Improvement still wanted at Albany State

ALBANY — As Albany State head football coach Mike White and a group of assistants handed out postgame meal bags late Saturday night, the longtime coach wasn’t ready to concede that his team had arrived followed a 33-0 thumping of Lane College.

It was the Rams’ best game of the season. Defensively, they pitched their second consecutive shutout and allowed just 180 yards, 62 of which came on a deep pass play late when the game was out of reach.

Meanwhile on offense, ASU rolled up 486 yards, including 290 through the air.

“Nah, we’re still trying to get it,” White told a reporter. “I’ll know more when we start to get some consistency. If the offense comes out and does that again, and the defense plays that way as well, I’ll tell you more next week.”

While it was a dominating victory – the Rams’ third in a row – the players said they are still a long way from being where they want to be.

“Everything didn’t go well, but we just kind of came out on top,” Rivers said. “Everybody played hard … that was the biggest difference tonight. Everybody played hard for four quarters. We still had some stuff we’d like to have back, but everybody played hard, so that’s all you can ask for.”

The game may have been pleasing to the fan base, but center Victor Moli said he was sure there were several things the team still needs to improve upon.

“From the outside looking in, it looked pretty good,” Moli said. “But once we go into film and see the things that we should have done better, we can’t stay the same. We’ve got to keep getting better.”

With the team’s third straight victory, the Rams have taken over sole-possession of first-place in the SIAC East Division with Morehouse falling 49-0 to Tuskegee on Saturday. But the Maroon Tigers, this Saturday’s opponent in Atlanta, and Fort Valley State trail ASU by a game in the loss column.

White said it’s too soon to begin looking at the standings, especially with four regular-season games remaining, three of them on the road.

“We’ve just got to get ready for the next game,” he said. “That’s all we’re going to concentrate on.”

But the biggest satisfaction for the ASU coaching staff came from the offense’s performance. Rivers finished with three passing touchdowns and was 21 of 32 with no interceptions. He threw the ball to seven different receivers with five having at least two catches or more.

None seem to ignite the crowd as much as his first touchdown pass when he hit Leonard Walker on a crossing route, who turned the catch into a 54-yard touchdown reception with 8:23 left in the second quarter.

“I love to make a short throw and let the receivers make a play for me,” Rivers said. “That’s a quarterback’s dream … throw it short, easy throw and let them make a play.”