2018 College Football Team Previews: Alabama State Hornets
Alabama State Hornets
Location: Montgomery, AL
Coach: Donald Hill-Eley (5-1) 2nd Season at ASU
Stadium: New ASU Stadium (Capacity: 26,500)
CSJ Projections:
5th: SWAC (2nd in East Division)
12th: HBCU
8th: Alabama
98th: FCS
228th: Division I
2017 In A Sentence: After controversial head coach Brian Jenkins was fired after an 0-5 start, Donald Hill-Eley, former Morgan State head coach who was on Jenkins’ staff, took over, and engineered a quick turnaround, winning four of the next five games to salvage a 5-6 record.
Biggest Shoes to Fill: 5’11, 305 lb DT Andre WIlson won’t only be a big body to replace physically, the Hornets will have to replace his massive production on the D line as well, where he notched 40 tackles and 4 tackles for loss.
Key Player: The Hornets turnaround came thanks to their potent defense, but the development of QB Darryl Pearson Jr., who became more of a conventional signalcaller once Jenkins was fired, will be the key to any SWAC success the Hornets will have this season. Pearson, a transfer from Arkansas State, is an athletic dual-threat quarterback, but can he develop more of a passing game to complement his rushing skill?
Fearless Prediction: Hill-Eley deservedly shed the “interim” label to become Alabama State’s new head coach. He seems to be the exact right guy to get the most out of this team – but can the offense catch up to the defense?
Originally from LaMoure, North Dakota, Kent is a 1996 graduate of North Dakota State University. His prior writing experience is over 15 years having previously worked with D2football.com, I-AA.org, and College Sporting News before coming to College Sports Journal in 2016. His main focus is college football in the western half of the United States– the Big Sky Conference and Missouri Valley Football Conference within the Division I FCS. And in 2017, he began also to look at the FBS Group of Five conferences of the American Athletic, Conference USA, Mid-American, Mountain West, and Sun Belt.
Reach him at this email or click below:
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About The Author
Kent Schmidt
Originally from LaMoure, North Dakota, Kent is a 1996 graduate of North Dakota State University. His prior writing experience is over 15 years having previously worked with D2football.com, I-AA.org, and College Sporting News before coming to College Sports Journal in 2016. His main focus is college football in the western half of the United States-- the Big Sky Conference and Missouri Valley Football Conference within the Division I FCS. And in 2017, he began also to look at the FBS Group of Five conferences of the American Athletic, Conference USA, Mid-American, Mountain West, and Sun Belt.
Reach him at this email or click below: