Bearkats to learn from first football game at Waco
9/7/2010 11:12:00 AM | Football
By Cody Stark
Huntsville Assistant Sports Editor
In a 34-3 loss to Baylor in which the Bears struck for several big plays and limited Sam Houston to only 195 yards total offense, there were a number of positives of the Bearkats.
"We are still learning. We are learning how to play hard, but we are not there yet," head coach Willie Fritz said. "We are competing hard on every single play, we just have a bunch of young guys. We had a couple of chances to get some points, but we didn't take advantage of it. We are very young on offense.
"We came up with some big plays on defense. The defense was out there a lot. It is a tough game when you are not moving the ball offensively. We gave up some big plays. Again, it was the first game working out the kinks. We are going to get a lot better and we will be a lot better in two weeks."
Sam Houston had two true freshmen and 10 sophomores in the starting lineup. Only two seniors, quarterback Bryan Randolph and defensive back Jarvis Pippins are seniors.
On the 65 players on the travel roster to Waco roster, more than one third were seeing their first NCAA Division I football action.
"We definitely struggled in the first half. I think it was jitters for all of us, including me," said Randolph, who completed 12 of 23 passes for 102 yards. "Once we got the ball rolling and took a couple of hits, it was OK. Anytime you play a team like that, you have to have some explosive plays, and we didn't have any of those tonight."
Lost in the final score was the play of the Sam Houston State defense. The Bearkats did struggle with the big plays, giving up a 30-yard touchdown run to Griffin and a 44-yard scoring run to running back Jay Finley, which made it 28-0 at the beginning of the third quarter.
Sam Houston stopped the Bears on fourth down on the first possession of the game and forced four punts and a missed field goal as Baylor's starters played well into the fourth quarter.
The Bears just had too much speed in the open field and the Bearkats didn't do themselves any favors with eight penalties for 77 yards.
Baylor finished with 463 yards of total offense. Griffin threw for 242 yards and added 59 on the ground.
"When we are playing a good team like Baylor, it is hard to win when you give up the big plays," said SHSU senior cornerback Robert Shaw, who broke up two passes, including one in the end zone. "We gave up four big plays. You have to be consistent on everything you do and that hurt us a lot."
The Bearkats mostly relied on their running game Saturday. Redshirt freshman Tim Flanders came off the bench to rush for 40 yards on four carries in the fourth quarter.
True freshman Ridgeway Frank gained 24 yards on 10 carries and sophomore D.J. Morrow had 23 on 14 touches.
"The thing I am looking forward to is really evaluating the tape and looking at what kind of effort we player with and which guys are competing," Fritz said. "The guys that are really doing it are going to play more."
The Bearkats are off next weekend, but return to action Sept. 18 on the road at Western Illinois.
Sam Houston opens its home schedule on Saturday Sept. 25 with Bearkat Family Weekend against Gardner-Webb. Special events during the evening include an appearance by the Houston Texans cheerleaders, a salute to Hillcrest Heroes honoring local police and fire-fighters, a huge pregame tailgate and a postgame fireworks display.
Other home games will be Oct. 16 (Homecoming) vs. Southeastern Louisiana, Nov. 6 vs. McNeese State and Nov. 20 vs. Texas State. The final three home games will kickoff at 2 p.m.
Season tickets for Bearkat football at Bowers Stadium are available through the new exciting "2-2-2" offer, order your tickets now by going to the Bearkat tickets page on www.gobearkats.com or call (936) 294-1729.
The "2-2-2" offer also includes two corner tickets to the "Battle of the Piney Woods" game with Stephen F. Austin at Reliant Stadium in Houston on October 23.
Fans also may visit the Sam Houston athletic ticket office located in the Ron Mafrige Field House located in the south end zone of Bowers Stadium. Ticket office hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Sam Houston will open the season Saturday Sept. 4 at Baylor and follow that game with a second road contest Sept. 18 at Western Illinois.
