This Week In The Southland Conference
10/31/2012 6:37:00 AM | Football
Saturday, Nov. 3
Southeastern La. at Sam Houston St.*, 2 p.m.
McNeese St. at Nicholls St.*, 3 p.m. (SLCTV)
Lamar at Stephen F. Austin*, 6 p.m.
Northwestern St. at Central Arkansas* 7 p.m. (HC; SLCTV)
All times Central; (HC) designates homecoming
The next two weekends will decide the 2012 Southland Conference football championship.
Central Arkansas can clinch no worse than a share of the 2012 Southland Conference championship if the Bears can get past Northwestern State in its final conference game of the season Saturday at 7 p.m. in Conway.
The Bears are 5-1 in league play and are among three one-loss teams with three weeks remaining in the season. Sam Houston State is 4-1 with two league games to play and Southeastern Louisiana is 3-1 with three conference games to go. The Bearkats and Lions meet Saturday at 2 p.m. in Huntsville..
The winner of the Sam Houston vs. Southeastern game remains in contention for the league title and a loss cannot be overcome provided Central Arkansas wins Saturday against the Demons.
The Bearkats visit Northwestern State Nov. 10 in their conference finale so the Demons could play the role of spoiler each of the next two weeks if Sam Houston beats Southeastern. The Lions play host to Stephen F. Austin Nov. 10 before closing its season Thursday, Nov. 15 at Nicholls State. In other games Saturday, McNeese State is at Nicholls State and Lamar is at Stephen F. Austin.
When Sam Houston State welcomes Southeastern to Bowers Stadium on Saturday it will be the 14th meeting between the schools. The Bearkats hold a 9-4 lead in the series and have won the last two contests, including 38-9 last year in Hammond and 57-7 in 2010, the last time the teams played in Huntsville.
For the second consecutive week, the Southland Conference Television Network will feature a doubleheader. The network will televise McNeese State at Nicholls State and Northwestern State at Central Arkansas with the first game scheduled for 3 p.m. and the nightcap slated for 7 p.m.
Sam Houston State continues to climb in both FCS polls, checking in at No. 4 this week in both the Sports Network and FCS Coaches polls. The Bearkats have moved up one spot each of the last three weeks after losses among the top-five teams. Central Arkansas is No. 13 in both polls this week, up one spot in each poll. Sam Houston and UCA are the only Southland teams in the polls this week. McNeese is receiving votes in both polls and is joined in that column of the Sports Network poll by Stephen F. Austin. The Bearkats, who were the preseason No. 1 team in the Sports Network poll and started the year No. 2 in the coaches' poll, have been ranked in the top 10 all season.
Sam Houston State junior running back Timothy Flanders was named the Southland Conference Offensive Player of the Week after he ran for 131 yards and four touchdowns on 16 carries to lead Sam Houston to a 56-7 victory at Lamar last Saturday. He scored on runs of 7, 1, 59 and 10 yards. His four touchdowns is one short of the school record five he totaled in an overtime win at New Mexico last year. His 59-yard score is the third longest of his career and marked his seventh career touchdown run of more than 50 yards. It was his 20th career 100-yard rushing performance.
Sam Houston State is riding a conference-best five game win streak after beating Lamar 56-7 last Saturday in Beaumont.
Running back Timothy Flanders ranks as the sixth all-time leading rusher in Southland history with 3,395 career yards. Former Texas State player Claude Mathis gained 4,694 yards from 1994-97 is the all-time Southland leader. Flanders is No. 3 in both Southland career rushing touchdowns (47) and career total touchdowns (50).
QB Brian Bell threw his 40th career touchdown pass Saturday vs. Lamar to become Sam Houston's all-time leader in career touchdown passes. Dustin Long previously held the mark with 39 scoring passes in 2004. Bell, now with 4,924 yards, ranks behind only Rhett Bomar (5,964 yards in 2007-08) in career passing at Sam Houston.
Safety Darnell Taylor totaled four solo and five total tackles in the Lamar victory to become only the fourth Bearkat to chalk up more than 200 career solo stops. Taylor has 209 solo tackles. The school career record is 215 by Stan Blinka (1975-78).
Southeastern Louisiana dropped its first conference game of the season last Saturday on homecoming against Central Arkansas. Southeastern fell to 26-23-1 in Homecoming games dating back to 1946 and 4-6 since resuming football in 2003.
The loss to UCA moved Southeastern's record against ranked opponents since 2003 to 5-15 overall and 4-8 in Hammond. Deespite the loss, Southeastern remains in contention for a conference championship, but it must win its remaining games against Sam Houston State, Stephen F. Austin and Nicholls.
Tony McCrea's 9-yard touchdown reception in the third quarter last week against UCA was the first of his career. McCrea's 45-yard pass to Chris Malott on the game's first play was the Lions' longest pass of the season. Freshman Xavier Roberson caught his first collegiate pass for a 20-yard touchdown - the first freshman since Simmie Yarborough (against Alcorn State in 2008) to score a touchdown on his first career reception. Roberson's 36-yard run in third quarter was the Lions' longest run of the year.
Tickets for the Sam Houston vs. Southeastern Louisiana football game Saturday at 2 p.m. are now available online at www.gobearkats.com/tickets or at the SHSU athletic ticket office located in the Ron Mafrige Field House at Bowers Stadium.
Ticket office hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m Monday through Friday. The ticket office telephone is (936) 294-1764.
