Football looks to fill holes in spring drills

3/20/2008 1:00:00 AM | Football

By: GoBearkats.com

2008 Bearkat Football Schedule

From THE HUNTSVILLE ITEM

With 10 starters gone from last year's 7-4 Southland Conference runner-up squad, Sam Houston head coach Todd Whitten and his staff enter 2008 spring football with several holes to fill in the lineup.

The Bearkats are searching for three starters in the offensive line, a new backup quarterback, a tight end to replace All-American Blake Martin, and four vacant spots in the defensive secondary.

"We have had a good offseason with lots of enthusiasm in the weight room," Whitten said. "I think finishing the season with a five-game winning streak really helped us out. Everyone is fired up and looking forward to putting on the pads. We have a lot of questions we need to address. It should be an interesting spring as we see how it plays out."

Tackle John Dirk and guard Hunter Schmidt are the two returning starters in the offensive line that paved the way for back-to-back 1,000-yard rushers the past two seasons. Backups R. C. Fairchild, Travis Best, Nick Grimes, and Aaron Saunders, along with several other players will be out to earn a starting spot this spring. Schmidt, a junior who has started every game the past two years, will be taking some snaps at center.

"We'll experiment with Hunter at center some," Whitten said. "Center is such a critical position up front. The way we play, we are in the shotgun almost every snap, so the center becomes important in getting everybody organized. This is what spring is all about - checking things out and experimenting with personnel. We are going to have an opportunity to have a good offensive line next year. We just have some guys that haven't played much."

Redshirt freshmen Jeff Welch and Taylor Weidman and sophomore Jordan Williams are trying to move into the No. 2 spot on the depth chart at quarterback behind senior Rhett Bomar. All three should get plenty of reps in spring as Bomar continues to recover from off-season knee surgery.

Bomar, who led the Southland Conference and ranked No.8 nationally in total offense last season, will take part in spring practice but he currently is limited on what he can do at this point.

"It has been going really well so far," Bomar said about his recovery. "They have cleared me to throw and I can run some, but no laterals or cutting yet. It's been four months and I can run and jog and stuff like that. I should be at full go this summer and ready for fall."

All three starting wide receivers return as targets for the quarterbacks, plus two transfer wide receivers.

On defense, the Bearkats need to fill spots in the secondary with the departure of safeties Byran Richmond, Carlton Cobey, and Josh Moore. A couple of junior college transfers will add competition at this position.

Patrick Robinson and Shane Richburg are back at linebacker to bolster the core of returning players from 2007, Luke McCall and Frank Simon. The Bearkats also need to find a defensive end to play on the other side from returning All-SLC first teamer Chris Brown.

"Defensively, we had a whole bunch of safeties graduate, so we are a little thin there," Whitten said. "We need some young guys to step up for us. We also signed a couple of junior college corners and we need those guys to get a hold of things. We are going to be able to evaluate these guys this spring and hopefully find some that can really help us next season. We have a good attitude and are getting good effort."

SAM HOUSTON STATE PRE-SEASON FOOTBALL INFORMATION

Starters returning: 12 of 22 (7 of 11 offense, 5 of 11 defense)
Lettermen returning: 42 of 57 (19 offense, 20 defense, 3 specialists)

OFFENSIVE STARTERS RETURNING
Rhett Bomar	QB	6-2	215	Sr-1L	All-Southland
John Dirk	OL	6-3	278	Sr-2L	11 starts
Catron Houston	WR	5-11	182	Sr-2L	46 catches
Darnell Jones	WR	5-10	185	Sr-3L	20 catches
Chris Poullard	RB	5-10	194	Jr-2L	All-Southland
Hunter Schmidt	OL	6-3	303	Jr-2L	All-Southland
Justin Wells	WR	5-10	182	Sr-3L	42 catches
OFFENSIVE STARTERS LOST
Ryan Dretke	OL	6-0	292	4L	All-Southland
Brandon Hale	OL	6-3	334	4L	All-America
Blake Martin	TE	6-3	236	4L	All-America
Brennan Williams	OL	6-0	273	4L	All-Southland
DEFENSIVE STARTERS RETURNING
Wonseleh Brewer	DB	5-8	161	Sr-1L	43 tackles
Chris Brown	DE	6-2	218	Jr-1L	All-Southland
Nolan Bucek	DB	5-10	202	Sr-3L	All-Southland
Luke McCall	LB	6-0	235	Jr-2L	72 tackles
Eric Mikolajchak	DL	6-4	302	Sr-3L	All-Southland
DEFENSIVE STARTERS LOST
David Branch	DL	6-2	251	4L	All-Southland
Jerod Brown	DL	6-2	267	4L	31 tackles
Carlton Cobey	DB	5-10	202	2L	All-Southland
Stanley Garrett	DB	5-10	183	3L	51 tackles
Josh Moore	DB	6-2	194	4L	71 tackles
Byran Richmond	DB	5-9	226	4L	All-Southland
SPECIALISTS RETURNING
Michael Capparelli	P	5-8	162	Jr-1L	All-Southland
Justin Humphrey	DS	6-4	230	Jr-2L	Deep snaps
Taylor Wilkins	K	5-7	151	Jr-2L	All-Southland
OTHER RETURNING OFFENSIVE LETTERMEN OL - Travis Best, R. C. Fairchild, John Goree, Nick Grimes, Aaron Saunders; WR - Jake Lebens, Chris Lucas, Trey Payne; RB - TyMagic Robinson, Isaiah Sneed; FB - Matthew Powledge; TE - Paul Mansfield OTHER RETURNING DEFENSIVE LETTERMEN DL - Antonio Cobb, Ryan Gloston, Frank Simon, Kevin Smith, Chris Stewart; DB - Cameron Jenkins, Frank Onwuachi, Derrick Raymer, Billy Skinner, Jeff Sparks, Randy Stewart; LB - Shane Richburg, Patrick Robinson, Shawn Weatherford, Jeremy Werland.