SHSU Advances To Second Round of FCS Playoffs
Courtesy: Paul Ridings, Jr., SHSU Sports Information
A muffed punt and a blocked field goal set up two Donavan Williams touchdown runs as Sam Houston scored 14 fourth quarter points to defeat Southeastern Louisiana 21-17 in an FCS opening round playoff game Saturday at Elliott T. Bowers Stadium in Huntsville, Texas.
The Bearkats advance meet Jacksonville State in the second round at Jacksonville next Saturday.
The punt muff was recovered by Demartie Allen and the block by defensive end P. J. Hall set up runs of three and one yards, respectively by Williams.
Southeastern Louisiana quarterback Bryan Bennett had given the Lions a 17-14 lead with three-yard scoring run with 11:11 left to play. Bennett, who also scored a nine-yard touchdown in the second quarter, tied the SLU school record for career rushing TDs with 33 with his performance Saturday.
Bennett completed 17 of 48 passes for 181 yards. Sam Houston quarterback Jared Johnson was the game’s top rusher with 17 carries for 63 yards and passed for 119 more on 12 of 32 passes.
Hall was a key on defense for Sam Houston with four tackles for 22 yards in losses including one QB sack. Safety Michael Wade made 13 tackles including 11 solos for the Bearkat defense.
Sam Houston and Southeastern Louisiana, co-champions in the Southland Conference with identical 7-1 league records who did not play during the regular season, both own 9-4 records. The Lions knocked Sam Houston out of the playoffs in the second round last year with a 30-29 defeat in Hammond, La.
What was touted as an offensive battle during ESPN’s pregame turned out to be a defensive struggle in the opening half. The Lions’ Tyler Stoddard recovered a fumble on the opening kickoff at the Sam Houston 20-yard line to set up a 39-yard field goal by Ryan Adams just 1:20 into the contest.
Bryan Bennett extended the Southeastern Louisiana lead to 10-0 with a nine-yard touchdown 41 seconds into the second quarter following an eight-play, 64-yard drive.
On the ensuing drive, Sam Houston drove 68 yards in 14 plays to the Lion one-yard line. But safety Micah Eugene stopped Donavan Williams on a fourth-down option play to right for a five-yard loss.
SLU limited the Bearkats to 87 yards rushing and 78 passing on 7 of 22 attempts in the first 30 minutes.
Jalen Overstreet’s three-yard run up the middle with 7:14 remaining in the third quarter completed a six-play, 50-yard drive to put the Kats on the scoreboard. Jared Johnson’s 33-yard pass to LaDarius Brown to the Lion 14 set up the score as the SLU margin was cut to 10-7.
A muffed punt recovered by Demartie Allen at the Lion four-yard line at the end of the third quarter set up a one-yard scoring dive by Donavan Williams that gave SHSU its first lead 14-10 three seconds in the final period.
The Lions retook the lead 17-14 with a 10-play, 58-yard drive after the kickoff. Bennett scored with a three-yard dash around left end with 11:11 remaining. The score was Bennett’s 31st career rushing TD, tying a Southeastern Louisiana record.
A blocked field goal by P J. Hall (his fourth kick block of the season) set up a 65-yards in six plays for a five-yard touchdown on an option play by Williams as SHSU surged back in front 21-17.
Let Go Of The “Bad Apples”
By Cheval John
The Pittsburg Steelers demonstrated today why they are a first class organization.
The reason why they are a first class organization is because they released running back, LeGarrette Blount.
Blount left the field during the Steelers’ 27-24 victory against the Tennessee Titans before the game was over.
Blount’s reason for leaving the game before it was finished: “he did not get any carries.”
“We believe the decision to release LeGarrette is in the best interest of the organization and wish him the best of luck,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said in the statement to the Pittsburg Post-Gazette.
Blount rushed for 266 yards and two touchdowns for the Steelers.
He signed with Pittsburg earlier this year after he spent three years with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the 2013 season with the New England Patriots.
This was the right move for the Steelers because Blount showcased that he was not a team player.
If he had stayed with Pittsburg, he would have caused problems and probably would have divided the team.
The Steelers are currently 7-4 and are a game behind the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC North Division.
I strongly believe that Pittsburg will now be able to overtake the Bengals in the next couple of weeks because they will be more united than ever.
If a person or a business wants to go to the next level, then they must cut their association with anyone who are bad apples.
Even if it hurts to cut the association with someone who is holding you back from success, it will be worth it in the end.
You will be much better for it like the Steelers are right now.
Just ask Steelers center and captain Maurkice Pouncey.
“We’re fine,” Pouncey said to the Pittsburg Post-Gazette. “We have our starting running back. It’s probably a good thing that it happened. At the end of the day, if it was a cancer, he ended up leaving on his own. That’s a blessing for us. At the end of the day, we’re good. We don’t need him.”
Do you believe that the Steelers did the right thing in releasing LeGarrette Blount? Leave your comments below.
Video courtesy of WatchMojo.com
College Football Playoff: The New BCS
By Cheval John
We are half way through the college football season and things are getting more interesting.
The committee for the newly implemented College Football Playoff (CFP) released their projected four teams that would make it in.
The teams that were projected this week were Mississippi State, Oregon, Florida State and TCU.
Though this is a small step in the right direction for a long overdue playoff system in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), it still has a long way to go.
What this playoff system does is benefit only the teams that are in the big 5 conferences (SEC, ACC, Big 12, Big 10, and the PAC 12) because the committee only focus on those teams that have a tough schedule and have a quality win against an opponent.
It also shows that even a convincing win against a quality opponent in their respective conference does not mean much.
For example, Baylor was ranked No. 7 in the committee’s poll.
Didn’t Baylor come back from 21 points to defeat TCU 61-58 on a last-minute field goal a couple of weeks ago?
Shouldn’t that comeback win have any validation on what type of team Baylor is?
Not in this type of playoff system.
What this shows is that you must win every game in your schedule and have a convincing win against a school that is in the big five conferences.
Also, you must make sure that if you do lose, that it should happen early in the season and not late in the season because that could come back to hurt your playoff chances.
Maybe, the top professional sports leagues in North America should model the CFP.
That way, it could give teams with pedigree like the New York Yankees or the Los Angeles Lakers a chance every year to win a championship.
What are your thoughts on the College Football Playoff system?
Video Courtesy Of Baylor Athletics
There Is No “I” In Team
By Cheval John
Thank goodness you are not Kaelin Clay.
The senior wide receiver made what is possibly the bone headed play of the year that caused his team, the Utah Utes to lose against the Oregon Ducks 51-27.
The Utes had a 7-0 lead and had all the momentum going for them when quarterback Travis Wilson found Clay wide open down the field for what would have been a 78 yard touchdown pass.
However, Mr. Clay was so focused on celebrating the score that he dropped the football a yard shy before crossing into the endzone.
With a heads up play by Oregon’s defense, they pick up the football and returned it 99 yards for the touchdown and tied the score up at 7 after the extra point.
From that moment on, the Ducks steam rolled Utah en route to an important win that kept them alive for one of the four spots in the College Football Playoff.
The lesson from this: Always be a team player because it is not all about you.
Your actions can either elevate a business, organization, etc. or bring down them down very quickly like Mr. Clay’s foolish action brought down his Utah team against Oregon.
What are your thoughts on that wild play between Utah and Oregon?
Video courtesy of ESPN via BBA News
To Succeed In Business, Build True Relationships
By Cheval John
Tamara McCleary, Creator of RelationShift
Businesses who want to succeed in 2015 need to understand how to use social media to engage with their customers and clients.
The problem is when they connect on social media, they go straight for the sale instead of building a quality relationship with their customers/clients.
When they go straight for the sale, they are sending the message to the prospective customers that they do not matter and they are just a number.
That approach will lead to a negative hit on their bottom line.
Example: Last night, I had the honored of interviewing Tamara McCleary, who is regarded as the queen of social relationships* on my podcast, “What’s The Word?”
As I allowed for anyone to ask her a question about building authentic relationships on social media, a person, which I will call Kwon, (you will hear his real name in the episode below at the 26:33 minute) called in.
Instead of respecting Mrs. McCleary’s time and asking a question, he went on his soliloquy on relationships and promoted his new book.
He tried to take advantage of the opportunity to share his thoughts and promote himself.
Afterward, he sent me a message via Twitter saying that he wanted to be a guest on the show and share about his philosophy on relationships.
Kwon showed that he was only interested in promoting his book and not sharing valuable information that would enrich other people’s lives.
He also displayed a lack of respect for Mrs. McCleary and in the process, made a bad first impression.
If he had interact with potential customers in the same way as organizations like the Houston Texans, who are constantly interacting with their fan base via the Texans Cheerleaders, then he would have earned the trust of the audience.
In turn, the audience would put their reputation on the line because they believe in his work.
So to recap, if you want to build a loyal following in 2015, be sociable and interact with your audience.
If not, then you will create a bad reputation for your brand and business because of your self interest in just selling and not creating lasting relationships with your audience.
Do you believe that companies are building trust with their potential customers on social media? You can reply below.
*Term was coined by Rachel Miller, Chief Listener of Pipeliner and co-host of the Twitter Chat, #sshour.
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