Livingstone’s offseason was dedicated to working on the small things.
“It’s just careless mistakes,” head coach Daryl Williams said. “…It wasn’t the big things. It was the small things.”
The goal was to make sure the Blue Bears mastered the fundamentals. The idea is that will get the Blue Bears, who went 3-7 last season, over the hump in games that come down to the wire.
Williams pointed to last year’s homecoming loss to Fayetteville State in the next-to-last game of the season. The Blue Bears were four points ahead with about three minutes to play. A fumble led to Livingstone’s 34-31 loss at Alumni Memorial Stadium. The Blue Bears went through their home slate without putting one in the win column.
“All we had to do is get two first downs, and we win the football game,” Williams said.
Livingstone’s 2013 season ended with a 42-13 victory over Virginia-Lynchburg.
It was a good end to a rough year for the Blue Bears. They finished last in the CIAA’s Southern Division with their only conference victory coming over Lincoln (Pennsylvania).
“We were close. We all know in the locker room and in the coaches’ office we could have won more if we close out games,” Williams said.
Still, beating Virginia-Lynchburg in the last game of the season started preparation for the 2014 campaign on a positive note. Williams said he wanted the program to pick up where it left off.
The 2014 campaign, Williams’ second has head coach, kicks off at 6 p.m. Thursday at Millersville University in Pennsylvania.
Aside from doing the little things right and mastering the fundamentals, Williams wants his team to hit the accelerator from the second the ball is in the air.
“One of the things we discussed is learning to play fast, practice fast and that is what we’ve been doing,” Williams said.
Leading the way into this year are two key returning players — linebacker Kenneth White and quarterback Drew Powell.
Powell, a junior, was second last year in the CIAA in passing with 212.7 yards per game. His 16 passing touchdowns ranked third in the league.
“The biggest thing is he stayed around for the summer and rededicated himself to get back to the form he had his freshman year,” Williams said.
Powell was the CIAA’s Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2012. He threw for more than 2,300 yards and had 18 touchdown passes. Powell’s 258 yards per game were fourth in the league.
Linebacker Kenneth White is expected to hold it down on the defensive side of the ball. White was outstanding in his junior year. He garnered all-conference and all-region honors after racking up a league-high 100 tackles. His three fumble recoveries also led the league. White ended the season with 12 tackles for loss and five sacks.
“He’s a leader on defense. He should make all-conference and be the [school’s] all-time leading tackler by the time the season is over,” Williams said.
To try to follow-up on his junior year performance, White devoted his time to the same idea as the team in the offseason.
“[He worked on] the small things to make him a better football player,” Williams said.