Bears get reprieve with Rams win
by Andrew Seligman being hit for a loss early in the third the rest of the way. “We had a lead,” he said. “Our
quarter. A running game that ranked dead defense was playing good football.
LAKE FOREST, Ill. – Alex Brown Coach Lovie Smith said “hopeful- last did a somewhat better job with And you try to win the surest way.
wasn’t about to make any bold ly” Hester’s injury is not too serious Chris Williams filling in for the There’s no more than that. Jay should
proclamations. The defensive end and they’ll “have him back out there injured Orlando Pace (groin) at left be good to go.”
sees what’s staring at the Chicago before too long.” tackle and Kevin Shaffer starting on Smith was particularly impressed
Bears and that’s a dose of reality. Hester had a shining moment the right side. by Jamar Williams, who filled in for
A 17-9 victory over the St. Louis before leaving the field when he Forte ran for 91 yards, the most for Briggs at weakside linebacker and
Rams on Sunday was a nice, refresh- leaped between two defenders on a him since he had 121 against Detroit was credited with 18 tackles in the
ing reprieve for a team that had 48-yard catch that helped set up in Week 4, yet he also lost a fumble. postgame stats. So was Brown.
dropped four in a row and six of Chicago’s first touchdown. He was And the Bears averaged just 3.2 yards “He’s been deserving a lot of cred-
seven. Brown, however, wasn’t hit for a 3-yard loss on his lone punt on 38 attempts. it for coming out and replacing a guy
checking the standings. return. Several other punts were Smith said Cutler’s strong start like Lance Briggs, who’s probably the
“I don’t know the chances, I’m not downed by the Rams, pinning the “allowed us to get the rushing game best player at his position in the
a math guy, but if there is a possibili- Bears deep, yet Chicago still man- going” and added, “Whenever you NFL,” Brown said. “To come in and
ty, we just got to win,” he said. aged to prevail in a win only Brian have 38 rushes, that’s a good thing play that well for him, I think it says a
At 5-7, the Bears will likely miss Urlacher could love. this time of the year.” lot about the guys that we have as far
the postseason for the third straight The injured linebacker last week Maybe, but the Bears didn’t bring as our backups. ... Hopefully, we see a
year and are starting a tough three- took what many interpreted as shots in Cutler to be a game manager. lot more of him. We still want Briggs,
game stretch with Green Bay and at Jay Cutler and running back Matt Although balance helps, their future though.”
continues with Baltimore and Forte while wondering why the Bears largely hinges on the rifle arm he Williams played his way into a big-
Minnesota - all teams with playoff were relying more on the pass than brought from Denver even if he was ger role, perhaps getting more snaps
aspirations. the run and their defense. Then, they tied for the league lead with 20 inter- at strongside linebacker or rotating
It would help if the Bears had Pro reverted to their old formula after a ceptions through Sunday. between positions when Briggs
Chicago Bears running back
Bowl linebacker Lance Briggs and strong first quarter by Cutler that Cutler, who did not get picked off returns.
Matt Forte (22) makes a touch-
receiver Devin Hester, but their status included a 71-yard pass along with by the Rams, did said his throwing “By his play yesterday, it said that
down during the first half of the
is in question. Briggs sat out the Rams that deep throw to Hester. hand got “dinged” during the game. ‘I need more reps,’” Smith said. “We
game against the St. Louis
game because of a sprained left knee, Cutler had 131 yards in that open- That wasn’t the reason for going with listen, and we watch everything that’s
Rams Sunday in Chicago.
and Hester left with a calf injury after ing period. He threw for only 12 more the run, Smith said. happening. We like what we saw.” AP
AP/Nam Y. Huh
Study: Grad rates between Southern U fires football coach
Blacks, whites widening
BATON ROUGE, La. – Pete Richardson, the football coach at Southern
University for 17 years, was fired Monday along with most of his staff.
Offensive line coach Damon Nivens, however, was retained and will serve as
interim coach until a replacement is named, said Southern Athletic Director Greg
by Antonio Gonzalez 67 schools that have accepted bowl invitations by
LaFleur.
Monday.
Known as the “Dean of the SWAC,” Richardson had a 134-62 record in his 17
ORLANDO, Fla. – The disparity between gradua- “There is till room for improvement, but the
years at Southern. That included four, 11-win seasons and one 12-win season.
tion rates for white and Black college football trends are generally moving in the right direction,”
Richardson was named the Black Coaches Association’s Coach of the Year in
players at schools headed to bowl games grew NCAA spokesman Erik Christianson said in a
1998, five-time Southwestern Athletic Conference Coach of the Year,
slightly this year, according to a study released statement.
Washington D.C.’s Pigskin Club’s Coach of the Year three times and the 1999
Monday. The study showed 57 schools had graduation
Nokia Sugar Bowl Louisiana Coach of the Year.
The annual report by the University of Central success rates of 66 percent or higher for white foot-
But the Jaguars finished this season 6-4, 3-5 in the SWAC, including losing
Florida’s Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport ball players, which was more than 2.8 times the
their last two games. The two setbacks included a 31-13 drubbing by Grambling
also showed overall academic progress. But there number schools with equivalent graduation suc-
in the Bayou Classic, the most lopsided loss in that contest since Richardson
were 21 schools that graduated fewer than 50 per- cess rates for Black football players. That's up
took over at Southern in 1993, and a 30-25 loss to Texas Southern to close out
cent of their Black football players, the study from 56 schools last year.
the season.
found. That’s up from 19 last year. Four schools had graduation success rates for
The Jaguars also haven’t won a conference title since 2003 and by
Richard Lapchick, the director of the institute, Black football players that exceeded rates for white
Richardson’s own standards, this season was another disappointment.
said the widening gap between whites and Blacks players - Connecticut (5 percent higher), Troy (7
Prairie View defeated Southern 16-14 on Oct. 22, all but eliminating the
was surprising because those numbers had closed percent higher), Southern Mississippi (8 percent
Jaguars from the championship race.
in recent years. higher) and Rutgers (4 percent higher). That was
In a meeting last week with LaFleur and chancellor Kofi Lomotey, Richardson
“That could be a temporary blip, but it certainly down from five schools in last year’s study.
was given permission to pursue other opportunities.
caught me by surprise,” he said. “I think part of it Lapchick said getting more minorities in admin-
“Before today, I hadn’t really taken a look at any of them,” Richardson said
is the urban education system where a lot of the istrative positions - like head coaches and athletic
later. “But (now) I’ve been given permission to take a look at some of those other
African-American students come from is so directors - could help curb the numbers. He also
opportunities.”
depleted. Too many student-athletes recruited from said he will be looking closer at financial issues to
Richardson had another year on his contract, which pays him $205,000 annu-
those areas are so far behind when they come to see how much, if at all, the economic downturn is
ally. The school said in a news release on Monday that the total compensation
college, it's difficult to catch up.” affecting the numbers.
had not yet been worked out.
The study was based on NCAA statistics collect- While the disparity between whites and Blacks
No timetable has been set for bringing in a new coach, although LaFleur said
ed from member institutions. The analysis is of the increased, overall progress grew. AP
that the process would begin immediately.
46
Chicago Defender • ChicagoDefender.com • December 9-15, 2009
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