Mississippi Valley State coach Willie Totten says his former coach wasn't upset with the 62-0 outcome of the Delta Devils' rout over Paul Quinn College in Dallas Saturday.
Even though the Delta Devils didn't score in the fourth quarter, they were sure trying to. Backup quarterback Gary Cooper hurled two deep passes in the final two minutes against the NAIA school, coached by Archie Cooley.
"It's kind of hard to tell my guys, my second- and third-string guys, not to score when they finally get out there," said Totten, who played under Cooley at Valley from 1981-85. "Last year, he didn't talk to me after the game, because he felt we were trying to run up the score because we still had our starters in.
"We did talk this time after the game. He was fine, but he did say he wasn't going to play us again until he can put a team together that can play with us."
Valley has outscored Paul Quinn 212-39 in four straight meetings.
Cooley could not be reached for comment.
The win over Paul Quinn snapped a three-game losing skid after the Delta Devils had started 2-0 for the first time since 1993.
Now, the Delta Devils are hoping to end the season with a four-game win streak. Next up is Texas Southern, Valley's homecoming opponent for Saturday. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. in Itta Bena at Rice-Totten Stadium.
Texas Southern appears to be the perfect homecoming opponent. TSU is just 1-15 under second-year head coach Steve Wilson.
But Totten says the Tigers are showing great improvement and will be fired up to make a mess of Valley's homecoming.
"I know they would like to return the favor, so our guys will be motivated by that," Totten said. "Texas Southern has really improved. Last year, our game with them went right down to the wire, so I know they feel like they can beat us."
SWAC honors: Valley sophomore kicker Joseph Blanco was named this week's SWAC special teams player of the week for his performance against Paul Quinn.
Blanco kicked seven PATs and had one field goal (10 total points), and in his first punting performance of the season, he had five punts for an average of 41.8 yards with three inside the 20-yard line (including two downed inside the one-yard line) against Paul Quinn.
Blanco is ranked sixth nationally in Division I-AA in field goals made.
He is 10-of-11 on field-goal attempts with a long of 41 yards and is 18-of-20 on PAT kicks, making him the team's leading scorer with 48 points.
Blanco, who is from Houston - home of Texas Southern - is looking forward to Saturday's game.
"I take this game personally because Texas Southern didn't recruit me. I would love to have a say in this one," Blanco said.
Rice spices up homecoming: Former MVSU standout and future NFL Hall of Famer Jerry Rice will be a major part of this weekend's homecoming activities.
Rice, arguably the greatest receiver in the history of the NFL, is expected to be at the team's practices Thursday and Friday, but those workouts will be closed to the public. He will also be the grand marshall of the homecoming parade, which starts at 9 a.m. Saturday.
Valley will pay tribute to Rice and former Valley and NFL standout defensive back Ashley Ambrose with the Jerry Rice-Ashley Ambrose Breakfast of Champions at 7 a.m. Saturday at the Harrison HPER Complex on the MVSU campus.
The public is invited. Tickets are $25 with proceeds going to the MVSU Scholarship fund.
"Jerry being here is big for the fans, the players and me," said Totten, who teamed with Rice from 1982-84 to put Valley on the national football map with one of the most prolific passing offenses ever seen in college football. "Our players have all heard about Jerry Rice, but this will be most of our guys' first chance to actually meet him. This will be his first Valley game to be at in 20 years.
"Jerry will even probably work with our receivers a little while he's here."
Rice retired prior to the start of this season after 20 years in the NFL.
From 1981-84, Rice finished with 4,693 receiving yards and set 18 NCAA Division II records while staring at Valley.
