Oct. 7, 2010

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By Dan Ryan

www.B-CUathletics.com

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Bethune-Cookman is putting up big numbers this season – 50.5 points and 528.5 yards per game. There's one big number Head Coach Brian Jenkins is trying to cut down, however.

Last week's game against Morgan State included the Wildcats' second game with more than 180 yards of penalties. B-CU's four-game average of 112.2 penalty yards per game is the highest in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.

“I'm very surprised about the number of penalties,” Jenkins said Wednesday at his weekly media luncheon. “I look that as 180 yards as stupidity we need to correct."

“We're a disciplined team and every thing we do stands for discipline,” Jenkins added. “It's a matter of our guys not following technique and not staying in the moment leading to personal fouls.”

Some personal fouls do stem from the Wildcats playing aggressively on defense.

“Any aggressive defense will have personal fouls, but I'm not saying that's acceptable,” Jenkins said. “You tell your team to be aggressive and go in attack mode and plays will happen. Some mistakes are correctable, some are not.”

Jenkins harbors no grudge against MEAC officials.

“Refs are human  and you're never going to 100 percent of the calls right,” Jenkins said. “I respect (officials)  even though it might not seem that way on Saturday. Sometimes the officials will make a call and I'm going off, and then when I get to watching film that night they were right."

“The thing we have to stop as a team is putting the refs in a position to make the calls,” Jenkins said.

Other quotes from Wednesday:

• Jenkins accepted full responsibility for the interception Matt Johnson threw in the second quarter that Morgan State intercepted and returned for a touchdown. “I'll say that from the top of Mount Everest. I got greedy as a coach and that was an example of not staying in the moment. I should have let the clock run down.”
• It's homecoming week at B-CU, but you couldn't tell from football. “I don't know any of the homecoming activity schedule,” Jenkins said. “We're just focused on winning the game."

B-CU hosts Delaware State Saturday at 4 p.m. at Municipal Stadium.