Southland Conference Saturday Football Preview
No. 11/9 Central Arkansas at Nicholls State
Saturday, Nov. 1, 2008; 1 p.m., CDT
Guidry Stadium; Thibodaux, La.
Series: Series tied 1-1 Last Meeting: 2007, Central Arkansas 49-42 (OT)
Central Arkansas Notes: Central Arkansas moved into sole possession of first place in the Southland Conference standings with a 28-21 win vs. Southeastern Louisiana last Saturday ... QB Nathan Brown completed 13-of-23 passes for 158 yards and two touchdowns before sustaining a slight concussion near the end of the first half ... he did not return ... Tailback Brent Grimes finished with 106 yards and two TDs on 21 carries, and also caught two passes for 14 yards and another score ... UCA is averaging 3.69 points and 438.1 yards per game, while scoring defense leads the league, allowing 26.4 points and 392.2 yards per contest ... UCA has the best pass efficiency rating in the conference (172.1) ... the Bears are tied atop the Southland with Southeastern Louisiana with a +7 turnover margin ... Central Arkansas is eligible for the Southland championship, but is not eligible for the league’s automatic berth in the NCAA playoffs during the transition to Division I.
Nicholls State Notes: The Colonels went into Lake Charles and walked out a 38-35 victor last Saturday ... it was the first Nicholls State win in Lake Charles since the 1998 season ... QB Chris Bunch accounted for four touchdowns in the victory, including a pair of passes to Antonio Robinson ... Bunch finished 3-for-4 passing for 79 yards and eight carries for 38 yards ... Lardarius Webb had a team-high six tackles that included a sack, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and two pass breakups ... he also added three kickoff returns for 76 yards and one punt return for 20 ... Ross Schexnayder provided the game-winning field goal, his second 37-yarder, with 2:23 to play ... the Colonels are averaging 25.8 points and 299.0 yards of total offense, including 204.4 yards rushing, a figure that ranks 14th nationally ... Nicholls leads the nation in punt returns (25.0) and is fourth in kick returns (24.93) and fifth in net punting (36.70).
Stephen F. Austin at Sam Houston State
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Saturday, Nov. 1, 2008; 2 p.m., CDT
Bowers Stadium; Huntsville, Texas
Series: Sam Houston St. leads 47-33-2 Last Meeting: 2007, Sam Houston 45-17
Stephen F. Austin Notes: The Lumberjacks lost 62-21 at home last Saturday to Texas State ... it was their first conference loss of the season and are one of three teams in the Southland with 2-1 records ... SFA finished the game with 363 yards of total offense, but was held to 35 on the ground ... QB Jeremy Moses completed 15-of-36 passes for 285 yards and two TDs ... Dominque Edison led all SFA receivers with four receptions for 133 yards and two TDs ... averaging 36.6 points, which is 10th best nationally ... Moses’ 315.1 yards of total offense is fifth nationally ... SFA’s 338.4 passing yards is second behind national leader Portland State (421.9) ... opponents are averaging 39.5 points and 416.9 yards per game ... SFA ranks 10th in the nation in sacks (3.00) per game and is 12th in tackles for loss (7.63) per game ... Tim Knicky is third in the country with 1.94 TFLs per game and his 1.00 sacks per game ties for third ... Jabara Williams averages 10.1 tackles per game to tie for 23rd.
Sam Houston State Notes: Sam Houston State is still in search of its first conference victory after losing 24-16 at Northwestern State last Saturday ... QB Rhett Bomar led the Bearkat offense, completing 23-of-47 passes for 314 yards and two TDs ... Chris Lucas reeled in six catches for 94 yards ... Bearkats had 393 total yards of offense, outgaining the Demons by more than 100 yards ... Sam Houston is averaging 302.5 yards passing, which ranks fifth nationally and leads the conference, but the Bearkats do not rank higher than foruth in any other key offensive or defensive statistic ... Bearkats rank 23rd in both scoring offense (33.3) and total offense (411.7) ... Bomar’s 318.7 yards of total offense ranks fifth this week ... Bomar is 1 yard away from becoming only the fourth Sam Houston QB to pass for more than 4,000 yards ... in the red zone on offense, Sam Houston is second in the Southland, converting 21-of-23 (91.3 percent) chances with 18 touchdowns.
Northwestern State at Texas State
Saturday, Nov. 1, 2008; 3 p.m., CDT
Bobcat Stadium; San Marcos, Texas
Series: Northwestern St. leads 14-10 Last Meeting: 2007, Texas State 20-17
Northwestern State Notes: Despite giving up 105 more yards to Sam Houston State, the Demons came away with a 24-16 homecoming victory to improve to 2-1 in conference play ... Byron Lawrence ran for 118 yards, including two TDs that gave Northwestern a14-0 advantage ... it was Lawrence’s 14th career 100-yard rushing game and his fourth this season ... Jeremy Lane led Northwestern with seven tackles while Mack Dampier had six stops, two quarterback hurries and a 2-yard tackle for loss ... Kasey Brown intercepted Sam Houston QB Rhett Bomar that put the Demons up 21-10 early in the fourth quarter ... averaging 188 yards on the ground Northwestern ranks 22nd nationally ... the Demons lead the conference in pass defense (227.6) and total defense (362.1), while ranking second in scoring defense (27.3) and third in rush defense (134.5) ... Demons rank 13th nationally averaging 23.0 yards per kickoff return and rank 23rd nationally with 2.5 sacks per game.
Texas State Notes: The Bobcats set a school record for most points in a conference game and racked up 678 yards of total offense in their 62-21 win at Stephen F. Austin ... QB Bradley George completed 25-of-35 passes for a school-record 418 yards and four TDs ... Cameron Luke set records with his 28th career TD catch and also topped his own school mark with his 13 TD reception ... Bush ran for 121 yards in his 10th career 100-yard game ... Bobcats lead nation with 484.3 yards of total offense and have the sixth best scoring average (38.6) in the FCS ... the passing offense (284.2) ranks 11th while the rushing offense (200.0) ranks 16th ... Texas State is 17th in both kick returns (22.3) and passing efficiency (147.55) ... Bush leads the nation with 193.8 all-purpose yards, while Luke is sixth nationally with 109.5 reception yards per game ... George is fourth in the nation with a passing efficiency rating of 167.86 ... Bobcats are allowing 32.9 points and 454.5 yards per game.
No. 20/16 McNeese State at Southeastern Louisiana
Saturday, Nov. 1, 2008; 6 p.m., CDT
Strawberry Stadium; Hammond, La.
Series: McNeese State leads 18-15 Last Meeting: 2007, McNeese State 34-13
McNeese State Notes: The Cowboys lost 38-35 at home last Saturday to Nicholls State ... after climbing as high as No. 3 in the nation, now rank 16th or 20th depending on the poll ... McNeese held a 419-326 edge in total offense in the game and Toddrick Pendland rushed 15 times for 93 yards ... QB Derrick Fourroux hit on 15-of-27 passes for 216 yards while Steven Whitehead totaled 237 all-purpose yards ... Cowboys rank second in the nation in scoring offense (41.9) and total offense (482.3) ... Cal Poly is the national scoring leader (44.8), while Texas State leads in total offense (484.3) ... rushing offense (223.4) ranks 11th while passing offense (258.9) ranks 24th ... Fourroux’s 153.14 pass efficiency rating ranks fourth in the Southland and ranks 13th nationally ... the Cowboy’s 161.42 pass efficiency rating is seventh nationally though second in the Southland behind UCA (172.10) ... Pendland ranks 11th in all-purpose running (166.6) and 17th in scoring (8.57).
Southeastern Louisiana Notes: The Lions fell into an early 28-0 hole at Central Arkansas and a comeback bid fell just short in the 28-21 loss ... got the ball with under three minutes to play but could not convert a fourth-down play to keep a game-tying drive alive ... committed a season-high 15 penalties for 97 yards ... QB Brian Babin completed 27-for-43 passes for 270 yards, three TDs and an interception ... Jay Lucas had 111 total yards and a touchdown ... Babin’s 262.4 yards of total offense per game ranks 21st in the nation ... SLU is averaging 28.9 points and 344.8 total yards per game ... its 269.2 passing yards per game, ranks 17th nationally ... Lions are allowing 33.1 points and 412.5 yards per game ... kicker Jeff Turner averages 1.25 field goals a game to tie for 15th ... head coach Mike Lucas, who will miss the remainder of the 2008 season due to a heart valve procedure ... Tommy Condell is the acting coach.