Sam Houston vs. Gardner-Webb Game Notes
9/23/2010 8:27:00 AM | Football
BEARKAT FAMILY WEEKEND
There has never been a Sam Houston home football like it. That's the buzz around the university as fans look forward to Bearkat Family Weekend on Saturday Sept. 25 when the football squad plays its 2010 home opener against the Gardner-Webb Bulldogs.
The 6 p.m. event at Bowers Stadium will feature a special guest appearance by the Houston Texans cheerleaders, a postgame fireworks extravaganza presented by Magic in the Sky of San Antonio, a fly-over by U.S. Army helicopters, the Bearkat band's march from the SHSU Mall to the biggest Bearkat Alley tailgate ever and the "Hillcrest Ford Heroes" halftime salute to military veterans and Walker County police and fire department emergency service personnel.
Fans attending Bearkat Family Weekend will have a chance for one-on-one interaction with U.S. military personnel and veterans in special pregame activities. If weather permits, U.S. Army Black Hawk and Apache helicopters will land on the intramural field west of Bowers Stadium at 2 p.m. The center piece at tailgate will be the huge U.S. Army 18-wheeler which houses demonstrations of the medical capabilities of the U.S. Army. Also on view will be the Veterans Resource Center mobile van highlighting veterans' services.
The Sam Houston band's 4 p.m. march from the SHSU mall to Bearkat Alley will kickoff the Bearkat Family Weekend tailgate. After the Bowers Stadium gates open at 4:30 p.m., the Houston Texans cheerleaders will be signing autographs just inside the north entrance under the scoreboard. The Texans cheerleader program manager Alto Gary has overseen trips overseas to entertain U.S. military personnel.
Immediately following the football game, a fantastic fireworks display will complete a night of sports and entertainment . The show will be presented one of Texas' premiere fireworks companies - Magic In The Sky.
SOUTHLAND CONFERENCE NETWORK TELECAST
The Sam Houston vs. Gardner-Webb game will kickoff the 2010 football season for the Southland Television Network.
Entering its third year of programing, the network has affiliates from 14 stations across Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas that will reach roughly six million households. The network will feature 10 telecasts of Southland football this year.
The game will be viewed in the Greater Houston area on KNWS-TV Channel 51.
KSAM RADIO
All Sam
BEARKAT FAMILY WEEKEND RECORD
Saturday's game marks the 26th annual Family Weekend football game at Bowers Stadium. The Bearkats are 20-5 in the prevous 25 contests.
Sam Houston owns a record of 86 victories, 41 losses and one tie in games in Huntsville since the facility opened in 1986.
BEARKATS VERSUS RUNNIN' BULLDOGS
Sam Houston and Gardner-Webb meet for the second time in the two universities' football histories. The Bearkats defeated the Bulldogs 49-33 in Boiling Springs, NC, in 2008. Sam Houston rolled up a 42-10 halftime lead behind the passing of Rhett Bomar and the running of James Aston. But the Bulldogs fought back, scoring 23 second half points. The game marked the farthest east that Sam Houston has ever traveled for a road football contest.
SECOND NCAA DIVISION I FCS OPPONENT
Gardner-Webb is the second NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision opponent for the Bearkats this year. The Runnin' Bulldogs are members of the Big South 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.
SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
Gardner-Webb (2-1) has been impressive in its first three games, posting a 28-14 win at home against Brevard and defeating NCAA Division I FBS opponent Akron 38-37 in overtime on the road. Akron is a member of the Mid-American Conference. The Bulldogs fell 28-14 against Western Carolina Saturday.
Quarterback John Rock directs a GWU offense that is averaging 129 yards per game rushing and 222 passing. Rock has completed 33 of 60 passes for 375 yards and 3 TDs. Running back Juanne Blount has rushed for 227 yards and two touchdowns (averaging 5.4 yards per carry). The top Bulldog receiver is James Perry with 20 catches for 179 yards and two scores.
GWU's defense is a team strength. The Bulldogs are surrendering only 291.3 yards total offense to their opponents.
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.
SECOND LOSS AT WESTERN ILLINOIS
Western Illinois quarterback threw for 221 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for 125 yards and a 69-yard score to lead the Leathernecks to a 56-14 victory over Sam Houston Saturday afternoon at Hansen Field.
Western Illinois struck first on a one-yard dive into the end zone by Bryce Flowers to complete a nine-play, 89-yard drive with 3:21 to play in the first quarter.
Sam Houston forced the Leathernecks to punt on their next two possessions, but turned the ball over to WIU on a fumble at the Bearkat one-yard line on the first play after a punt. Dwight Harris recovered the fumble and Coulton Ray scored on the next play to go up 14-0 with 9:32 left in the second quarter.
Brandon Closner broke loose for a 53-yard kickoff return to the WIU 45 to set up the first touchdown of the season for the Bearkats. Transfer running back Tim Flanders rolled off runs of 12, five and 33 yards, the last dash around left end for the score. Miguel Antonio made cut the Leatherneck lead to 14-7 with 7:46 to play in the period.
The Leathernecks bounced right back as Barr ran a naked reverse 69 yards to up the score to 21-7 just 12 seconds later.
Sam Houston rallied again, driving 80 yards in four plays for another Flanders score, this time on a 31-yard dash. Western Illinois held a 21- 14 lead with 5:56 to go before intermission.
WIU completed the second quarter scoring spree with nine-yard scoring pass from Barr to Lito Senatus to complete an eight play, 82-yard drive and make the score at halftime 28-14.
The Leathernecks rolled up 21 more points in the third period. Barr hit Justin Morgan for a 13-yard pass, Todd Speight dashed 24 yards and Barr passed to Terriun Crump for 43 yards for the three scores to go up 49-14 at the end of the period. A 50-yard interception return by Ryan Waldron set up Western Illinois' final touchdown.
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."
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 are freshman Brian Bell and junior Greg Sprowls. Bell came off the bench to direct two scoring drives at WIU.
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 transfers D. J. Morrow (Louisiana Tech) and Tim Flanders (Kansas State) will carry the load.
Flanders rushed 23 times for 156 yards and two touchdowns in last Saturday's contest at WIU.
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.
TICKET INFORMATION
Sam Houston students and employees will receive one (1) general admission ticket on game day by presenting their BearkatOne card at the northeast entrance of Bowers Stadium. The student entrance is located under the scoreboard near the primary Bearkat Alley tailgate area. For students and employees who like to plan in advance a new "Student Reserved" section has been put in place in the west grandstand. The seats are right at mid-field in the first 10 rows directly behind the Bearkat team bench.
Each student or employee, with a valid BearkatOne card number, may pick up one (1) general admission ticket on the west side of Bowers Stadium for themselves.There is a limit of 500 tickets that are distributed on "The Mall" Monday-Thursday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. or until supplies last, whichever comes first. All students and employees who have not picked up an advance ticket must enter through the north gate and have access to the east grandstand next to the SHSU band. Gates open 90 minutes before kickoff.
Tickets for all Bearkat home football games are onsale online now at www.gobearkats.com/tickets or at the Sam Houston athletic ticket office located in the Ron Mafrige Field House in the south end zone of Bowers Stadium. Ticket office hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The ticket office telephone number is 936 294-1729.
