No.9 Bearkats Beats Down Nicholls State 41-0
Courtesy: Paul Ridings, Jr., SHSU Sports Information
THIBIDOUX, La. – Two Bearkats added to their career achievements as they led Sam Houston to a 41-0 victory over Nicholls State Saturday night at Guidry Stadium.
The win improved the No. 9 ranked Sam Houston football team to 4-2 for the year and 2-1 in Southland Conference play.
Timothy Flanders now is the all-time leading scorer in Bearkat football history.
His three touchdowns up his career point total to 270, passing kicker Billy Hayes who totaled 258 points from 1985 to 1988.
Flanders rushed 15 times for 67 yards, leaving the game after three quarters.
SHSU’s all-time rushing leader, Flanders now ranks ninth in Southland Conference career rushing with 3,159 career yards.
Brian Bell became Sam Houston State’s second all-time leader in touchdown passes with a pair of scoring throws.
The junior signal-caller completed 15 of 19 passes for 180 yards.
The two TD passes give a career total of 38, moving ahead of Rhett Bomar (37 TD passes in 2007-08) and one behind Dustin Long (39 TD throws in 2004).
Richard Sincere and Trey Diller added big plays as well.
Sincere rushed six times for 74 yards including a long gain of 47 yards and caught a 25-yard pass.
Diller led both teams with seven catches for 72 yards and returned a punt 49 yards to set up a score.
Sam Houston outgained Nicholls 453 total yards to 258. The Kats allowed the Colonels only 20 yards rushing.
The shutout was the second in the past two seasons for SHSU.
The last one occurred last year in a 66-0 win over blanked Lamar.
After a Nicholls State missed field goal, Sam Houston drove 80-yards in 11 plays for a Flanders touchdown from the one-yard line eight seconds into the second quarter.
Bell passes for Shane Young for 24 yards to the Colonel 33 and Diller for 17 to the Colonel 14 were key plays in the drive.
Jesse Beauchamp’s fumble recovery after a tackle by Kenneth Jenkins set up the Kats’ second score.
Three Bell passes highlighted the seven-play, 48-yard drive. Bell hit Richard Sincere for a 25-yard gain to the Nicholls 21.
On third-and-13, the quarterback passed 14 yards to Diller.
Melvis Pride scored with 4:20 remaining in the second quarter on a five-yard pass.
Sam Houston started the second half with a seven-play, 65-yard drive that ended with a 25-yard scoring run by Flanders, putting the Kats up 21-0 three minutes into the third quarter.
Flanders scored another one-yard touchdown with 4:54 to play in the third as the Bearkats drove 90-yards in nine plays.
Sincere’s 47-yard run to the Nicholls 11-yard line was the big play of the possession.
Diller’s 49-yard punt return to the Nicholls 40 set up another touchdown on SHSU’s third drive in the quarter.
The Kats took only four plays to score as Bell hit Chance Nelson for a 18-yard touchdown.
The tally gave SHSU a 34-0 lead with 10 seconds remaining in the quarter.
Ridgeway Frank picked up a touchdown on a five-yard run with 5:21 remaining to complete a eight-play, 51-yard drive in the fourth quarter.
Bearkat Football Players Earns SLC’s “Player of the Week”
Courtesy: Paul Ridings,Jr., SHSU Sports Information
Sam Houston State swept the weekly Southland Conference football player of the week honors after its 51-43 win over Stephen F. Austin in the 87th “Battle of the Piney Woods” at Reliant Stadium in Houston Saturday.
Junior quarterback Brian Bell was the offensive player of the week, junior cornerback Bookie Sneed won defensive honors and senior punter Matt Foster was the special teams player of the week.
Bell picked up 22nd career victory as starting quarterback for Sam Houston.
He directed the offense to 566 total yards in a 51-43 win over rival Stephen F. Austin.
The junior from China Spring, Texas (China Spring H.S.), completed 12 of 20 passes for 168 yards and totaled 69 yards and two touchdowns on eight carries. He passed for scores of 5, 31 and 30 yards and scored on runs of 1 and 9 yards and accounted for 237 yards total offense.
Sneed returned an interception 92 yards for touchdown that put Sam Houston State in the lead, 20-14, with 5:55 remaining in 2nd quarter. The return by the junior from Conroe, Texas (Conroe H.S.), was a school record, topping the previous mark of 90 yards set by Paul Wenzel against Sul Ross in 1968. He added 11 tackles against SFA.
Foster helped Sam Houston win the field position battle with a 45.1 average, including long of 61 yards. The senior from Melbourne, Australia, landed three punts inside the 20 that includes a high 43-yard punt with 3:10 left to play in the fourth quarter.
That put SFA on its own 15-yard line, forcing them to drive 85 yards in order to score a touchdown and go for a two-point conversion.
Sam Houston travels to Thibodaux, La., to take on the Nicholls State Colonels this Saturday at 6 p.m.
The Bearkats return to Huntsville in two weeks for their Homecoming battle with the McNeese State Cowboys. The game will be played at 7 p.m. on Nov. 20 at Bowers Stadium.
Bearkats Massacred Texas Southern 50-6 At BBVA Compass Stadium
Courtesy: Paul Ridings, Jr., SHSU Sports Information
Sam Houston scored early and often as the Bearkats rolled up 549 yards total offense in a 50-6 non-conference win over Texas Southern Thursday at BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston.
Quarterback Brian Bell passed for 209 yards and three touchdowns including two scoring plays to Chance Nelson.
The transfer from Texas A&M caught three passes for 127 yards.
The Bearkat defense limited the Tigers to 149 yards total offense.
Linebacker Darius Taylor totaled eight tackles including two quarterback sacks.
The Bearkats took only 50 seconds to score their first points of the game.
Bell found Chance Nelson open behind the Tiger secondary for a 61-yard scoring pass three minutes into the contest.
Dax Swanson’s 12th career interception set up the Kats’ second score.
Trey Diller scored on a 32-yard run after an option pitch by Bell to complete a six play 54-yard drive and put SHSU up 14-0 with 5:18 to go.
Swanson needs one more interception to tie the Sam Houston career interception mark of 13 set by Ronnie Choate in 1955 through 1959.
An interception return by Steven White to the SHSU 14 set up a 16 yard scoring pass from Justice Jones to James Davis to put the Tigers on the scoreboard with 12:11 to go in the second quarter.
Preston Sanders blocked the extra point and Kenneth Jenkins picked up the ball at the 20 and ran it back for a defensive PAT return.
The two points marked the third defensive PAT return by a Bearkat player in school history.
Sam Houston upped the lead to 23-6 with 10:16 to play before half as Bell ended a 65-yard scoring drive with a 22-yard pass to Stephen Williams.
Miguel Antonio added a 19-yard field goal and Bell hit Nelson for a 32-yard pass to make the score at intermission 33-6.
Keshawn Hill scored on a 36-yard run to lift the Bearkats to a 40-6 lead with 3:43 left in the third quarter after a 57-yard lead.
An 18-yard punt return by Trey Diller set up a four-yard touchdown run by Ridgeway Frank.
Antonio added a 39-yard field goal with 6:35 to go.
Baylor Avoids Upset Against Sam Houston
by Cheval John
It was a tail of two halves for the Sam Houston State Bearkat football team.
The Bearkats were in control in the first half when they held the Bears to only a field goal in their first three possessions.
On the other hand, the Bearkats scored 6 points on a pair of field goals by Miguel Antonio in their first three possessions to lead 6-3.
The Bears scored their first touchdown when quarterback Nick Florence connected with wide receiver Terrance Williams for 18 yards to lead it 10-3.
The Bearkats finally scored their first touchdown on a 1 yard run by quarterback Brian Bell to lead it 10-6.
The touchdown run capped off a 7 play, 75 yard drive by the Bearkats that had a pass interference penalty on the Bears.
They scored in their next possession when Brian Bell connected with running back Tim Flanders for a 26 yard touchdown that extended the lead to 20-10.
It seemed as if they were going to pull off a major upset at Floyd Casey Stadium in Waco, Texas.
But the Bears came out in the second half and outscored the Bearkats 38-3, behind a gutsy second half performance by Florence to win 48-23 and improve to 2-0.
Though Florence went 24 of 41 for 312 yards, 3 touchdowns and 2 interceptions, he made plays when it was needed.
With the Bears (2-0) leading 31-23, Florence ran for 60 yards all the way to the 3 yard line that set up the score to extend the lead to 38-23 and eventually put the game out of reach.
The Bears finished with 544 yards of total offense while the Bearkats (1-1) produce 411 yards, with Bell passing for 285 yards, a touchdown and three interceptions.
Flanders finished with 84 yards on 16 carries.
Preview of Bearkats-Bears Football Game
by Cheval John
The day is almost here when Sam Houston State Bearkats plays against the Baylor Bears tomorrow night at 6 p.m on Fox College Sports.
The Bears have an all-time record of 3-0 against the Bearkats.
The last time they met was two years ago when Willie Fritz began his tenure as head football coach for the Bearkats.
They lost to the Bears 34-3 with Robert Griffith III (RG3) at the helm.
The game also featured an unknown running back at the time in Tim Flanders.
Flanders made a 31 yard run on his first carry in the final minutes of the game and eventually went on to great heights at SHSU. (More on him later.)
The Bears are looking to get back in the Associated Press national polls this season while the Bearkats are aiming for their second consecutive win against an Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) team.
They defeated New Mexico 48-45 in overtime.
Here is a scouting report on both teams.
Baylor:
They are entering the game with a 1-0 record after demolishing Southern Methodist University (SMU) 59-24 at Floyd Casey Stadium.
In that game, they accumulated 613 yards in total offense in 20 minutes of possession.
The team is led by senior quarterback Nick Florence.
Though he is no RG3, he a very efficient quarterback that have plenty of experience in the collegiate game.
He completed 21 of 30 passes for 341 yards, 4 touchdowns and 0 interceptions.
He has improved from his freshman year, when he started seven games for an injured Griffith III and second stringer Blake Szymanski and thrown for 1,786 yards, with six touchdowns and nine interceptions.
One of his favorite targets is senior wide receiver Terrance Williams.
Williams had 7 receptions for 138 yards in the game.
This offense is highly explosive and will need to produce as many points as possible if they are going to beat SHSU because the defense gave up a total of 507 yards against SMU’s offense.
Sam Houston State:
The Bearkats are coming off a 54-7 win over future Southland Conference member, Incarnate Word.
Junior running back Tim Flanders rushed for 117 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries.
He became the all-time leading rusher in SHSU history with 2,709 yards.
The engine for this offense is quarterback Brian Bell
The junior from China Springs went 12 of 19 for 157 yards and two touchdowns.
He is not as flashy as other quarterbacks with the big stats, but his biggest strength is managing the game.
On the other side of the ball, the Bearkat defense is a force to be reckon with.
They held the Cardinals to 88 total yards and are ranked No. 2 in the country.
Senior linebacker Darius Taylor led the defense with 9 total tackles in the massacre.
Look for them to rush the pass at every given opportunity.
The Prediction?
Normally, you would see a prediction after the breakdown of each team.
I am not going to do that.
Instead, I am going to pose this question.
What if SHSU beat Baylor on Saturday, would they get credit for the win or will the focus be on what Baylor did wrong and how could they have lost to an Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) school?
I’ve seen the majority of people in the media picking Baylor because they are a well-known university and they play football in the FBS while SHSU plays in the FCS.
All I can say is that it will be an exciting game and will go down to the wire.