Football Closes Out 2019 Season At Arkansas-Pine Bluff On Saturday

• Texas Southern closes the 2019 season on the road at Arkansas-Pine Bluff Saturday at 3 p.m. inside Simmons Bank Field.

• TSU is trying to avoid a winless season as the Tigers’ last winless season was in 2007 (0-11) under Steve Wilson.

• The 2020 schedule was announced this past Monday and this marks the first of back-to-back trips to Pine Bluff, Ark. for TSU. The SWAC switches to an eight-game format in 2020 and the schedule has TSU returning to UAPB in 2020.

• TSU leads the overall series 25-18 and has won three of the past four games against UAPB. They’ve outscored UAPB 871-809 all-time.

• TSU and UAPB both feature high-flying offensive units as UAPB ranks No. 3 and TSU is fourth in the SWAC. UAPB ranks fourth in total defense with 381.9 yards per game.

• Saturday’s contest will feature live audio on KTSU 90.9 FM.

• The Tigers feature a new head coach in Clarence McKinney. A Houston native, McKinney attended high school across the street at Jack Yates High School and played collegiately at Montana State and the University of Mary. He also served as head coach at Yates before joining the staffs at Houston, Texas A&M and Arizona.

• Clarence McKinney is the 17th head coach in the history of Texas Southern Football. McKinney has a task ahead as the program has only had 28 winning seasons in 73 years of existence and hasn’t recorded a winning season since 2000. 

• McKinney won as a student at Yates High School and helped the University of Mary post three winning seasons as a student-athlete in college which made school history. As head coach at Yates, McKinney posted a mark of 30-8 over three years before moving on to the collegiate ranks as an assistant. As an assistant at Houston, Texas A&M and Arizona, McKinney has only experienced two losing seasons in his 11 years of collegiate coaching. 

•UAPB football is seeking just its sixth winning season just returning to the SWAC in 1998 and the first since 2012. UAPB’s 5-5 mark is the best since the 10-2 season of 2012.

• TSU has scored 228 points in its first 10 games this season. It took eight games last season for the Tigers to score 170-plus points.

• TSU is ranked No. 4 in the SWAC with 447.3 yards of total offense per game. The Tigers are the No. 4 passing team and No. 6 in rushing.

• If TSU wide receiver Donnie Corley surpasses 1,000 yards this weekend, it’ll mark the second straight year TSU has produced a 1,000-yard receiver and the first time in school history. Corley needs 30 yards for the feat.