Jenkins looks ahead to Magic City Classic on bye week

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MONTGOMERY, Ala. (bamastatesports.com) – Coming off the heels of two victories in their last three games, the Alabama State football team will look to replenish with some rest and a bye week to prepare in front of the 75^th annual Magic City Classic against Alabama A&M next Saturday, Oct. 29 at 3 p.m. at Legion Field in Birmingham.

Hornets head coach Brian Jenkins addressed the media during Wednesday’s weekly media press conference to discuss the team’s focus.

“We’re energized,” Jenkins said.

“We needed this week off to regroup with some things—coaching staff wise—as well as team wise.  It’s very enjoyable.  It also helps us get a jump on recruiting to continue to build our team.  It’s very much needed.  But, I told our team that, ‘Let’s deal with the off week.’  Let’s not worry about Magic City until next week when we get to our preparation phase so we went back to our fundamentals and basics like understanding tackling and the right way to block so we can eliminate any miscues.  The guys are focused on what we have put in place to work on so I would think it’s going very well.”

Jenkins added that the bye week will also be a good time for players and coaches to spend a little time with their families.

“These players haven’t seen their family in a very long time,” Jenkins said.

“That’s difficult—for anyone.  It gives our coaches a chance to put a little extra time in with their kids, their families and their loved ones. It’s very much needed.  We’re putting the work in now.  Don’t think we are taking it all off.  Our schedule is still the same—practice wise—and we’re still doing the same amount of reps that I have scheduled to go, but it does gives us a chance to get a breather.”

Alabama State is coming off a 56-24 win against Mississippi Valley State in which it committed its lowest amount of penalties on the season—five for 27 yards.

“That’s always good to see when you can perform and not have many penalties,” Jenkins said.

“I don’t put much into penalties because I’ve won championships and led the league in penalties.  Our team played with discipline and detail.  They executed the scheme that we put in.  Our operation from our coaching staff was very good.”