Tag Archive | Southland Conference

Bearkats Got Their Groove Back With 55-17 Victory Over Tigers

Courtesy: Brandon K. Scott/SHSU Athletics

Sam Houston State improved to 2-1 with a 55-17 win against Texas Southern on Saturday.

Senior running back Timothy Flanders became the Southland Conference all-time touchdown leader after posting two touchdowns and 108 yards on the ground.

Both teams struggled with turnovers early in the game as the first quarter ended scoreless.

Texas Southern was first on the scoreboard with a 27-yard field goal in the second quarter by Eric Medina.
It was all Sam Houston from there.

Flanders surpassed Brent Grimes of Central Arkansas for the Southland Conference all-time touchdown record (59) with a two-yard run to give the Bearkats their first score of the game.

Flanders’ two scores set the conference touchdown record at 61.

On the following drive, quarterback Brian Bell found Torrance Williams in the end zone for a six-yard score.

Bell ran for a three-yard touchdown and Flanders scored from one yard out to give SHSU a 27-3 halftime lead.

Shane Young scored on a five-yard pass from Bell in the third quarter. Keshawn Hill ran for a 23-yard touchdown.

On the first play of the fourth quarter, Ragan Henderson caught a five-yard touchdown throw from Bell.

Texas Southern recorded touchdowns on a 50-yard run by Daveonn Porter in the third quarter, then quarterback Homer Causey ran from 10 yards out.

SHSU senior running back Ryan Wilson scored on a one-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.
The Bearkats improved to 2-1 on the season. The Tigers dropped to 0-2.

Sam Houston returns to the field next Saturday to host Incarnate Word at 6 p.m.

SHSU Brings In Collins As New Defensive Coordinator

Courtesy: Paul Ridings, Jr., SHSU Sports Information

Mike Collins, formerly assistant head coach and defensive coordinator at McNeese State, is joining the Sam Houston State football staff, Bearkat director of athletics Bobby Williams and head coach Willie Fritz have announced.

Collins served two stints with McNeese State.

As an assistant to Bobby Keasler from 1991 to 1997, he coached linebackers as McNeese won four Southland Conference titles and played in the NCAA Division I national championship game in 1997.

“Mike Collins will be a super fit for us here at Sam Houston,” Fritz said. “I’ve known Mike a long time. He runs a similar defensive structure to what we have been doing here. We’re fortunate to get Mike at Sam Houston.”

Rejoining the Cowboy staff in 2008, he served as defensive coordinator and secondary coach.

The 2009 Cowboys were Southland co-champions and league runner-up in 2010.

While at McNeese, Collins coached six All-America selections as well as the Southland Conference Defensive Player of the Year three times.

“This is a great opportunity. I’m excited to be a Bearkat,” Collins said. “What interested me most about the position was the outstanding job Coach Fritz has done here at Sam Houston. I appreciate the way the team has played with such discipline. I’ve also seen the support the university administration has given the program. Sam Houston obviously is committed to success in athletics. I am thankful for the opportunity they have given me.”

Collins got his start in coaching as a graduate assistant at Louisiana-Monroe in 1983-84.

From there, he served as an assistant coach at Ouachita Parish High School before joining the staff at McNeese State in 1991.

He left McNeese after the 1997 season to work at his alma mater, Louisiana-Monroe, where he coached for five years.

Collins first served as linebacker coach in 1998 and then as the defensive coordinator for three years.

He took over as interim head coach at Louisiana-Monroe three games into the 2002 season before being named the teams’ permanent head coach on Nov. 20 of that year.

In 2003, Collins spent a season as an intern on the national championship staff of Nick Saban at LSU.

He then joined the Tiger staff full-time in March of 2004 as LSU’s linebackers coach.

In 2005 he moved to Northwestern State as defensive coordinator and assistant head coach.

In 2007 he served as linebacker coach at Kilgore High School before returning for his second stint in Lake Charles with the Cowboys in 2008.

Collins is a 1983 graduate of Louisiana-Monroe, where he lettered for four years as a center in football.

He earned his master’s degree from Louisiana-Monroe in 1984.

He is married to the former Terri Brinson and the couple has two children, John Michael and Matt.

His father, Pat Collins, coached Louisiana-Monroe to a national title.