Kats know target is on their back
7/25/2013 11:13:00 AM | Football
During the past two seasons, the Bearkats have managed growing expectations like pros, winning a pair of Southland Conference championships and twice appearing in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Game.
Heading into the 2013 campaign, all eyes are on Sam Houston State once again to carry the conference.
At the 2013 Southland Conference Media Day at L'auberge Casino Resort, the Kats were an overwhelming favorite by the league's coaches to win a third straight conference championship.
“Really, we just expect to win. That's the main thing,” Bearkats running back Timothy Flanders said. “We expect to go out and win conference. That's one of the things Coach (Willie) Fritz has preached since he first got here. Now it's gotten to the point to where everybody gets better each year. You can't look past them because everybody gets better each year.”
The Bearkats were tabbed to finish first, earning six of seven possible first-place votes. Head coaches cannot pick their own team to win the conference title.
Central Arkansas, which picked up one first-place vote, and McNeese State were selected to finish second and third, respectively. Stephen F. Austin, which collected the final first-place vote, and Southeastern Louisiana followed fourth and fifth with the list being rounded up by Northwestern State, Lamar and Nicholls.
“We've got a lot of our fans really looking forward to this year. We have a lot of things we kind of owe to them, I'd guess you'd say,” Kats quarterback Brian Bell said. “We're really looking forward to this year. There's not really an easy team in our conference. It'll be a challenge. We're looking forward to playing each and every game. We're hoping to win the title outright. We're going to have to come to play each and every week.
“I can't stress enough how good our conference is going to be. Our conference is going to be competitive nationally this coming up year and hopefully we'll get a couple of teams in that will make it deep. This year, we've got a new team and a new motto. We've got a new outlook on things. We're really looking to come in and have the highest expectations, but take it one week at a time.”
Sam Houston State has been on both sides of the coin in regards to preseason hype and expectations.
Prior to the 2011 season, the Bearkats were picked by the coaches to finish fourth in the league, but ran the table with 14 straight wins through the regular season and the playoffs to earn a spot to play for the FCS national championship.
Then last fall, the Kats were picked to repeat as conference champs. Despite falling to Central Arkansas in an early matchup, Sam Houston State rolled past six consecutive conference opponents and claimed a share of the Southland championship, along with the Bears.
With another big target on their backs, the Bearkats know what the expectations will be and how to manage it in 2013.
“Going into my sophomore year, I think, we were picked sixth or something like that, so we knew we were going to be the underdog pretty much every game. We really looked forward just to coming out and giving our very best,” Bell said.
“Going into last year, we had that X on our back, I guess you would say, and everybody was going to be gunning for us. We kind of felt that. It kind of really showed when we went into Central Arkansas. We just came off a big loss at Baylor. Really, we were trying to get a win and get out of Conway, (Ark.). We kind of let it slip away and lost. Our eyes were really opened from that point on.
“It's going to be the same way this year. Everybody is going to be gunning for us. We've got a lot of great teams in this conference. We're really looking forward to bringing our 'A' game each and every week.”
In order to put a third consecutive Southland Conference championship in the trophy case, the Bearkats know they've got their work cut out for them as the rest of the league is catching up, while Central Arkansas is looking to take the next step and win the title outright.
For much of the season, though, the Kats won't have to go far from home with games played at Bowers Stadium in five of the first six contests and seven of the first 10. The regular season concludes with a pair of long road trips to Hammond, La., for a contest against Southeastern Louisiana, followed by a showdown at Central Arkansas.
“I'm excited about the upcoming year. I'm always excited for every season. I've got a bunch of guys I've been with for four years, who are really quality football players, people and a great staff. We're looking forward to the challenges this year,” Fritz said.
“We've got a great schedule. We've got some tough games in there. One game that's kind of overlooked a little bit, we're playing a team that's going to be competing for a national championship in Eastern Washington. We're going over to A&M, we've got seven home games and the Piney Woods game is always a great game every year. We're very, very excited about the upcoming year.”
Reserved bench seat season tickets for all seven Sam Houston home games at Bowers Stadium plus the Nov. 2 “Battle of the Piney Woods” game at Reliant Stadium are on sale now at www.gobearkats.com and at the SHSU athletic ticket office.
The ticket office is located in the Ron Mafrige Field House at Bowers Stadium. Hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The ticket office telephone number is (936) 294-1729.
