by DOUG CRISE ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE , Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Arkansas-Pine Bluff traveled to Baton Rouge a year ago with a 1-7 record and had not beaten a Football Championship Subdivision opponent. Yet they took the Jaguars to overtime before losing 31-24.

"We talk about last year, but not a whole lot," Arkansas-Pine Bluff Coach Monte Coleman said. "I let them know we could play with them." Confidence can be hard to come by when you're playing a team with 16 Southwestern Athletic Conference titles, five under Coach Pete Richardson. It can be doubly difficult when you're coming off a three-victory season.

But things are changing.

The Golden Lions (4-2, 2-1) enter today ahead of Southern (4-3, 1-2) in the SWAC West Division standings and in a tie for second place with Grambling State. Yet Arkansas-Pine Bluff needs a victory today to keep pace with Prairie View A&M, which is undefeated in league play and is off this week.

Coleman has been making it clear to his players that a victory will put them in the championship discussion.

"They understand the ramifications of the game and the standings," Coleman said. "I'm not going to lie to them." Junior quarterback Josh Boudreaux will make his second career start today, his first against a SWAC opponent. The junior college transfer threw two touchdown passes last week against Edward Waters College , but that was against a winless NAIA program.

Boudreaux is a big part of why the Golden Lions are in the playoff hunt after he came off the bench to lead them to an overtime victory at Jackson State.

"I think the team has rallied around him," Coleman said. "He didn't go backward." Defensively, the Golden Lions have been among the top teams in the league. But they've largely avoided having to face quarterbacks like Southern's Bryant Lee, who leads the SWAC with 15 touchdown passes and a 61 percent completion percentage.

Arkansas-Pine Bluff is also adjusting to life without senior running back Mickey Dean. Dean pulled a hamstring early in the season, but has missed more time than expected due to fears of that strain becoming a tear.

To compensate for the loss of a preseason All-SWAC running back, Coleman has been throwing a three-man rotation at opponents. Sophomore Dhabion Woodfin rushed for 98 yards a week ago, and he will likely get most of the carries today while being spelled by sophomore Mareo Howard and junior Stephen Jones.

Today's game

WHO Southern at Arkansas-Pine Bluff

WHEN 2:30 p.m. today

WHERE Golden Lion Stadium, Pine Bluff

RADIO KUAP-FM, 88.7, in Pine Bluff

RECORDS Arkansas-Pine Bluff 4-2 (2-1 SWAC); Southern 4-3 (1-2)

COACHES Monte Coleman (7-11 in second season at Arkansas-Pine Bluff); Pete Richardson (109-41 in 17th season at Southern University of Baton Rouge)

This article was published 10/31/2009

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