Improvement apparent during second scrimmage
8/17/2016 1:08:00 PM | Football
HUNTSVILLE – There were no complaints Wednesday morning about Sam Houston State's second football scrimmage – at least about the weather.
The Bearkats got in 100 snaps underneath overcast skies but the offense and defense each picked their moments to shine. Sam Houston's offense clicked early on highlighted by big plays from its running backs.
“The middle of the field, the offense really dominated,” head coach K.C. Keeler said. “They played with great tempo, really spread the field and ran the ball really well. The quarterbacks played really well. They dropped some balls in the perimeter, but early on the offense was really dominate.”
After settling in, the defense took its turn to make some crucial stops, at one point deflecting fade route after fade route in the corner of the end zone.
“They did a real good job in the red zone period,” Keeler said. “They did a good job in the goal line period. They did a good job in the two-minute period at times. Kind of a mixed bag. I'm looking forward to looking at the videotape and kind of analyze exactly where we are.”
Keeler added that he thought the Bearkats could play at least four, maybe five running backs during the season. Houston transfer Javin Webb and sophomore returner Remus Bulmer each broke off big runs. With 11 games under his belt, Bulmer believes he is ready for a breakout campaign.
“The biggest thing was confidence,” Bulmer said. “I've learned the game, the offense and my plays. The biggest thing is that I've put on some weight working with (strength) coach (Brian) Hess then coach (Trevor) Williams came in and has been motivating us with all the work.”
The variety of personalities, on top of the level of talent, has also made the competition at running back that much more entertaining. While each individual is looking for his share of carries, the ultimate goal is to be sharp as a unit.
“It's really good competing because everyone has their own character,” Bulmer said. “Me and Corey (Avery) like to have fun. Javin is a little more serious. Deonte (Townsend) and Jordan (Brown) don't really talk. I've got my feet work; Corey has the best hands – I've got to say that and Javin and Jordan have the speed. Deonte is the big back.
“It just makes me go harder. We're not selfish but everybody wants to be up there on the depth chart. I am helping out the newer guys and making sure they know what to do. I'm just trying to set a good example.”
For the second time this fall, the scrimmage also allowed the Bearkats the use of officials as well as the full use of tackling to the ground. In what was the program's 12th practice, it was also a chance for the offense to play at a faster pace.
“I thought there was some pretty good hitting,” Keeler said. “I thought the intensity was pretty good. I let the offense play with more tempo than I have in training camp so far. You could see the defense was struggling a bit with the tempo. Good news is we're playing faster than we ever have before. Bad news is that our defense is going to have to catch up to that.”
In order for the Bearkats to do that, the squad will look for added pressure in the backfield from a defensive front that is at the peak of its talent since the arrival of defensive line coach Rodrique Wright. After a less-than-thrilling start to the scrimmage, the unit made play after play in the red zone.
“We're really deep,” defensive tackle Sionte Lau said. “We can go with the one's or two's and still make the same plays. All the transfers we have in can play. The young guys like Torian (Williams) have come in and played very well. I think we can be the best defensive line in the conference.”
The Bearkats hit the field for their 13th practice two-hour practice Thursday morning and will get in two more on Friday. The team holds its third scrimmage from 8 a.m. – 10 a.m. at Bowers Stadium on Saturday morning with additional emphasis placed on cleaning things up.
“There are some finer points to a ballgame that we now need to get involved with, and it's getting to that time of training camp where you fine tune and start to prepare for a ballgame,” Keeler said. “I thought the effort was pretty good. I thought the hitting was pretty good. It just wasn't quite clean enough to be acceptable going into our first ball game.”
Season tickets are currently on sale by calling the Sam Houston ticket office at (936) 294-1729 or by visiting GoBearkats.com. The squad enters the upcoming campaign as the second-ranked team nationally and will open play with its Orange Out game, Sept. 3 at 6 p.m. vs. Oklahoma Panhandle State.
