Football focus now on WIU Leathernecks
8/25/2009 8:00:00 AM | Football
The Bearkat football team has completed preseason camp and now is shifting the focus to preparation for the 2009 season opener against Western Illinois on Thursday Sept. 3
The Bearkats have spent the last couple of weeks working on conditioning and offensive and defensive schemes. They have also been looking for guys to step up and fill some of the voids left by graduation.
But beginning this week, Sam Houston is going to concentrate on the Leathernecks and begin putting together a game plan. Western Illinois is a solid Football Championship Subdivision squad out of the Missouri Valley Conference.
"They have a good football team that was 6-5 a year ago," Sam Houston State head coach Todd Whitten said Monday. "They were the number one rushing team in the country last year. Their back Herb Donaldson signed as a free agent with the Saints and they lost a linebacker Jason Williams who was drafted by the Cowboys. It is going to like jumping out there and playing a Southland Conference team in the opener."
Western Illinois has earned NCAA Division I national playoff berths eight times, the last in 2003 when the Leathernecks defeated No. 11 Montana in Missoula to advance to the national quarterfinals where they lost by one point to No. 6 Colgate.
The Leathernecks like to run the ball, averaging 251.5 yards in 2008. Western Illinois ran 513 rushing plays as compared to 225 passing attempts.
Donaldson, who rushed for 1,784 yards and scored 21 touchdowns, is gone, but senior Dre Gibbs returns. Gibbs was the Leathernecks' second leading rusher with 573 yards on 78 carries, an average of 7.3 yards a touch.
"We are going to start implementing our game plans, and like I have said all along, we are going to play to our strengths," Whitten added. "We are going to see if we can run the ball better, which will also help our defense, and try to control the game. The Leathernecks are going to run the ball 50 times, so fans may not have time to finish your popcorn."
One of the areas that the Bearkats are also going to address this week is naming a starting quarterback. Junior Bryan Randolph and senior transfer Blake Joseph have been battling it out in camp to see who will be under center come Sept. 3.
Both players have made plays in the two intrasquad scrimmages and the race is close.
"We have to name a starting quarterback this week," Whitten said. "We need to get (the starter) more reps with the first team."
The Sam Houston-WIU game Sept. 3 will be telecast to a three-state regional audience by the Southland TV Network. The Houston outlet for the game will be Channel 55 The Tube. The contest will be broadcast locally in Huntsville by KSAM 101.7 FM and on the internet on www.gobearkats.com.
