Looking back at 14-0 season
12/31/2011 8:07:00 AM | Football
But, as the Bearkats enter the final week of preparation for the NCAA Division I Football Championship game Saturday, Jan. 7, in Frisco, squad members have different opinions of when exactly each realized the team's potential .
For All-Southland Conference quarterback Brian Bell, the moment came at a team meeting following the completion of Sam Houston's 2010 season.
"Just before Christmas break, the week of the NCAA semifinals, Coach (Willie) Fritz brought us all in for a team meeting," the sophomore from China Spring recalled. "He put three things up on the board. He wrote '6-5' and followed that with 'average.' Then he wrote '8-3 good' and finally '10-1 great'.
"Coach Fritz said that 6-5, average, is what we were in 2010. He crossed out 'good' and told us he thought we could go straight to 'great' in 2011. Right at that moment, we thought he was a little crazy, but having the coaching staff show they believed in us and what we were capable of really helped us and our confidence."
For Southland Conference "Player of the Year" Tim Flanders, the realization of the potential of the 2011 team came in spring training in March and April.
"Everyone came into spring camp more committed than ever before," the sophomore running back from Midwest City, Oklahoma, said. "We had a very good camp and a great spring game. Once we got the winning streak going in the fall, we just kept building on what had started during the spring."
Southland Conference "Defensive Player of the Year" Darnell Taylor points to Sam Houston's 48-45 overtime victory at New Mexico in the third game of the 2011 season.
"We didn't play as well defensively in that game, but when we beat an FBS team on the road in Albuquerque, holding them to a field goal in overtime, we knew we had a chance to win every game," the junior safety from Mesquite.
Another milestone victory for the Bearkats was the 38-14 win over No. 24 McNeese State in midseason. The victory marked only the second time Sam Houston had beaten McNeese at Cowboy Stadium in Sam Houston's 24 years in the Southland Conference.
"One of the big things our coaches have emphasized all year is focusing on going 1-0 each week," Southland Conference "Offensive Player of the Year" Richard Sincere said. "That's what we've done every game and we've gone 1-0 each week for 14 straight weeks."
The 14-0 record stands as the only perfect mark in NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision play this year and earned the Bearkats the No. 1 seed in the playoffs. Sam Houston goes up against No. 2 seed North Dakota State in the finals at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco.
While the players each have their own moment when they realized the team's potential, all four players see the playing the national finals in a sold out Pizza Hut Park stadium as the perfect conclusion to an exciting year.
"North Dakota State has an outstanding team and its going to be a great game," Bell said.
The NCAA Division I championship game will be televised nationally on ESPN2. Kickoff is 12 noon Saturday.
