What an extremely exciting time this is.  The Shaw football team is on the verge of playing in the CIAA Championship.  This is a third year program we are talking about.  A program only in its second year in the CIAA.  Remarkable.

Of course this is cause to bring out the Pre-Season Diary.  This of course is a special edition of the diary: The Road to the CIAA Championship and Beyond.  

Again I am extremely excited.  I cannot wait for Saturday to get here.  At times I have not even been able to sleep in anticipation and the week is barley half over.  The start of a football program was one of the things that lured me to Shaw University.  I had no idea that in three years, this team would be this good, with back-to-back 7-3 seasons, and a current 6-2 season, on the verge of the CIAA Championship.

Today, center Robert Rhodes came by the office.  Robert is a senior and I asked him to come by so I could interview him for the last edition of Bear Preview, which will come out October 30.  (Be on the look out for that one as it will feature Robert, Dion McIver and William Sander.).  Anyway, Robert is a quiet down to earth guy.  He is from Los Angeles.  We talked about how he came to Shaw all the way  from L.A., amongst other things.  You'll be able to read it on October 30.  We also talked about what Saturday's game means to the team.  Robert is one of the older guys on the team and one of the team leaders.

About 15 minutes after Robert left, I got an unexpected visit from free safety Torrance Nunnally.  T. Nunn is one of my favorite guys on the team and I am a T. Nunn fan.  Do you all remember the inaugural 2002 season?  What a season he had.  Seven interceptions and led the team in tackles.  At 5-10, 155 he was very small, but had the biggest heart.  He played hurt but the team always rallied around and fed off him.  Remember the St. Paul's game at home when he went out with that separated shoulder?  He came back into the game and returned an interception more that 100 yards for a touchdown which sparked a Bear fourth quarter comeback.  He made the switch from cornerback to free safety in the St. Augustine's game, which showed his versatility and has solidified him as one of the best defensive backs in the country.  He has pretty much played free safety ever since and has done an outstanding job.  In addition to his free safety duties he long snaps and returns punts and kicks.  He is ready to win a championship.  He also noted me to the fact that the defense had not allowed a first down to an opponents on the opponents opening series all season.  I had to look that one up and he was almost right.  The only team that did get a first down on the opening series was Johnson C. Smith.  They ended up punting anyway.

And what about that defense as a whole.  SHAW HAS THE NUMBER ONE DEFENSE IN THE COUNTRY, allowing only 214.4 yards per game.  Shaw has not had more of a dominating performance on defense than it did against Elizabeth City State.  The Bears allowed only 81 yards of total offense to the Vikings, -43 yards rushing, recorded seven sacks, but the two most compelling stats - they allowed only four first downs the whole game and the Vikings were 0-for-13 on third downs.  WOW!!

It was somewhat cold out at practice today.  The offense looked good and is coming around nicely.  As a matter of fact in three of the last four games, the offense is averaging almost 400 yards of total offense per game.  Running back Dion McIver has three 100-yard rushing games and is less than 200 yards away from gaining 1,000 yards.  He could perhaps be the first 1000-yard rusher in school history.  Offensive coordinator Fred Farrier is doing an outstanding job and has implemented some nice offensive sets.  In practice he is meticulous and shows each player, especially the receivers and quarterbacks, what they should be doing and what he anticipates the opponents defense will do.

The guys had a very spirited practice.  One of the best drills is when the defensive linemen go against the offensive linemen.  The offensive linemen have to protect a dummy quarterback and prevent the defense from getting to him.  Most of the defensive linemen win the drill, but one offensive lineman that wins a lot of his battles is Chris Hill.  Chris is one of the strongest players on the team.  As a matter of fact, he has been with the program all three years, but had never started until this year as he has started every game this year at right guard.  

Well that's it for today.  I'll get back with you tomorrow.