DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Southwestern Athletic Conference play begins for the Wildcats as they host preseason No. 1 Alabama State Saturday, Sept. 28 at 3 p.m. at Daytona Stadium. 

Saturday is Greek Day, with each active on-campus Greek organization set to be recognized. 

The game will be broadcast live on HBCU Go. Fans can catch the home radio call free on 1380 WELE Daytona Beach or at YouTube.com/CatEyeNetwork. Fans can also catch a brand-new episode of Hail Wildcats Radio premiering live one hour before kickoff. Fans can also catch the Bethune-Cookman Pregame Prowl, a fully-produced pregame show airing live at 2:30 on WRDQ Channel 27 in Orlando.



Saturday, Sep. 28
Opponent:  Alabama State (1-2)
Time: 3:00 p.m. EST
Location: Daytona Beach, Fla. | Daytona Statdium
Live Stats: https://bcuathletics.com/sidearmstats/football/summary
Watch: https://hbcugo.tv/
Listen: https://wele1380thecat.com/
Tickets: https://www.ticketmaster.com/bethune-cookman-university-football-tickets/artist/821762
 


A 55-yard Leonardo Cabrera field goal sailed through the uprights as Clark Atlanta pulled the upset over Bethune-Cookman, 38-37, Saturday night at Daytona Stadium.

Bethune-Cookman opened the contest with scores on four straight drives, putting up 28 points in the first quarter.

Quarterback Cam'Ron Ransom started hot, with a 12-12 start throwing the ball with 242 yards, finding Courtney Reese, Darnell Deas, and Kobe Stewart for scores, plus a rushing score in between.

Clark Atlanta grabbed a score of its own in the first as David Martin found David Wright III for six. 

The Wildcats added three more in the second half as Cade Hechter nailed a 23-yard field goal to put B-CU in front, 31-7.

From there, the Panthers rattled off three touchdowns, - on 98 and 99 yard drives - while Hechter pushed a pair of field goals through, to cut the B-CU lead down to 37-28.

Another long touchdown drive pulled CAU to within two with four minutes to play. 

The Wildcats took the ball, but after six plays, B-CU was forced to punt the ball. Punter Anthony Frederique sent the ball out of bounds at the Clark Atlanta one-yard line. 

With just 1:41 to play, the Panthers marched down the field to their own 41-yard line. An imcomplete pass on a Raymond Woodie III breakup turned into a first down after a B-CU unsportsmanlike conduct call put the Panthers in Wildcat territory with 15 seconds to play. The Panthers completed one more short pass to the B-CU 38 and brought out the field goal unit.

At the buzzer, Cabrera nailed the 55-yarder to pull the upset, 38-37.



Alabama State enters play this weekend off a bye week and a 1-2 record on the season. The Hornets opened the season with a 31-24 loss to North Carolina Central in the Orange Blossom Classic. In two games since, the Hornets defeated Miles College 24-3 before falling 12-7 to Samford. 

Alabama State has fielded an outstanding defense to start the season, ranking eighth in the country in total defense. They have allowed only 15.3 points per game and a league-low six touchdowns. The Hornets allow only 2.9 yards per game on the ground to 164 in the air.  Linebacker Demarkus Cunningham leads his team with 21 total tackles, while defensive end Treqwan Thomas has recorded 3.5 sacks.

Offensively, the Hornets have been dealt some early injury blows on offense, particularly at the quarterback position. Four different quarterbacks have appeared in games on the year with the room as whole averaging under 100 passing yards on a 44% completion percentage.

They have fared a bit better on the ground, rushing for 165 yards per game and four scores on the ground. Five different Hornets have over ten rushing attempts, led by senior Daquon Kincey, who averages 7.5 yards per carry on 22 attempts with a touchdown. 



WELCOME HOME, WILDCATS
Saturday's contest welcomes home a trio of former Wildcats on the Alabama State coaching staff. Hornets Director of Football Operations, Terry Sims, served as the Head Coach of the Wildcats for six seasons, where he finished 34-21, winning a MEAC title in 2015, as well as five Florida Classics. Also gracing the Hornet sideline is Ryan Lewis Sr., who serves as defensive coordinator. The former defensive standout in Maroon and Gold also served as special teams coordinator and linebackers coach. Finally, wide receivers coach Will Glover formerly served the same role at B-CU from 2015-18. 

SUPERCAM
Making his third straight start, quarterback Cam Ransom opened Saturday's contest against Clark Atlanta with 12 straight completions for 242 yards, only two completions shy of his season high and nearly double his previous single-game high. On the whole, Cam finished the game 22-31 for 382 yards and three touchdowns. He also rushed 11 times for 105 yards and a touchdown. He completed passes to 10 different receivers on the day. He was named SWAC Offensive Player of the Week for his efforts.

FOR THE BRAND
B-CU Punter Anthony Frederique has been outstanding to start the season. He leads all SWAC punters with 43.3 yards per punt. He also tops the conference in 50+ yard punts (7), punts inside the 20 (10), and total punt yards (1170). He placed punts at the CAU two and three-yard line in Saturday's game.

HIT THE SACK
With twelve sacks on the year as a team, the Wildcats rank 14th in the country in sacks per game (3). They lead the SWAC in the category. Ejike Brown leads the team at three sacks on the year, good for 17th nationally and third in the SWAC.



Saturday marks the 20th meeting all-time between Alabama State and Bethune-Cookman. A win Saturday would mark the 14th over the Hornets in program history, the most against any SWAC opponent. It would be B-CU's first against the Hornets as conference mates.


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