Southland Conference

  With two weeks remaining in the Southland Conference football season, six teams still have championship dreams. All four games today have a major impact on which team will be finish at the top. A number of scenarios could play out so the today's motto for each of the teams is "Just Win!" By the end of the day, the picture should be much clearer. Don't miss any of the action. Nicholls State is at Texas State at 3 p.m. and the other three games all are at 6 p.m. Central Arkansas is at Stephen F. Austin, Southeastern Louisiana is at Sam Houston State and McNeese State is at Northwestern State in a game that will be televised on Southland TV.

Nicholls State at Texas State

Saturday, Nov. 15, 2008; 3 p.m., CST

Bobcat Stadium; San Marcos, Texas

Series:  Nicholls State leads 15-11         Last Meeting:  2007, Nicholls State 52-28

Nicholls State Notes:  Nicholls State could not overcome a 24-0 first-quarter deficit in an eventual 47-37 home loss to Sam Houston State ... the Colonels piled up 196 yards rushing and added another 107 yards through the air ... Nicholls’  QB Chris Bunch gained 199 total yards, including 107 yards passing on 5-for-12 passing with a pair of TDs ... Lardarius Webb recorded his second interception of the season to set up a score and led the Colonels with 10 tackles, a fumble recovery and three pass breakups ... Nicholls’ rushing offense (213.1) is second in the Southland behind McNeese State and 12th in the nation ... the Colonels are 18th in the nation in kickoff returns (22.5) and 11th in the nation in punt returns (14.7) and sixth in net punting (36.1) ... Webb is fourth nationally in kick returns (31.9) and sixth in punt returns (13.9) ... Schexnayder is fourth nationally, averaging 1.6 field goals per game ... Patrick Dolan is seventh nationally, averaging 43.1 yards per punt.

Texas State Notes:  Texas State built a 28-7 lead in the first quarter and led 38-14 but did not score again in a 38-24 victory at Southeastern Louisiana last Saturday ... Bobcat QB Bradley George, who threw for 276 yards and two TDs, needs only 54 yards to reach 2,000 yards this season ... Karrington Bush ran for 91 yards at Southeastern and needs 101 yards to reach 1,000 this season ... Cameron Luke had 185 receiving yards vs. the Lions to top 1,000 yards (1,088) this season ... Bobcats are fifth in the nation in scoring (37.8) and total offense (468.9), but are second in the Southland behind McNeese State ... the passing offense (275.1) ranks 13th while the rushing offense (193.8) ranks 20th ... Texas State is 14th in both kick returns (22.7) and is 21st in passing efficiency (145.16) ... Bush is seventh nationally with 177.3 all-purpose yards ... George is ninth in the nation with a passing efficiency rating of 158.24 ... Luke is fifth in the nation with 108.8 receiving yards per game.

No. 14/16 McNeese State at Northwestern State

Southland Conference Television Network

SLC NOW

Saturday, Nov. 15, 2008; 6 p.m., CST

Turpin Stadium, Natchitoches, La.

Series:  McNeese State leads 35-22-1      Last Meeting:  2007, McNeese State 27-21

McNeese State Notes: Toddrick Pendland rushed for a career-high 242 yards and scored four touchdowns in leading McNeese State to a 42-31 over visiting Stephen F. Austin last Saturday ... Pendland’s rushing total was the second highest in school history ... McNeese totaled 512 yards in the game, 299 rushing and 213 passing ... Cowboys rank third in the nation in scoring offense (39.9) and fourth in total offense (471.4) ... rushing offense (234.0) ranks eighth while passing offense (237.4) ranks 35th ... team’s 154.44 passing efficiency ranks 10th in the nation, while Fourroux’s 148.44 pass efficiency rating ranks third in the Southland and 18th nationally ... Pendland ranks third in all-purpose running (185.1), while his rushing total of 135.33 ranks sixth ...  his teammate Steven Whitehead ranks 23rd with in all-purpose running with an average of 137.9 ... Pendland also ranks eighth in scoring, averaging 10.0 points per game.

Northwestern State Notes:  Northwestern State lost 42-6 at Central Arkansas last Saturday in a battle of conference leaders, yet with the Bears not being eligible for the Southland Conference’s automatic playoff spot, remains in control of its playoff destiny with games remaining against McNeese State and Stephen F. Austin ... Demons were outgained by 176 yards last week in Conway, mostly through the air ... Byron Lawrence who had been averaging 101.1 rushing yards entering the game was limited to just 56 ... he ranks 25th nationally, averaging 96.6 yards per game ... the Demons average 187.5 yards rushing per game to rank 24th in the nation and foruth in the league ... despite allowing 348 passing yards to UCA, Northwestern leads the Southland in pass defense (237.0) and is second in total defense (374.2) behind McNeese (356.8) ... Demons rank 25th nationally averaging 22.1 yards per kickoff return.

No. 13/15 Central Arkansas at Stephen F. Austin

Saturday, Nov. 15, 2008; 6 p.m., CST

Homer Bryce Stadium; Nacogdoches, Texas

Series:  Central Arkansas leads 2-0        Last Meeting:  2007, Central Arkansas 35-23

Central Arkansas Notes:  Central Arkansas rolled to a 28-6 halftime lead and never slowed down en route to a 42-6 victory over Northwestern State last Saturday to move into sole possession of first place in the Southland ... UCA QB Nathan Brown completed 19-of-35 passes for 348 yards and four TDs and is just 30 yards shy of the 10,000-yard mark for his career ... Brown is the career leader among Arkansas college QBs in both yardage and touchdown passes (96) ... Eric Ware caught five passes for a career-high 174 yards and a TD ... UCA is averaging 35.4 points and 431.2 yards per game, which is third in the league behind McNeese State and Texas State ... the Bears lead the conference in scoring defense, allowing just 23.7 points per contest ... UCA has the best pass efficiency rating in the conference (163.0)  ... UCA 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.

Stephen F. Austin Notes:  The Lumberjacks scored the game’s first 10 points, but it was all McNeese State after that as the Cowboys cruised to a 42-31 home victory ... Stephen F. Austin finished the game with 464 yards of total offense, but yielded 512 to McNeese, which had 299 yards rushing ... Cornell Tarrant recorded his second consecutive 100-yard rushing effort with 15 carries for 115 yards ... Jacks have lost three consecutive games after a 2-0 start in Southland play ... SFA is second in the nation in passing offense, averaging 348.7 yards throught he air ... it also ranks 13th in scoring offense (35.5) and 19th in total offense (415.5) despite only averaging 66.8 yards rushing per game ... QB Jeremy Moses’ 330.6 total yards of offense each game is third in the FCS ... defensively, SFA averages 2.8 sacks per game to rank 14th in the nation ... Tim Knicky is tied for eighth with 0.9 sacks per game and is seventh with 1.75 tackles per loss.

Southeastern Louisiana at Sam Houston State

Saturday, Nov. 15, 2008; 6 p.m., CST

Bowers Stadium; Huntsville, Texas

Series:  Sam Houston State leads 7-2    Last Meeting:  2007, Sam Houston State 20-16

Southeastern Louisiana Notes:  The Lions could not come back from 38 first-half points by Texas State though they did keep the Bobcats off the scoreboard in the second half before falling 38-24 ... Southeastern Louisiana dropped its third consecutive contest despite racking up 448 total yards ... QB Brian Babin completed 21-of-35 passes for 228 yards for two TDs, joining former Lions Martin Hankins and Trey Willie as the only quarterbacks in school history to throw for 20 TDs in a season ... Simmie Yarborough finished with six catches for 92 yards and a score ... Chris Wilson, who has a team-high seven TD receptions this season, had the other score ... Babin’s 248.6 yards of total offense per game ranks 26th in the nation ... its 256.0 passing yards per game, ranks 22nd nationally ... 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.

Sam Houston State Notes:  Bearkats have followed a three-game losing streak with wins in their last two thanks to a 47-37 victory at Nicholls State last Saturday ... James Aston rushed for 142 yards and four TDs ... Rhett Bomar completed 25-of-48 passes for 394 yards including TD passes to Trey Payne and Jason Madkins ... Catron Houston led the Bearkats in receiving with eight catches for 116 yards ... he is averaging 90.3 receiving yards per game to rank 20th in the FCS ... Sam Houston State is averaging 317.1 passing yards per game to rank fifth in the nation and second in the league behind SFA ... SHSU ranks 10th in total offense (429.0) and is 15th in scoring offense (35.1) ... Bomar’s 332.8 yards of total offense ranks second nationally this week, behind Dominic Randolph, who is averaging 352.9 yards for Holy Cross ... Aston is averaging 9.0 points per game to tie for 13th nationally in scoring ... kicker Taylor Wilkins averages 1.12 field goals per game to rank 23rd.