Sam Houston at Western Illinois game notes
9/14/2010 7:00:00 AM | Football
SAM HOUSTON vs. WESTERN ILLINOIS
Saturday, September 18, 2010 - 1 p.m.
Macomb, Il.
BEARKAT RADIO
KSAM 101.7 FM will broadcast all Sam Houston games with Kooter Roberson and Leroy Wilkinson calling the action. The broadcast also may be heard anywhere in the world online at www.gobearkats.com .
FIRST NCAA DIVISION I FCS OPPONENT
Sam Houston faces its first NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision opponent of the 2010 season when the Bearkats travel to Macomb, Ill., to face the Western Illinois Leathernecks.
WIU is a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference, one of 10 FCS conferences whose champion will earn a berth in the 2010 NCAA Division I Championship.
The Southland, Sam Houston's league home, also is one of the 10 conferences with an automatic NCAA berth. The Southland Conference will host this season's NCAA Division I national championship game on Friday January 7, 2011 at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas.
SAM HOUSTON EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI
Saturday's contest in McComb, Ill., marks the 33rd time in Sam Houston's 95 seasons of football that the Bearkats have played a football game east of the Mississippi River.
The Bearkats stand 15-14-3 east of the Big Muddy. Sam Houston lost 37-21 at Southeastern Louisiana last year in their most recent trip across the Mississippi. Sam Houston's last victory traveling east of the big river was in 2008 when the Kats defeated Gardner-Webb 49-33 in Boiling Springs, North Carolina (the farthest east a Sam Houston team has traveled to play football).
Sam Houston State 1-3-1 playing in Illinois. The Kats are 1-2-1 against Western Illinois in Macomb and lost once at Northern Illinois.
BOTH TEAMS FEATURE NEW HEAD COACHES
Both Sam Houston and Western Illinois have new coaches in 2010.
Willie Fritz became the 14th head football coach at Sam Houston last December. He has coached the past 13 years at the University of Central Missouri where he became the "winningest" head coach in the 113-year history of Mules football. Fritz compiled a 97-47 record that included eight consecutive years with seven or more victories.
Mark Hendrickson took over as WIU head coach in December after serving 10 seasons as assistant head coach for the Leathernecks.
From 1993 to 1996, Fritz was head coach at Blinn College where he turned around a program that had gone 5-24-1 in its three previous seasons and led the Buccaneers to two junior college national championships. Fritz went 39-5-1 in three years at Blinn including back-to-back 12-0 seasons his final two years.
The new Bearkat head coach is no stranger to Sam Houston. He served as a graduate assistant for Bearkat squads that went 16-6 in 1984 and 1985, winning the Gulf Star Conference championship in 1985. He was secondary and special teams coach for the Kats in 1991 and 1992, helping led SHSU to a Southland title in 1991. During both the 1991 and 1992 seasons the Bearkats faced the Leathernecks, tying 21-21 in Macomb in 1991 and winning 19-14 in Huntsville in 1992.
All four of his years at Sam Houston, Fritz worked for head coach Ron Randleman who coached Fritz when the new coach was a four-year starter as a defensive back at Pittsburgh State University. Fritz played on two conference championship teams at Pittsburgh State.
BEARKAT-LEATHERNECK FOOTBALL RIVALRY
Sam Houston and Western Illinois are meeting for the ninth time in the two universities' football histories. The Bearkats hold a slim edge in the series. SHSU was won four times, WIU three and there has been one tie. The Leathernecks have won the last two meetings, edging the Kats 35-28 in Huntsville last season and winning 41-13 in Macomb in 2001. WIU is 2-1-1 against Sam Houston on their home field.
Complete results in the SHSU-WIU football series:
Year Site Result SH Foe
1986 Macomb W 16 13
1997 Huntsville W 42 18
1991 Macomb T 21 21
1992 Huntsville W 19 14
2000 Macomb L 0 31
2001 Huntsville W 49 24
2002 Macomb L 13 41
2009 Huntsville L 28 35
LAST YEAR: WESTERN ILLINOIS 35, SAM HOUSTON 28
Sam Houston's 35-28 loss to Western Illinois in the 2009 season opener at Bowers Stadium in Huntsville literally went down to the final gun. With the ball at the WIU three-year line and no time remaining after a penalty, quarterback Blake Joseph attempted to force overtime with a pass in the end zone to Jason Madkins, but the pass fell short.
Joseph had converted two third downs and a fourth down play to move the Kats 65 yards in 12 plays before the final pass attempt. James Aston rushed for 126 yards on 18 carries and Joseph passed for 173 yards to lead SHSU. The defense contributed two touchdowns as Victor Carmichael returned a fumble 21 yards to give SHSU a 14-7 lead and Chris Brown raced 64 yards with an interception to put the Kats up 28-21 in the third quarter.
Matt Barr hit Lito Senatus for a 30-yard touchdown with 3:55 to go in the third quarter and Dre Gibbs scored on a six-yard run with 14:19 to go in the game for the winning WIU points.
SCOUTING THE LEATHERNECKS
Western Illinois (1-1) has been impressive in its first two games, blanking Valparaiso 45-0 in Macomb in the Leathernecks' opener and giving the Boilermakers a battle in a 31-21 loss at Purdue.
Senior quarterback Matt Barr, who threw for 437 yards and three touchdowns against Sam Houston last year, has completed 40 of 68 passes this season for 516 yards and three scores. His top receiver is Terruin Crump with 10 catches for 112 yards.
The Leathernecks feature a balanced offensive that has averaged 229.5 rushing yards in its two games. Bryce Flowers leads the WIU ground attack with 28 carries for 164 yards including three touchdowns.
SAM HOUSTON OPENED SEASON AT BAYLOR
Sam Houston's defense demonstrated it can be a force for the Bearkats this year and the offense showed flashes of promise in a 34-3 loss to the Baylor Bears of the Big 12 Saturday at Floyd-Casey Stadium.
Miguel Antonio provided the Kats their only points with a 27-yard field goal with 10:35 to play in the game following a 15-play, 59-yard drive.
The 42,821 fans at Floyd Casey Stadium comprised the fifth largest crowd ever to witness a Sam Houston State football game.
Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin completed 19 of 36 passes for 242 yards and two touchdowns and rushed four times for 50 yards and another score to pace the Bears. In the first three quarters, the Bearkats had three opportunities inside the Baylor's end of the field but fumbled once and missed two field goal attempts.
There were many bright spots for the young Bearkats. Darius Taylor and E. J. Nduka stopped Jay Finley for no gain on a fourth-and-one at the SHSU 23-yard line on Baylor's first offensive series. Taylor also picked up a fourth quarter sack of Griffin.
Former Australian rules player from Melbourne Matt Foster boomed a 43-yard punt on his first attempt in his first appearance in an American football game. Later Foster boomed a 49-yarder and completed the night with a 39.2 average on eight punts.
Robert Shaw broke up a Griffin pass in the end zone and caused another incompletion with a hard hit on a pass to the right sideline.
SAM HOUSTON BEARKAT FOOTBALL IN 2010
Sam Houston head coach Willie Fritz knew coming into the season that he was going to have his hands full turning around the Bearkats' football program. Sam Houston returns only 29 of the 63 players who lettered on last year's 5-6 squad.
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) are among the returnees. Sam Houston does not return a running back who touched a ball in the 2009 season and the Bearkats' top six receivers from last year are 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.
The Bearkats' 44-man two-deep for the Baylor game breaks down as follows - 12 freshmen (7 offense, 5 defense); 16 sophomores (7 offense, 9 defense), 10 juniors (6 offense, 4 defense) and 6 seniors (2 offense, 4 defense).
"We lost a bunch of guys - 27 seniors - from last year's group," Fritz said. "I'm excited about the kids we have coming back and the body of work they are doing. I like the direction we are going. I feel like we signed a good class. I like the staff we have put together. I think this is going to be a good mix. It will be an interesting season that is for sure, but we are looking forward to it."
SHSU's coordinators both are former Southland Conference head coaches - Bob DeBesse (Southwest Texas) and Scott Stoker (Northwestern State).
THE BEARKAT OFFENSE
The biggest change for the 2010 Bearkats will come on offense where Sam Houston will look to become more balanced.
"I think you have to run the ball successfully to win," Fritz said. "We are going to control the game and we are going to look and see where the weaknesses are and see what we can take advantage of. We will have a lot of different formations, but most everything we are going to do is with the same philosophy."
Senior quarterback Bryan Randolph earned the starting role during spring practice. He has been the backup the last two years, playing behind Rhett Bomar (now with the New York Giants) in 2008 and Blake Joseph (who passed for 2,440 yards and 14 touchdowns last year). Backing up Randolph is redshirt junior Greg Sprowls.
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. Freshmen Ridgeway Frank (Spring HS) and Cameron Brown (Austin LBJ HS) and Louisiana Tech transfer D. J. Morrow (Palestine Westwood HS) will carry the load.
Junior center Travis Watson and left tackle Chris Crockett were starters in 2008 who missed playing in 2009 because of injury. Sophomore tackle Kaleb Hopson was a starter as a freshman last year and sophomore tackle Rily Smith and guard Cameron Pound were backups last year, giving the Kats an experienced front line.
Wide receivers Brandon Closner and Melvis Pride and tight end T. J. Jones were the only returning Bearkats to catch passes last year (combining for 13 catches for 170 yards).
THE BEARKAT DEFENSE
It is no secret that one of Sam Houston's biggest weaknesses last season came in the secondary. The Bearkats started three freshmen, two safeties and a cornerback, who got on-the-job training while taking their fair share of lumps. Sam Houston ranked sixth out of eight teams in the Southland Conference in pass defense at 253.5 yards a game. Things got better towards the end of the season including a victory over Central Arkansas in which the Kats gave up only 106 yards passing and picked off two passes.
What was once a major weakness could now be a strength for the Kats heading into this season. Those three freshmen - Darnell Taylor, Kenneth Jenkins and Robert Shaw - are a year older, and more importantly, have now been in defensive coordinator Scott Stoker's scheme for an entire season.
Throw in senior cornerback Jarvis Pippins and senior safeties Victor Carmichael and Brandon Bruce, and Sam Houston all of the sudden has a veteran secondary.
Linebacker is another solid position with four veterans - Will Henry, Kash David, Darius Taylor and Eric Fieilo - all returning. Henry is the only player among nine Bearkats who were recognized as All-Southland Conference last year back for 2010.
Up front, the defensive line is untested but has performed well in preseason camp with E. J. Nduka, Dwight Kennedy, J. T. Cleveland and Eddie Decambre listed as starters.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Miguel Antonio, who led Sam Houston in scoring with 73 points on 12 field goals and 37 PATs as a true freshman in 2009, returns. Matt Foster, a veteran of Australian rules football in Melbourne, will handle punting chores. A redshirt at Purdue last year, Foster will be played in his first American football game in the opener at Baylor.
Another area where the Kats expect to create opportunities for the offense through special teams play is the "Block Party." A special teams tradition established when Willie Fritz was special teams coordinator for Sam Houston in 1991 and 1992, the "Block Party" has seen Sam Houston block 80 punts, field goals and extra points in the 14 seasons from 1991 to 2004. Already, special teams has blocked three field goals in preseason scrimmages.
