Sam Houston vs. Lamar football game notes
9/29/2010 12:21:00 PM | Football
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
After winning their home opener Saturday 30-14 over Gardner-Webb, Sam Houston's young football team heads back on the road for two weeks. The Bearkats renew an old rivalry against the Lamar Cardinals Saturday in Beaumont then open Southland Conference play at Nicholls, October 9.
Sam Houston is playing four of its first five games on the road in 2010. The Bearkats lost to Baylor 34-3 at Waco and Western Illinois 56-14 at Macomb to start the year.
RADIO / INTERNET
Saturday's Sam Houston vs. Lamar game will be broadcast live by KSAM 101.7 FM and on the internet at www.gobearkats.com
YOUTH MOVEMENT
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 and two had a big hand in Sam Houston's first victory of the season Saturday over Gardner-Webb.
True freshman Brian Bell of China Springs passed for 163 yards and two touchdowns in his first college start. Red-shirt running back Tim Flanders rushed for 104 yards including a 54-yard touchdown.
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.
FRESHMEN RUNNING BACKS
Tim Flanders, freshman running back from Midwest City, Okla., has produced back-to-back 100-yard rushing games. He carried 21 tunes for 154 yards and two touchdowns at Western Illinois and 19 times for 104 yards and a 54-yard score against Gardner-Webb.
Flanders is the first Sam Houston freshman to post consecutive 100-yard rushing games. Only three other Bearkat backs have produced two or more 100-yard games as freshmen. Joe Rauls had three 100-yard games in 1998 and James Oliphant and Stevie Smith each had two in 1973 and 2002, respectively.
The complete list of 100-yard rushing performances by Sam Houston freshmen:
Player Year Performance & Opponent
James Oliphant 1973 22 for 191 vs. Abilene Christian
Tim Flanders 2010 21 for 154 vs. Western Illinois
Joe Rauls 1998 32 for 147 vs. Southwest Texas
Stevie Smith 2002 22 for 145 vs. Jacksonville State
Joe Rauls 1998 20 for 126 vs. Nicholls
Charles Harris 1991 24 for 123 vs. Southwest Texas
Eric Polk 1997 19 for 119 vs. Texas Southern
Joe Vickers 1971 17 for 114 vs. Tarleton State
Joe Rauls 1998 21 for 111 vs. Angelo State
James Oliphant 1973 19 for 107 vs. Angelo State
Stevie Smith 2002 13 for 105 vs. Nicholls
Tim Flanders 2010 19 for 104 vs. Gardner-Webb
RENEWING AN OLD RIVALRY
Sam Houston and Lamar meet for the 31st time in the two university's football history. Lamar dropped football after the 1989 season and is bringing the sport back this year.
The Bearkats and the Cardinals played together in the Lone Star Conference from 1935 to 1962 and continued the rivalry in non-conference encounters periodically through the 1970s and 1980s.
Sam Houston leads the all-time series with 21 victories, nine losses and one tie. Lamar defeated Sam Houston 14-0 in the pair's last meeting in the Cardinals' final season of play in 1989.
SCOUTING THE CARDINALS
Lamar opened eyes across the Southland Conference battling defending league co-champion McNeese in a 30-27 loss at Lake Charles, La., in the Cardinals' opener and upsetting Southeastern Louisiana in Hammond 29-28 two weeks later. Lamar also defeated Webber International 21-14 in their first home game.
The Cardinals feature a wide open offensive attack. Quarterback Andre Bevil has completed 89 of 155 passes for 1,193 yards and 10 touchdowns in four games.
His top receivers are J.J. Hayes with 22 catches for 267 yards and five scores and Marcus Jackson who has 20 receptions for 319 yards and two touchdowns.
Cody Hussey leads the Lamar ground game with 32 carries for 114 yards.
Asim Hicks and Jonathan Ekpe anchor the defense. Hicks has totaled 37 tackles including two sacks and three tackles for loss. Ekpe has been credited with 22 tackles.
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 - 11 freshmen (6 offense, 5 defense); 17 sophomores (8 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. "We told every kid we recruited that, if you want to play this year, you have the opportunity. Coming into preseason camp in August, every position was wide open. 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."
Brian Bell, a true freshman from China Spring, took over the starting quarterback assignment in the Gardner-Webb game. Bell came off the bench in the second quarter at Western Illinois and directed the team to two touchdown drives.
Senior quarterback Bryan Randolph started both at Baylor and WIU. He had 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).
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.
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. Antonio was named Southland Conference "Special Teams Player of the Week" following the 30-14 victory over Gardner-Webb. Antonio kicked three field goals and was perfect on three extra points.
Matt Foster, a veteran of Australian rules football in Melbourne, will handle punting chores. A red-hirt 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.
