Football Focused On Lamar
10/27/2012 8:03:00 AM | Football
In the midst of a push for the Southland championship and the FCS playoffs, the fifth-ranked SHSU Bearkats realize they can't underestimate any of their final three conference foes. That includes Lamar, who they take on this afternoon in Beaumont.
"We're playing hard," Kats center Chris Rogers said following Thursday's practice. "Every week's a playoff week for us right now. It's a do-or-die situation, so we've got to get out there and win every week and go 1-0 every week.
"The mindset's 1-0 right now. If you try to catch two fish, you're going to come home with none. We've got to go ahead and win every game one by one and see what happens."
Despite the Cardinals possessing a losing overall record and a winless mark in Southland play, Sam Houston (3-1 in conference, 5-2 overall) knows they present a much stiffer challenge than the results indicate.
In its three losses in the past four weeks, all coming in Southland games by a total of 27 points, Lamar has found a way to remain competitive throughout those contests.
In each of those losses to league-leading Southeastern Louisiana, second-place Central Arkansas and Northwestern State, the Cardinals (0-3, 3-5) had opportunities to overcome deficits but just couldn't convert and that's cost them some victories.
"Lamar has been feeling real good about themselves," Sam Houston coach Willie Fritz said. "They had a close game last week against Central Ark, 24-14, and controlled the football for 25 of 30 minutes (in the second half), which is unheard of. They just didn't produce points.
"They're looking to knock somebody off. They lost 31-21 against Southeastern Louisiana and Southeastern had a couple of kicks returned for touchdowns. Then Northwestern beat them by a touchdown.
"They're playing everybody tough. I really see them playing hard right now. They do a good job of playing hard."
What makes Lamar a tougher team to beat this fall - the Cardinals finished the 2011 Southland campaign with a 2-5 record, losing by an average of more than 24 points - is that it has a new offensive coordinator (Larry Kueck) and that it's led by quarterback Caleb Berry and running back Herschel Sims. With Sims and Berry in the backfield in recent weeks, Lamar has been able to win the time of possession battle and methodically move down the field.
That will make things more problematic for a defense like Sam Houston's to make sure it doesn't make any mistakes and open up running lanes.
Keeping the opposing offense on the sidelines is what the Lamar coaching staff plans on, which would prevent the kind of 66-0 shellacking that the Bearkats doled out on the Cardinals last season in Huntsville.
"This upcoming weekend, if we don't play our gaps, we're going to be in some trouble," Bearkats defensive end Jarrett Brown said. "We'll see some different stuff than what we saw last year. They've got some different stuff, so we've been game planning on what they do against what they did last year. They've got new players, they've got a good running back and he likes to run and cut back to the other side, so we've got to be gap-sound."
To make things a little more difficult, the Kats will be without senior linebacker Darius Taylor, who was suspended for today's game by the Southland for a hit against Nicholls on Oct. 13.
"We miss him a lot. He's a good player and he makes a lot of plays," Brown said of Taylor's upcoming absence. "He gives us the calls.
"The next guy has got to be ready. You never know when the situation comes and the next guy has to pay attention in meetings and take it out on the field. So if he's put in the hot seat, he can give us the calls and we can keep moving."
That next guy is sophomore Jeremy Jackson, Taylor's back-up. This isn't the first time that Jackson had to stand in for Taylor. After the hard-hitting senior was knocked out of the game against Baylor, Jackson stepped in and finished with six tackles, including a 5-yard sack.
"I'm hoping to have that same Jeremy attitude and confidence that he had in that Baylor game. He had that confidence as he made that big play on the quarterback," Brown added. "I hope we get that same Jeremy."
The Kats know that there may not be as many chances to put up 40-plus points like they did against Stephen F. Austin, Nicholls and McNeese State, considering that Lamar has statistically the third-best defense (338.3 yards allowed per game) in the conference in Southland contests. Still, they feel like they're executing at a level that allows them to maximize their possessions.
"We're mixing it up real well. Everybody's playing hard. We're getting healthy," Rogers said. "We're starting to understand the system and getting to where we're getting the basics down and we can do different things with the offense. We're starting to expand and do things that are fun and we can make big plays off of.
"We just have to play our game. They've got a good defense. They've got one of the best defenses in the conference, so we've got to go out there and play our game. We can't let them get in our heads or do anything that's going to alter how we prepare every week and play."
Today's game will be televised on KUBE (Suddenlink channel 15) and the kickoff is set for 3 p.m.
Sam Houston plays host to Southeastern Louisiana next Saturday Nov. 3 in the final home game of the 2012 regular season.
Tickets for the Bearkats versus Lions game at Bowers Stadium and the Kats' regular season finale at Texas A&M are available online now at www.gobearkats.com/tickets .
