Sam Houston vs. Central Arkansas game notes
11/11/2010 6:26:00 AM | Football
ANOTHER TOUGH OPPONENT
After battling the three co-leaders in this year's Southland Conference race in close games on consecutive weekends, Sam Houston travels to Conway, Ark., this Saturday for another tough game. UCA stands in fourth place, just one game behind co-leaders Stephen F. Austin, Northwestern State and McNeese State.
The Bearkats lost to SFA by a field goal, fell in overtime at Northwestern State and had the ball at McNeese State's 20-yard line in the final minute of a 33-28 loss in Huntsville Saturday.
SCOUTING THE BEARS
Central Arkansas brings a three-game winning streak into Saturday's contest. The Bears defeated Nicholls 31-7 in Thibodaux, Southeastern Louisiana 30-23 in Conway and Texas State 49-17 at San Marcos. The Bears rank No. 2 in the Southland Conference in total offense (379.1 yards per game), total defense (354.0 yards), scoring offense (28.3 points per game) and scoring defense (21.0 points).
Bear quarterback Nathan Dick ranks second in the league in passing with 203 completions for 2,023 yards and 10 touchdowns (224.8 yards per game). His favorite target, wide receiver Kenneth Robey, leads the Southland in receptions per game (41 catches for 690 yards and four TDs). UCA has two running backs ranked among the top 10 rushers in the Southland with Terence Bobo (80 carries for 351 yards and eight touchdowns) and Jackie Hinton (68 for 330 and 4 TDs).
BEARKAT-BEAR SERIES RECORD
Saturday's contest in Conway marks the fifth meeting of Sam Houston and Central Arkansas in football. The Bears hold a 3-1 edge. Sam Houston's 17-14 victory in Huntsville last year ended a three-game winning streak for UCA. The Bears won 38-30 in 2006 and 35-14 in 2007, both games in Huntsville, and 48-46 in Conway in 2008.
SAM HOUSTON FIELDING YOUNG SQUAD IN 2010
With only 29 lettermen back from last year's Bearkat squad and only five seniors on this year's roster, the 2010 Sam Houston football team definitely is young.
Eleven freshmen dot the Bearkats' two-deep lineup. New Sam Houston head coach Willie Fritz inherited a young team with just as many newcomers as returning players and told potential high school recruits they definitely had an opportunity to play as freshmen.
The 34 lost letter-winners is the highest total of departed players since the Bearkats moved up to the NCAA Division I FCS level in 1986. The previous high was 28 lost lettermen in 1993 when Sam Houston went 4-7 for the year and 2-5 in Southland action. Just eight starters (two on offense and six on defense) returned from the 2009 team. Sam Houston did not return a running back who touched a ball in the 2009 season and the Bearkats' top six receivers from last year were gone. Of the 90 players who reported for the opening of preseason camp on August 6, only 48 took part in Fritz's spring practice in April. The other 42 players were either freshmen or transfers.
FRESHMAN QB DIRECTS KAT OFFENSE
The biggest change for the 2010 Bearkats has come on offense where Sam Houston have become more balanced.
Brian Bell, a true freshman from China Spring, took over as SHSU's starting quarterback in the third game. Bell came off the bench in the second quarter at Western Illinois and directed the team to two touchdown drives. Since then, Bell has completed 93 of 171 passes for 1,173 yards and seven touchdowns.
With no running backs who carried during either the 2009 season or in spring practice, Sam Houston has collected a strong stable of runners in preseason camp. Tim Flanders, a redshirt freshman transfer from Kansas State, leads the Kats with 91.6 yards rushing per game. That includes six consecutive games of 100 or more yards rushing, a school record.
However, the redshirt freshman from Midwest City, Okla., who came to SHSU as a transfer from Kansas State, has been slowed the last two weeks by an ankle injury. Flanders netted 156 yards at Western Illinois, 104 vs. Gardner-Webb, 153 at Lamar, 105 yards at Nicholls, 134 versue Southeastern Louisiana and 100 against SFA. He has carried only 10 times for 25 yards in the last two games.
With 824 yards rushing in nine games, Flanders stands No. 2 on the list of top single season rushing performances by Sam Houston freshmen. Joe Rauls gained 867 yards in 1998.
Flanders already has broken the school record for most rushing TDs (9) set by a freshman set by Joe Vickers in 1971. He also has tied the school mark for 100-yard rushing performances in one season with six. While their six 100-yard games were not in succession, Roger Wiley (1982), D. D. Terry (2006) and Chris Poullard (2007) all produced six triple figure running games in a year.
SACK ATTACK
Sam Houston's blitzing defense totaled 29 sacks in this season. The Bearkats lead the Southland and ranks No. 9 in the nation in sacks per game. A year ago, Sam Houston totaled 15 sacks in 11 contests. The 27 sacks this year are most for a Kat defense since the 2001 Southland championship season when Sam Houston totaled 44. The school record for sacks in one season is 47 in 1991, another title year.
In a 26-7 victory at Nicholls, the defense tied a Southland Conference record and set a school record by rolling up 12 sacks. The previous team record was 10 sacks against Mississippi Valley State in 2002. Northwestern State originally set the Southland record with 12 sacks against SFA in 1997. The NCAA Division I FCS national record is 14 sacks by Alcorn State against Mississippi Valley in 2007.
Will Henry tied a school record with four sacks at Nicholls. All-America defensive tackle Michael Bankston, who went on to play eight years in the NFL for the Cardinals, was the first to set the SHSU single game record with four sacks against Angelo State in 1991. The Southland single game record for sacks is five.
Henry was named as Southland Conference "Defensive Player of the Week" after his performance at Nicholls.
Fifteen Bearkats have had a hand in at least one quarterback sack this year. Henry and J. T. Cleveland (who had three sacks at Nicholls) both have season totals of five. Eric Fieilo has four for the year.
STOPPING THE RUSH
Sam Houston ranks No. 14 in the nation and No. 1 in the Southland in rushing defense, allowing 100.8 yards per game. The Kats limited Nicholls to just 97 yards total offense. That was the lowest total offense figure allowed by a Sam Houston defense since 1990.
BLOCK PARTY A THREAT
Sam Houston has blocked punts and returned the blocks for touchdowns twice this year. With the Nicholls punting from their own 27-yard line with 2:17 to play in the first half, Robert Shaw broke through to block the kick and fell on the ball in the end zone to put Sam Houston up 10-7. Vincent Dotson blocked Southeastern Louisiana's third punt in the first quarter and Shaw picked up the ball at the 24-yard line and ran it in for another score. The two blocks mark the return of the "block party", a Bearkat special teams tradition established when Willie Fritz was special teams coordinator for Sam Houston in 1991 and 1992. The "Block Party" saw Sam Houston block 80 punts, field goals and extra points in the 14 seasons from 1991 to 2004.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Sam Houston players have won Southland Conference special teams "Player of the Week" honors this season. Miguel Antonio, who led Sam Houston in scoring with 73 points on 12 field goals and 37 PATs as a true freshman in 2009, was player of the week following the 30-14 victory over Gardner-Webb. Antonio kicked three field goals and was perfect on three extra points.
Brandon Closner received the award after returning a punt 37 yards for a touchdown in the Lamar victory. Sam Houston had not had a punt return brought back for a score since 2006. Closner ranks No. 2 in the Southland Conference in punt returns (11.4 yards per game) and No. 3 in kickoff returns (24.9).
Matt Foster, a veteran of Australian rules football in Melbourne, handles punting chores. A red-hirt at Purdue last year, Foster will be played in his first American football game in the opener at Baylor.
