A Race Against Time
8/21/2014 10:29:00 AM | Football
With only two days left before Sam Houston kicks off the 2014 season against No. 1 Eastern Washington Saturday afternoon on ESPN, Bearkat head coach K. C. Keeler believes his team is in a race against time.
“With so many new faces in the line-up, we're a team in transition,” Keeler said. “We started preseason camp July 27, the earliest start for any program in the country. The kids and the coaches are excited. But we still have lots to accomplish to be ready for Saturday.”
The Eagles and the Bearkats face off in the FCS Kickoff at 2:35 p.m. Saturday afternoon (Central Time). The contest is the only college game on TV this weekend. Coverage of FBS football does not being until Thursday, August 28.
“I like who we are talent wise,” Keeler said. “We're in a race against time to get ourselves feeling good about execution, handling adversity, chemistry and all those things. We have 18 different starters from the spring game. We're busy right now putting the final touches on.”
Sam Houston defeated Eastern Washington 49-34 in a regular season home game at Elliott T. Bowers Stadium last season. Running back Timothy Flanders led the way, earning FCS national player of the week honors by carrying 32 times for 280 yards as the Kats upset the No. 2 ranked Eagles.
Fifteen players who started against Eastern Washington last year are gone, however, and a host of newcomers plus returning players who saw action in 2013 as reserves are back to have their opportunity for more time on the field.
“This is a whole different team and that can be an advantage for us,” Keeler said. “We're going to be doing a lot of new things. I like who we are talent wise. We're not more talented than everyone we play, but we're never going to come into a game thinking it's an uphill battle against better talent. The outcome is going to come down to the intangibles.”
Sam Houston departs for Cheney, Washington, Friday at 9:30 a.m. The Bearkats own victories in each of their previous meetings with the Eagles. The Kats won 35-34 in the NCAA quarterfinals in 2004 and 45-42 in the NCAA semifinals in 2012.
Each time the two teams have met, both have been nationally ranked. This year Eastern Washington is the preseason No. 1 in The Sporting News poll while the Bearkats have been ranked No. 14 in the NCAA Coaches poll.
Bearkat alumni and fans across the state and the nation are scheduling FCS Kickoff “Watch Parties” for the August 23 SHSU versus EWU showdown. See this link for list of watch parties and locations.
Use this link to purchase Sam Houston football tickets.
