COLUMBIA, S.C. – Through the first four games of the season, the Benedict College Tigers have turned the ball over 15 times, a number that ranks the Tigers near the bottom in NCAA Division II.
As the 0-4 Tigers get ready to take on the Kentucky State Thorobreds at 2 p.m. on Saturday, head coach
Mike White knows they will have to cut down on the giveaways if they hope to claim their first victory of the season.
| Benedict Gameday |
| Kentucky State Thorobreds (1-3, 1-0 SIAC) at Benedict Tigers (0-4, 0-1) |
| Kickoff: 2 p.m. |
| Radio: WLXC Kiss 103.1 |
| Audio stream: www.kiss01031.com |
| Live stats |
"The major thing is trying not to turn the ball over and taking care of the football," White said about the emphasis during this week's practice. "We have too many turnovers, especially early in the game that really knocked us out of the ballgame. So we're really trying to take care of the football this game."
Compounding the issue is the weather forecast for Saturday's game. Heavy rains are expected, and that could make the ball slippery.
"We just need to take care of the ball. I just hope that we, as a football team, and especially our ballhandlers, will be extra careful with the ball. It will probably cut down on what we're doing offensively if we got really wet weather."
Last week against Fort Valley State, the Tigers used four different quarterbacks, including
George Myers Jr. as a wildcat quarterback the entire second half.
Kalu Onumah, who missed the Fort Valley State game with a concussion, should be back for Saturday's contest against the Thorobreds, but White still expects to play multiple signal callers.
"We're still having inconsistent play, so you'll see a package for each quarterback," White said. "That's going to be an ongoing battle the whole year."
The Thorobreds come into Saturday's game with a 1-3 overall record and 1-0 in the SIAC, beating rival Central State in the Circle City Classic last week in Indianapolis in front of 22,000 fans in the Lucas Oil Stadium. The Thorobreds came back to score the winning touchdown with five and a half minutes left in the game.
The Thorobreds have used two quarterbacks this season in sophomore Ora Johnson and junior Alex Springs. Johnson has thrown for 306 yards and one touchdown, but five interceptions. Springs has completed just 35 percent of his passes for 222 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. Kyle Jackson is the leading rusher at just 35 yards per game.
"They're a pretty good team. They play hard and they play physical," White said. "I thought they ran the ball well in one game, and I thought they threw the ball well in the other game. We'll still have to come out and play a solid first half. I would love for us to get into the second half and still be in the ballgame and not hand the ball over with easy scores on turnovers."
