runningback Carl Singleton by gaining 138 rushing yards this season without any loss of yards per game.
Ike has not been as noticeable in the backfield as anticipated. Plagued by injuries and dehydration problems, Ike has had problems producing the numbers that the Jaguar Nation had expected. But Richardson still plans on finding the right “route” for Ike to take and to get his wide-outs the ball.
“We have to utilize and get our running game started,” said Richardson. “Anytime you get your running game started…that leaves a one-on-one on the outside for our wide receivers. If we can get that, then we can take out shots.”
One who won’t be seeing much running action is sophomore Carl Singleton. Much hype was produced in anticipation of Singleton’s return from an injury last season, but to no avail. In his season debut against the paltry defense of Mississippi Valley, Singleton managed to gain a measly total of —1 yards.
“He’s got to get back into hitting position. His body has to get back up. I watched him in practice and …he’s not a hundred percent,” said Richardson.
Special teams has become quite the “special squad,” giving the Jags the push that they have needed to keep the games close.
Sophomore Kicker Colby Miller was last week’s SWAC Player of the Week for his performance against Mississippi Valley. In addition to kicking four punts that averaged 36 yards, Miller also kicked two field goals, one for 31 and his career’s longest at 46 yards.
Special teams also has a reckoning force in sophomore returner Ezra Landry. Landry leads the team with 532 total all-purpose yards. He states that he is ready for the Panthers, a team who has quarterback Deshun Baker doing double duty performing as punter also.
“I am just looking forward to going out and accomplish my goal which is to score, finally,” said Landry.
Defensively, the return of senior defensive back Terrance Arnold and senior linebacker Chris Cooper has given the team something to smile about. The return of the two gives the Jaguars the boost it needs to launch it from being next to last in the SWAC in the total defense categories.
But surely the ultimate boost will be another mark in the win column against Prairie View Saturday.