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ALABAMA A & M'S ULYSSES BANKS HOPES TO CLOSE HIS CAREER IN 'CLASSIC' STYLE
Oct. 29, 2009
By Roscoe Nance
Alabama A&M running back Ulysses Banks hopes the Magic City Classic will once again be magical for him and the Bulldogs when they face Alabama State Saturday at Legion Field in Birmingham, Ala. The Bulldogs have beaten their down-state rivals four straight times, and Banks - a Birmingham native whose Parker High teams played at Legion Field - was a major factor in two of those wins. As a freshman, Banks returned the second half kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown - a school record-- that propelled the Bulldogs to a 21-13 victory. In 2007, he gained 132 yards with one touchdown in a 13-9 win.
"Me and the seniors, we've never lost a Magic City Classic,'' Banks says. "We want to keep that streak going. I don't want to feel the feeling of losing in my home town.'' Banks is the leading rusher in the SWAC with 606 yards, and is No. 11 in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) in yards per game at 101.0. He suffered a high ankle sprain in the first quarter of Alabama A&M's 41-20 loss at Grambling State Oct. 10, and he sat out as Bulldogs lost to Alcorn State 34-16 the following week. Banks says he is fully recovered from his ankle injury, and there is no way he won't play in the 73rd Magic City Classic. "This game, besides the (SWAC) championship game, will be the most important game of the season,'' he says. "Nothing would keep from playing - nothing. It's like a homecoming.'' Banks grew up attending the Magic City Classic. He says he has long understood the nature of the rivalry. But it wasn't until he played in it that he came to understand the magnitude of it. "I wasn't really following the teams,'' Banks says. "I just knew it was the Magic City Classic, and I knew it was a rivalry. When you play in it, you really grasp the magnitude.'' This year's Magic City has even greater significance than normal - if that's possible. In addition to the usual bragging rights that go to the winner, Alabama A&M will be playing to stay alive in the SWAC Eastern Division race. The Bulldogs (4-3 overall, 1-2 SWAC) trail Alcorn State (2-2) and Jackson State (2-2) by a half game and can ill-afford another conference loss in their quest to return to the championship game. Banks, undoubtedly, will be a key to the Bulldogs' success. They're offense revolves around the running game - they lead the conference in rushing with 163.7 yards a game - with Banks getting the vast majority of the carries. "We had a two-week slide with him,'' Alabama A&M coach Anthony Jones says, assessing what Banks means to the Bulldogs. "With him out of the game, you lose a major part of what you do. We have good backs behind him .But there's a reason they're backing him up. He's the total package. He runs low. He understands angles, and he reads blocks. He's a tough kid with a strong desire to be successful.'' Banks rushed 34 times for 177 yards - both single game highs in the conference this season - in the Bulldogs' victory against Arkansas-Pine Bluff Sept. 26. Alabama State coach Reggie Barlow is bracing for a heavy of dose of Banks in the Magic City Classic. "He's a home run hitter,'' Barlow says. "He can take it the distance. You look at his stature, and you think he's not big. But he runs hard; he runs with power; he has speed, and he catches ball. "He's a confident back. You have to know where he is. You have to make sure you wrap up and come to balance. You have to make sure you get more than one guy to him on the tackle.''
Banks has already surpassed the 555 yards that he gained during the 2008 season. He suffered a high ankle sprain in the first game a year ago, and he never regained the form that enabled him to rush for 887 yards his sophomore season, his first as the Bulldogs' starting running back. Banks entered the 2009 campaign primed for a bust out season. He added 10 pounds of muscles thanks to a rigorous off-season weight training program, and he improved his endurance with an exhaustive cardio routine. Jones raves that Banks was having a great season until he was injured. Banks, however, rates it as just "OK.'' Banks downgrades his play this season mainly because his injury, which he says was a contributing factor in Alabama A&M's loss to Grambling State in a game that Bulldogs sorely wanted to win. "A&M has never won in Grambling,'' he says. "As seniors, a group of us it got in our minds this was going to be the year. We decided we were going to make history. Me getting hurt had a lot do with that not happening; knowing how passionate we were about makes it disappointing. I know where I stand. I think about where I would stand if I had finished the game against Grambling and if I had played against Alcorn.'' Banks says winning the SWAC championship would make this a great season for the team, and maintaining his 100 yards per game rushing average would make it a great season for him individually. "Averaging 100 yards a game for the season says a running back is consistent,'' Banks says. "No matter the weight on his shoulders, he'll carry you.'' The challenge for Banks Saturday, in addition to dealing with a defense that will be keying on him, will be to find a way to control his emotions and play within himself while performing in front of 70,000 fans, many of whom will be his family and friends. "When you practice, you get your plays down,'' he says. "That's what you focus on. When you first come out, you're nervous. You don't want to let the team down, the coaches, your friends and your family. You revert to practice. Coach (Jones) always says practice the way you play. You have to execute your plays. If you're not prepared, playing front that many people can get in your head. You have to calm down and remember the task at hand, why you're playing in front of so many people.''
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Football
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